Re: tiling WMs suck (otaku), 01/03/2020
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There's a horrible article on the www about how tiling 
window manager suck. You may read it here:

http://xahlee.info/linux/why_tiling_window_manager_sucks.html

I have no interest in arguing the points, as that has 
already been done. What I have found interesting is trying 
out this individual's suggestion for an alternative to 
tiling window management. After all, they feel strongly 
about it, so there might be something to what they've said.

You'd probably find, if you looked back, that I've written 
about spectrwm and dwm. I used to use those, after learning 
about them on gopher. I loved them, aside from some quirks. 
It was from those two that I switched, to test out the 
theory in the article above.

Summarized, the theory/suggestion in the article was that 
you can use what the author calls a "basic, normal" window 
manager to accomplish everything a tiling wm does, without 
the annoyances that generally accompany a tiling wm.

The article suggests xfce, but that's too heavy to compare. 
I chose to test out openbox/lxde. I could probably get away 
with just openbox, but oh well. 

The first thing I needed was some key bindings. I setup a 
binding for dmenu, as well as bindings for switching virtual 
desktops, removing window manager decorations, and 
adjusting windows. My window adjustments let you toggle 
fullscreen, half-screen (left/right), or quarter screen (any 
quadrant). If anyone is interested in that rc file, it's not 
a secret and I'd be happy to send it. I also setup bindings 
for quickly starting a few other programs instantly, like 
xterm.

When I sign in, I start up 3 xterms, remove their 
decorations, and lay them out like this:


+---------------------------+------------------+
|                           |                  |
|                           |                  |
|                           |                  |
|                           |                  |
|                           |                  |
+                           +------------------+
|                           |                  |
|                           |                  |
|                           |                  |
|                           |                  |
|                           |                  |
+---------------------------+------------------+

A common enough layout. Next, I switch to another virtual 
desktop and start my email client, full screen with no 
decorations. On to another virtual desktop for firefox, full 
screen with no decorations (I'm required, for my client's 
needs, to have a fat browser ready at any moment.)

I have 9 virtual desktops, and fill 3 of them immediately 
when I login. These give me all I need for the most part, 
but if I need more, I just switch to a new one and away I 
go.


How does it compare? I would say this: I'm able to get the 
layout that I want, and a workflow that stays out of my way. 
I can get myself going without touching the mouse at all. 
Resource usage is quite reasonable (and let's be honest, 
most of us have more than enough computing resources to do 
whatever we want these days.) And, I don't have to deal with 
the tiling quirks that throw a wrench in things from time to 
time. The result is a setup that isn't noticed, and I love 
that.

Will I switch again? There's no doubt, as I switch operating 
environments perennially out of boredom. That doesn't mean 
that this way loses and that way wins, it's just a function 
of who I am.

As for you... I don't know anything about you, but my 
suggestion is, when you find someone who does things a 
little differently, don't just write it off. Think about it, 
maybe try it out. You might gain something in the process.