I3 Window Manager

[mickee]

Just a curious question... why do people use i3 style window managers when in my opinion it looks so hideous? And it is just my opinion, as people can customize Linux however they want. What does it do for them over something like Marco? Not wanting to offend anyone who uses it, but for me, I don't see the appeal. Looks hard to find/read anything. I was on r/unixporn today and see that most 'ricers' us a tiling window manager like i3.

Again I don't mean any offense to anyone using it, I'm just curious. If you do use it can you post a screenshot of the desktop?

[mickee]

for example

[tkn]

Yes, i3 is hideous as fsck. But the people who use it don't care about looks. They just want to get work done.

What i3 does for them is automatically tile and (re)arrange windows whenever they close a window or open a new one.

I must confess that that is something that I kind of miss in both marco and compiz. Automatic tiling is a blessing when done right.

I often use several instances of caja and terminal at the same time, and I had to tile the windows manually which always felt like more labor intensive than needed. Yes, a tiling wm like i3 should be welcome.

I tried I3 and AWS (and even ratpoison) but the way of operating them is not my cup of tea.
( and pretty much all tiling window managers are hideous as fsck )

So I settled for a script that starts the applications that I want tiled together and just presents them in the specific window layout that I regularly need.

[mickee]

I apologize if I offended anyone, it was not my intention. Every Linux user has a right to customize their system as they see fit. That is the beauty of Linux. Set up your system any way you want to. It shows individuality in the custom settings of your PC. Again, my apologies if I offended anyone with this post.

[Arashir]

Consider setting up and using some shortcut keys can help us tiling windows in compositing and stacking window managers.

[Marco_Boneff]

I never used i3 (I was always scared by all the keyboard shortcuts it forces you to use). but
I've been using auto tiling features in my GNOME desktop thanks to the Pop-shell extension, and I understand why people like auto-tiling windows. It's so comfortable and addictive! When I'm using my MATE desktop at the office, I'm definitely missing auto-tiling and I really wish somebody could implement something that works exactly like pop shell for MATE. @wimpy are there existing projects that work under MATE that provide similar functionalities? (I know about window shuffler, but that doesn't automatically apply tiling like pop-shell). I would LOVE to see something like this preconfigured in ubuntu MATE in the future!

[erik242]

I know I am late to the party here, but I used this tutorial for my Ubuntu Mate installs.

How to install i3wm + mate

Result: [Screenshot at 2023-07-25 05-45-02] i3 is a tiling window manager inspired by wmii that is primarily targeted at developers and advanced users(vim users). i3 User's Guide

Installation

Open your terminal. Install i3: sudo apt install i3 sudo apt remove dunst Change your window manager to i3: dconf write /org/mate/desktop/session/required-components/windowmanager "'i3'" Prevent desktop with icons to cover your windows: dconf write /org/mate/desktop/background…

I am on 22.04. Unfortunately, the i3wm in the repos is an older version, so you can't add gaps. The gaps make it a bit nicer on the eyes to me.

The 1st screenshot is on an old Dell 19" monitor. I don't work with my windows that way typically. I make use of the workspaces heavily.