Tiling window managers are great for power users and people who want to be efficient, but I haven’t been able to adjust my workflow to them. I’ve always preferred floating windows.
What are the modern options for Linux users today? Maybe 2023 is the year I finally adapt to tiling window manager way of doing things.
What is a tiling window manager? #
A tiling window manager is a type of window manager that automatically arranges windows on the screen in a tiled layout. This means that windows are never overlapped, and they always fill the entire screen.
Tiling window managers are often used by power users and developers, as they can help to improve productivity and efficiency. Let’s look at pros and cons of tiling window managers.
Pros
There are many benefits to using a tiling window manager, including:
- Increased productivity: Tiling window managers can help you to be more productive by making it easy to switch between windows and focus on the task at hand instead of taking hands away from the keyboard and using mouse.
- Improved efficiency: Tiling window managers can help you to work more efficiently by making it easy to organize your windows and keep them all visible at the same time.
- Reduced clutter: Tiling window managers can help to reduce clutter on your desktop by automatically arranging your windows in a neat and tidy layout.
- More control: Tiling window managers give you more control over how your windows are arranged on the screen. You can customize the layout to suit your own workflow, and you can also quickly and easily move and resize windows.
Cons
- Steep learning curve: Learning how to use tiling window manager can be difficult. Most of them require quite a bit of configuration just to be usable. This obviously depends on your needs, but my experience is that there are so many options and settings you could and perhaps even should configure that you might end up using way more time configuring your window manager than you anticipated.
- Configuration rabbit hole: Endless amount of flexibility and options may end up giving you the best user experience eventually, but before you reach that nirvana, there is a lot of work to be done.
- Lack of flexibility: When all your windows are tiled over root window, you lose flexibility which is needed for many of the modern day to day applications like web browsers, chat applications etc. You need to create rules which type of applications are allowed to create floating windows such as pop-ups and notifications. Some applications rely on the use floating windows heavily, good example of such program is Gimp.
Despite the downsides, tiling window managers can be a great way to improve your productivity and efficiency. If you are willing to put in the time to learn how to configure and use them, you may be rewarded with a more efficient and enjoyable workflow.
Popular tiling window managers for Linux #
There are many different tiling window managers available for Linux, but some of the most popular include:
- Xmonad: Xmonad is a tiny window manager written in Haskell. All configuration is done using Haskell which makes it bit more difficult to learn. Good option for power users.
- i3: i3 is a highly configurable and widely respected tiling window manager. It is known for its simplicity and speed.
- Sway: Sway is a tiling window manager that supports the Wayland X server. It is a drop-in replacement for the i3 window manager. Sway allows you to arrange your application windows logically rather than spatially.
- AwesomeWM: AwesomeWM is a very mature window manager with active development team.
Getting started with a tiling window manager #
- First you should try more user-friendly versions, i3 is good option if you want to get your feet wet.
- Read the documentation and learn basic shortcuts
- Create your own configuration and develop it based on your needs
- Start with a basic configuration and gradually add more features as you become more comfortable with the window manager.
- Don’t be afraid to ask for help from the community. There are many people online willing to help you if you just remember to ask 😀
- Use version control to manage your configuration files. This way, when you make a mistake, you can easily restore your configuration to a previous state.
Tips for using a tiling window manager
Here are some tips for using a tiling window manager:
- Learn the keyboard shortcuts: Tiling window managers are designed to be used with keyboard shortcuts. Learning the keyboard shortcuts will save you a lot of time and effort.
- Use multiple monitors: If you have multiple monitors, you can use a tiling window manager to arrange your windows across all of them. This can be a great way to improve your productivity by giving you more screen space to work with.
- Experiment with different layouts: Tiling window managers offer a variety of different layouts. Experiment with different layouts to find one that works best for you.
- Use a status bar: A status bar can be a helpful addition to a tiling window manager. It can display information such as the current time, the date, and the battery level.
Conclusion #
Tiling window managers can be a great way to improve your productivity and efficiency on Linux. If you are looking for a new way to manage your windows, I encourage you to give a tiling window manager a try.
I’ll be writing a follow-up post about my trial with Xmonad and my thoughts about that process.
Ok, that’s it. Hopefully you got something out of this and I’ll see you in next post.