Window Managers for the un-initiated

qyron@sopuli.xyz to Linux@lemmy.ml – 54 points –

As I'm about to start renewing and expanding the computer fleet in my house I decided I want to have a machine solely for my personal use, where I can use some solutions no one else will feel comfortable with in the house.

I've been wanting to try window managers for a while but after researching on it for a bit I'm none the wiser on which to choose.

There are a few distros out there that already deliver this kind of experience but I want to use the opportunity to learn and start from a stock Debian and build from there to where I want to get to.

I'm fully capable of setting up my computers as is but I'm aware WMs require a bit more involvement, so having at least good documentation is a must.

I'm also not averse to learn some coding, even more when considering I want to have a fully costumized conky, but I've never coded before.

The machine will be used essentially for writing, web surfing and email and, if possible, running Stardew Valley.

Any advice will be welcome.

Thanks in advance.

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i3

  • Great for beginners
  • Uses it's own configuration language so no coding required
  • One of the most popular window managers so documentation and such is plentiful
  • Has a 1:1 Wayland fork called Sway
  • Is a manual tiling window manager which means you specify where a window will appear when you go to launch something.

AwesomeWM

  • Is awesome
  • Configured in Lua
  • Has a great status bar built in
  • Great documentation
  • Is a dynamic tilling window manager meaning it places new windows in accordance with a preset layout.

Qtile

  • My favorite
  • Has a 1:1 Wayland version built-in
  • Configured in Python
  • The best status bar I've used
  • Great documentation
  • Dynamic tiler

XMonad (Note: never used this so take this how you will)

  • Configured in Haskell
  • Has a lot of dependencies
  • Extremely configurable
  • Dynamic tiler

There're many more window managers out there but these are the ones I've personally used (besides XMonad) and know the most about.

If you don't like a built in status bar then you can disable it in the config and use another one like Polybar. Distrotube (on Odyssey or Youtube) also has really good videos on all of these window managers and more which I really recommend you check out if you haven't already.

Personally though, I think Qtile will give you the best experience.

I see Lua in Awsome, which also is used for Conky. Seems a good choice.

And if it self declares as being awsome... it must be.

My vote also goes to qtile. Easily configured and very capable.

I tried qtile, it was ok but kinda finicky with the config and if you break it the whole thing falls down

Also think it broke my NixOS rebuild switch so I had to reboot every time I changed the config