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Show HN: I3wm Alt+Tab Workspace Switcher

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Re: Show HN: I3wm Alt+Tab Workspace Switcher

#51

Post by mo_42 »

vladvasiliu wrote: post #28
mo_42 wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> However, I hate using tabs in the browser, so thanks to a hacky extension, firefox opens a new window per tab, which means that i3 manages firefox' tabs as regular windows. Can you provide a bit more information about your setup? I'm using sway and I removed the tabs from Firefox to handle them as individual windows.

I don't have my machine on hand to give you the specific extension, but basically it's something called "notabs" or similar. Whenever a new tab is opened, it gets moved to a separate window. It works mostly OK, but it can sometimes get confused. I combine this with some custom chrome to completely hide the tab bar area at all times. Afterwards, I manage my firefox windows with i3 as I would any other window. They usu…

Thanks, I guess it would be the following extension:

https://addons.mozilla.org/de/firefox/addon/adsum-notabs/

For the custom chrome, I'm using in userChrome.css:

  #TabsToolbar { visibility: collapse !important; }

Re: Show HN: I3wm Alt+Tab Workspace Switcher

#53

Post by vladvasiliu »

mo_42 wrote: post #51
vladvasiliu wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't have my machine on hand to give you the specific extension, but basically it's something called "notabs" or similar. Whenever a new tab is opened, it gets moved to a separate window. It works mostly OK, but it can sometimes get confused. I combine this with some custom chrome to completely hide the tab bar area at all times. Afterwards, I manage my firefox windows with i3 as I would any other window. They usu…

Thanks, I guess it would be the following extension: https://addons.mozilla.org/de/firefox/addon/adsum-notabs/ For the custom chrome, I'm using in userChrome.css: #TabsToolbar { visibility: collapse !important; }

That's the one, yes.

Re: Show HN: I3wm Alt+Tab Workspace Switcher

#54

Post by quesera »

shric wrote: post #2

One big reason I use i3 is because I find the Windows and macOS style alt/cmd tab incredibly unintuitive. It is not easy to consistently predict how many times to press it to get the desired result. With i3 I bind keys to specific things (including workspaces) so I can switch instantly.

Alt+Tab (or at least Cmd+Tab) works very predictably though, doesn't it? Most-recently-used order.

My work habits generally involve switching back and forth between two applications. Sometimes three.

Cmd+Tab switching works well for that. More convenient than, e.g., Cmd+3 then Cmd+7 etc.

I also appreciate Firefox's Ctrl+Tab for tab switching, which works the same way.

Re: Show HN: I3wm Alt+Tab Workspace Switcher

#56

Post by linsomniac »

sigmonsays wrote: post #23

i'm curious about OPs point of processing visual queues faster than specific keystrokes. The default config for workspaces is 1 through 9. How is it possible that it's harder to recall a specific workspace than process a visual queue? None of that makes sense to me

So I'm working on something on workspace N, but I want to peek at a job or browser running on workspace 3, then go back to what I was doing. How do I get back to workspace N without going through "Was I on workspace 5? No, 2? No, 7? Ok, that's where I was."

I used to do this all the time when I was on a laptop as my primary machine, with many things either full screen windows or ~3 windows on the screen, and different tasks on different workspaces. "Back to last workspace" was something I used all the time.

Re: Show HN: I3wm Alt+Tab Workspace Switcher

#58

Post by MSFT_Edging »

wild_egg wrote: post #24
MSFT_Edging wrote: post #15

I've mostly moved away from i3, for XMonad where I have my workspace keys mapped to alt+qwer...zxcv in a waterfall pattern. That way workspace switching is always on one hand and I don't need to reach for the 10th workspace. On i3 though, I find myself scrolling through workspaces a lot, especially when I have a trackpoint available. It requires almost no precision to just throw the mouse to the bottom of the display…

I'm very new to i3 but could you not set up a similar set of keybinds with it? What does XMonad add for you? EDIT: I've just stolen this btw. I was never using the higher workspaces because $mod+number gets less convenient on higher numbers. This pattern works great though, thanks!

I think I was getting frustrated over how i3 handled it, its certainly possible, but I really liked how XMonad handled multiple mod keys in the config, as well as the dynamic tiling.

It was years ago at this point and i3 was giving me issues binding alt to one of the mods, while retaining super for other shortcuts. I've always been quick to get to get frustrated with config files so it was a nice off-ramp to learn something new.

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