So I have this problem ... Well it's not really a problem - I can stop
whenever I want, really I can. My problem is that I have a thing for
tiling window
managers</a> (WMs)1</a></sup>.
I love the efficient window management, keyboard focussed operation,
extensive customisability and lightweight feel that most tiling WMs
offer. For the X Window System 2</a></sup> there's an awful lot to choose
from</a>,
and I've been obsessed for some time now with finding a great tiling WM
that works for me and then configuring it to perfection.</p>
I've spent an embarrassing amount of time installing, learning about,
configuring and tinkering with tiling WMs. Over the last 6 years I've
tried out, with at least some seriousness, all of the following:</p>
These tiling WMs all have their pros and cons but I've ended up
settling3</a></sup> on awesome (version 3) as it is stable (i.e. not someone's
project that was never finished and hasn't been touched in years),
highly customisable (almost everything can be changed using Lua), sane
to configure with sensible defaults, handles multiple monitors well and
lacks irritating bugs.</p>
I use awesome both at home and at work, and until recently I'd been
maintaining two separate configurations. After being frustrated by the
process of repeatedly synchronising changes between the two
configurations, I decided to merge the two and clean up a bunch of stuff
at the same time.</p>
The result can be seen on GitLab at:
https://gitlab.com/menn0/awesome-config</a></p>
My goals for the new configuration were:</p>
Some highlights from my configuration:</p>
Note that I'm by no means a Lua expert. I'd love to hear feedback on
what I've done from more experienced Lua developers and awesome users.</p>
If you're new to tiling window managers, I hope this post has piqued
your interest (or at least hasn't put you off them!). If you're already
using awesome, I hope I may have encouraged you to re-think your
configuration. I know I'm obsessive about these things, but I think
there's much to gain from optimising the way you interact with the
software you use the most, and your window manager certainly meets that
criteria.</p>
Update</strong>: As requested, a screenshot of how my config looks (on my
laptop).</p>
The panel at the top has from left to right: a button for the
application launcher menu, the tag (workspace) list, a window list for
the current tag, CPU and memory usage graphs, a battery widget, volume
widget, system tray (containing the Dropbox and Network Manager icons),
a clock and a awesome layout indicator applet. Most/all of the UI
elements are implemented in Lua.</p>
Three application windows are shown in the tag, organised using the
"tile" layout. Chrome in the "master" position with Emacs and a shell
off to the right.</p>
If you're unsure what tiling window managers are about, or why
you'd considering using one, there are a
few</a>
useful</a>
pages</a> around.</p>
</div>
I use Linux almost exclusively.</p>
</div>
By "settled" I mean, "have used exclusively for about a year now".</p>
</div>
The same goes for your editor
configuration</a>,
but that's another story.</p>
</div>
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So I have this problem ... Well it's not really a problem - I can stop whenever I want, really I can. My problem is that I have a thing for tiling window managers (WMs) 1 . I love the efficient window management, keyboard focussed operation, extensive customisability and lightweight feel that most tiling WMs offer. For the X Window System 2 there's an awful lot to choose from , and…
1</sup>
2</sup>
3</sup>
4</sup>
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