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I3: Improved Tiling Window Manager

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Re: I3: Improved Tiling Window Manager

#211

I used i3 for a while when unity had a really annoying multi-touch bug I could not work around. The thing is? I never used much more than a simple L/R split that was available in any OS / WM forever. If I wanted to split more, it was usually in the terminal, and done via tmux or the term app. Add to this, a full desktop environment will handle all sorts of things for you like brightness, volume controls, proper locki…

The easy answer to your second point and some integrated experience is the unix philosophy of 'do one thing but do it right'. I was also frustrated at the beginning, but I dealt with it and now I have i3 mappings to do most of what I used to do through GUIs. I can also do much more through scripting because I know which commands to use to handle clipboard, screens, etc.

If you use your computer once a week to check your emails I understand that it's just a waste of time. If you do more, long-term investments such as these might be worth it.

Now I agree that a more integrated experience out of the box would make the learning curve more gentle. Some have mentioned Regolith, it looks like it would be better for you than plain i3 (I haven't tried it personally so I can't judge): https://regolith-linux.org/

Re: I3: Improved Tiling Window Manager

#212

I've been on I3 with nixOS (and emacs as my go to editor) for a few years now, and it's a dream. I can carry my configurations between machines with almost no setup. Every computer I use is the same. I find Windows and macOS painful to use. Constantly hunting around for applications I have open, that requires me to remove my fingers from my keyboard and play around with my mouse. I barely bother to use tabs for anyth…

I have to wonder if its even worth it sometime. Not really, I feel comfortable on my setup, but it really is impossible to use other people's computer now. Kinda like the Thinkpad mouse nipple.

Re: I3: Improved Tiling Window Manager

#213
I never really understood TWMs. They look incredibly pretty after heavy configuration, and I get the appeal of that, but for daily use my workflow - on two 27' 4k monitor - is to keep a window maximized on each and alt-tab through them when I need something else, which will replace one of the two maximized windows with its own. Occasionally I "tile" two windows side by side for comparisons etc, but that is disappearing now that one of my maximized windows is Emacs and the other is Vivaldi, both of which offer window splitting features for this use case. Does everyone using these WMs usually keep 3-4+ windows side by side on the same monitor? Don't you find it incredibly distracting?

Re: I3: Improved Tiling Window Manager

#214
post #66

I used to be all in on Apple. On macOS I had a little program called Magnet to snap windows to sides and corners, and on my iPad (with external keyboard) I SSH’d into a VPS to write and run code there. I used Alfred and had all kinds of workflows in there. I thought it was great. But then during my AI studies I wanted some beefier hardware, which was just not affordable for me within Apple’s ecosystem, plus they only…

I dont like Microsoft operating systems and wanted to try something different. I installed Linux. The installation process was very painful. Getting it to cooperate with the hardware was worse, and of course there is no real support. I finally got it halfway working. At that point, I found it was hard to learn, harder to get used to, and hardest to do anything useful since none of the programs were familiar.

Two days later the computer stopped working entirely and would not even boot. I spent hours fighting with it, tried to reinstall linux and it simply would not work. I removed the hard drive that linux was on, plugged back in my Windows hard drive, and could not make the computer boot up.

I finally took it to a computer repair place and was told the CPU was damaged, and there was damage to the RAM too. Total cost was more than I paid for the computer. I also took along the linux harddrive, and was told that the drive had permanent damage (a brand new drive). The repairman asked me what I was doing with these computers. As soon as I mentioned the word "Linux", he told me that's my problem. He said Linux destroys computer hardware, and said he wont even allow it in his shop. He said that simply installing a self booting Linux CD can wreck a computer in minutes. mostly destroying the CPU and drives. This is caused because Linux sends the wrong voltages to components and burns up the CPU and other chips. It also plays havoc with harddrives, and causes them to lose their ability to read and write data.

So, here I sit with around $1200 worth of damages and repair bills. (Not including many hours of wasted time). Since Linux is made by a bunch of computer geeks and idiots with no real business address, there is no one to sue. Both my computer repairman and lawyer said it's worthless to even try a lawsuit.

All I can do is warn others, to avoid Linux like a deadly disease. Dont even try it, unless you want to intentionally destroy your computer.

Re: I3: Improved Tiling Window Manager

#215
post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are you using as replacements for keyboard maestro and hazel?

These are exactly the type of silly applications that are needed on macOS because the OS too locked down, or at least not made for people who like to do this type of stuff. On Linux, almost all native applications keep their data in regular, non-proprietary files on the file system. This means your data always exists separate from the applications and you can do with it what you want. If you want to run a script ever…

I'm afraid that this comment makes me sad.

There was the opportunity to help someone make the switch from MacOS to Linux but instead it was used to call apps that the person probably likes "silly" and "clickity click". It's more interested in making a point than helping.

A wasted opportunity.

Re: I3: Improved Tiling Window Manager

#216
post #166
post #66

I used to be all in on Apple. On macOS I had a little program called Magnet to snap windows to sides and corners, and on my iPad (with external keyboard) I SSH’d into a VPS to write and run code there. I used Alfred and had all kinds of workflows in there. I thought it was great. But then during my AI studies I wanted some beefier hardware, which was just not affordable for me within Apple’s ecosystem, plus they only…

i3 aside, the continuation to your story for me is, use Linux machine, be decently productive but nothing works quite the way it should. Change your keyboard layout to one of your own? Eh maybe Xmodmaps, oh but then it gets reset every so often because $HISTORICAL_ARTIFACT. You have to change the actual xkb mapping, which is very much not a “happy path” in any DE. The only graphical e-mail client that actually seems…

For the keyboard layout, use a mechanical keyboard program it through qmk, loose 1 month adapting to it, and voila, problem solved.

Re: I3: Improved Tiling Window Manager

#217
post #66

I used to be all in on Apple. On macOS I had a little program called Magnet to snap windows to sides and corners, and on my iPad (with external keyboard) I SSH’d into a VPS to write and run code there. I used Alfred and had all kinds of workflows in there. I thought it was great. But then during my AI studies I wanted some beefier hardware, which was just not affordable for me within Apple’s ecosystem, plus they only…

This was more or less my path as well. I will never, ever forgive Apple for removing two-dimensional virtual desktops (I think they called it "spaces"). Then just to spite all of us, a few releases later they made it impossible for TotalSpaces (a hack that gave us back this functionality) to do the kernel code-injection wizardry that they sold for the incredible bargain price of $12 or something like that. Because, y…

This functionality does still exist - it's just changed a bit. When you full screen an app in MacOS Big Sur, you can add another app side by side with it in it's space.

It was better before as just spaces though. Windows does this right. If you add powertoys you can even go beyond the i3 tiling options but i'd argue i3 is a bit more naturally usable than the powertoys desktop stuff.

Re: I3: Improved Tiling Window Manager

#218
Those that love using i3/tiling managers - what does your workflow look like?

I used Amethyst https://github.com/ianyh/Amethyst an auto-tiler on the mac for quite some time but finally gave it up recently. I loved the auto-sizing but there were little niggles on the Mac e.g. some windows really needed to be floating and layout oddities when certain windows expected more width.

I tended to find I was mostly just using spaces to keep apps I was interested full screen and using the occasional split. I was just cmd/alt-tab'ing between apps most of the time. When I did have content in multiple windows it was then a faff to try and get the two windows I wanted in the same space. I didn't feel like I was making the most of it.

I've since gone back to SizeUp https://www.irradiatedsoftware.com/sizeup/ and manually move windows to where I want them.

I feel like I wasn't and perhaps I'm still not using it as effectively as I could though hence the question.

Re: I3: Improved Tiling Window Manager

#219

I never really understood TWMs. They look incredibly pretty after heavy configuration, and I get the appeal of that, but for daily use my workflow - on two 27' 4k monitor - is to keep a window maximized on each and alt-tab through them when I need something else, which will replace one of the two maximized windows with its own. Occasionally I "tile" two windows side by side for comparisons etc, but that is disappeari…

When I was using i3 I heavily took advantage of the robust Workspace feature. I would keep max three windows open, minus dialogs, and switch between Workspaces instead. Each Workspace would be organized into a given task like writing, browsing, or programming. Luckily this workflow migrates very easily to GNOME 3 and I’m quite happy with it there now. I learned this workflow from ChrisLAS of Jupiter Broadcasting (highly recommended their shows!)

Re: I3: Improved Tiling Window Manager

#220

I never really understood TWMs. They look incredibly pretty after heavy configuration, and I get the appeal of that, but for daily use my workflow - on two 27' 4k monitor - is to keep a window maximized on each and alt-tab through them when I need something else, which will replace one of the two maximized windows with its own. Occasionally I "tile" two windows side by side for comparisons etc, but that is disappeari…

It's a bit like vim.

There is a learning curve but once you've got it you feel like you can't go back.

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