(gdb) break *0x972

Since a few years, I stopped using a traditional desktop manager like Gnome or KDE (maybe when Gnome switch to version 3?). I'm now addicted to my tiling window manager, i3. I3 manages only the windows on my screen, but not the desktop. Hence, when there's no window on my screen ... it's black! That could be improved, but most of the time, I have a window, so it doesn't matter. But no clickable icon, no clickable toolbar, just windows!

A tiling window manager (WM) gives the maximum room to each window, either by tabbing them, like in firefox, or by splitting (and sub-spliting) the screen horizontally or vertically:

Caught working hard

As there are no icons or clickable toolbar, everything is done with keyboard shortcuts. The learning curve, at the beginning, is a bit steep I admit! But one you get it, it's really nice to use!

Let's dive step-by-step into my configuration file:

Mod4 is 'Windows' key

Start applications

• Mod4+Shift is the prefix to start applications. Mod4+Control is for alternative starts

  # Application shortcuts
  set $Mod_app Mod4+Shift
  set $Mod_app_alt Mod4+Control
  

• Common tools:

  bindsym $Mod_app+f exec firefox
  bindsym $Mod_app+t exec thunderbird
  
  bindsym $Mod_app+m exec emacsclient -c # emacsclient needs an `emacs --daemon`
  bindsym $Mod_app_alt+m exec emacs # safe start, but takes longer
  
  # Start a terminal (urxvt client)
  bindsym $Mod_app+Return exec urxvtc # needs `urxvtd`
  bindsym $Mod_app_alt+Return exec urxvt # failsafe terminal
  

• Force floating window (I guess these window don't respect all the protocols, so they are seen as primary windows, instead of floating boxes):

  for_window [class="Nautilus" instance="file_progress"] floating enable
  for_window [class="Xmessage"] floating enable
  for_window [title="Find"] floating enable
  

• Helpers:

  bindsym Mod4+l exec i3lock -i /home/kevin/.i3/lock.png # locks the screen with a background image
  bindsym Mod4+F2 exec dmenu_run
  
  # Kill the current window
  bindsym $Mod_app+q kill # close the current 
  

See also dmenu_run, i3lock. I'll explain urxvtc and emacsclient in another post.

Window management

• Window layout

  # Stacking / Tabbed / Default layout
  workspace_layout tabbed
  
  bindsym Mod4+s layout stacking
  bindsym Mod4+t layout tabbed
  bindsym Mod4+d layout default
  

• Splitting windows

  default_orientation vertical
  # Split horizonally or vertically a window
  # *I can't help but consider than vertical split means that the window split should be vertical,
  # and the sub-windows side-by-side*, so I reversed h and v
  bindsym Mod4+h split vertical
  bindsym Mod4+v split horizontal
  

• Moving windows

  set $Mod_move Mod4+Shift
  bindsym $Mod_move+Left move left
  bindsym $Mod_move+Right move right
  bindsym $Mod_move+Down move down
  bindsym $Mod_move+Up move up
  
  bindsym Mod4+f fullscreen
  bindsym Mod4+Mod1+f fullscreen global # on all screens
  
  # Toggle tiling/floating of the current window
  bindsym $Mod_move+space floating toggle
  

• Changing the focus

  bindsym Mod4+Left focus left
  bindsym Mod4+Right focus right
  bindsym Mod4+Down focus down
  bindsym Mod4+Up focus up
  

• Scratchpad (=invisible place)

  bindsym F12 move scratchpad
  bindsym F11 scratchpad show
  

• Workspaces

  bindcode $Mod_move+10 move workspace 1 # touch 1
  bindcode $Mod_move+11 move workspace 2 # code for touch n = 9+n
  ...
  bindcode $Mod_move+86 move workspace next # touch +, found with `xev`
  bindcode $Mod_move+82 move workspace prev # touch -
  

• Window resize

  # Window resize (although mouse is more convenient!)
  mode "resize" {
    bindsym Left resize grow left 10 px
    bindsym Shift+Left resize shrink left 10 px
  
    bindsym Down resize grow down 10 px
    bindsym Shift+Down resize shrink down 10 px
  
    bindsym Up resize grow up 10 px
    bindsym Shift+Up resize shrink up 10 px
  
    bindsym Right resize grow right 10 px
    bindsym Shift+Right resize shrink right 10 px
  
    #Enter to return to default
    bindsym Return mode "default"
  }
  

Misc.

• Sound configuration

  set $Mod_sound Mod4+Mod1 #Win+Alt
  bindsym  $Mod_sound+m  exec amixer sset Master toggle
  bindcode $Mod_sound+82 exec amixer set Master 1%- # touch +
  bindcode $Mod_sound+86 exec amixer set Master 1%+ # touch -
  
  bindsym  XF86AudioMute exec amixer sset Master toggle # laptop multimedia keys
  bindsym  XF86AudioLowerVolume exec amixer set Master 1%-
  bindsym  XF86AudioRaiseVolume exec amixer set Master 1%+
  
  exec amixer sset Master mute # set to mute after boot sequence
  

• Keyboard map (lang) configuration

  bindsym Mod4+Ctrl+f exec setxkbmap fr
  bindsym Mod4+Ctrl+u exec setxkbmap us
  

• Borderless window or not

  hide_edge_borders both # by default, no side borders
  bindsym Mod4+p border normal
  bindsym Mod4+o border none # includes no window title
  

• Restart and reload i3

  set $Mod_sys Mod4+Shift+Control
  bindsym $Mod_sys+e restart
  bindsym $Mod_sys+r reload
  

• Home-made status bar (I'll put it online and explain it later)

  bindsym Mod4+Shift+w exec ~/.i3/i3status.py --kill --ws2
  bindsym Mod4+Ctrl+w exec ~/.i3/i3status.py --kill --ws1
  bar {
      position bottom
      mode hide
  }
  exec ~/.i3/i3status.py
  

Enjoy, i3 is a great tool, especially for development with multiple screens!