The Killer Feature Of Tiling Window Managers Isn't Tiling DistroTube
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Date: 2022-03-30
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Comments and reviews: 10
Carsten
You know some traditional WM's change -workspaces- (they have been called virtual desktops since the dawn of time so I'll use that term) per screen. each monitor can show a different virtual desktop and switch independently. Enlightenment has done it this way ever since it existed ... for about 25 years now. It also has a tiling module to tile windows on specific screens and virtual desktops so you can choose either traditional or tiling on a case by case basis. You can also get the ability to move your virtual desktops around and re-order them or move them from screen to screen. It also has lots of keyboard bindings by default and ability to customize etc. You also then get a full GUI config and all the bells and whistles (different backgrounds per screen and/or virtual desktop or the same, if you want animated gifs or video wallpapers, compositing) and all of this for a memory footprint lower than LXDE. So I'd say you are wrong. This is not a tiling WM thing. Enlightenment has done this for 25 years ... long before any tiling WM's existed. Maybe GNOME and KDE and so on don't do what you want ... but it's not traditional vs tiling.
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You know some traditional WM's change -workspaces- (they have been called virtual desktops since the dawn of time so I'll use that term) per screen. each monitor can show a different virtual desktop and switch independently. Enlightenment has done it this way ever since it existed ... for about 25 years now. It also has a tiling module to tile windows on specific screens and virtual desktops so you can choose either traditional or tiling on a case by case basis. You can also get the ability to move your virtual desktops around and re-order them or move them from screen to screen. It also has lots of keyboard bindings by default and ability to customize etc. You also then get a full GUI config and all the bells and whistles (different backgrounds per screen and/or virtual desktop or the same, if you want animated gifs or video wallpapers, compositing) and all of this for a memory footprint lower than LXDE. So I'd say you are wrong. This is not a tiling WM thing. Enlightenment has done this for 25 years ... long before any tiling WM's existed. Maybe GNOME and KDE and so on don't do what you want ... but it's not traditional vs tiling.
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Win-cius
Great video, I have tried i3 in the past without success
I have been using kde + krohnkite for 1 year now, I believe this is the dream workflow I was looking for
I have applications configured to launch on specific workplaces (like you said)
I can tile windows when needed, but I mostly use the monocle layout(which I configured to be the default)
I have a shortcut for each workspace so that I can switch really fast, I use at most 2 applications per workspace so it is easy to switch between them with alt + tab
I use rofi to quick launch scripts + a few other extensions like bitwarden, file-search
I have all the benefits from using kde, which is feature rich, polished and very configurable
I have configured kde to now show titlebars and use plasma-hud to access the menubar
I currently use only 1 monitor, but I have used 2+ monitors in the past and I'm still unable to see benefit from having monitor independent workspaces. I prefer to focus on one application at a time(with a few exceptions, where the krohnkite tiling layout is enough)
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Great video, I have tried i3 in the past without success
I have been using kde + krohnkite for 1 year now, I believe this is the dream workflow I was looking for
I have applications configured to launch on specific workplaces (like you said)
I can tile windows when needed, but I mostly use the monocle layout(which I configured to be the default)
I have a shortcut for each workspace so that I can switch really fast, I use at most 2 applications per workspace so it is easy to switch between them with alt + tab
I use rofi to quick launch scripts + a few other extensions like bitwarden, file-search
I have all the benefits from using kde, which is feature rich, polished and very configurable
I have configured kde to now show titlebars and use plasma-hud to access the menubar
I currently use only 1 monitor, but I have used 2+ monitors in the past and I'm still unable to see benefit from having monitor independent workspaces. I prefer to focus on one application at a time(with a few exceptions, where the krohnkite tiling layout is enough)
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itech
I like to use my computer in such a way that I don't want to think about HOW to do a thing, so when I pop a window I don't want to have to move it around and put it in place, with tilling WM I launch a window and is tiled, I can then, with a single shortcut, either tab it or untab it, its fast and way more straighforward. I use i3wm, I haven't used any other WM or tried any other because with i3wm I get everything I want without having to think about how I want it, all my keybinds are custom to be the most ergonomical around the most used ones and also around vim keybindings so I don't have to think about it, status bars are lean and only show the information I really need so that I can worry, at all times, only with the task I'm performing, and tbh, I don't really use workspaces, sometimes if I leave my computer on for multiple overnights because I'm working on personnal projects and also having to work on the work projects I might have multiple workspaces, but other than that I just work with i3wm trees and containers
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I like to use my computer in such a way that I don't want to think about HOW to do a thing, so when I pop a window I don't want to have to move it around and put it in place, with tilling WM I launch a window and is tiled, I can then, with a single shortcut, either tab it or untab it, its fast and way more straighforward. I use i3wm, I haven't used any other WM or tried any other because with i3wm I get everything I want without having to think about how I want it, all my keybinds are custom to be the most ergonomical around the most used ones and also around vim keybindings so I don't have to think about it, status bars are lean and only show the information I really need so that I can worry, at all times, only with the task I'm performing, and tbh, I don't really use workspaces, sometimes if I leave my computer on for multiple overnights because I'm working on personnal projects and also having to work on the work projects I might have multiple workspaces, but other than that I just work with i3wm trees and containers
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Scott
This was vey interesting, but for me really opened up more questions than it answered. I thought this would be about screen and tmux - it's clearly something a lot bigger and closer to the metal, and I can see the utility from workspaces attached via rules to windows configurations, including monitor assignment.
1) What tiling window managers do you recommend/use?
2) I want minimal fuss and muss - I don't want to spend my life polishing .config and .bashrc files. I mostly work with Ubuntu for work, and ripping out the current windows manager would be a no-no - others have to be able to use the machine as well. Is it possible to switch between windows managers easily? Other than Regolith (which isn't even listed on the Arch tiling windows manager page), can you recommend a preconfigured tiling window manager for Ubuntu?
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This was vey interesting, but for me really opened up more questions than it answered. I thought this would be about screen and tmux - it's clearly something a lot bigger and closer to the metal, and I can see the utility from workspaces attached via rules to windows configurations, including monitor assignment.
1) What tiling window managers do you recommend/use?
2) I want minimal fuss and muss - I don't want to spend my life polishing .config and .bashrc files. I mostly work with Ubuntu for work, and ripping out the current windows manager would be a no-no - others have to be able to use the machine as well. Is it possible to switch between windows managers easily? Other than Regolith (which isn't even listed on the Arch tiling windows manager page), can you recommend a preconfigured tiling window manager for Ubuntu?
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Nuclear's
I don't see why this feature couldn't be supported on a regular reparenting window manager. And in fact it baffles me that it isn't more widely supported. I used to have this flexibility in choosing workspaces for each monitor a long time ago by configuring each monitor as a separate X screen, and it was glorious. I compromised and use a single X screen nowadays because being able to move windows between screens is also useful. I try to make do by pinning some windows to all desktops, and having easy to use shortcuts for moving windows to specific desktops, but I really miss this separate desktop per monitor flexibility. I wonder what it would take to implement this in an existing regular window manager. It can't be that hard.
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I don't see why this feature couldn't be supported on a regular reparenting window manager. And in fact it baffles me that it isn't more widely supported. I used to have this flexibility in choosing workspaces for each monitor a long time ago by configuring each monitor as a separate X screen, and it was glorious. I compromised and use a single X screen nowadays because being able to move windows between screens is also useful. I try to make do by pinning some windows to all desktops, and having easy to use shortcuts for moving windows to specific desktops, but I really miss this separate desktop per monitor flexibility. I wonder what it would take to implement this in an existing regular window manager. It can't be that hard.
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sd4033
I use 4 monitors. I have in the past tried out QTile and Awesome on account of DT's videos. It was exactly this workspace feature that I was having trouble wrapping my head around. And, between QT and Awesome, they seemed (to me) to be doing it differently. Ultimately, I love KDE Plasma. But I maybe I should try the WM one more time and see if I can get used to the workspaces. I understand the value (I think), but it was too much random key pressing to try to get the window I wanted on to the monitor I wanted it on. The mouse is slower yes, but there's no guess work, so in reality for me it is faster.
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I use 4 monitors. I have in the past tried out QTile and Awesome on account of DT's videos. It was exactly this workspace feature that I was having trouble wrapping my head around. And, between QT and Awesome, they seemed (to me) to be doing it differently. Ultimately, I love KDE Plasma. But I maybe I should try the WM one more time and see if I can get used to the workspaces. I understand the value (I think), but it was too much random key pressing to try to get the window I wanted on to the monitor I wanted it on. The mouse is slower yes, but there's no guess work, so in reality for me it is faster.
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Ju
Hey DT, I switched to Xmonad about a year ago thanks to your great videos!
It really made me so much more productive. Tiling window managers are so much better:
- no wasted screen space
- everything is visible, no hidden window behind another
- no clicking around to close or open programs
- no desktop icons (never wanted them, and it gets messy real fast)
- also moving any program to any desktop is super easy (at least in Xmonad)
- there isn't anything on screen that I don't need and can't remove
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Hey DT, I switched to Xmonad about a year ago thanks to your great videos!
It really made me so much more productive. Tiling window managers are so much better:
- no wasted screen space
- everything is visible, no hidden window behind another
- no clicking around to close or open programs
- no desktop icons (never wanted them, and it gets messy real fast)
- also moving any program to any desktop is super easy (at least in Xmonad)
- there isn't anything on screen that I don't need and can't remove
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Daniel
That is a good point, but I think the reason that the multiple monitors can be on independent workspaces is for tiling window managers to place the windows in the correct layout on the screen. That would not work correctly if all the monitors were logically one screen in X windows. I respectfully disagree that it is a function of the window manager. I believe that is a function of the display server.
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That is a good point, but I think the reason that the multiple monitors can be on independent workspaces is for tiling window managers to place the windows in the correct layout on the screen. That would not work correctly if all the monitors were logically one screen in X windows. I respectfully disagree that it is a function of the window manager. I believe that is a function of the display server.
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The
I agree about workspaces on tiling window managers. 2bwm which is still alpha is dominated by keyboard shortcuts but it's super minimal. It has the workspaces. I'd say check it out. I built it from source on Debian I haven't played with it on arch yet but it has some unique features. I'm still stuck on Spectrwm and DWM. But I also live in Motif Window Manager which is basic but awesome.
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I agree about workspaces on tiling window managers. 2bwm which is still alpha is dominated by keyboard shortcuts but it's super minimal. It has the workspaces. I'd say check it out. I built it from source on Debian I haven't played with it on arch yet but it has some unique features. I'm still stuck on Spectrwm and DWM. But I also live in Motif Window Manager which is basic but awesome.
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Posi+ive
When I switched to i3-gaps from LXDE, I liked tiling window manager when I first used it and i feel like I'm doing my work better. And then after a while of using i3, i switched over to dwm and i liked it even more. The fact that u can add / remove features from the source code and recompiling it is very cool. Big ups to the suckless team!
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When I switched to i3-gaps from LXDE, I liked tiling window manager when I first used it and i feel like I'm doing my work better. And then after a while of using i3, i switched over to dwm and i liked it even more. The fact that u can add / remove features from the source code and recompiling it is very cool. Big ups to the suckless team!
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