Been using bspwm for over 5 years now. Stupidly simple, plain text config(for keybinds at least with sxhkd), does what it needs to do and it does it well. That is all I need and that is why I don't twm-hop. Thnx for the vid dt!
@@PerJohanHalsli As far as i know the only twm that even comes close is i3. its only one that doesnt require someone to learn a programming language in order to setup.Still prefer bspwm because of the options, ive heard i3 is not very customizable and its config has weird syntax.
@@distant6606 Herbstluftwm have a shellscript as config -same as bspwm - but keybindings is in same script - not 2 diff configs as bspwm - as I actually prefer myself as the configs get less "messy" edit: I used i3 for more than a year a long time ago but never liked the vertical horizontal split - I prefer to use presections now and then - and for layout I prefer to use spiral
@@distant6606 it's basically the same as bspwm with one added functionality called frames - you might find them useful - if you prefer to not actively use them one can just use bspwm instead - and where bspwm uses bspc herbstlutwm have the same "server/client" approach with hc - herbstclient - anyway jumping from one to the other one will feel right at home from the start - have fun ;)
Sxhkd is actually awesome on it's own. When I was using bspwm, I made 2 configs, one bspwm specific with it's bindings, and main - general one where I kept all wm-independent bindings. And when I moved to dwm, all I had to do was to run sxhkd, without need to rewrite it, nor recompile dwm while adding new one. And it works across every WM I wanna try, and even DE
I've used bspwm for over a year and have recently been trying out hyprland with the dwindle "layout". Here are my thoughts on it: 1. Don't think of it as a layout. "Layout" kinda implies that there is one set way in which windows will be arranged but in bspwm that depends on which windows you decide to split. Instead, bspwm has "splitting rules". By default these are: - Always split the currently focused window. - If the focused window is taller than it is wide, new window goes below that one. Otherwise it goes on the right. - When you open a new window, focus on it. The dwindle layout isn't a pre-defined layout. It emerges naturally as a result of these rules if (and only if) you just keep opening windows without changing focus. 2. Pre-selection is tedious. I pretty much never use it. Instead, I just focus on whichever window I wanna split and split it without pre-selecting. It's as convenient (imo) as dynamic tyling but still gives you a lot of control over where windows are placed. 3. I do all my work on a laptop so I can't say much about multi-monitor support. 4. bspwm is lacking some features. I found hyprland's window groups quite useful and I kinda wish bspwm had something similar. But then again, If I had the time, I could probably write a script that does something like that. 5. Ploybar is quite nice but I don't like the way it handles the systray. You can only put it on the left, right or the centre. In waybar, the systray is treated just like any other module and can be placed anywhere. Also, waybar's use of css allows for some pretty cool-looking customization.
DT, just wanted to point something out. In bspwm you can have sets of different workspaces per monitor, I configured mine to have 1-5 in each monitor, so if I focus my second monitor and press the keys to change workspace/windows, it will only do it in that monitor. also, bspc can be set up to just send the window to the desired monitor, so you can get rid of that weird behaviour that you got.
Resizing a focused window @10:48 - You can grow or shrink the focused window without switching to the other window. As stated, Ctrl + Alt + H does enlarge the right window. To shrink it you use Ctrl + Alt + Shift + L. So the capability is there, but it's not intuitive.
The functionality is present and I don't know why it's not the default, considering the current defaults seem geared more towards floating mode, which is not the point of bspwm. You can resize both ways by changing the window split ratio of the parent node instead: bspc node @parent -r {+,-}0.1
Just a note about shrinking windows in BSPWM, you don't need to focus an adjacent window. You mentioned ctrl+alt+h/j/k/l for expanding a window, you can create an extra mapping ctrl+alt+shift+h/j/k/l to shrink the current window in that same direction. Still clunky, but you can keep focus on your current window.
interesting, I actually love that the keybindings are in a different file. Not all my keybindings are window manager related - so it makes sense to be separated for me, as it's nice to have one place for all keybindings. Also, feels so simple and clean.
Same. I use swhkd (used, technically, as it broke and I never bothered to fix it (though that was like a year ago when the project was far more immature with much less features) but I'm planning on installing and extensively configuring it again soon), which is basically a functional clone of sxhkd that runs a daemon at the kernel level (the server runs without privs) that can intercept the input before anything else, and will keep working at the TTY, etc. I like having the Super key be exclusively for global, typically WM/compositor stuff, and have keybindings with it be organized in that one place, and then having Meta (binding a dedicated key for it to my keyboard - on a standard keyboard, at the firmware (most preferential) or kernel level (I mean, evdev or whatever) I like to bind Left Shift + Right Shift to CapsLock, and then have the actual physical caps lock key be Meta) and then having Meta be for "root" applications - "root" as in "doesn't run inside other stuff (so stuff like a terminal emulator, but NOT stuff like complex TUI programs running inside the terminal emulator, since by running inside the TE they are "non-root" )" (reason for this being that there would be otherwise be keybindings common between the root and the inner app, especially since I heavily favor using the QWERTASDFXCV keys with modifier keys and no chords) Then Control and Alt without Super or Meta are for whatever innermost application I'm using (and Shift is obviously just.. Shift). As for Hyper, I'm seeing if I can use that too, but I hear that it's actually defined on most systems as being Control+Alt+Shift pressed simultaneously, so if that's the case I don't want to use it unless I patch it to be considered its own modifier key. I might even add in my own modifier keys if and when I build a truly custom keyboard, though patching everything I intend it to directly interact with to support it properly could be quite the significant endeavor
A couple adjustments I have made to make my life easier: - Move through the tree with super + [arrows], in order to select several windows at a time - super + s rotates clockwise the parent node, which allows fast layout changes - I switch desktops with ctrl+super+h,l (of course), and monitors with ctrl+super+j,k: just as if monitors were vertically stacked (because I only use multi monitors when I want to project). But with side-by-side monitors you should do the opposite!
I think you should try a wayland compositor like river, sway or dwl! They really are great! (Personally I'm using river and I got it to the point where everything is pretty much perfect)
Instead of --resize'ing the current window one can change the --ratio of the parent node, so that the size of the tile is controlled by a single pair of keybinds. One should however remember that the same operation always expands the first child and shrinks the other one.
After years and years tinkering, I deleted all of my tiling window managers and live the simple life in xfce. Little configuration and I found I’m rarely in need of auto-tiling. It’s more productive too now that I’m not endlessly configuring my desktop.
I like bspwm, haven't done any wm hopping in a long time after setting it up. Simple enough, doesn't crash and stays out of my way. Usually I also use maybe two windows max per desktop in a single monitor environment, so the default layout works for me, and I don't use any toolbars anyway. Good enough, no reason to change.
I use bspwm, and I would say the only two things I take issue with are the lack of documentation and somewhat shoddy information around multi-monitor support. Honestly, a pipe dream of mine is to help write documentation for it-I think it would greatly increase bspwm’s popularity because it is actually really simple to use once you get the hang of it.
I totally agree with You : documentation is really very poor and multi-monitor support is very limited. i3wm is by far better and easier with only 1 config and a dream of documentation.
The bspc command actually has some really well-done tab completion so just messing around with that is a great way to learn what it can do and how to do it.
Switched from arco linux (using kde and xfce) to archcraft (using bspwm) like 2 months ago. Im in love with bspwm because it is super simple to configure. I didn't need to look anything up on the internet, just look at the config archcraft gives you and edit it to my liking. Also just makes everything faster compared to a DE or even a floating wm.
Qtile was my first WM, but then I moved over to BSPWM and loved it. Really simple to configure, and the layouts and structure just go well with how I think. :)
Manual tiling has never really bothered me. I've used i3WM for almost 5 years and it's just in my workflow to tell the window manager where to put the next window. It's just something to get used to. But you should give i3 a try, there were some major updates to it recently (they merged the i3-gaps project into mainline i3, which should have been done a long time ago).
I like bspwm and sxhkd because I have hotkeys for rofi scripts and launching apps and that's got nothing to do with my window manager so I think it should be kept separate. If I feel like changing the colour of my window frame, i like knowing that there is a small self contained file for that and if i'm playing around with it, I'm not going to mess up my hotkeys.
I've been using Awesome for a couple of years and I love it! The independent monitor thing is great! I also have 3 monitors and even though I don't use all 33 (I have 11 desktops per screen) desktops at one time, I have used them all on a week to week basis.They make things so organized and I absolutely love it! I'd love to see DT do something with Awesome again!
I'm here, 1 month later to pay my respects to executive producer Mahomies Bald the Second. You sir made my day. And cheers dt for being a good sport about it.
Would absolutely love some QTile videos ! I absolutely love python was using awesome but I don't know a lick of LUA so it was hard to configure. Fell in love qtile and it being a python config
Excellent video, I also find the size adjustment mode very strange in bspwm. I really like sxhkd's way of configuring, you can minimize writing a lot, however, if you make a shortcut wrong, it saves normally and does not issue any errors, in that aspect I like how I3 alerts about errors.
Not so recently I switched from xfce to Bspwm and I don't regret this. I'm using Arch Linux on a ThinkPad X240 and I have 8gb RAM on it. When it comes to RAM usage, with all the custom crap I installed to give it a bit of rice, the IDLE usage is at 110-208mb and I'm still getting used to the keybindings that I grabbed from some forum but one day I'll learn to master this change. Exactly like I mastered the switch from Windows 7 to Linux Mint and later on to Manjaro.
@@strix0797 It's still the same basic thing. Edit a config file. Install. Reload. The only extra step is the "install" step and they had to do that anyway to get any other wm working.
Good video. bspwm does allow you to assign desktops to a monitor. For example, i assign 1 - 4 to monitor 1, 5-7 to monitor 2, and 8-10 to monitor 3. You can use bspc to an app to a desktop or move it to a desktop regardless of monitor without using your mouse. I've attached a few snippets from my sxhkdrc. Woo Hooo ... no mouse. # Focus selected desktop. super + {1-9, 0} bspc desktop -f '^{1-9, 10}' # Move window to selected desktop and follow. super + shift + {1-9, 0} bspc node -d '^{1-9, 10}' --follow # Move window to selected desktop and do not follow. super + alt + {1-9, 0} bspc node -d '^{1-9, 10}'
At first I thought it was an April fools joke lol. Have you tried River? River is like dwm but with a few pros: + No re compile or patching, changes are done on the fly by executing commands. + Command focused - you control it via commands (e.g., riverctl toggle-focused-tags 2) + Write your config in any language. Bash, lua, python... + Scratchpad support via spawn-tagmask + You can use pywayland to write your own layouts in python of needed. + Layouts are added by installing packages (e.g., rivercarro Monocle,gaps etc) + You can use waybar with it which blows xmobar away. It's way easier and more powerful. + No Xorg, river is for wayland only. + River allows you to configure input devices (e.g., riverctrl input ). There are probably more pros but that's all I can think about right now. Cons? Nothing I can think of other than wayland if you consider that a con?
bspwm didn't work with slack calls when you wanted to share a screen. There was kind of inifite loop in switching between floating window and working window. This is why I moved to dwm
I just switched to the awesome window manager on an arch linux setup and I really like it. Was using plasma previously, but with arco linux it is so easy to add a new window manager I decided to play around. Will be using it for a while new to get to know it better.
it's funny to me that you mention that you're way too used to Dynamic Tilers to get used to bspwm's preselection because I'm the exact opposite-- I started on bspwm and it's felt so difficult to switch to a dynamic tiler because I'm so used to saying "I want to spawn my next node right here" and putting it right where I want it from launch.
The splitting logic of bspwm is simpler for me. I don' t need a "master" window, I don't understand the rationale of that. You are not forced to split 4 windows like a spiral, you can have 4 windows of equal size, just change the focus to the larger window, then open your new window. I don't know if bspwm is automatic or manual, but Iknow is it more automatic than i3. I agree with you about the resizing, its annoying to change the focus if you want to change the resizing direction. Thank you for your video.
this is how I risize windows, with this you dont need to change focus super + shift + { Left, Down, Up, Right } {bspc node @parent/second -z left -20 0 ; bspc node @parent/first -z right -20 0, \ bspc node @parent/second -z top 0 +20 ; bspc node @parent/first -z bottom 0 +20, \ bspc node @parent/first -z bottom 0 -20 ; bspc node @parent/second -z top 0 -20, \ bspc node @parent/first -z right +20 0 ; bspc node @parent/second -z left +20 0}
I tried to live in qtile. It's a very good wm. But when I returned to i3, I suddenly realized how I missed the manual tiling. I think it is just the way somebody thinks. I always look at my current set of windows and I see where would be the perfect place to put my next window. maybe that's because of my background as a camera operator and visual designer. I need to have those windows fit well together. Dynamic tilers just don't click with me, although I love qtile. Not being able to get few custom layouts in qtile was slightly frustrating.
I just switched off Bspwm for XMonad as of yesterday actually because I was having issues with Bspwm, and I don't know if I like it more than Bspwm. I think Bspwm has a easier config and I like the way it tiles more.
About that workspaces per monitor... if you want to have an app, a window that will span on, say, two monitors, is that possible ? Or it HAS to be on floating mode ? Or it doesn't work at all ?
i have recently shifted from i3 to bspwm and i wanted a bar to see workspaces and stuff so i choosed xmobar and i am not able to find how to display workspaces any help?
I cycled through i3-gaps to dwm to bspwm to ratpoison to xmonad and am back to i3. My take on this: learn how to hack on the configs and then just pick the one that works for you. I learned a lot struggling with xmonad/xmobar but really, it isn't any better than the i3/polybar I have now on my daily driver. And i3 is way easier to configure. No hacking on a Haskell file to try to get more than 10 workspaces showing up in xmobar, for example.
I have been using BSPWM for around 1.5 years now and love it. I tried using xmonad briefly but hated the way workspaces on multi monitor setups work. I have 2 monitors, on BSPWM I can just assign workspaces 1-5 to monitor 1 and 6-9 to monitor 2 and with 1 simple keybinding, I can send a window from my main monitor to my secondary one without any workspaces swapping around. Maybe there's a way to do this on xmonad too but I think this sort of thing is much simpler to do on BSPWM.
Bspwm just my standard WM, no bar, no keybinds but cli. I'm waiting bpswm clone for wayland. Bspwm don't handle keyboard just mind blowing. And I hate bar.
I'm sorry, but the moment that someone tries to talk about productivity but then mentions that they have multiple monitors, I switch off completely - if I want to stay focused and work, I want a single screen in front of me, not a "Boeing 747 flight deck". I guess I come from an older generation of computer users that just grew up using one screen, including working on customer sites with a laptop where even if I had a multi-screen environment at home, I couldn't duplicate it when doing my job. That meant I learnt about using multiple workspaces in Linux to switch between different virtual screens with a hot key press, but even then I can only focus on one thing at a time - plus I like "quiet" environments where I am not being distracted by some application or something happening on a second screen that really isn't that important. I think multi-screen use has two purposes - firstly, it's for "fashionistas" to show off to everyone else how great they are with computers because they can use three screens at once or they're just pandering to their own shorter attentions spans that need constant stimulation just because that's what is happening to the younger generations any, constantly peering down at their phone screens. Ten desktops on a standard HD screen with i3, dwm or another tiling window manager is more than what I need, maybe because my workflow is that well organised in the first place - and, yes, I do bash and Python programming so I do commonly have multiple windows open as I write and test such programs - but when I am focused on programming, I really could care less about checking email or social media (not that I use it anyway), changing a music track or some other activity that I can just do when I need to with a short key press to go to another screen.
Bunch of stuff wrong in the video: - you totally can expand AND SHRINK windows without selecting any other window - You can really easily move a window above, on left etc. without having to predefine it to spawn where you want - You can set your 3 monitors to only use the 9 desktops - You can easily swap OR SEND any window to another screen - You can use bsp-layout to use predefined layouts - You can make BSPWM remember the way you opened a window It seems like you didn’t really look for what you wanted and just assumed it was like that. I thought you would have known better DT…
First one use double commands, my config: bspc node 'focused.tiled' --resize left -20 0; bspc node 'focused' --resize right -20 0 That will work, also if you use it in a floating window it just shrinks it. Not sure about others, but I'm curious with last one.
@@newplayer7743 Commuting to work rn but if I remember correctly there was a "plugin" someone made kinda like bsp-layout or you can use sticky I believe, t/so the window spawns back with its shape and position it had previously
Skip your work, my curiosity more important than that :) Btw sticky not work, instead destroy existing tiled windows layout (when switching to other desktop), I usually use sticky on floating windows. If an external program is needed to do that, then I'll skip. But no worry, it's doesn't matter if I can do that or no. My current bspwm config more than enough.
I generate a cheatsheet from my sxhkd config searchable in rofi (with the dmenu option), I don't often use the preselect split, but I can quickly look up the command if I need it, it sometimes is nice to have a thin terminal at the bottom with two horizontally split windows on top and I set that up with preselect split. If anyone is interested: ` grep -Pzo "\ # \S.*\ .*\ " $HOME/.config/sxhkd/sxhkdrc | tr ' ' ':' | sed 's/:#/ /g' | column --separator : -t | rofi -dmenu -p "Cheat sheet (input map)" -theme-str 'window {width: 80%;}' -theme-str 'listview {columns:1;}'` I make sure that every keybinding is preceded by a line starting in `# ` and all other comments are either indented or use `##`.
Been using bspwm for over 5 years now. Stupidly simple, plain text config(for keybinds at least with sxhkd), does what it needs to do and it does it well. That is all I need and that is why I don't twm-hop. Thnx for the vid dt!
close to a decade here (with herbstluftwm more than a decade) and I freakin love it - no other tiling wm's have the same simplicity IMHO
@@PerJohanHalsli As far as i know the only twm that even comes close is i3. its only one that doesnt require someone to learn a programming language in order to setup.Still prefer bspwm because of the options, ive heard i3 is not very customizable and its config has weird syntax.
@@distant6606 Herbstluftwm have a shellscript as config -same as bspwm - but keybindings is in same script - not 2 diff configs as bspwm - as I actually prefer myself as the configs get less "messy"
edit: I used i3 for more than a year a long time ago but never liked the vertical horizontal split - I prefer to use presections now and then - and for layout I prefer to use spiral
@@PerJohanHalsli yea not intrested in i3 either but i will take a look at herbsluftwm now that you mentioned it.
@@distant6606 it's basically the same as bspwm with one added functionality called frames - you might find them useful - if you prefer to not actively use them one can just use bspwm instead - and where bspwm uses bspc herbstlutwm have the same "server/client" approach with hc - herbstclient - anyway jumping from one to the other one will feel right at home from the start - have fun ;)
Sxhkd is actually awesome on it's own. When I was using bspwm, I made 2 configs, one bspwm specific with it's bindings, and main - general one where I kept all wm-independent bindings. And when I moved to dwm, all I had to do was to run sxhkd, without need to rewrite it, nor recompile dwm while adding new one. And it works across every WM I wanna try, and even DE
I've used bspwm for over a year and have recently been trying out hyprland with the dwindle "layout". Here are my thoughts on it:
1. Don't think of it as a layout. "Layout" kinda implies that there is one set way in which windows will be arranged but in bspwm that depends on which windows you decide to split. Instead, bspwm has "splitting rules". By default these are:
- Always split the currently focused window.
- If the focused window is taller than it is wide, new window goes below that one. Otherwise it goes on the right.
- When you open a new window, focus on it.
The dwindle layout isn't a pre-defined layout. It emerges naturally as a result of these rules if (and only if) you just keep opening windows without changing focus.
2. Pre-selection is tedious. I pretty much never use it. Instead, I just focus on whichever window I wanna split and split it without pre-selecting. It's as convenient (imo) as dynamic tyling but still gives you a lot of control over where windows are placed.
3. I do all my work on a laptop so I can't say much about multi-monitor support.
4. bspwm is lacking some features. I found hyprland's window groups quite useful and I kinda wish bspwm had something similar. But then again, If I had the time, I could probably write a script that does something like that.
5. Ploybar is quite nice but I don't like the way it handles the systray. You can only put it on the left, right or the centre. In waybar, the systray is treated just like any other module and can be placed anywhere. Also, waybar's use of css allows for some pretty cool-looking customization.
DT, just wanted to point something out.
In bspwm you can have sets of different workspaces per monitor, I configured mine to have 1-5 in each monitor, so if I focus my second monitor and press the keys to change workspace/windows, it will only do it in that monitor.
also, bspc can be set up to just send the window to the desired monitor, so you can get rid of that weird behaviour that you got.
Same here, I always use a 2 monitor set-up with 1-5 and 6-9 workspaces distributed among them
Resizing a focused window @10:48 - You can grow or shrink the focused window without switching to the other window. As stated, Ctrl + Alt + H does enlarge the right window. To shrink it you use Ctrl + Alt + Shift + L. So the capability is there, but it's not intuitive.
The functionality is present and I don't know why it's not the default, considering the current defaults seem geared more towards floating mode, which is not the point of bspwm. You can resize both ways by changing the window split ratio of the parent node instead:
bspc node @parent -r {+,-}0.1
Just a note about shrinking windows in BSPWM, you don't need to focus an adjacent window. You mentioned ctrl+alt+h/j/k/l for expanding a window, you can create an extra mapping ctrl+alt+shift+h/j/k/l to shrink the current window in that same direction. Still clunky, but you can keep focus on your current window.
In my keybindings I just drop Ctrl altogether.
interesting, I actually love that the keybindings are in a different file. Not all my keybindings are window manager related - so it makes sense to be separated for me, as it's nice to have one place for all keybindings. Also, feels so simple and clean.
Same. I use swhkd (used, technically, as it broke and I never bothered to fix it (though that was like a year ago when the project was far more immature with much less features) but I'm planning on installing and extensively configuring it again soon), which is basically a functional clone of sxhkd that runs a daemon at the kernel level (the server runs without privs) that can intercept the input before anything else, and will keep working at the TTY, etc. I like having the Super key be exclusively for global, typically WM/compositor stuff, and have keybindings with it be organized in that one place, and then having Meta (binding a dedicated key for it to my keyboard - on a standard keyboard, at the firmware (most preferential) or kernel level (I mean, evdev or whatever) I like to bind Left Shift + Right Shift to CapsLock, and then have the actual physical caps lock key be Meta) and then having Meta be for "root" applications - "root" as in "doesn't run inside other stuff (so stuff like a terminal emulator, but NOT stuff like complex TUI programs running inside the terminal emulator, since by running inside the TE they are "non-root" )" (reason for this being that there would be otherwise be keybindings common between the root and the inner app, especially since I heavily favor using the QWERTASDFXCV keys with modifier keys and no chords) Then Control and Alt without Super or Meta are for whatever innermost application I'm using (and Shift is obviously just.. Shift). As for Hyper, I'm seeing if I can use that too, but I hear that it's actually defined on most systems as being Control+Alt+Shift pressed simultaneously, so if that's the case I don't want to use it unless I patch it to be considered its own modifier key. I might even add in my own modifier keys if and when I build a truly custom keyboard, though patching everything I intend it to directly interact with to support it properly could be quite the significant endeavor
A couple adjustments I have made to make my life easier:
- Move through the tree with super + [arrows], in order to select several windows at a time
- super + s rotates clockwise the parent node, which allows fast layout changes
- I switch desktops with ctrl+super+h,l (of course), and monitors with ctrl+super+j,k: just as if monitors were vertically stacked (because I only use multi monitors when I want to project). But with side-by-side monitors you should do the opposite!
I think you should try a wayland compositor like river, sway or dwl! They really are great! (Personally I'm using river and I got it to the point where everything is pretty much perfect)
ive been using hyprland and enjoying it a lot, couldnt river or sway with nvidia sadly
@@polycrylate It's not sad when Hyprland is the best Wayland compositor anyway :)
@@polycrylate u got hyprland working with nvidia?
@@starsetknight yeah the quick an easy animations and customisation possiblities are soo good
@@sabinopereira1631 yeah did what the hyprland wiki says. I don't game in this or anything so no idea if that stuff works but for regular use is good
Instead of --resize'ing the current window one can change the --ratio of the parent node, so that the size of the tile is controlled by a single pair of keybinds. One should however remember that the same operation always expands the first child and shrinks the other one.
Bangin install package man. I really like the menu that allows selection of WMs and software. Very nice
After years and years tinkering, I deleted all of my tiling window managers and live the simple life in xfce. Little configuration and I found I’m rarely in need of auto-tiling. It’s more productive too now that I’m not endlessly configuring my desktop.
I like bspwm, haven't done any wm hopping in a long time after setting it up. Simple enough, doesn't crash and stays out of my way. Usually I also use maybe two windows max per desktop in a single monitor environment, so the default layout works for me, and I don't use any toolbars anyway. Good enough, no reason to change.
I use bspwm, and I would say the only two things I take issue with are the lack of documentation and somewhat shoddy information around multi-monitor support.
Honestly, a pipe dream of mine is to help write documentation for it-I think it would greatly increase bspwm’s popularity because it is actually really simple to use once you get the hang of it.
I totally agree with You : documentation is really very poor and multi-monitor support is very limited. i3wm is by far better and easier with only 1 config and a dream of documentation.
@@nemogamma578 What do you dislike about bspwm's multimonitor support?
I use it daily and haven't had any issues.
The bspc command actually has some really well-done tab completion so just messing around with that is a great way to learn what it can do and how to do it.
Switched from arco linux (using kde and xfce) to archcraft (using bspwm) like 2 months ago. Im in love with bspwm because it is super simple to configure. I didn't need to look anything up on the internet, just look at the config archcraft gives you and edit it to my liking. Also just makes everything faster compared to a DE or even a floating wm.
Hi, DT! This would be an interesting series to watch, for sure. One month living in each one of those window managers.
You are the window manager guy. Thank you so much for teaching me about Qtile. It has been life-changing. ☮️❤️🌈
The unthinkable happened!
Qtile was my first WM, but then I moved over to BSPWM and loved it. Really simple to configure, and the layouts and structure just go well with how I think. :)
I'd love to hear Derek's thoughts on some Wayland tiling compositors, like Hyprland
Manual tiling has never really bothered me. I've used i3WM for almost 5 years and it's just in my workflow to tell the window manager where to put the next window. It's just something to get used to. But you should give i3 a try, there were some major updates to it recently (they merged the i3-gaps project into mainline i3, which should have been done a long time ago).
I like bspwm and sxhkd because I have hotkeys for rofi scripts and launching apps and that's got nothing to do with my window manager so I think it should be kept separate. If I feel like changing the colour of my window frame, i like knowing that there is a small self contained file for that and if i'm playing around with it, I'm not going to mess up my hotkeys.
I've been using Awesome for a couple of years and I love it! The independent monitor thing is great! I also have 3 monitors and even though I don't use all 33 (I have 11 desktops per screen) desktops at one time, I have used them all on a week to week basis.They make things so organized and I absolutely love it! I'd love to see DT do something with Awesome again!
I'm here, 1 month later to pay my respects to executive producer Mahomies Bald the Second. You sir made my day. And cheers dt for being a good sport about it.
the guy who wrote polybar - jaagr - used bspwm at the time so no wonder it fits well ;)
Mahomies II Bald. Well played 😂😂😂
Would absolutely love some QTile videos ! I absolutely love python was using awesome but I don't know a lick of LUA so it was hard to configure. Fell in love qtile and it being a python config
He has a huge playlist on Qtile.
the thing i love about bspwm is that the configuration file can be configured in any programming language.
Excellent video, I also find the size adjustment mode very strange in bspwm.
I really like sxhkd's way of configuring, you can minimize writing a lot, however, if you make a shortcut wrong, it saves normally and does not issue any errors, in that aspect I like how I3 alerts about errors.
Curious if you've ever used Leftwm? It's similar to Qtile in functionality, but written in Rust. Polybar works really well with Leftwm, too.
He's got a video on it
Not so recently I switched from xfce to Bspwm and I don't regret this.
I'm using Arch Linux on a ThinkPad X240 and I have 8gb RAM on it. When it comes to RAM usage, with all the custom crap I installed to give it a bit of rice, the IDLE usage is at 110-208mb and I'm still getting used to the keybindings that I grabbed from some forum but one day I'll learn to master this change. Exactly like I mastered the switch from Windows 7 to Linux Mint and later on to Manjaro.
At this point, having used most modern window managers, having started with twm in 2001, I can't help but wonder why more people don't use dwm.
because suckless
I think it's just because you need to be familiar with C with dwm rather than the simple configs with i3 or bspwm
@@strix0797
You really don't.
Just copy the syntax of the defaults and you'll be fine.
@@davidturcotte831 I'm not saying that it is more complicated, it's just more intimidating to people who are new to this space
@@strix0797
It's still the same basic thing. Edit a config file. Install. Reload. The only extra step is the "install" step and they had to do that anyway to get any other wm working.
I am using sxhkd with i3. I configured i3 to handle only basic keybindings, while sxhkd handles keychords for stuff like launching apps etc.
Good video. bspwm does allow you to assign desktops to a monitor. For example, i assign 1 - 4 to monitor 1, 5-7 to monitor 2, and 8-10 to monitor 3. You can use bspc to an app to a desktop or move it to a desktop regardless of monitor without using your mouse. I've attached a few snippets from my sxhkdrc. Woo Hooo ... no mouse.
# Focus selected desktop.
super + {1-9, 0}
bspc desktop -f '^{1-9, 10}'
# Move window to selected desktop and follow.
super + shift + {1-9, 0}
bspc node -d '^{1-9, 10}' --follow
# Move window to selected desktop and do not follow.
super + alt + {1-9, 0}
bspc node -d '^{1-9, 10}'
That wallpaper is from Mirror's Edge 2008!
Bspwm has been my first, and so far only stop when I started trying out tiling window managers. It just does what I want it to do.
I'm kinda shocked that you didn't say you had an openbox DTOS. It is your favorite desktop manager outside of tiling managers.
At first I thought it was an April fools joke lol. Have you tried River?
River is like dwm but with a few pros:
+ No re compile or patching, changes are done on the fly by executing commands.
+ Command focused - you control it via commands (e.g., riverctl toggle-focused-tags 2)
+ Write your config in any language. Bash, lua, python...
+ Scratchpad support via spawn-tagmask
+ You can use pywayland to write your own layouts in python of needed.
+ Layouts are added by installing packages (e.g., rivercarro Monocle,gaps etc)
+ You can use waybar with it which blows xmobar away. It's way easier and more powerful.
+ No Xorg, river is for wayland only.
+ River allows you to configure input devices (e.g., riverctrl input ).
There are probably more pros but that's all I can think about right now. Cons? Nothing I can think of other than wayland if you consider that a con?
bspwm didn't work with slack calls when you wanted to share a screen. There was kind of inifite loop in switching between floating window and working window. This is why I moved to dwm
There is a program to change bspwm's layout to traditional master-slave. I don't remember what it's called right now though.
I just switched to the awesome window manager on an arch linux setup and I really like it. Was using plasma previously, but with arco linux it is so easy to add a new window manager I decided to play around. Will be using it for a while new to get to know it better.
it's funny to me that you mention that you're way too used to Dynamic Tilers to get used to bspwm's preselection because I'm the exact opposite-- I started on bspwm and it's felt so difficult to switch to a dynamic tiler because I'm so used to saying "I want to spawn my next node right here" and putting it right where I want it from launch.
The splitting logic of bspwm is simpler for me. I don' t need a "master" window, I don't understand the rationale of that.
You are not forced to split 4 windows like a spiral, you can have 4 windows of equal size, just change the focus to the larger window, then open your new window.
I don't know if bspwm is automatic or manual, but Iknow is it more automatic than i3.
I agree with you about the resizing, its annoying to change the focus if you want to change the resizing direction. Thank you for your video.
If you know bspwm defaults you know where a window will open. It will split the largest x or y of the focused window
No need to preselext
fun fact i am looking to change my bspwm /polybar life ... making a path to Xmonad just to make a little bit more 🌶️ my life
this is how I risize windows, with this you dont need to change focus
super + shift + { Left, Down, Up, Right }
{bspc node @parent/second -z left -20 0 ; bspc node @parent/first -z right -20 0, \
bspc node @parent/second -z top 0 +20 ; bspc node @parent/first -z bottom 0 +20, \
bspc node @parent/first -z bottom 0 -20 ; bspc node @parent/second -z top 0 -20, \
bspc node @parent/first -z right +20 0 ; bspc node @parent/second -z left +20 0}
Please make a review on Hyprland!
I tried to live in qtile. It's a very good wm. But when I returned to i3, I suddenly realized how I missed the manual tiling. I think it is just the way somebody thinks. I always look at my current set of windows and I see where would be the perfect place to put my next window. maybe that's because of my background as a camera operator and visual designer. I need to have those windows fit well together. Dynamic tilers just don't click with me, although I love qtile. Not being able to get few custom layouts in qtile was slightly frustrating.
1:24 I use Yabar with BSPWM but the fact it is not being maintained since Last 5 Years or So but still it just werks :)
Mahomies II Bald, the myth the legend.
Hey DT, have you tried bsp-layout tool? Actually, it helps to make an auto-layouting with bspwm, master and stack included =).
A modular window manager. A challenge for DT. Being a tinker.
I've been using it for a few months now and I didn't even know it was a manual tiler. Definintely not a necessary feature.
I just switched off Bspwm for XMonad as of yesterday actually because I was having issues with Bspwm, and I don't know if I like it more than Bspwm. I think Bspwm has a easier config and I like the way it tiles more.
mostly used dwm after trying a bunch. But now with a move to Wayland, I'm on Hyprland
Try bsp-layout, it provides the normally preconfigured layouts
Super + right-click and drag is much easier to resize windows if you don't mind taking your hand off the keyboard.
What do you think about hyprland? can you do some stuff about it? Thanks!
I honestly don't get all the fuss about window managers. If you primarily live in the terminal wouldn't a multiplexer (e.g., tmux) do the trick?
Will this config be added to your git? Also BlendOS is another distro i think you should review.
What theme is it? I like you walpaper😊
Nice. I prefer manual tilers over anything else. I become clumsy if I can’t control that!!!
Believe it or not. I just use default i3. No rice!
I really love BSP most but I miss scratchpads from DWM and i3.
Thank you! Great, doing the same with DWM almost all my *nix life.
pls take a look at dwm again and explain it a little bit
About that workspaces per monitor... if you want to have an app, a window that will span on, say, two monitors, is that possible ? Or it HAS to be on floating mode ? Or it doesn't work at all ?
I'm pretty sure the way bspwm works is that each node (window) can only belong to a single monitor.
@@chelonianegghead274 Booooo. Oh well, can't say I'm surprised.
Which Linux Distro do recommended with Bspwm desktop environment?
The one you're most comfortable with.
Hey dt how to setting up x monad as wayland comp ?
I m using hyprland. Left DWM for Wayland
i have recently shifted from i3 to bspwm and i wanted a bar to see workspaces and stuff so i choosed xmobar and i am not able to find how to display workspaces any help?
smart move! bspwm is all you need
You never made a video on Hyperland. waiting for the same
I guess, why not, lets give it a go.
I cycled through i3-gaps to dwm to bspwm to ratpoison to xmonad and am back to i3. My take on this: learn how to hack on the configs and then just pick the one that works for you. I learned a lot struggling with xmonad/xmobar but really, it isn't any better than the i3/polybar I have now on my daily driver. And i3 is way easier to configure. No hacking on a Haskell file to try to get more than 10 workspaces showing up in xmobar, for example.
Time to hop over to Wayland.
Why don't you try and make a video about hyperland
I have been using BSPWM for around 1.5 years now and love it. I tried using xmonad briefly but hated the way workspaces on multi monitor setups work. I have 2 monitors, on BSPWM I can just assign workspaces 1-5 to monitor 1 and 6-9 to monitor 2 and with 1 simple keybinding, I can send a window from my main monitor to my secondary one without any workspaces swapping around. Maybe there's a way to do this on xmonad too but I think this sort of thing is much simpler to do on BSPWM.
Make a review of chadwm. It is cool looking fork of dwm with patches.
there is a command for shrinking windows in bspwm
yes
DT becomes bspwm pilled
Herbstluft would very interesting
Mahomies || Bald 😂
I love bspwm BUT..... for some reason beyond me... it keeps freezing up rendering it useless.
🤣🤣🤣DT didn't miss it @18:14
What's the difference between manual and hybrid then? I mean on archwiki is bspwm hybrid and i3 manual.
The difference is how it tiles new windows by default, bspwm always does that alternating vertical/horizontal split
@@excidium666 not sure if I understand, so out of box experience determines what is wm considered (dynamic, manual...)
@@excidium666 bspc config automatic_scheme spiral :)
try hyprland
Bspwm just my standard WM, no bar, no keybinds but cli. I'm waiting bpswm clone for wayland. Bspwm don't handle keyboard just mind blowing. And I hate bar.
still using X ?
I'm not a huge fan of tiling WMs. Not my cup of tea. I'd rather just use the mouse
I always saw you as the xmonad guy lol
ma homies 2 bald lol. We've got a badass over here!
Wen hyprland??????????
I'm sorry, but the moment that someone tries to talk about productivity but then mentions that they have multiple monitors, I switch off completely - if I want to stay focused and work, I want a single screen in front of me, not a "Boeing 747 flight deck".
I guess I come from an older generation of computer users that just grew up using one screen, including working on customer sites with a laptop where even if I had a multi-screen environment at home, I couldn't duplicate it when doing my job. That meant I learnt about using multiple workspaces in Linux to switch between different virtual screens with a hot key press, but even then I can only focus on one thing at a time - plus I like "quiet" environments where I am not being distracted by some application or something happening on a second screen that really isn't that important.
I think multi-screen use has two purposes - firstly, it's for "fashionistas" to show off to everyone else how great they are with computers because they can use three screens at once or they're just pandering to their own shorter attentions spans that need constant stimulation just because that's what is happening to the younger generations any, constantly peering down at their phone screens.
Ten desktops on a standard HD screen with i3, dwm or another tiling window manager is more than what I need, maybe because my workflow is that well organised in the first place - and, yes, I do bash and Python programming so I do commonly have multiple windows open as I write and test such programs - but when I am focused on programming, I really could care less about checking email or social media (not that I use it anyway), changing a music track or some other activity that I can just do when I need to with a short key press to go to another screen.
My man is stuck in 2003
xorg is bloat
Bunch of stuff wrong in the video:
- you totally can expand AND SHRINK windows without selecting any other window
- You can really easily move a window above, on left etc. without having to predefine it to spawn where you want
- You can set your 3 monitors to only use the 9 desktops
- You can easily swap OR SEND any window to another screen
- You can use bsp-layout to use predefined layouts
- You can make BSPWM remember the way you opened a window
It seems like you didn’t really look for what you wanted and just assumed it was like that. I thought you would have known better DT…
Can you elaborate on how you do all these things? It's the only things that I want to change.
First one use double commands, my config: bspc node 'focused.tiled' --resize left -20 0; bspc node 'focused' --resize right -20 0
That will work, also if you use it in a floating window it just shrinks it.
Not sure about others, but I'm curious with last one.
@@newplayer7743 Commuting to work rn but if I remember correctly there was a "plugin" someone made kinda like bsp-layout or you can use sticky I believe, t/so the window spawns back with its shape and position it had previously
@@TheStizzel I’ll try to explain everything if I can when I get back from work :)
Skip your work, my curiosity more important than that :)
Btw sticky not work, instead destroy existing tiled windows layout (when switching to other desktop), I usually use sticky on floating windows. If an external program is needed to do that, then I'll skip. But no worry, it's doesn't matter if I can do that or no. My current bspwm config more than enough.
And after the rant @BrodieRobertson covered I'd laugh at the irony that @DT isn't the first over on waymonad
Try hyprland , it's best
I generate a cheatsheet from my sxhkd config searchable in rofi (with the dmenu option), I don't often use the preselect split, but I can quickly look up the command if I need it, it sometimes is nice to have a thin terminal at the bottom with two horizontally split windows on top and I set that up with preselect split.
If anyone is interested:
` grep -Pzo "\
# \S.*\
.*\
" $HOME/.config/sxhkd/sxhkdrc | tr '
' ':' | sed 's/:#/
/g' | column --separator : -t | rofi -dmenu -p "Cheat sheet (input map)" -theme-str 'window {width: 80%;}' -theme-str 'listview {columns:1;}'`
I make sure that every keybinding is preceded by a line starting in `# ` and all other comments are either indented or use `##`.
Hey DT, can u explain why you dont use Ubuntu anymore on your main Machine?