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#1 2009-10-03 17:03:45

m_ad
Member
Registered: 2009-09-24
Posts: 36

Opinion: Best Netbook WM?

Just wondering what different opinions are out there; what's the best window manager for a netbook?

In my case, specifically a Lenovo S12: 1GB Ram, 1.6GHz Atom, Integrated VGA.

I was thinking about going with a tiling WM, such as awesome, wmii, ion3 or dwm. However, I've never used a tiling WM.

I use the netbook primarily for web browsing and java programming in vim (I'm a student). Any opinions would be great!

Thanks.

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#2 2009-10-03 17:20:52

Lich
Member
Registered: 2009-09-13
Posts: 437

Re: Opinion: Best Netbook WM?

If that's all you do then a tiling WM is a good choice(out of your 3 names I'd go with ion3..nothing beats manual tiling + tabbing)
If you want to go with a more traditional WM, I suggest you try Fluxbox. Used it for years and I still find it to be one of the best non-tilers out there. It's small, customizable, has a bar and systray, has virtual desktops, has per app settings, even some basic "special effects"...it has all that you want from a non tiling WM, and all this without memory hogging.
ps: oh it also has the slit, which allows you to use WindowMaker dockapps, and some of those simply rule.

Last edited by Lich (2009-10-03 17:21:33)


Archlinux | ratpoison + evilwm | urxvtc | tmux

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#3 2009-10-03 17:21:05

scio
Member
From: Buffalo, NY
Registered: 2008-08-05
Posts: 366

Re: Opinion: Best Netbook WM?

I agree, tiling WMs are great for netbooks.  My Eee 1000HE is currently running awesome and it is great!  Was running kdemod before that which works just as well, but I found myself always using full screen or splitting vim windows when needed.  Also, I tend to use screens (workspaces) more often with tiling WMs which also greatly helps.

So, my vote is awesome.  I know there will be a flood of xmonad users incoming since it appears to be the flavor of the week, but almost all tiling WMs are very similar and will all work great.  The big plus for awesome is that almost everything can also be done with the mouse if you need it which makes transitioning easy.

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#4 2009-10-03 17:23:40

m_ad
Member
Registered: 2009-09-24
Posts: 36

Re: Opinion: Best Netbook WM?

Thanks for the input.

What is the easiest tiling WM to customize?

I use openbox on another laptop, which I love. What's the difference in memory/cpu usage from Openbox, to a small tiling WM like awesome or ion3?

Last edited by m_ad (2009-10-03 17:25:40)

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#5 2009-10-03 18:09:51

Lich
Member
Registered: 2009-09-13
Posts: 437

Re: Opinion: Best Netbook WM?

awesome and ion3 aren't necesarelly "smaller" wm's (than openbox), They just do things diferently. They're all in the "light" class. If you want something like Openbox but without the need to modify tons of configs, take my advice about Fluxbox, seriously... They all use about the same memory, it all depends on what applications you have running, since those are the real memory hogs. The wm's themselves don't need much cpu or ram to draw decorations and panels..., so it all boils down to what you want your wm to look like.

Last edited by Lich (2009-10-03 18:10:22)


Archlinux | ratpoison + evilwm | urxvtc | tmux

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#6 2009-10-03 18:50:06

m_ad
Member
Registered: 2009-09-24
Posts: 36

Re: Opinion: Best Netbook WM?

Cool, thanks. I'm gonna go with a tiling WM for two reasons. 1) Screen space and 2) I'm always using multiple terminal emulators smile.

Thanks for the input.

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#7 2009-10-03 19:14:59

Lich
Member
Registered: 2009-09-13
Posts: 437

Re: Opinion: Best Netbook WM?

m_ad wrote:

2) I'm always using multiple terminal emulators smile.

Use GNU screen smile


Archlinux | ratpoison + evilwm | urxvtc | tmux

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#8 2009-10-03 19:22:58

Runiq
Member
From: Germany
Registered: 2008-10-29
Posts: 1,053

Re: Opinion: Best Netbook WM?

Lich wrote:
m_ad wrote:

2) I'm always using multiple terminal emulators smile.

Use GNU screen smile

Or a tabbable (is that even a word?) terminal emulator, like urxvt-tabbed.

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#9 2009-10-03 20:44:51

Berticus
Member
Registered: 2008-06-11
Posts: 731

Re: Opinion: Best Netbook WM?

ratpoison is also a great option. Ion3 I would only suggest if you're going to be floating things. However, if you're sticking strictly to tiling, no reason not to go with ratpoison.

Runiq wrote:

Or a tabbable (is that even a word?) terminal emulator, like urxvt-tabbed.

Because urxvt-tabbed doesn't support transparency?

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#10 2009-10-03 20:56:11

Lich
Member
Registered: 2009-09-13
Posts: 437

Re: Opinion: Best Netbook WM?

Berticus wrote:

ratpoison is also a great option. Ion3 I would only suggest if you're going to be floating things. However, if you're sticking strictly to tiling, no reason not to go with ratpoison.

Runiq wrote:

Or a tabbable (is that even a word?) terminal emulator, like urxvt-tabbed.

Because urxvt-tabbed doesn't support transparency?

True, but I gave up on recomending Ratpoison to new tiling users...it's kind of a steep change from normal WM's (not the case if you're accustomed to GNU Screen smile )


Archlinux | ratpoison + evilwm | urxvtc | tmux

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#11 2009-10-04 00:09:19

linkmaster03
Member
Registered: 2008-12-27
Posts: 269

Re: Opinion: Best Netbook WM?

+1 to using a tiling WM on a netbook. You need all the screen real estate you can get.

You should just try out a few difference tiling WMs to see which one you like the best. Every tiling WM is the best to someone. The first one I tried was musca. I didn't like it because it seemed pointless to have to manually make frames and change windows between them and stuff. Next, I tried dwm, because it had automatic tiling. I've been using dwm for about three months now. Even though it is very light, and has frustrated me with patches, it is nice now that I have everything the way I like it.

Just experiment.

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#12 2009-10-04 02:12:24

iphitus
Forum Fellow
From: Melbourne, Australia
Registered: 2004-10-09
Posts: 4,927

Re: Opinion: Best Netbook WM?

echinus is really nice on a netbook.

Otherwise a floating wm with a good set of kb shortcuts also works great.

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#13 2009-10-04 05:34:47

*david_a*
Member
Registered: 2009-06-19
Posts: 80

Re: Opinion: Best Netbook WM?

In the end, you will try more than one. You will go with the one that feels better to you, for whatever reason - works like you wanted, easy to customize, whatever. Each WM has its advantages and disadvantages.

Considering the exact workload you have listed, it almost doesn't matter. Your needs are straightforward, so just use any window manager that seems good to you, and isn't confusing, crashing, or otherwise wasting your time. Obviously you want something that doesn't waste screen space either, but they're all pretty much fine that way too.

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#14 2009-10-05 15:59:15

Mr.Elendig
#archlinux@freenode channel op
From: The intertubes
Registered: 2004-11-07
Posts: 4,092

Re: Opinion: Best Netbook WM?

Imo xmonad is excelent for netbooks. Mainly because it's so (easily) configurable when it comes to layouts.


Evil #archlinux@libera.chat channel op and general support dude.
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#15 2009-10-05 16:23:00

madalu
Member
Registered: 2009-05-05
Posts: 217

Re: Opinion: Best Netbook WM?

FWIW, I use openbox and make heavy use of full screen and GrowToEdge keyboard shortcuts. For me, it's less fussy than a tiling WM, but that's just me.

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#16 2009-10-05 17:53:43

JonathanArcher
Member
From: San Francisco
Registered: 2008-11-12
Posts: 108

Re: Opinion: Best Netbook WM?

As I am thinking about getting a netbook beginning of next year, I also started to think about such stuff.

Now I am a bit surprised that so many people would prefer a tiling WM on such a small screen. I mean would you really have three or four windows open simultaneously? I can understand having every application maximized, but how are tiling WMs better on this part than any other WM?

Also, what about the Moblin interface? I saw a thread here where some people have packages in AUR for it, is it still buggy and how good is it?

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#17 2009-10-05 18:16:49

Mr.Elendig
#archlinux@freenode channel op
From: The intertubes
Registered: 2004-11-07
Posts: 4,092

Re: Opinion: Best Netbook WM?

JonathanArcher wrote:

As I am thinking about getting a netbook beginning of next year, I also started to think about such stuff.

Now I am a bit surprised that so many people would prefer a tiling WM on such a small screen. I mean would you really have three or four windows open simultaneously? I can understand having every application maximized, but how are tiling WMs better on this part than any other WM?

Also, what about the Moblin interface? I saw a thread here where some people have packages in AUR for it, is it still buggy and how good is it?

Eg xmonad has several layouts that works nicely on small screens, including tabbed, zooming, rollodex and similar.


Evil #archlinux@libera.chat channel op and general support dude.
. files on github, Screenshots, Random pics and the rest

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#18 2009-10-05 18:30:04

scio
Member
From: Buffalo, NY
Registered: 2008-08-05
Posts: 366

Re: Opinion: Best Netbook WM?

JonathanArcher wrote:

Now I am a bit surprised that so many people would prefer a tiling WM on such a small screen. I mean would you really have three or four windows open simultaneously? I can understand having every application maximized, but how are tiling WMs better on this part than any other WM?

Also, what about the Moblin interface? I saw a thread here where some people have packages in AUR for it, is it still buggy and how good is it?

I had the same feelings about a tiling WM on a netbook when I first got mine.  After using it for a while, I realized for some activities all I used was a fullscreen program but when editing config files and such, I had multiple terminals open.  Tiling WMs make it easy to do this with no other window decorations, but it can also easily be done with almost every other WM.

I have moblin on my flash drive to play with, the full moblin image is fantastic, the moblin overlay over arch seems to still need work.

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#19 2009-10-05 19:01:14

Zshazz
Member
Registered: 2009-10-05
Posts: 6

Re: Opinion: Best Netbook WM?

I use xmonad on my desktop, but I did help my friend install it on his netbook. IMO, that's a great WM for a netbook... where the default xfwm left things nearly impossible to use (because you'd have to keep grabbing the window and moving it around to use some windows... which refuse to resize down any more), the decoration-less windows along with the automatic tiling made it much better to use.

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#20 2009-10-05 19:07:45

Inxsible
Forum Fellow
From: Chicago
Registered: 2008-06-09
Posts: 9,183

Re: Opinion: Best Netbook WM?

I didn't read the entire thread, so I don't know if someone else mentioned it. But try out musca. I use it all the time and although i still have openbox installed, I haven't logged into openbox in almost a year now.

Its really easy to configure as well. I love it because you can use it with the keyboard, but you still have the ability to use the mouse if you really want to. So I think its great for ppl, like yourself, who have never used tiling wms. I, now, mostly use only the keyboard, but I know it was difficult initially so I did prefer to be able to use the mouse in some instances when I needed to get something done quickly. The other good thing is that you can configure your tiles manually and not have to depend on main+3 rows (like dwm) gives or use a bazillion patches to get the screen the way you want it. Just configure it once in the config file and you are done !

Last edited by Inxsible (2009-10-05 19:19:12)


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#21 2009-10-06 02:09:46

moose jaw
Member
From: Milwaukee
Registered: 2007-08-20
Posts: 104

Re: Opinion: Best Netbook WM?

I'll chime in with a vote for wmii.  I've been using it on my Samsung NC10 for the past few weeks and really enjoying it.  I had a good experience with Xmonad, too.  I've found wmii's defaults to be the nicest (I'm lazy), and its configuration to be the most straightforward (again, lazy), at least compared to Xmonad and Awesome, though this comes at the cost of some flexibility.  I really like wmii's stacking mode, which I find very helpful for writing LaTeX, keeping Emacs and a PDF viewer open in the same workspace without having them crowd each other out.  Not that this task can't be accomplished by other means or in other WM's, I just like wmii.  As others have said, try a bunch and see what you like.  Having used KDE 4.3 on the netbook as well, I definitely think a tiling WM, with full keyboard control, is the way to go with such a small screen and tiny trackpad.

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#22 2009-10-06 02:41:17

arunix
Member
From: /home/kurali
Registered: 2009-04-08
Posts: 93

Re: Opinion: Best Netbook WM?

'xfce' is the good wm it takes less memory.i used it on mine  PC not on the notebook.
but acording to your HD-config it work's fine.

Last edited by arunix (2009-10-06 02:41:38)


Minds are like parachutes. They only function when they are open.

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#23 2009-10-06 02:51:30

userlander
Member
Registered: 2008-08-23
Posts: 413

Re: Opinion: Best Netbook WM?

moose jaw wrote:

I'll chime in with a vote for wmii.  I've been using it on my Samsung NC10 for the past few weeks and really enjoying it.  I had a good experience with Xmonad, too.  I've found wmii's defaults to be the nicest (I'm lazy), and its configuration to be the most straightforward (again, lazy), at least compared to Xmonad and Awesome, though this comes at the cost of some flexibility.  I really like wmii's stacking mode, which I find very helpful for writing LaTeX, keeping Emacs and a PDF viewer open in the same workspace without having them crowd each other out.  Not that this task can't be accomplished by other means or in other WM's, I just like wmii.  As others have said, try a bunch and see what you like.  Having used KDE 4.3 on the netbook as well, I definitely think a tiling WM, with full keyboard control, is the way to go with such a small screen and tiny trackpad.

I agree with all of that about wmii. With my small experience with tilers so far, wmii seemed the most straightforward and even intuitive.

If you try the tilers and decide you don't like them (there *is* a learning curve), I'll just put a plug in for openbox. One of the best WMs ever, imho, and *very* light. I found the relatively slow speed of opening terminals kind of annoying in the tilers (though maybe that is a configuration in my .Xdefaults or something). It's like there was a lag between when the window opened and the text showed up. Again, might have been .Xdefaults or something, but it doesn't do that in OB at all.

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#24 2009-10-06 03:15:57

m_ad
Member
Registered: 2009-09-24
Posts: 36

Re: Opinion: Best Netbook WM?

Thanks everyone, for the input. I appreciate all the feedback.

For the record, I love openbox also. However, I thought I would benefit from a tiling WM because, when working with multiple vim windows while reading a website, I find myself lost sometimes ("now, which vim was Graph.java?"). I would definitely install openbox if it didn't work out, but I think I'm gonna try a tiling WM.

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#25 2009-10-06 03:16:25

jasonwryan
Anarchist
From: .nz
Registered: 2009-05-09
Posts: 30,424
Website

Re: Opinion: Best Netbook WM?

Openbox. Light, configurable (maximized windows with no decoration) and, if you have your heart set on tiling -although on a 10" screen I don't really see the point- you can always use PyTile:

http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=78666


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