i3 Window Manager - i3wm - Introduction to Tiling Windows - Chris Titus Tech
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Date: 2022-03-20
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Comments and reviews: 10
Peter
As Chris said, some of us already use keyboard shortcuts for anything. On a desktop I configure keyboard shortcuts to open programs, snap windows, switch to other virtual desktops, operate the music-player, change volume, I type the name of something in the start menu and press enter to open it if I rarely use it (instead of clicking), I open a document with Krun on KDE, I use virtual desktops (I love it)...
In Firefox I use shortcuts to move tabs to another position, switch to tabs, open tabs, close tabs, bookmark...
A thin line to window managers. On a desktop you can also write a Bash script which will automatically start everything for you to get something done. People who regularly reinstall the same OS or an OS from the same family (like Ubuntu or Arch) should probably write Bash scripts to automate the install of software, removal of software, edit some files...
(an example of the last, I always disable the OSD for the volume on KDE, unfortunatley KDE often recovers that functionality after an update so you keep changing that file)
For me the great thing about a tiling window-manager (not all window-managers use tiling, some use 'ordinary' windows which you can drag) is that it makes it easy to get windows opened in a fixed position with a fixed resolution and to get programs (or better put windows for those programs) opened on a fixed workspace and even a fixed monitor. If you use multiple monitors (developer) or 1 large monitor (1440p ultrawide, 4k) then especially this can be great.
Just my opinion on this.
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As Chris said, some of us already use keyboard shortcuts for anything. On a desktop I configure keyboard shortcuts to open programs, snap windows, switch to other virtual desktops, operate the music-player, change volume, I type the name of something in the start menu and press enter to open it if I rarely use it (instead of clicking), I open a document with Krun on KDE, I use virtual desktops (I love it)...
In Firefox I use shortcuts to move tabs to another position, switch to tabs, open tabs, close tabs, bookmark...
A thin line to window managers. On a desktop you can also write a Bash script which will automatically start everything for you to get something done. People who regularly reinstall the same OS or an OS from the same family (like Ubuntu or Arch) should probably write Bash scripts to automate the install of software, removal of software, edit some files...
(an example of the last, I always disable the OSD for the volume on KDE, unfortunatley KDE often recovers that functionality after an update so you keep changing that file)
For me the great thing about a tiling window-manager (not all window-managers use tiling, some use 'ordinary' windows which you can drag) is that it makes it easy to get windows opened in a fixed position with a fixed resolution and to get programs (or better put windows for those programs) opened on a fixed workspace and even a fixed monitor. If you use multiple monitors (developer) or 1 large monitor (1440p ultrawide, 4k) then especially this can be great.
Just my opinion on this.
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MaidLucy
both my main computer and especially my laptop are 90% i3 only computers. it's just so convenient to not have to reach to your mouse that often. and I felt exactly like you mentioned in the beginning of the video the first time switching back to gnome very often. but as time progresses there are some tweaks you do to your i3 configuration that make your life just so much easier that switching back to a normal window manager feels like a major hit in your workflow-speed. in my option i3 is best used with terminal applications: terminal file browser (ranger), terminal music player (mpd + ncmpcpp), terminal text editor (vim).
there is just this comfyness that nothing else can beat if you have configured it to your needs and that is because it is so highly customizable. if you know how to command line you're going to have very comfy time in i3.
that being said you might want to watch some of Luke Smith videos, he shows how comfy you can get using basically a window manager only and minimalist programs on his side.
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both my main computer and especially my laptop are 90% i3 only computers. it's just so convenient to not have to reach to your mouse that often. and I felt exactly like you mentioned in the beginning of the video the first time switching back to gnome very often. but as time progresses there are some tweaks you do to your i3 configuration that make your life just so much easier that switching back to a normal window manager feels like a major hit in your workflow-speed. in my option i3 is best used with terminal applications: terminal file browser (ranger), terminal music player (mpd + ncmpcpp), terminal text editor (vim).
there is just this comfyness that nothing else can beat if you have configured it to your needs and that is because it is so highly customizable. if you know how to command line you're going to have very comfy time in i3.
that being said you might want to watch some of Luke Smith videos, he shows how comfy you can get using basically a window manager only and minimalist programs on his side.
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Riseabove
Thanks for showing something that is not your cup of tea. I really like tiling window managers but at the same time they take awhile to really configure to your taste and workflow and I just don't have the time for it yet but one day I will. I've already tried many of them out there and got frustrated with configuring them.
One thing I noticed I always ran into an issue with is networking. Most of them had issues with connecting to Samba shares using the built-in file manager. That always became a show stopper for me. Some of them required different programs to access shares but they never worked.
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Thanks for showing something that is not your cup of tea. I really like tiling window managers but at the same time they take awhile to really configure to your taste and workflow and I just don't have the time for it yet but one day I will. I've already tried many of them out there and got frustrated with configuring them.
One thing I noticed I always ran into an issue with is networking. Most of them had issues with connecting to Samba shares using the built-in file manager. That always became a show stopper for me. Some of them required different programs to access shares but they never worked.
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kai
As much as I have played around with open box and i3 and gnome after 8 years of using Linux my personal preference is cinnamon with the places applet so I can make it look like gnome 2. I personally like cinnamons window manager (muffin) as it is very very configurable though the cinnamon desktop settings from effects timing to 3D cover flow alt-tab it is almost as good as the old compiz. If you want to try cinnamon in a rolling release manjaro cinnamon is really good there is also a good cinnamon fedora edition.
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As much as I have played around with open box and i3 and gnome after 8 years of using Linux my personal preference is cinnamon with the places applet so I can make it look like gnome 2. I personally like cinnamons window manager (muffin) as it is very very configurable though the cinnamon desktop settings from effects timing to 3D cover flow alt-tab it is almost as good as the old compiz. If you want to try cinnamon in a rolling release manjaro cinnamon is really good there is also a good cinnamon fedora edition.
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Njul
For me it was the opposite: I was absolutely not into keyboard shortcuts (still not) and only used GUI desktop environments. Then a few years ago, I switched to i3 and never went back. Loved it from the start, learned it very quickly. It's the easiest tiling window manager to learn and configure.
Actually, i3 is dynamic window manager, which means you can have floating windows just as much. Saying -floating windows are dead with i3- is wrong. It's best to have both when needed.
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For me it was the opposite: I was absolutely not into keyboard shortcuts (still not) and only used GUI desktop environments. Then a few years ago, I switched to i3 and never went back. Loved it from the start, learned it very quickly. It's the easiest tiling window manager to learn and configure.
Actually, i3 is dynamic window manager, which means you can have floating windows just as much. Saying -floating windows are dead with i3- is wrong. It's best to have both when needed.
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Joseph.
I love manjaro i3 because it has a pre-configured i3, but my laptop's sound card is split into 2 devices, if possible, could you do an alsamixer tutorial on how to change the configs? would help me a lot!
Most important thing i need to have is how to easily change the default sound card. My laptop keeps trying to output to HDMI but there's none so no sound plays and i could never figure out how to change the default
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I love manjaro i3 because it has a pre-configured i3, but my laptop's sound card is split into 2 devices, if possible, could you do an alsamixer tutorial on how to change the configs? would help me a lot!
Most important thing i need to have is how to easily change the default sound card. My laptop keeps trying to output to HDMI but there's none so no sound plays and i could never figure out how to change the default
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Budiman
You can make make i3 to look like a Desktop Environment actually. Just add a dock to the autostart application in the i3 config file, put a notification drawer in the i3-bar, configure some applications you want to float (like dialogs, notification, settings menu, etc). I made a video about my setup before, maybe you'll get an inspiration from it(ignore my ugly voice though) -
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You can make make i3 to look like a Desktop Environment actually. Just add a dock to the autostart application in the i3 config file, put a notification drawer in the i3-bar, configure some applications you want to float (like dialogs, notification, settings menu, etc). I made a video about my setup before, maybe you'll get an inspiration from it(ignore my ugly voice though) -
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James
Wow, how confusing, i -3 is not a Intel processor and windows is not Microsoft. We need new names!
To think back to the 1980's before we had mice or even a roller ball. How frustrating the keyboard has always been with just one missed key. I love my mouse and copy & paste! Talk about a regression I can't even get use to a touch screen. I don't want to go back to the 80's.
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Wow, how confusing, i -3 is not a Intel processor and windows is not Microsoft. We need new names!
To think back to the 1980's before we had mice or even a roller ball. How frustrating the keyboard has always been with just one missed key. I love my mouse and copy & paste! Talk about a regression I can't even get use to a touch screen. I don't want to go back to the 80's.
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GeneralHazerd
I just started using i3 when I write my blog (afternoonecon.com), it is amazing! I noticed I spent a lot of time split-screening with floating windows (word processor & browser) and after doing some minor mods to i3 I don-t think I-ll ever go back. I also don-t think I-ll ever use workspaces though, not my thing really...
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I just started using i3 when I write my blog (afternoonecon.com), it is amazing! I noticed I spent a lot of time split-screening with floating windows (word processor & browser) and after doing some minor mods to i3 I don-t think I-ll ever go back. I also don-t think I-ll ever use workspaces though, not my thing really...
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RWBimbie
I plug in more monitors.
Come on, its not like we dont all have a half dozen TVs and monitors that can do at least 720p or 1280+ res, and just about every gpu for the past 4 years has had multi monitor plugs. You can stack a pair of 17-20- on one side, and a 27- Portrait for reading stuff on the other side of a 48-tv main
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I plug in more monitors.
Come on, its not like we dont all have a half dozen TVs and monitors that can do at least 720p or 1280+ res, and just about every gpu for the past 4 years has had multi monitor plugs. You can stack a pair of 17-20- on one side, and a 27- Portrait for reading stuff on the other side of a 48-tv main
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