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Why I Stick with the Linux Desktop

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Re: Why I Stick with the Linux Desktop

#41

Post by Siecje »

It would be nice if pasting with the middle click ignored the newline character.

I use always-on-top.exe[1] on windows

One feature I would really like is the ability to lock a window to a region of the screen and allow other windows to be snapped around it.

Firstly you should be able to snap a window into the four corners by pushing the mouse into the corner for x seconds. (like ctrl+alt+numpad 1, 3, 7, 9)

If you had a window locked to the right side of the screen you could still snap another window to 50% of what's left. And if you manually re sized it to be small be able to snap another window to be 50% of the screen space that is left after two windows have been locked.

If this is possible please let me know.

1: http://www.labnol.org/software/tutorials/keep-window-always-...

Re: Why I Stick with the Linux Desktop

#42

Post by buo »

baddox wrote: post #36
bluthru wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're not "stupid" and "piss-poor". Linear desktops are a huge usability win for a multitude of reasons: * It's spatially an easier mental model. * This mental model is consistent with iOS multitasking and iOS home screen. * It allows for simple gestures to switch between desktops. * In western society, we read from left to right. New is to the right. Fullscreen a new desktops are added to the right. * This also se…

> * It's spatially an easier mental model. This is the only point that really matters, and I think it's false. A square grid is a far easier mental model for me. Remembering if something else is above|below|to the left|to the right of where I am is way easier to remember and visualize than how many slots to the right or left something is.

I have four virtual desktops mapped to WinKey+{a,s,z,x}. I've used this scheme for so long that the keys are hardwired in my brain and I can switch desktops without even thinking about it. In particular, I don't care if the window manager organizes the desktops in a matrix or linearly, since I don't need a visual representation.

As an aside, my biggest gripe with Ubuntu is that they hard code the Win key to something else, which breaks my desktop switching habits.

Re: Why I Stick with the Linux Desktop

#43

Post by orthecreedence »

farresito wrote: post #26

I've been using Arch Linux for a little more than two years, and it's probably one of the best decisions I've made in my life. Once you get used to the terminal, you will never want to touch a Windows computer (unfortunately). I have i3wm (tiling wm) + (rxvt + tmux + vim) + luakit (browser with vim keybindings), and some other stuff, and my productivity went straight up. Of course you might not want to go to that ext…

I'd have to agree with your decisions. I'm on Slack, but almost the same setup: i3, tmux, urxvt, vim. The setup is unstoppable. I've found that I no longer need quick launch links (just define/use shortcuts for whatever you need). Switching desktops is really fast and easy (you don't drown in ridiculous animations just by switching to the "browser" desktop), and floating/hidden windows make opening a quick shell really simple. Doing everything via keyboard saves so much time...however I do come from the vim world, so I may be biased =]. On top of all that, i3's config is really, really easy.

Admittedly, I haven't used any other tiling window managers. I did a bunch of research after deciding to try one out, landed on i3, and haven't really looked back. Would definitely recommend it to an efficiency-minded person.

Also the simplicity of i3 is beautiful. Combine its minimal interface with a few shell windows with opacity=.85 and you've got an incredible looking desktop that's easy to navigate, responsive, and efficient. Even my not-very-tech-savvy girlfriend saw me working in it and said "Wow, that's pretty!"

Re: Why I Stick with the Linux Desktop

#44

Post by pinchyfingers »

- Package management

- Everything can be done via CL in case of emergency

- Switch terminals via F1, F2, F3... if the GUI terminal (F7) messes up

- Use whatever window manager I want with no hassle

- Most distros recognize hw and install drivers automatically (versus needing a rescue disk to install Windows)

- Develop apps locally using exact same environment used on server

- No worries about losing support for my hw (try installing Windows 8 or the latest OSX on an old machine)

- Option to show WiFi password (why the f can't you do this in windows?)

- Fingers crossed for more Steam games coming soon

Re: Why I Stick with the Linux Desktop

#46

Post by vezzy-fnord »

farresito wrote: post #26

I've been using Arch Linux for a little more than two years, and it's probably one of the best decisions I've made in my life. Once you get used to the terminal, you will never want to touch a Windows computer (unfortunately). I have i3wm (tiling wm) + (rxvt + tmux + vim) + luakit (browser with vim keybindings), and some other stuff, and my productivity went straight up. Of course you might not want to go to that ext…

Great choice. I use almost the same setup (on Slackware) except with uzbl as my browser (again a WebKit-based browser with vi keybindings) and dwm, although I alternate between WMs and DEs a lot.

The Unix way in general just feels so much more natural. There are alternative WMs and DEs for Windows too, though. I haven't tried any.

Re: Why I Stick with the Linux Desktop

#47

Post by vezzy-fnord »

ardemue wrote: post #15
yogo wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. pacman -Syu is a godsend. Of course that's just the face of a great package manager and packaging. In many ways on Arch you could make the argument that it just works.

It does not get any better than pacman for sure, but I'm pretty happy with apt-get update && apt-get upgrade :)

The best package manager on Linux I've ever used is Sorcery, although pacman is a close second.

I'm still partial to the *BSD way of ports, however.

Re: Why I Stick with the Linux Desktop

#48

Post by mattkrea »

kiallmacinnes wrote: post #21
buckbova wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My experiences . . . Things like setting up dual monitors used to be such a major pain (for me) or hardware support like for a bluetooth dongle. I had some problem with an intel chipset that kept crashing a laptop in 2005. I tried debian and suse varieties with no luck. I have a newer laptop with #! that works well now but I can't do things like VPN into my job because the software needs windows or mac. Basically thi…

> Things like setting up dual monitors used to be such a major pain (for me) or hardware support like for a bluetooth dongle. Dual monitors have got much easier over the last 3 or 4 years, at least on ATI. No clue about nVidia. .. and Intel graphics have always been rock solid on Linux. Before I got my 30" screen, I had 3x 19" spread over 3 different ATI cards. It worked like a charm once I allowed Ubuntu to auto-ins…

This is most of the case for me but unfortunately our company isn't going to rewrite internal systems just for me ;-)

Re: Why I Stick with the Linux Desktop

#49

Post by VeejayRampay »

bluthru wrote: post #30
VeejayRampay wrote: post #7

It's way too nice to Apple to call their piss-poor Spaces "Virtual Desktops". Call me when I can finally arrange them how I want (i.e. 2 rows, 2 columns) and not have them in line, which is stupid and inefficient. I'd also like a call when Apple finally implements maximize for windows. And don't get me wrong, I am a Mac user, just a highly frustrated one when I see people praising them as the second coming of the pro…

They're not "stupid" and "piss-poor". Linear desktops are a huge usability win for a multitude of reasons: * It's spatially an easier mental model. * This mental model is consistent with iOS multitasking and iOS home screen. * It allows for simple gestures to switch between desktops. * In western society, we read from left to right. New is to the right. Fullscreen a new desktops are added to the right. * This also se…

About all those nice bullet points: That's cool, but I'd like to be able to use a grid layout. I'm not looking for an argument or a lesson about the awesomeness of the Apple Way™. I just see people trying to accomodate their 9 Spaces and moving tediously from 9 to 1 and back, while pondering the "huge usability win" that is the linear desktop layout and that's when it hits me: "It'd be nice to have the option of using a grid layout, Linux has that, it's pretty nice".

Then I mention maximize and you tell me "it's not maximize, it's fit to content". Then again, that's all nice and dandy but if I wanted "fit to content" I guess I'd be already be satisfied and I wouldn't be complaining about it now, would I? Same for fullscreen, I'm sure you actually do understand the difference between maximize and fullscreen. I don't want fullscreen, I want maximize, a feature Mac OS X does not offer (except for a few apps like Terminal.app, which makes it not only an idiotic choice, but also inconsistent across the OS).

Re: Why I Stick with the Linux Desktop

#50

Post by VeejayRampay »

buo wrote: post #42
baddox wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> * It's spatially an easier mental model. This is the only point that really matters, and I think it's false. A square grid is a far easier mental model for me. Remembering if something else is above|below|to the left|to the right of where I am is way easier to remember and visualize than how many slots to the right or left something is.

I have four virtual desktops mapped to WinKey+{a,s,z,x}. I've used this scheme for so long that the keys are hardwired in my brain and I can switch desktops without even thinking about it. In particular, I don't care if the window manager organizes the desktops in a matrix or linearly, since I don't need a visual representation. As an aside, my biggest gripe with Ubuntu is that they hard code the Win key to something…

That's actually pretty cool. I'll use some variation of that using hjkl :)
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