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!
