Tiling Window Managers

I am delighted to inform you that my last post on selecting an optimal proxy server had such an impact that the CIC guys have decided(conspired) to introduce a single load balancer to make sure that people wouldn't run my script and thus saved mankind from potential doom. Nice work CIC!!.

This one is going to be about tiling window managers - pertaining to Linux. I have no knowledge of window managers on Windows, so you are on your own regarding that. Tiling window managers are great for organizing your screen space coupled with efficient keyboard bindings. The key to tiling is to not to waste any screenspace(you can have floating windows but that's more of an exception). Most of the time, the windows are nonoverlapping unlike traditional GUI models. Anyone who prefers to keep his hands on the keyboard and hates using the mouse should give a shot at using a window manager with customizable bindings.

Here is a peek on what's in offer. A screen from my i3 wm. .

I tried both awesome and i3 and decided to go with i3 due to its excellent docs. i3 has also got amazing customizability. Configuration can't be easier and it has got an active IRC Channel where you can head over for help. i3 has its own learning curve but the descriptive documentation makes it smooth.

Workspaces

A Workspace is something of a virtual desktop where you can organize windows. I usually have workspaces specific to chat clients, terminals et al. You can transfer windows between different workspaces. If you are editing a file and chatting with a friend simultaneously, then you can put both of the windows in a workspace for easier navigation back and forth. So think of a workspace as a dynamic collection of windows. Workspaces are numbered 1,2,3.... In theory you can have infinite workspaces, but by default with the keybindings i3 ships with you can access 10 workspaces at most (Mod+<Workspace number>).

Tree Stucture

This is at the core of i3. The windows in the workspace have a layout in the form of a recursive tree structure. The tree structure combined with the horizontal and verticals orientations enable you to have quite complex arrangements of windows. I am avoiding the exact details involved (as it is already quite well put in the documentation), head over here to know more about how it works in detail. You need to grasp atleast the basics of this to know what you are doing regarding the windows' layout/orientation.

Configuration

Customizability is what sells i3. You have got lots of options to get what feels right to you. Don't expect to fall in love with i3 right after you install it. You have the configuration files at ~/.i3/. ~/.i3/config is the main configuration file, any other files can be referenced from this file. You put in all your keybindings, application/workspace specific actions, startup applications in the config file. I will provide snippets from my personal config file in the following sections. I would suggest you to look at popular configuration files to startoff with. Here's my configuration file. I had forked some bloke's configuration but in the end most of my configuration ended up being different. You need to put in your own touch to reap rewards. Make it as personal as you can, that's the whole point.

Keybindings

Before starting off I would like to say a couple of things about how I prefer to work. As expected, using the mouse is blasphemy. So mouse is the last option. Another important thing is the position of your hands. The default position is asdf for the left hand and jkl; for the right. I hate to move my right hand to the arrow keys as it messes up with the flow. That's what makes vim so special. You are always at the default position. You save the precious milliseconds wasted by moving your right hand between the default position and the arrow keys. So this was my motivation when designing the keybindings for i3. I wanted to use keybindings accessible at the default position. So vimstyle bindings were the way to go, especially as vim was already part of my muscle memory. You need to set the bindings which you feel most comfortable with.

The keybindings are of the form

bindsym <binding> <action>

Mod key

This is at the heart of the keybindings. The Mod key is used in combination with other keys for a specific action. Super(Windows) and Alt seem to be the popular choices for the Mod key.

set $mod Mod4
#Mod4 means Super or Windows

#keybindings
bindsym $mod+d exec dmenu_run
bindsym $mod+Shift+c kill
# split in horizontal orientation
bindsym $mod+w split h
# split in vertical orientation
bindsym $mod+v split v
# enter fullscreen mode for the focused container
bindsym $mod+f fullscreen
# change container layout (stacked, tabbed, toggle split)
bindsym $mod+s layout stacking
bindsym $mod+t layout tabbed
bindsym $mod+e layout toggle split
# toggle tiling / floating
bindsym $mod+Shift+space floating toggle
#and a whole lot more

#Access workspace by its number
bindsym $mod+1 workspace 1
bindsym $mod+2 workspace 2
bindsym $mod+3 workspace 3
#and so on

#go to last visited workspace
bindsym $mod+b workspace back_and_forth

Vimish Navigation bindings

i3 ships with the default jkl; keys for navigation. But I changed that to hjklto make it feel like vim. I had changed all the bindings to make navigation close to vim. I added keybindings to navigate adjacent workspaces which i3 doesn't put in it's default config file

bindsym $mod+h focus left  #focus window on the left
bindsym $mod+j focus down  #focus window below
bindsym $mod+k focus up    #focus window above
bindsym $mod+l focus right #focus window on the right

bindsym $mod+Control+k workspace prev #move to the workspace on the left
bindsym $mod+Control+j workspace next #move to the workspace on the right
bindsym $mod+Control+h workspace prev
bindsym $mod+Control+l workspace next

# move focused window
bindsym $mod+Shift+h move left #move focused window to left
bindsym $mod+Shift+j move down
bindsym $mod+Shift+k move up
bindsym $mod+Shift+l move right

The rest of the navigation bindings are similar. Head over here and snoop over all the other navigation bindings.

Resize mode

You might be wondering how you would resize the windows without using mouse. i3 has a resize mode where you use the defined keybindings to change the windows' dimensions.

mode "resize" {
        # These bindings trigger as soon as you enter the resize mode

        bindsym h resize shrink width 3 px or 3 ppt
        bindsym j resize grow height 3 px or 3 ppt
        bindsym k resize shrink height 3 px or 3 ppt
        bindsym l resize grow width 3 px or 3 ppt

        # back to normal: Enter or Escape
        bindsym Return mode "default"
        bindsym Escape mode "default"
}

bindsym $mod+r mode "resize"

Once resizing needs are finished, you press the Return(Enter) key to exit the resize mode.

Startup Applications

You can define specific applications to startup in specific workspaces at the startup.

exec --no-startup-id i3-msg 'workspace 1; exec gnome-system-monitor'
exec --no-startup-id i3-msg 'workspace 2; exec rhythmbox'
exec --no-startup-id i3-msg 'workspace 3; exec gnome-terminal'
exec --no-startup-id i3-msg 'workspace 4; exec firefox'
exec --no-startup-id i3-msg 'workspace 8; exec google-chrome'
exec --no-startup-id i3-msg 'workspace 9; exec nautilus'
exec --no-startup-id i3-msg 'workspace 10; exec linuxdcpp'

Media Keys

I use Rhythmboxfor songs and defined keybindings to switch songs, play and pause.

bindsym Shift+Control+j exec rhythmbox-client --next
bindsym Shift+Control+k exec rhythmbox-client --previous
bindsym Shift+Control+space exec rhythmbox-client --play-pause

Note that exec is equivalent to running a terminal command. So you can define a keybinding to execute anything if you can write a terminal(shell) command for it. This calls for serious exploitation!!.

Endnote

This is just the basic part. You can have much more complex configurations which are context based which I haven't discussed. I also haven't touched on the status bar. i3status is the status bar displayed at the bottom. It is also highly customizable.

Here's a screencast I have created to show you some of the awesome stuff i3 is capable of. Observe when the workspace is changing and which window is focused.

All in all window managers make life much more productive - especially for programmers. If you are dealing with multiple windows(applications) consistently and you are a keyboard person, using a popular window manager is the logical choice. It takes effort to get into this paradigm which is definitely worth it. There's no looking back once you are hooked. Have a look at both awesome and i3 and decide for yourselves.

Let me know your opinion on window managers in the comments. Thanks.

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