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I3: Improved Tiling Window Manager

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Re: I3: Improved Tiling Window Manager

#231

Post by pjmlp »

stfwn wrote: post #160
pacifika wrote: post #153

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…

Scripting wasn't born on UNIX, and was quite widespread in any of the Xerox PARC workstation models.

And then there are those surviving mainframes.

So no, nothing special about GNU/Linux.

Re: I3: Improved Tiling Window Manager

#232

Post by simion314 »

nhumrich wrote: post #176
francis-io wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is kind of my story too. I stick with ubuntu LTS just for an added level of confidence things are compatible, but Arch might be a good idea to look into. The arch packages are a big plus. Do you find many compatibility issues?

I have found that a lot of people _think_ Ubuntu is safe/stable. But because the Linux kernel is a little behind, it usually isn't. I have had way more stability and compatibility with arch because everything is always up to date.

With Ubuntu you have the choice to install newer kernels and video drivers if you need it and you are competent enough to read instructions.

The advantage of stable distros is that you are not surprised with new bugs,feature removal or shiny redesigns.

When I needed a new driver to play some game I just installed an official PPA and got the driver and if I did not like it I could install the older version.

Re: I3: Improved Tiling Window Manager

#233

Post by fipar »

krebs_liebhaber wrote: post #214
stfwn wrote: 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…

Let me add my own anecdata: I've been running linux on machines since 1998, and I've never experienced a failure like the one you describe. In fact, the only hardware failures I've experienced have been external (usb) hard drives failing after a few years, and a laptop keyboard failing after someone spilled tea on it.

In terms of what the repairman told you, when I called Compaq's support to get help with the keyboard, once the person on the other side of the line heard me say I was running linux on it, he said "that's your problem". I had to reiterate that my problem was someone spilling tea on it, and that I had been running linux on this particular laptop for almost 2 years without any keyboard issues, thank you very much. In the end, Compaq told me they didn't have spare parts, and the keyboard started working again after letting the machine dry up for a few days (that was the last time I bought Compaq though!).

My point is: computer repair and tech support people are almost programmed to find out something that they're not responsible for and that could explain your problem. I don't hold it against them, I think it's a normal bias, but I would never take linux advise from a repair person, unless they work on a linux shop.

Re: I3: Improved Tiling Window Manager

#234

Post by skshetry »

activitypea wrote: post #227
siraben wrote: post #221

I've used i3 for several years[0], and it's one of my favorite window managers out there. I had a couple of failed attempts on Debian/Ubuntu but NixOS made it so easy to switch to i3 and use XFCE as the desktop environment, which is great when you want to use i3 but not worry about setting sleep settings/keybindings for volume and display, etc., so I recommend i3+xfce for anyone wanting to give i3 a try without inves…

any tips on getting i3 and xfce to work together?

This guide[1] is pretty extensive, a bit old but still works.

[1] https://feeblenerd.blogspot.com/2015/11/pretty-i3-with-xfce....

Re: I3: Improved Tiling Window Manager

#235

Post by cycomanic »

wenngle wrote: post #196
cycomanic wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I second sway! I have switched full-time from i3 sometime last year and haven't looked back. In my experience it's even more performant than i3 wayland has largely been a boon, except some odd programs that don't work even under x wayland (currently that's obs and meet.jit.si and zoom screen sharing) The only thing one needs to do is configure environment variables to start qt and gtk apps in wayland mode.

obs is a qt app. If you start it with -platform xcb it overrides the environment variable set to use wayland and uses x instead. It works fine for me with that change.

Yes, that's what I've been doing. However, somehow screen-recording and video overlays don't seem to work (I don't use it enough to really chase down what's going on).

Re: I3: Improved Tiling Window Manager

#236

Post by 098799 »

toxik wrote: post #166
stfwn wrote: 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…

Changing the xkb mapping is not a happy path? It's perfectly portable to any system running X11, you can define your own shortcuts to quickly switch maps with setxkbmap... It's a backbone of my workflow with a 60% keyboard.

Re: I3: Improved Tiling Window Manager

#237

Post by dhruvdh »

krebs_liebhaber wrote: post #214
stfwn wrote: 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…

Any computer repair shop that says "Linux destroys computer Hardware" and "not allowed in his Shop" is clearly trying to scam you.

Also, If the computer stopped working entirely and did not even boot how did you spend hours fighting it?

If you have a malfunctioning CPU/RAM it should not be possible for you to "try to reinstall linux". What would happen I think is failure to boot and your laptop playing a certain sound as a diagnostic message.

Either way, you should refrain from making comments like "avoid Linux like a deadly disease", clearly you've messed up the installation process. You could've just chosen a one-click install linux distribution.

If you don't know how to make a chair, don't try to make yourself one. And if you do don't blame the people that gave you the wood. It wasn't even sold to you, you grabbed some free wood.

Re: I3: Improved Tiling Window Manager

#238

Post by aap_ »

bitigchi wrote: post #27

Probably an unpopular opinion here, but I do not understand why people prefer tiling window managers. I prefer to have lots of windows open, and being able to position them how I want with the size I want greatly increases my productivity. Tiling window managers makes you conform to their way of working.

You're not alone. I'm also not a fan of tiling window managers. i tried to like them once but i just don't. I feel like tiling wms result in less chaos on the screen and that just doesn't work for me.

Re: I3: Improved Tiling Window Manager

#239

Post by [deleted] »

krebs_liebhaber wrote: post #214
stfwn wrote: 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…

[deleted]

Re: I3: Improved Tiling Window Manager

#240

Post by pmoriarty »

nicolapcweek94 wrote: post #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 disappeari…

I'm a heavy user of both i3 and emacs.

I would never use emacs as a window manager, because it's simply not stable enough for me -- it crashes and hangs quite a lot, and I have to restart it from time to time when I update my configuration and want to test it out from scratch, or when emacs get confused after running it for a long time.

i3, by contrast, has been 100% stable for me, and I almost never have to quit or restart it. So it's completely reliable, and I don't ever have to worry about it not working.

Regarding i3's config, it's really easy, and except for occasionally telling i3 the title of windows I'd like to float by default, I haven't touched my i3 config in decades.

As for how I use i3, I mostly have one full window taking up the entire screen, with other windows in the background, as tabs that I can switch to. That's 99% of my use. Occasionally I manually make a window float, when I want some odd-sized window or want it to overlap another window, and some windows I make float by default. These floating windows are all very temporary. Sometimes I'll also change my tiling configuration so that more than one window appears on the screen at the same time, but that's also pretty rare, but it's there when I want it.

Overall, I'm much happier with a tiling WM than with a floating WM, because with a tiling WM I don't have to manually fiddle with window resizing, stacking, or positioning. 99% of the time i3 just automatically does the right thing without requiring any interaction from me.

It would be nice to use emacs for this, but it's just not nearly stable enough or reliable enough for me.

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