Why choosing tiling window manager can be a good option for you and how you can get more from your operating system? Find out if it can improve your daily tasks!

Tiling window manager?

In computing, a tiling window manager is a window manager with an organization of the screen into mutually non-overlapping frames, as opposed to the more popular approach of coordinate-based stacking of overlapping objects (windows) that tries to fully emulate the desktop metaphor.

— wikipedia

I have already mention i3wm in 4 top performance boosters for linux users post- you can find video showing i3wm features in general:

Here you can see a couple of my workspaces:

Some examples of tiling windows managers:

Why should I consider switching to tiling WM?

Designed for keyboard use

All popular tiled WMs are designed to be operated by keyboard only (Of course you can use your mouse if you like :)). This means that every action like moving “tiles”, changing current workspace, changing current layout, resizing, going fullscreen etc. can be made by keyboard. You can work in your IDE, ask some questions on skype/slack, do some operations in terminal and get back to source code without even thinking about using a mouse.

I know that these is possible in classical window manager, however tiling WMs “push you a little” to go this way. if you feel (like I do) that its quicker to use a keyboard and want to go this way then tiling managers are probably for you.

Customizable by default

All popular tiling WMs are designed by developers for developers. This means that you can power up your window manager easily, by adding new shortcuts, modes or whole functions.

Finally… Efficient

Using classical window manager I was finding myself very often in reorganizing current desktop. Moving windows around from one screen to another, from one workspace to another. In case of single-workspace systems (like all Ms Windows) you can have a loooong list under ALT-TAB shortcut.

In tiling WM you will forget about alt-tab behaviour. Most powerful thing is that you can teach your WM to place tiles in exact manner that you like them to on particular workspaces. Basically after some time you will find out that you hardly rearrange anything on your desktop. Everything just works for you.

Why i3WM and not other tiling windows manager?

I did try awesome for some time. However I found myself in situation when I did not extend my current desktop environment, because awesome is using LUA scripts for all configurations. Back then I did not know lua so every change was a little bit difficult for me. Especially that awesome was my first tiling window manager. I broke a simple rule: one change at a time 🙂 If you know lua well then you can try awesome, in other case I would suggest you to try i3 – it use very simple configuration files.

My i3

Configuration files

You can find all my configuration files related to i3 here. Download it, change and use it however you like.

Basic keyboard layout

What I’ve changed:

jkl; to hjkl for moving around and moving tiles
Mod1 to Mod4 ( Mod4 is windows key)

Workspaces

Biggest value from using i3 is automation. You can tell your WM to which workspace every window should go. Back then I used to name my workspaces directly, however after some time I found that I don’t need “names” on my screen as I already know what is where.

Take a look on my current configuration as it is self-explanatory ( $tagX == workspace X):

# Main 
assign [class=".*idea.*"] $tag1
assign [class="Thunar"] $tag1
assign [class="Pcmanfm"] $tag1
assign [class="Rodent"] $tag1
assign [class="Eclipse"] $tag1
assign [class="doublecmd"] $tag1
assign [class="Kodi"] $tag1

# Internet
assign [class="Google-chrome-stable"] $tag2
assign [class="Firefox" window_role="browser"] $tag2
assign [class="Pale moon" window_role="browser"] $tag2
assign [class="uzbl.*"] $tag2
assign [class="google-chrome"] $tag2
assign [class="Opera"] $tag2

# Shell
assign [class="Terminator"] $tag3
assign [class="Termite"] $tag3
assign [class="xfce4-terminal"] $tag3
assign [class=".*terminal.*"] $tag3
assign [class="Roxterm"] $tag3

# Conversations
assign [class="Thunderbird"] $tag4
assign [class="Skype"] $tag4
assign [class="qtox"] $tag4
assign [class="skypeforlinux"] $tag4

# tools
assign [class="Slack"] $tag5

# Music
assign [class="spotify"] $tag7

# Main

assign [class=".*idea.*"] $tag1

assign [class="Thunar"] $tag1

assign [class="Pcmanfm"] $tag1

assign [class="Rodent"] $tag1

assign [class="Eclipse"] $tag1

assign [class="doublecmd"] $tag1

assign [class="Kodi"] $tag1

# Internet

assign [class="Google-chrome-stable"] $tag2

assign [class="Firefox" window_role="browser"] $tag2

assign [class="Pale moon" window_role="browser"] $tag2

assign [class="uzbl.*"] $tag2

assign [class="google-chrome"] $tag2

assign [class="Opera"] $tag2

# Shell

assign [class="Terminator"] $tag3

assign [class="Termite"] $tag3

assign [class="xfce4-terminal"] $tag3

assign [class=".*terminal.*"] $tag3

assign [class="Roxterm"] $tag3

# Conversations

assign [class="Thunderbird"] $tag4

assign [class="Skype"] $tag4

assign [class="qtox"] $tag4

assign [class="skypeforlinux"] $tag4

# tools

assign [class="Slack"] $tag5

# Music

assign [class="spotify"] $tag7

As you can see I simply define where i3WM should put particular application. Magic 🙂

Achieving this kind of result is very simple. To find how assign command should look like for your application you have to find its selector. Most often used is class selector. For finding what you have to put within it you can use xprop application:

╭─dpokusa@venture  ~/configurations/configs/i3  ‹master› 
╰─$ xprop
_NET_WM_DESKTOP(CARDINAL) = 0
WM_STATE(WM_STATE):
		window state: Normal
		icon window: 0x0
WM_HINTS(WM_HINTS):
		Client accepts input or input focus: True
		Initial state is Normal State.
		bitmap id # to use for icon: 0x2600022
		bitmap id # of mask for icon: 0x2600025
		window id # of group leader: 0x2600001
XdndAware(ATOM) = BITMAP
_MOTIF_DRAG_RECEIVER_INFO(_MOTIF_DRAG_RECEIVER_INFO) = 0x6c, 0x0, 0x5, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x10, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0
_NET_WM_ICON(CARDINAL) = 	Icon (16 x 16):
	                
	 ▒▒▒▒▒░         
	░     ░         
	▒     ░▒▒▒▒▒▒░  
	▒            ▒  
	▒ ░▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒░
	▒ ░            ▒
	▒ ░            ░
	▒ ░            ░
	▒ ▒            ░
	▒ ░            ░
	▒             ░░
	▒             ░ 
	▒             ░ 
	░▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒░ 
	                

	Icon (24 x 24):
	                        
	                        
	                        
	   ░▒▒▒▒▒░              
	  ░       ░             
	  ▒       ▒             
	  ▒       ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒░   
	  ▒                 ▒   
	  ▒                 ▒   
	  ▒ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░▒░  
	  ▒ ░░                ▒ 
	  ▒ ░                 ░ 
	  ▒ ░                 ░ 
	  ▒ ▒                 ░ 
	  ▒ ▒                 ░ 
	  ▒ ░                ░  
	  ▒ ░                ░  
	  ▒                  ░  
	  ▒                  ▒  
	  ▒                  ▒  
	  ░▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒░  
	                        
	                        
	                        


_NET_WM_SYNC_REQUEST_COUNTER(CARDINAL) = 39845893
_NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE(ATOM) = _NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE_NORMAL
_NET_WM_USER_TIME(CARDINAL) = 18526116
_NET_WM_USER_TIME_WINDOW(WINDOW): window id # 0x2600004
WM_CLIENT_LEADER(WINDOW): window id # 0x2600001
_NET_WM_PID(CARDINAL) = 25422
WM_LOCALE_NAME(STRING) = "en_US.UTF-8"
WM_CLIENT_MACHINE(STRING) = "venture"
WM_NORMAL_HINTS(WM_SIZE_HINTS):
		program specified minimum size: 357 by 146
		window gravity: NorthWest
WM_PROTOCOLS(ATOM): protocols  WM_DELETE_WINDOW, WM_TAKE_FOCUS, _NET_WM_PING, _NET_WM_SYNC_REQUEST
WM_CLASS(STRING) = "pcmanfm", "Pcmanfm"
WM_ICON_NAME(STRING) = "dpokusa"
_NET_WM_ICON_NAME(UTF8_STRING) = "dpokusa"
WM_NAME(STRING) = "dpokusa"
_NET_WM_NAME(UTF8_STRING) = "dpokusa"

╭─dpokusa@venture ~/configurations/configs/i3 ‹master›

╰─$ xprop

_NET_WM_DESKTOP(CARDINAL) = 0

WM_STATE(WM_STATE):

window state: Normal

icon window: 0x0

WM_HINTS(WM_HINTS):

Client accepts input or input focus: True

Initial state is Normal State.

bitmap id # to use for icon: 0x2600022

bitmap id # of mask for icon: 0x2600025

window id # of group leader: 0x2600001

XdndAware(ATOM) = BITMAP

_MOTIF_DRAG_RECEIVER_INFO(_MOTIF_DRAG_RECEIVER_INFO) = 0x6c, 0x0, 0x5, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x10, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0

_NET_WM_ICON(CARDINAL) = Icon (16 x 16):

▒▒▒▒▒░

░ ░

▒ ░▒▒▒▒▒▒░

▒ ▒

▒ ░▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒░

▒ ░ ▒

▒ ░ ░

▒ ▒ ░

▒ ░ ░

▒ ░░

▒ ░

░▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒░

Icon (24 x 24):

░▒▒▒▒▒░

░ ░

▒ ▒

▒ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒░

▒ ▒

▒ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░▒░

▒ ░░ ▒

▒ ░ ░

▒ ▒ ░

▒ ░ ░

▒ ░

▒ ▒

░▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒░

_NET_WM_SYNC_REQUEST_COUNTER(CARDINAL) = 39845893

_NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE(ATOM) = _NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE_NORMAL

_NET_WM_USER_TIME(CARDINAL) = 18526116

_NET_WM_USER_TIME_WINDOW(WINDOW): window id # 0x2600004

WM_CLIENT_LEADER(WINDOW): window id # 0x2600001

_NET_WM_PID(CARDINAL) = 25422

WM_LOCALE_NAME(STRING) = "en_US.UTF-8"

WM_CLIENT_MACHINE(STRING) = "venture"

WM_NORMAL_HINTS(WM_SIZE_HINTS):

program specified minimum size: 357 by 146

window gravity: NorthWest

WM_PROTOCOLS(ATOM): protocols WM_DELETE_WINDOW, WM_TAKE_FOCUS, _NET_WM_PING, _NET_WM_SYNC_REQUEST

WM_CLASS(STRING) = "pcmanfm", "Pcmanfm"

WM_ICON_NAME(STRING) = "dpokusa"

_NET_WM_ICON_NAME(UTF8_STRING) = "dpokusa"

WM_NAME(STRING) = "dpokusa"

_NET_WM_NAME(UTF8_STRING) = "dpokusa"

After typing xprop (probably you will have to install it) you have to “click” on application (by mouse). Then you will receive all data as in above example. This line:

WM_CLASS(STRING) = "pcmanfm", "Pcmanfm"

1	WM_CLASS(STRING) = "pcmanfm", "Pcmanfm"

keeps information about class. So If I would like to have pcmanfm always appear on workspace 5 then I will add this line to my config file:

assign [class="pcmanfm"] $tag5

1	assign [class="pcmanfm"] $tag5

And that’s it!

How I have things organised?

At the moment I use up to 7 workspaces:

Work – main window. I used to have here my current IDE, file managers, and all other applications as this is my “default” workspace to work with. Usually I use here tabbed layout.
Browser – only browsers are usually here. This one also use tabbed layout.
Shell – terminals 🙂 Split layout of course 😉
Conversations – Skype, sometimes qtox or thunderbird when I remember that I still have this one 😉 Usually tabbed layout
Slack – Slack only..
Special – This one is empty. Sometimes I run specific application and when I want to have it on a side it goes manually to workspace 6
Music – Spotify, Vlc. Music in general.

Thanks to automatic arrangement all my applications go directly to workspace that is prepared for them in my mind. So if I want to search for something in the internet then I go to workspace 2. If I need to do something in terminal I go to workspace 3, when I need to ask some of my colleagues about something I go to 4 for skype and 5 for slack. Everything is always there for me as it should be.

Modes

Another great feature in i3wm is possibility to create “modes”. Mode is an extension where you can put more commands under one shortcut. My modes are:

resize_window – default mode that you will have out of the box under $mod+r then you can change size of currently selected tile using arrows or jkl; .
exit – mode where I can choose one of:
- lock
- shutdown
- logout
- reboot
- hibernate
office – mode where i can select one of libreoffice application
browser – running one of selected browser
ide – as you can guess- it helps me to select IDE:
quick – I think of it as “quick access”. For example:
- postman
- skype
- slack
- spotify
screen – this one helps me to prepare my workspace at particular places. Back then it was used to change from single notebook display to multiple displays. Currently it change configuration from notebook display to external one as I don’t use more than one monitor anymore (yes!)

Example mode configuration looks like this:

# BROWSER MODE
set $mode_browser Browser (p) PaleMoon (f) Firefox, (c) Chrome, (o) Opera, (u) UZBL
mode "$mode_browser" {
    bindsym p exec palemoon, mode "default"
    bindsym f exec firefox, mode "default"
    bindsym c exec google-chrome-stable, mode "default"
    bindsym o exec opera, mode "default"
    bindsym u exec uzbl-browser, mode "default"

    # back to normal: Enter or Escape
    bindsym Return mode "default"
    bindsym Escape mode "default"
}
bindsym $mod+p mode "$mode_browser"

# BROWSER MODE

set $mode_browser Browser (p) PaleMoon (f) Firefox, (c) Chrome, (o) Opera, (u) UZBL

mode "$mode_browser" {

bindsym p exec palemoon, mode "default"

bindsym f exec firefox, mode "default"

bindsym c exec google-chrome-stable, mode "default"

bindsym o exec opera, mode "default"

bindsym u exec uzbl-browser, mode "default"

# back to normal: Enter or Escape

bindsym Return mode "default"

bindsym Escape mode "default"

}

bindsym $mod+p mode "$mode_browser"

At first you set how it should look after invoking, then you describe your mode, after this you have to create shortcut to particular mode. Now When I use $mod+p I will see at the bottom of my screen something like this:

So I can choose from one of above browsers. Please note that after command there is operation to go back to “default” mode. One can create “nested” modes. It’s possible to create mode that will be for example used only during development and change totally all shortcuts and behaviour, however I never get that far 😉

Other configurations?

In my configs repo you can also find a few other things:

own shortcuts – which are very easy to add
autostart applications
i3bar configuration
i3gaps configuration
color changes

Tips & Trics

Here are a few very useful in my opinion tips and trics that you may want to reuse:

Change moving around shortcuts from jkl; to hjkl . Especially if you are using vim 🙂
Add exec --no-startup-id nitrogen --restore somewhere near end of config file. It will restore your desktop wallpaper. It’s really useful if you are using multiple displays or change from notebook to external one 🙂

Add these two lines to your shortcut configuration:

bindsym --release Print exec --no-startup-id scrot '%Y-%m-%d_%H-%M-%S_$wx$h.png' -e 'mv $f ~/screenshots/'
bindsym --release Shift+Print exec --no-startup-id scrot -s '%Y-%m-%d_%H-%M-%S_$wx$h.png' -e 'mv $f ~/screenshots/'

1 2	bindsym --release Print exec --no-startup-id scrot '%Y-%m-%d_%H-%M-%S_$wx$h.png' -e 'mv $f ~/screenshots/' bindsym --release Shift+Print exec --no-startup-id scrot -s '%Y-%m-%d_%H-%M-%S_$wx$h.png' -e 'mv $f ~/screenshots/'

After installing scrot you will be available to take screenshots (printscr for full desktop, shift+printscreen and then select desktop part using mouse to take partial screenshot).

I found that access to simple calendar can be really useful:

bindsym $mod+c exec zenity --calendar

1

bindsym $mod+c exec zenity --calendar

This is how it looks like:

Afterwords

There is still a lot to say about i3WM. Definitely I will write more about this great window manager in future. Leave a comment below!

Here are a few of my favourite Linux “performance boosters”. If you think about starting using Linux OS every day (or you are use it already) at your work then this list can help you to boost your performance. List consists of only very general things – this means I didn’t put on it any specific (like git or mvn) tools which can be helpful only in particular cases. Try it out! I’m quite sure you will not be disappointed.

1. VIM

Yup- VIM. I couldn’t start this list in any other way. Could I? 🙂 Vim is not only a standalone tool. It’s more like text-editing approach. This approach can be used within many other tools (IntelliJ, Eclipse, Browsers (there are plugins!), Sublime, Kate, Visual Studio :)). Also I did try neovim, but probably my knowledge is far too small to use anything than standard vim functions. I’m aware that learning curve is shallow, but every little step further makes you much more efficient during text processing (efficient text processing is quite important during programming :))

2. ZSH instead of bash

I still remember that moment when I moved from bash to ZSH and it was really big step forward in my day-to-day performance. ZHS together with oh-my-zsh its a whole new level of possibilities to improve how you do every day tasks. For instance completions – git, gradle, mvn, httpie, npm, docker, kubectl are fantastic. It’s already there and work out-of-the box, so in almost no-time you can boost how you manage things from CLI.

╭─dpokusa@venture ~/projects/demo  ‹master*› 
╰─➤  git c
cat-file         -- provide content or type information for repository objects
changelog        -- populate changelog file with commits since the previous tag
check-attr       -- display gitattributes information
check-ignore     -- debug gitignore/exclude files
check-mailmap    -- show canonical names and email addresses of contacts
check-ref-format -- ensure that a reference name is well formed
checkout         -- checkout branch or paths to working tree
checkout-index   -- copy files from index to working directory
cherry           -- find commits not merged upstream
cherry-pick      -- apply changes introduced by some existing commits
citool           -- graphical alternative to git commit
clean            -- remove untracked files from working tree
clone            -- clone repository into new directory
commit           -- record changes to repository
commit-tree      -- create new commit object
commits-since    -- list commits since a given date
config           -- get and set repository or global options
contrib          -- display author contributions
count            -- count commits
count-objects    -- count unpacked objects and display their disk consumption
create-branch    -- create local and remote branch
cvsexportcommit  -- export a single commit to a CVS checkout
cvsimport        -- import a CVS "repository" into a git repository
cvsserver        -- run a CVS server emulator for git

╭─dpokusa@venture ~/projects/demo ‹master*›

╰─➤ git c

cat-file -- provide content or type information for repository objects

changelog -- populate changelog file with commits since the previous tag

check-attr -- display gitattributes information

check-ignore -- debug gitignore/exclude files

check-mailmap -- show canonical names and email addresses of contacts

check-ref-format -- ensure that a reference name is well formed

checkout -- checkout branch or paths to working tree

checkout-index -- copy files from index to working directory

cherry -- find commits not merged upstream

cherry-pick -- apply changes introduced by some existing commits

citool -- graphical alternative to git commit

clean -- remove untracked files from working tree

clone -- clone repository into new directory

commit -- record changes to repository

commit-tree -- create new commit object

commits-since -- list commits since a given date

config -- get and set repository or global options

contrib -- display author contributions

count -- count commits

count-objects -- count unpacked objects and display their disk consumption

create-branch -- create local and remote branch

cvsexportcommit -- export a single commit to a CVS checkout

cvsimport -- import a CVS "repository" into a git repository

cvsserver -- run a CVS server emulator for git

You can select option by using tab key. Of course it’s not only about completions 🙂 There is a lot more (possibility to auto syntax highlighting, great path expansion, path replacement or even spelling correction).

3. I3 tiling WM

In computing, a tiling window manager is a window manager with an organization of the screen into mutually non-overlapping frames, as opposed to the more popular approach of coordinate-based stacking of overlapping objects (windows) that tries to fully emulate the desktop metaphor.

— Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiling_window_manager

My experience with tiling WMs started with Awesome, however it was a little bit difficult (as you need to learn lua scripts, and back then my knowledge of lua wasn’t too good). Along with my habits (Before I used gnome, kde, lxde and openbox mostly) this was bad choice (learning lua scripts and change perspective from windows to tiles). I3 on the other hand it’s quite simple to extend and adopt to tiles without swearing 🙂 This one deserves its own post (soon!).

Why using i3 boost productivity? First of all – distraction free. Tiles really helps to keep on screen only things that you really need at the moment. With possibility to auto-assigning particular applications to selected workspace you can provide yourself workspace which help you to be more productive. On top of that there is possibility to create your own modes. Watch screencast of i3 window manager:

TIP: Change default switch focus bindings to more vim-like approach:

# change focus
bindsym $mod+h focus left 
bindsym $mod+j focus down 
bindsym $mod+k focus up
bindsym $mod+l focus right

# change focus

bindsym $mod+h focus left

bindsym $mod+j focus down

bindsym $mod+k focus up

bindsym $mod+l focus right

4. Z plugin for ZSH

I’ve already mentioned ZSH. However, this one deserves its own place in my top 5, because its very simple, yet very powerful. Z is a plugin that helps you to move around within directories- it tries to remember most recent and most often used directories and help you moving to them using just part of its name. Since I have discovered it I barely use cd command! Imagine that I work on completable future examples for blog. I can use command like this for that:

╭─dpokusa@venture ~  
╰─➤  z comple
╭─dpokusa@venture ~/projects/completable-future-example  
╰─➤

╭─dpokusa@venture ~

╰─➤ z comple

╭─dpokusa@venture ~/projects/completable-future-example

╰─➤

Is there more?

YES! There is a lot of small tools which can help you with your performance. However most of them are very case specific (like wrk2, httpie or retrospective) so their usefulness is strongly related to particular use case.

Afterwords

Do you have any beloved tools? If so, please share them in comments!

Software Empathy

Personal thoughts about coding and software architecture

Linux

I3 tiling window manager – try it out!

Tiling window manager?

Why should I consider switching to tiling WM?

Designed for keyboard use

Customizable by default

Finally… Efficient

Why i3WM and not other tiling windows manager?

My i3

Configuration files

Basic keyboard layout

Workspaces

How I have things organised?

Modes

Other configurations?

Tips & Trics

Afterwords

My top 4 performance boosters for linux system users

1. VIM

2. ZSH instead of bash

3. I3 tiling WM

4. Z plugin for ZSH

Is there more?

Afterwords