• Registered: 2011-12-29
  • Posts: 16

Topic: i3-wm

i3 tiling window manager looks very nice.

I've been playing with it for a bit. I have used scrotwm for a while which I like very much, however i3 has some nice pre-configured stuff. fullscreen video from ex youtube works OOB and even if browser is with friends on the workspace. In scrot I have to make sure my browser is alone on its workspace, maybe theres a fix for that.

Both i3 and scrot has it + and - but both are fast as h*ll, scrotwm might be a bit faster in response.
Since I have not very much experience in h,j,k,l I actually kinda like that I can use the arrows in i3 even though this is an easy task to modify in scrotwm.

I got caught up with trying rolling distro stuff but I will definitely tryout i3 more. The version in stable is a bit old so I recommend version 4. I think it shouldn't be to hard to build version 4 for stable but I'm going for testing now anyways which has i3 version 4.1 something.

Anyone else tried i3?

  • Registered: 2011-11-22
  • Posts: 1,316

Re: i3-wm

I tried it, it seemed a little bit harder to configure than scrotwm, but it has some features I like better. In the end I came back to scrotwm as my every day WM, but I might give I3 another go when I get bored... hmm

  • Registered: 2011-10-17
  • Posts: 372

Re: i3-wm

I've been using i3 on and off (with openbox,wmii, kde) for a year now. It's pretty neat, relatively easy to configure, has a systray (which is always nice) and  isn't named after genitalia ( big_smile ).

If you found i3 interesting, you should definitely give wmii a shot. It's a bit harder to configure but it has some good features (?) like being based on the 9p protocol, which makes several things easier.

Last edited by gensym (2012-01-03 22:52:12)

'Multiple exclamation marks,' he went on, shaking his head, 'are a sure sign of a diseased mind.', {Eric}
  • From: norway
  • Registered: 2009-01-16
  • Posts: 272

Re: i3-wm

gensym wrote:

.. isn't named after genitalia..

well..what do you think i3 is ascii-art for?! wink

  • Registered: 2011-12-29
  • Posts: 16

Re: i3-wm

gensym wrote:

If you found i3 interesting, you should definitely give wmii a shot. It's a bit harder to configure but it has some good features (?) like being based on the 9p protocol, which makes several things easier.

I already did a few years ago, wmii is very nice but it seems like it sits a bit dead in the water. I got the feeling not much is happening with it. I might give it a new chance but so far i3 is getting more and more interesting.

Btw, I am getting more and more addicted to tiling windows. :-D

well..what do you think i3 is ascii-art for?!

Not me that mentioned about genitalia but I Like i3 :-D

  • Registered: 2011-10-17
  • Posts: 372

Re: i3-wm

papparonny wrote:
gensym wrote:

.. isn't named after genitalia..

well..what do you think i3 is ascii-art for?! wink

Aehm, nice you got me there smile

Last edited by gensym (2012-01-04 12:31:38)

'Multiple exclamation marks,' he went on, shaking his head, 'are a sure sign of a diseased mind.', {Eric}
  • Registered: 2009-02-28
  • Posts: 313

Re: i3-wm

i3wm is almost perfect imo.
Especially now after the latest update.
Only thing that bothers me is that the workspaces need numbers if you want them in a logical order.
But that is more a cosmetic issue.

Slackware | SalixOS
  • Registered: 2011-12-29
  • Posts: 16

Re: i3-wm

servingwater wrote:

i3wm is almost perfect imo.
Especially now after the latest update.
Only thing that bothers me is that the workspaces need numbers if you want them in a logical order.
But that is more a cosmetic issue.

I'm not sure what you mean but this is on i3 docs
If you want the workspace to have a number and a name, just prefix the number, like this:

Example:
bindsym mod+1 workspace 1: mail
bindsym mod+2 workspace 2: www
...

Note that the workspace will really be named "1: mail". i3 treats workspace names beginning with a number in a slightly special way. Normally, named workspaces are ordered the way they appeared. When they start with a number, i3 will order them numerically.

  • Registered: 2009-02-28
  • Posts: 313

Re: i3-wm

That is exactly what I mean.  smile

Unless you put the number infront of your "named" workspace it will just appear and be displayed in the order as theyy were called, not by alphabet or in a set configured way.
Perhaps "logical" is not the right word......

Slackware | SalixOS
  • Registered: 2011-12-29
  • Posts: 16

Re: i3-wm

IMO it is not logical to order them alphabetically but if it is what you prefer I belive it could be quite easily done by modifying the sorce code a bit. You could ask for it, they are very helpful at #i3

  • Registered: 2009-02-28
  • Posts: 313

Re: i3-wm

Like I said logical might not be the best word to describe it.
But if you want to have a fixed oder of your workspaces you have to put the number infront.

But it really is not that big a deal, certainly not big enough for me to go into the source code and fiddle with it (even if I had enough skill for that).
I'm also confident that this will be addressed in the future.

Slackware | SalixOS
  • From: Kowloon
  • Registered: 2011-10-13
  • Posts: 407

Re: i3-wm

iNeedaNickname wrote:

Example:
bindsym mod+1 workspace 1: mail
bindsym mod+2 workspace 2: www
...

You can also do this, with no numbers. smile

bindsym mod+1 workspace mail
bindsym mod+2 workspace www
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  • Registered: 2009-02-28
  • Posts: 313

Re: i3-wm

Yes, but if you want to maintain a set order you need the numbers infront.

Slackware | SalixOS