• From: inside Ed
  • Registered: 2011-07-25
  • Posts: 2,865

Re: Explain your desktop interface configuration

josephg wrote:

recently, replaced screen with tmux. thinking of trying scrotwm, but haven't had the time to rtfm and can't understand the def keybinds. could do with some starter tips.

cp the config file from /etc to  $HOME. Change the Mod key from Mod1 (Alt) to Mod4 (Meta). Then it's very vim-like. Meta + jk for cycling through windows. Meta + hl to resize the master area (left half of the screen). Meta + p for dmenu. Meta + 0-9 for cycling through workspaces, or Meta + left and right for cycling thorugh workspaces with active windows.

The config file is pretty much self explanatory as far as the rest goes. I prefer it to ratpoison, it supports the mouse just fine, even though there's no root menu and stuff.

http://crunchbanglinux.org/forums/topic … h-scrotwm/

Last edited by el_koraco (2011-11-10 13:54:21)

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  • From: Surrey, England.
  • Registered: 2011-10-24
  • Posts: 12

Re: Explain your desktop interface configuration

ErSandro wrote:

@josephg: You can also give a shot to musca, very similar to ratpoison, but more flexible. Love 'em both.

i can't find musca in the debian-testing repos. i first heard about it from kmandla, and wanted to try it. but, i don't install anything not in debian repos. ratpoison seems to be more than enough for me.

i only move to another package, if it is smaller, leaner and more efficient than what i currently use.

Last edited by josephg (2011-11-10 14:15:29)

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  • From: Japan
  • Registered: 2011-04-09
  • Posts: 474

Re: Explain your desktop interface configuration

I'm already glad I started this thread.  Learned tons of stuff.  My panel-less openbox session has proved very effective for writing Nanowrimo, I'm back on target and even a few words ahead of schedule today!  Though I end up writing in pyroom (themeable distraction-free text editor)and go to someplace with a power outlet and no wifi... complete distraction removal.

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  • Registered: 2009-09-19
  • Posts: 108

Re: Explain your desktop interface configuration

josephg wrote:
ErSandro wrote:

@josephg: You can also give a shot to musca, very similar to ratpoison, but more flexible. Love 'em both.

i can't find musca in the debian-testing repos. i first heard about it from kmandla, and wanted to try it. but, i don't install anything not in debian repos. ratpoison seems to be more than enough for me.

i only move to another package, if it is smaller, leaner and more efficient than what i currently use.

Yes, you have to compile musca by yourself (it's very simple, the binary is really small).

But really, the ratpoisn and musca experiences are very similar, so if you want to install only software in repos just stick with the mouse killer wink

I suggest you to give a look to the SalixOs .ratpoisonrc, very inspiring indeed.

I use musca and tmux, no panels or status bars (my laptop has a small screen, 12') but some script launched via cron to notify events through twmn (new mails, new feeds, etc..).

My session starts with a tmux instance inside urxvt. Almost everything is managed through custom keybindings.

The softwares i use the most are: ranger (cli file manager), newsbeuter (cli feed aggregator), uzbl (web browser), MOC and mplayer.

I use a couple of scripts and shell functions to mount/unmount remote filesystems (I use sshfs) and to launch youtube-dl (I did not install flash).

Just a little trick to stream videos from youtube without flash:

$ mplayer `youtube-dl -f 35 -g videourl`

-f 35 sets the video quality to 480p FLV (my laptop processor is a centrino M and cannot manage hi-res videos. By default youtube-dl gets the video at the best available quality)

-g tells to youtube-dl to retrieve the video url without downloading it.

Just substitute videourl, it works with a lot of sites (at least youtube, vimeo and blip.tv that are the ones i'm interested in)

Almost forgot, the base is a clean Arch install.

This configuration gives me a very fast system with an old processor (1.4 Ghz Centrino M) and 512 mb of RAM.

  • From: Surrey, England.
  • Registered: 2011-10-24
  • Posts: 12

Re: Explain your desktop interface configuration

ErSandro wrote:

Yes, you have to compile musca by yourself (it's very simple, the binary is really small).

yes, so i heard, and why i wanted to try musca. that's probably why i can't find twmn in the repos either.

ErSandro wrote:

if you want to install only software in repos

i stick to pkgs in debian repos, as i don't have any compilers or dev libs installed.
perhaps i should install all dev pkgs, but i'm in two minds..

scrotwm seems to be leaner than ratpoison. hence, i started looking into it. but the initial setup with bar on top, red borders throw me off. and i always maximise all windows. maybe i need to get used to it.

ErSandro wrote:

I suggest you to give a look to the SalixOs .ratpoisonrc, very inspiring indeed.

i'll have a look. but why do you suggest salix, when you yourself use arch?

ErSandro wrote:

The softwares i use the most are: ranger (cli file manager), newsbeuter (cli feed aggregator), uzbl (web browser), MOC and mplayer.

i don't have python installed. so ranger is out of scope. i use (x)links2 as a file manager, when i need to. :-)
luv newsbeuter. also use it with google reader sync mode! very dandy..
i like the uzbl philosophy. but on debian, uzbl wants to pull in additional 33 dependencies. seems like it wants the whole world and all their mother-in-laws. cancelled!
i have elinks, xlinks2, opera and firefox.
mplayer can play audio and video both. so i don't use any other audio pkgs.

ErSandro wrote:

I use a couple of scripts and shell functions to mount/unmount remote filesystems (I use sshfs) and to launch youtube-dl (I did not install flash).

Just a little trick to stream videos from youtube without flash:

$ mplayer `youtube-dl -f 35 -g videourl`

-f 35 sets the video quality to 480p FLV (my laptop processor is a centrino M and cannot manage hi-res videos. By default youtube-dl gets the video at the best available quality)

-g tells to youtube-dl to retrieve the video url without downloading it.

Just substitute videourl, it works with a lot of sites (at least youtube, vimeo and blip.tv that are the ones i'm interested in)

that's a very nice way to hack through. i installed flash, don't like it, and set it on demand only.
i use quvi, which is a lot smaller than youtube-dl. i try something similar ( quvi -f flv_240p|mp4_360p ). i always manually set youtube to the smallest (240) resolution, jacking up only if unsatisfactory.on a 800x600 screen that is good enough!

ErSandro wrote:

Almost forgot, the base is a clean Arch install.

This configuration gives me a very fast system with an old processor (1.4 Ghz Centrino M) and 512 mb of RAM.

my base is debian-testing, started out as a debian-stable minimal netinstall few years ago. never had a problem.

i like arch very much. issue was clean install of only the initial base arch took >700m, before i installed any pkgs, X, browsers, etc. i have all of the above plus some more in <650m diskspace!!

also i have /tmp, /var/tmp and a few mounted in ram. blazing fast on my 192m ram! definitely faster than the quad-core work laptop with windozzze!
and i'm constantly looking for smaller and more efficient apps. moment i find one, i replace my existing ones..

Last edited by josephg (2011-11-11 00:51:46)

josephg's Website

  • Registered: 2009-09-19
  • Posts: 108

Re: Explain your desktop interface configuration

i'll have a look. but why do you suggest salix, when you yourself use arch?


I love to try out live distros in search for new apllications/configurations. SalixOs is the only distro i know that come with ratpoison as default WM (at least one of its flavours, you can also choose xfce, kde, lxde or fluxbox). I think that its default .ratpoisonrc is cool because it integrates something similar to an openbox menu and a MacOS exposè to manage clients.

I like to take the best from everywhere. That's why i'm gonna try quvi, thanks for the tip big_smile

  • From: Surrey, England.
  • Registered: 2011-10-24
  • Posts: 12

Re: Explain your desktop interface configuration

ErSandro wrote:

SalixOs is the only distro i know that come with ratpoison as default WM (at least one of its flavours, you can also choose xfce, kde, lxde or fluxbox). I think that its default .ratpoisonrc is cool because it integrates something similar to an openbox menu and a MacOS exposè to manage clients.

ah, i see now what you mean. you were talking about the .ratpoisonrc and i missed it. is there anyway i could get those config file(s) without downloading the whole cd, even though it is a very compact 426m live-cd!

what i really like about ratpoison is the extreme configurability! for eg, you could put  the following in .ratpoisonrc

bind x ratclick 1
bind y ratclick 2
bind z ratclick 3

and now you don't need to fiddle with the mouse buttons. hitting x,y,z will be equivalent to clicking with mouse buttons 1,2,3 respectively wherever your pointer is. similarly, you can also bind some keys to move the mouse pointer around too. now you can really be the rat killer that you ever could be!!

josephg's Website

  • Registered: 2011-03-09
  • Posts: 3,220

Re: Explain your desktop interface configuration

josephg wrote:

that's probably why i can't find twmn in the repos either.

you need to check out the thread to get all the info you want.

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  • Registered: 2010-07-17
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Re: Explain your desktop interface configuration

I'll have a go on explaining mine too. I don't think many people will change their set ups for it, but it's interesting to read yours so I want to share mine smile

I have four workspaces. I use number one for internet (always got a maximized Firefox open there), number two is for chatting (Skype, Kopete, you name it), number three is for work (Libreoffice, Kmail) and number four is for multimedia (Clementine, VLC).

In the window rules I have set all those applications to start on that specific workspace only. The terminal work I do on all, depends on what I need. If I need the instructions at hand, it happens at workspace one. If I know what I'm doing, it mostly happens on number two except for when I want to focus. Same goes for Dolphin and Kate.

I have two panels. One that is horizontally maximized at the top of the screen and one that is on the left, acting like a dock with launchers and running tasks. That second one is set on "windows can cover" and the one on the top is always visible, with different plasmoids/widgets. I have the regular KDE menu on the far left, next to it I have the global menu and on the right I have the active application's name, workspace switches, system tray and clock.

Last but not least, I have set the top left corner of my screen as the hot corner for launching the desktop grid, so I can easily switch workspace by slamming my mouse up left.

If you don't get my explanation, there's a screenshot here: http://fallenunia.deviantart.com/ Got any tips/ideas? big_smile

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