Re: tiling WMs suck (otaku), 01/03/2020
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There's a horrible article on the www about how tiling
window manager suck. You may read it here:
http://xahlee.info/linux/why_tiling_window_manager_sucks.html
I have no interest in arguing the points, as that has
already been done. What I have found interesting is trying
out this individual's suggestion for an alternative to
tiling window management. After all, they feel strongly
about it, so there might be something to what they've said.
You'd probably find, if you looked back, that I've written
about spectrwm and dwm. I used to use those, after learning
about them on gopher. I loved them, aside from some quirks.
It was from those two that I switched, to test out the
theory in the article above.
Summarized, the theory/suggestion in the article was that
you can use what the author calls a "basic, normal" window
manager to accomplish everything a tiling wm does, without
the annoyances that generally accompany a tiling wm.
The article suggests xfce, but that's too heavy to compare.
I chose to test out openbox/lxde. I could probably get away
with just openbox, but oh well.
The first thing I needed was some key bindings. I setup a
binding for dmenu, as well as bindings for switching virtual
desktops, removing window manager decorations, and
adjusting windows. My window adjustments let you toggle
fullscreen, half-screen (left/right), or quarter screen (any
quadrant). If anyone is interested in that rc file, it's not
a secret and I'd be happy to send it. I also setup bindings
for quickly starting a few other programs instantly, like
xterm.
When I sign in, I start up 3 xterms, remove their
decorations, and lay them out like this:
+---------------------------+------------------+
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
+ +------------------+
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
+---------------------------+------------------+
A common enough layout. Next, I switch to another virtual
desktop and start my email client, full screen with no
decorations. On to another virtual desktop for firefox, full
screen with no decorations (I'm required, for my client's
needs, to have a fat browser ready at any moment.)
I have 9 virtual desktops, and fill 3 of them immediately
when I login. These give me all I need for the most part,
but if I need more, I just switch to a new one and away I
go.
How does it compare? I would say this: I'm able to get the
layout that I want, and a workflow that stays out of my way.
I can get myself going without touching the mouse at all.
Resource usage is quite reasonable (and let's be honest,
most of us have more than enough computing resources to do
whatever we want these days.) And, I don't have to deal with
the tiling quirks that throw a wrench in things from time to
time. The result is a setup that isn't noticed, and I love
that.
Will I switch again? There's no doubt, as I switch operating
environments perennially out of boredom. That doesn't mean
that this way loses and that way wins, it's just a function
of who I am.
As for you... I don't know anything about you, but my
suggestion is, when you find someone who does things a
little differently, don't just write it off. Think about it,
maybe try it out. You might gain something in the process.
