Arch Linux

kox

Member

Registered: 2015-05-01

Posts: 149

Desktop environment inside a window?

I recently made a switch from Gnome to i3. So far, so good, but I feel like a desktop with icons and floating windows is something I must have. I'd like to have one workspace with desktop icons and floating windows and a taskbar to minimize them. I was thinking, is it possible to run a desktop environment (or stacking wm with a file manager desktop and taskbar) inside a window? This would solve my problem. One solution would be to run a virtual machine with a desktop environment and share files with it, but that would be a total overkill.

dockland

Member

From: Sweden

Registered: 2015-06-06

Posts: 861

Re: Desktop environment inside a window?

I recently made a switch from Gnome to i3. So far, so good, but I feel like a desktop with icons and floating windows is something I must have. I'd like to have one workspace with desktop icons and floating windows and a taskbar to minimize them. I was thinking, is it possible to run a desktop environment (or stacking wm with a file manager desktop and taskbar) inside a window? This would solve my problem. One solution would be to run a virtual machine with a desktop environment and share files with it, but that would be a total overkill.

Can't you combine i3 (tiling) with Xfce?

Last edited by dockland (2016-08-02 17:30:31)

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ewaller

Administrator

From: Pasadena, CA

Registered: 2009-07-13

Posts: 20,715

Re: Desktop environment inside a window?

You can, IIRC, run Wayland in an Xorg window.

But, How about this instead -- run two separate instances of Xorg.  Log in on console 1.  Start a session with your favorite tiling WM (i3, awesome, ...).  Then, hit Ctrl-Alt-F2.  Log in.  Start a session with your favorite floating environment ( Openbox, Xfce4, ...).
Done.  You want the tiling environment, hit Ctrl-Alt-F1.  Back to the floating environment, Ctrl-Alt-F2.  Want a third console? Ctrl-Alt-F3 and log in.

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kokoko3k

Member

Registered: 2008-11-14

Posts: 2,481

Re: Desktop environment inside a window?

There are also nested X display servers like Xephyr, i think it is the most advance one, but it still lacks some Xorg features.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Xephyr

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kox

Member

Registered: 2015-05-01

Posts: 149

Re: Desktop environment inside a window?

Thanks for suggestions. Xephyr seems to be exactly what I wanted. However I have one problem with it. Seems like I can't launch the same application in 2 displays at the same time. If I open pcmanfm on host first and then try to open it in a nested window, it will open again on host and vice verse,  If I open it in nested window, I won't be able to open it on host display. Any ideas how to fix it?

I3 has a floating mode, but it depends on application or is toggled by key combination. I googled whether it is possible to have every application opened from a workspace in floating mode, but it seems it isn't possible. But even if it was, there is no taskbar, no way to minimize them.

Last edited by kox (2016-08-02 20:27:07)

kokoko3k

Member

Registered: 2008-11-14

Posts: 2,481

Re: Desktop environment inside a window?

Are you sure? I just tried with pcmanfm and it opens multiple times on different X displays depending on the actual environment variable DISPLAY.

Xephyr :1 -screen 1024x768 & sleep 1 ; DISPLAY=:0.0 pcmanfm & sleep 1 ; DISPLAY=:1 openbox & sleep 1 ; DISPLAY=:1 pcmanfm

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