Is there such a window manager?

renke · 2011-04-07 13:38:16

Hello,

for quite a time I am stuck with musca as my window manager; however, it is quite buggy and lacks certain features I'd like to have. Since I am used to manually arrange my windows (and I actually really like it), I search for more stable and feature-rich window manager, that offers a similar behavior.

What I expect from a window manager are the following features:

Manual tiling (like in musca) but also with the option to tile a workspace automatically (basic layouts suffice) whenever I am too lazy to arrange manually.

EWMH (probably not that important).

Spatial navigation (that is, using something like Mod+{h,j,k,l} to navigate in a 2-dimensional manner).

Configurable in a sane way (re-compile is ok, though; I don't like xmonad too much, because I can't speak Haskell).

Usable with external applications (like stalonetray, dzen, dmenu). It should also come with a way to display the active workspace (possibly clickable).

Mouse support for basic things like moving, resizing (possibly only for floating window).

First-class support for floating windows.

Multiple active workspaces (that is, show workspace 1 and 2 simultaneously); also show window on more than 1 workspace.

Decent support for multiple monitors.

Active development.

Free Software.

Any idea which window manager suits my needs? Is there even something that remotely fulfills all of my needs?

Regards,
Renke

Last edited by renke (2011-04-07 13:44:15)

Inxsible · 2011-04-07 13:56:15

Check out the wiki page for Comparison of Tiling Window Managers.

I use i3 and it seems to satisfy most if not all of your requirements. The only thing I am not sure about is your Multiple active workspace bit. i3 can handle the rest.

renke · 2011-04-07 14:20:56

wow, I actually read through the comparison, but I never noticed i3; from looking at their web site, it looks like viable solution to my request.

I will test i3 and report here afterwards.

Further suggestions are appreciated, though.

Army · 2011-04-07 14:57:12

Already mentioned, but I want to second it. I LOVE Musca, but it's also too buggy for me and lacks too many things. I tried many other tiling window managers, but the only one that made me stay is i3. I still prefer Musca's way to handle windows, but i3 is very stable, works perfect with problematic programs like gimp or easytag etc. It's the best choice for someone like you and me and Inxsible as well

archman-cro · 2011-04-07 16:31:42

I use i3, too. It's basically my first tiling wm, and I never had some big needs to switch to something else. i3 is simple, works good and has a nice config system. Do try it.

hellomynameisphil · 2011-04-07 17:46:16

i3 is great, but it has no EWMH support as far as I know. Just thought I'd mention that even though you say it's not that important. Still, I nth the recommendations for i3. It seems to come the closest to meeting your needs of all the window managers I have tried.

I am using xmonad right now, which does have EWMH support via an external module, and I am not a Haskell programmer by any means. I have set mine up so that it works in a way which is similar to manual tiling, but not exactly like Musca or i3. But if you don't want to code your own wm, as you essentially must with xmonad, then i3 is probably the way to go.

EDIT: I'm less sure about the lack of EWMH in i3 now that I've looked, but at any rate, I can't seem to get tint2 or wmctrl working with i3.

Last edited by hellomynameisphil (2011-04-07 22:23:56)

renke · 2011-04-08 15:18:51

Actually I thought about creating my own window manager, but I am not sure it is feasible in reasonable time; on the other hand though, it seems like you can create a window manager in under 2000 lines of code. With all of those free window manager there is a lot to learn of.

dolby · 2011-04-08 22:19:01

renke wrote:

it seems like you can create a window manager in under 2000 lines of code.

2000? Even 50 can suffice.

chris-kun · 2011-04-08 22:28:20

subtle ftw!

alterecco · 2011-04-09 01:14:07

awesome... just awesome

I have used it for a several years. Recently switched to openbox though (needs change). As a tiling wm I can really recommend it though.

Army · 2011-04-09 08:13:18

Does awesome have manual tiling? I highly doubt it! The OP is looking for a tiling window manager with specific capabilities. This threat is not supposed to be another list of existing tiling window managers.

renke · 2011-07-18 18:07:44

Hey guys,

a small update. Since I am not actually happy with the current manual tiling window managers, I am going to write my own in the course of my bachelor thesis about tiling window manager. Let me know if you want to see the current state of my window manager. I would be very happy to get some feedback that I could include in my bachelor thesis. Especially about my approach regarding semi-automatic tiling. Only manual tiling is implemented currently, but the semi-automatic part is about to come in the not too distant future.

Best regards,
Renke

MoonSwan · 2011-07-18 18:19:13

If you decide to look further perhaps ScrotWM would work for you? Good luck on your quest and writing a WM yourself.

renke · 2011-07-18 18:31:43

MoonSwan wrote:

If you decide to look further perhaps ScrotWM would work for you? Good luck on your quest and writing a WM yourself.

Part of my bachelor thesis is to look at available window managers and extract useful features that can be included in my window manager. ScrotWM is definitely on my list to consider.

Arch Linux

#1 2011-04-07 13:38:16

Is there such a window manager?

#2 2011-04-07 13:56:15

Re: Is there such a window manager?

#3 2011-04-07 14:20:56

Re: Is there such a window manager?

#4 2011-04-07 14:57:12

Re: Is there such a window manager?

#5 2011-04-07 16:31:42

Re: Is there such a window manager?

#6 2011-04-07 17:46:16

Re: Is there such a window manager?

#7 2011-04-08 15:18:51

Re: Is there such a window manager?

#8 2011-04-08 22:19:01

Re: Is there such a window manager?

#9 2011-04-08 22:28:20

Re: Is there such a window manager?

#10 2011-04-09 01:14:07

Re: Is there such a window manager?

#11 2011-04-09 08:13:18

Re: Is there such a window manager?

#12 2011-07-18 18:07:44

Re: Is there such a window manager?

#13 2011-07-18 18:19:13

Re: Is there such a window manager?

#14 2011-07-18 18:31:43

Re: Is there such a window manager?

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