exwm VS i3

The developer has been missing on GitHub since 2020 [1]

[1] https://github.com/ch11ng/exwm/issues/845

There have been tiling window managers based around Emacs before. I think the most recent I tried was https://github.com/ch11ng/exwm -- in this case the window manager is itself emacs, and your windows are buffers in emacs etc.

It makes a lot of sense, since Emacs does its own tiling, and one is usually familiar with the keystrokes already, and then you don't have tiling in tiling.

So I keep meaning to go back and try this again, or something similar, but I recall it having issues with a lot of my commonly used applications back when I tried it.

When I get in the tiling mood, I use regolith, which is a nice packaging up of i3 in with the gnome environment. I'd love to have something like that, but built around emacs.

The tools I use for living inside Emacs are: - EXWM as window manager https://github.com/ch11ng/exwm - mew for e-mail https://www.mew.org/en/ - org-mode for calendar and todo-list https://orgmode.org/ - terminology as shell/terminal (before it was xterm, but wanted transparency) https://www.enlightenment.org/about-terminology.md - elfeed as rss-reader https://github.com/skeeto/elfeed - hackernews for Hackernews-reader https://github.com/clarete/hackernews.el - browser eww and Firefox - pdf-tools for viewing pdfs and in mew they are converted to text view

I do the following things in Emacs: window management, window management, file management, web browsing, mail, streaming music, chatting, shell management, version control, and life organization.

WM: EXWM Emacs X Window Manager

In the case of Arch you could take a look at https://github.com/ch11ng/exwm

EXWM is a full-blown tiling window manager for X11 that runs in Emacs. I've been using it for years. It's kind of difficult to get going, but I'd never switch back now.

Suddenly, I have that uniformity and consistent experience everywhere, and only a single configuration language to learn and use to get things how I like them.

If you like both emacs and tiling window managers, I strongly recommend it.

[0] https://github.com/ch11ng/exwm

👉 i3 window manager

I switched to the i3 tiling based window manager. Because it's a whole different environment and thinking, it was very different from what I was used to. The volume buttons were working on my keyboard, but I didn't get any visual feedback. Furthermore, the volume percentage could go down below zero and increase up to more than hundread percent. There were times when I was confused why the keys stopped working, but the actual hidden reason was that the volume's value was somehow -500 percent, so increasing it by 5 percent via my keys would have taken a little time.

While I believe Memory Saver was a great improvement, it only works if the tab is hidden or the window minimized. I recently learned the required state is not triggered if the tab is open but on another virtual desktop. At least this is the case with many of not all Linux window managers. Some of the many discussion threads on the topic:

https://github.com/i3/i3/issues/4353

This is partially why i use tools like i3 (/ sway). i like the tool; it works extremely well for me; the design has stayed the same for 20 years; there's no profit motive to come along and fuck everything up. it just works. it is boring in the best way possible.

I use MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid-2014) with Manjaro as OS using i3 as a window manager. It isn't perfect, but I'm thrilled with it. I have been a Mac OS user for the last 15 years and wouldn't change what I have now for a Mac OS because I don't need more than what I'm using for development.

Even though, we have moved the official i3 support channel to GitHub discussions, i3's biggest community is still on reddit and if things continue like that there is going to be a lot of helpful content on an increasingly closed platform.