Ask HN: What's your Linux window manager and/or desktop environment?
I'm curious what window managers and/or desktop environments the HN crowd uses, and favors - and why...
59 comments
I use Sway.
The main reason is because I'm used to tilling WM, I've tried to switch back to stacking ones a few time but I really don't like it.
The second reason is that it's light.
The third reason is that I have less issues with Wayland (I know some people would say the opposite, but I never found a way to have no graphical glitch with X11)
Now, if there would be a mature dynamic tilling manager like DWM or AwesomeWM under wayland I would switch to it (I'm gonna play with RiverWM soon I think).
Now, if there would be a mature dynamic tilling manager like DWM or AwesomeWM under wayland I would switch to it (I'm gonna play with RiverWM soon I think).
Sway is surprisingly nice to use. My first run in with it is the Manjaro+Sway images for the Pinebook Pro. I have to keep the shortcut documentation saved on my phone for referencing but I'm beginning to understand the draw of Tiling finally.
I also use Sway for pretty much these exact reasons. It's really wonderful software!
Arch, i3wm. Love having a personalized keyboard-first setup that I can say I've built over time.
A tip for those who may just be starting out: switch your LEFT-ALT and WIN keys. Also make caps lock act like ESC on tap and CTRL on long press. See xmodmap, setxkbmap and xcape for this.
A tip for those who may just be starting out: switch your LEFT-ALT and WIN keys. Also make caps lock act like ESC on tap and CTRL on long press. See xmodmap, setxkbmap and xcape for this.
Ohh, those are interesting tips. Would also be handy for Awesomewm which is what I use. Gonna have to dig into how to do that.
If you want the lazy way (the way I have it):
setxkbmap -option altwin:swap_lalt_lwin,caps:ctrl_modifier
xcape -e 'Caps_Lock=Escape;Alt_R=Control_L|space'
I use GNOME. I have very minimal requirements and GNOME satisfy them while mostly staying out of the way and being widely supported.
- Tap Super key and type to open apps or select emoji
- Super+Left or Super+Right for simple side-by-side tiling.
- Workspaces on the primary monitor.
- Tap Super key and type to open apps or select emoji
- Super+Left or Super+Right for simple side-by-side tiling.
- Workspaces on the primary monitor.
I like my setups to be as configurable yet minimal and resource light as possible.
Lately AwesomeWM[1] with Lain[2] seem to provide the flexibility and easy configurability I like with the minimal overhead I love.
[1] https://awesomewm.org/
[2] https://github.com/lcpz/lain
Lately AwesomeWM[1] with Lain[2] seem to provide the flexibility and easy configurability I like with the minimal overhead I love.
[1] https://awesomewm.org/
[2] https://github.com/lcpz/lain
I use a different UI depending on my mood.
XFCE, open box, ratpoison, awesomewm, dwm
XFCE and open box are floating. You can set up some key binds to snap windows. Overall I think floating + snaps are superior to pure tiling. I use XFCE when i want a big fat desktop environment. Pure open box for something light.
Sometimes I want pure tiling. ratpoison (manual tiler) is my mainstay for that. Occasionally use awesome or dwm for a dynamic tiler.
XFCE, open box, ratpoison, awesomewm, dwm
XFCE and open box are floating. You can set up some key binds to snap windows. Overall I think floating + snaps are superior to pure tiling. I use XFCE when i want a big fat desktop environment. Pure open box for something light.
Sometimes I want pure tiling. ratpoison (manual tiler) is my mainstay for that. Occasionally use awesome or dwm for a dynamic tiler.
I'll second you on floating + snaps with the keyboard. I think overlapping and stacking is too natural to dispense with completely.
My traditional setup is Sawfish. No desktop environment, just Sawfish, xterm, emacs, and a browser. I still run this today on a Debian desktop at home and a RHEL VM at work. Occasionally I swap Sawfish for StumpWM (I have an old X220 around here where I thought a tiling WM would make better use of the tiny screen). Lately I also run MATE on Ubuntu for my laptop, having realized I can configure it to feel close enough to my old Sawfish setup.
I really don't like the idea of desktop environments. They aspire to control your whole computer, and replace all of your applications with their own - their own mail reader, their own media player, their own text editor, their own PDF viewer, etc. This has been my impression even since the 1.0 days of GNOME and KDE. They feel like a collection of shovelware.
I really don't like the idea of desktop environments. They aspire to control your whole computer, and replace all of your applications with their own - their own mail reader, their own media player, their own text editor, their own PDF viewer, etc. This has been my impression even since the 1.0 days of GNOME and KDE. They feel like a collection of shovelware.
KDE Plasma on the latest Pop!OS from System76.
Why? It just feels more like what I'm comfortable with and works closer to the way I expect things to work. I'm one of those people who thinks that Win95 era Windows defined a desktop UI that needs little improvement, and KDE gives me that experience plus pretty much exactly the improvements I would want - virtual desktops being foremost on that list. The "Activities" stuff is neat, although I don't really use that facility a lot, but it complements the rest of the system nicely IMO.
What I explicitly don't want is any of these desktop environments that try to do what I consider "weird" stuff like blocking you from putting anything on the desktop, or forcing use of a Mac style menubar at the top of the screen.
Why? It just feels more like what I'm comfortable with and works closer to the way I expect things to work. I'm one of those people who thinks that Win95 era Windows defined a desktop UI that needs little improvement, and KDE gives me that experience plus pretty much exactly the improvements I would want - virtual desktops being foremost on that list. The "Activities" stuff is neat, although I don't really use that facility a lot, but it complements the rest of the system nicely IMO.
What I explicitly don't want is any of these desktop environments that try to do what I consider "weird" stuff like blocking you from putting anything on the desktop, or forcing use of a Mac style menubar at the top of the screen.
Fluxbox because it has enough features for me, very much "done" and stable. Also the greatest theme collection.
Openbox on XFCE. I have a custom set of keyboard mappings that I really like for moving and resizing windows. I haven't found another stacking WM that provides a set of actions like Openbox.
Pop!_OS with Pop!_OS Shell or whatever.
I'm tired of fiddling with OS bits. I just want to get work done. Pop!_OS is close enough to Ubuntu.
And their window tiling extension is fantastic.
I'm tired of fiddling with OS bits. I just want to get work done. Pop!_OS is close enough to Ubuntu.
And their window tiling extension is fantastic.
100% get that attitude.
I'm in the phase of slowly trying to learn Linux, and it's fun. But it also quickly becomes clear that there is no reward at the end. The endless different config file formats, man pages, shell mantras etc. don't really make computing any better in the end. They don't help one run CAD software, do CFD, write software, edit videos, make music, or any of the other things that are really what computing is about. Perhaps Ubuntu is the forever-distro after all.
I'm in the phase of slowly trying to learn Linux, and it's fun. But it also quickly becomes clear that there is no reward at the end. The endless different config file formats, man pages, shell mantras etc. don't really make computing any better in the end. They don't help one run CAD software, do CFD, write software, edit videos, make music, or any of the other things that are really what computing is about. Perhaps Ubuntu is the forever-distro after all.
I’ve been using elementary OS (Pantheon) and I like so much about it, yet still often find it feeling a bit limited as a daily driver for software development work.
I’d like to try Gnome 40+ with one more distro hop, but if that doesn’t stick, then I’m likely to head back to KDE Plasma (Manjaro) since that’s been the best Linux experience I’ve had so far. Sane defaults, yet still easily customizable wherever I felt the need to.
I’d like to try Gnome 40+ with one more distro hop, but if that doesn’t stick, then I’m likely to head back to KDE Plasma (Manjaro) since that’s been the best Linux experience I’ve had so far. Sane defaults, yet still easily customizable wherever I felt the need to.
I'm running Arch Linux with GNOME on Wayland. It's mostly perfect for me out-of-the-box, however I have customized it to my liking with the help of a few extensions:
- ArcMenu: https://gitlab.com/arcmenu/ArcMenu
- Dash to Dock: https://micheleg.github.io/dash-to-dock/
- Lock Keys: https://github.com/kazysmaster/gnome-shell-extension-lockkey...
- Tray Icons Reloaded: https://github.com/MartinPL/Tray-Icons-Reloaded
I also change a few things using GNOME Tweaks; namely setting the application theme to Orchis-grey-dark-compact (https://github.com/vinceliuice/Orchis-theme), icon theme to Flatery-Dark (https://github.com/cbrnix/Flatery) and system font to Inter (https://rsms.me/inter/).
I've been using this setup for quite a while and I've been very happy with my computing experience, both in terms of aesthetics and overall UX. I tried tiling WMs for a while (first KWin and then i3 / Sway) but I found that I'm just a messy person who tends to be more productive with a floating WM.
- ArcMenu: https://gitlab.com/arcmenu/ArcMenu
- Dash to Dock: https://micheleg.github.io/dash-to-dock/
- Lock Keys: https://github.com/kazysmaster/gnome-shell-extension-lockkey...
- Tray Icons Reloaded: https://github.com/MartinPL/Tray-Icons-Reloaded
I also change a few things using GNOME Tweaks; namely setting the application theme to Orchis-grey-dark-compact (https://github.com/vinceliuice/Orchis-theme), icon theme to Flatery-Dark (https://github.com/cbrnix/Flatery) and system font to Inter (https://rsms.me/inter/).
I've been using this setup for quite a while and I've been very happy with my computing experience, both in terms of aesthetics and overall UX. I tried tiling WMs for a while (first KWin and then i3 / Sway) but I found that I'm just a messy person who tends to be more productive with a floating WM.
I have been running either sway or i3 (both tiling window managers) for the last couple years. I used KDE for a couple years before that. One day I tried a tiling WM plugin for KDE and decided to give it a shot and learn it how it worked. Using the KDE plugin preserved the ability to float windows and do everything the way I had in the past if I couldn't figure out how tiling worked. It was a nice easy transition and I'm really glad I gave it a chance! I quickly grew to love the ability to use all my screen space efficiently and the organization of workspaces.
The lightweight footprint that something like sway or i3 gives is really nice too. Now I like to start with a fedora minimal install, install sway & just pick and choose all the applications I want to use. It really feels like my OS stays out of the way and is just the way I want it. If/when I reinstall I just backup my .config folder.... everything is back to how I like it once restored. Very easy.
The lightweight footprint that something like sway or i3 gives is really nice too. Now I like to start with a fedora minimal install, install sway & just pick and choose all the applications I want to use. It really feels like my OS stays out of the way and is just the way I want it. If/when I reinstall I just backup my .config folder.... everything is back to how I like it once restored. Very easy.
Awesome Window Manager, for a few reasons.
* I like being in direct control of a text file config.
* I don't use SystemD. (And before I get flamed, I think all alternatives suck too; I just use the default on Gentoo, but intend to replace it.)
* Using Awesome means that I don't have any extraneous processes running.
* Awesome is the closest to DWM (which has a design I like) while still being usable by mere mortals.
* I like being in direct control of a text file config.
* I don't use SystemD. (And before I get flamed, I think all alternatives suck too; I just use the default on Gentoo, but intend to replace it.)
* Using Awesome means that I don't have any extraneous processes running.
* Awesome is the closest to DWM (which has a design I like) while still being usable by mere mortals.
Currently: LXQT/Mate on most machines. Mostly just because they are some of the lightest DE's that have the bare minimum features I want. I was a GTK-leaning user for decades now but the LXDE -> LXQT transition has begun to convert me. Fedora's LXQT respin is among my favorite prebuilt distros with LXQT.
I'm on Gnome (Manjaro) with workspaces plus each one mapped to keys F1,F2,F3,F4
Kitty, VS Code, Chromium (Ublock, Bitwarden), Firefox, Typora, Logseq, Ohmyzsh
https://imgur.com/a/u1f0ZO6
Kitty, VS Code, Chromium (Ublock, Bitwarden), Firefox, Typora, Logseq, Ohmyzsh
https://imgur.com/a/u1f0ZO6
Awesomewm for the last couple of years. KDE for donkey's ages before that. (Still use Konsole and Dolphin.)
Took a lot of fiddling and trial and error to get it the way I wanted with a mix of tiling and floating windows depending on the app and such. Very happy with it though, and it has fulfilled my tiling window manager itch that I carried for a long time.
I'm setting up PC for my dad soon. Previously used the latest LTS of Kubuntu for non-power users, but considering trying Mint with XFCE instead and see how it behaves. (Use Arch for personal PC and Ubuntu for servers, so Mint and XFCE are new to me but think it will be a good fit for my familial tech support requirements.)
Took a lot of fiddling and trial and error to get it the way I wanted with a mix of tiling and floating windows depending on the app and such. Very happy with it though, and it has fulfilled my tiling window manager itch that I carried for a long time.
I'm setting up PC for my dad soon. Previously used the latest LTS of Kubuntu for non-power users, but considering trying Mint with XFCE instead and see how it behaves. (Use Arch for personal PC and Ubuntu for servers, so Mint and XFCE are new to me but think it will be a good fit for my familial tech support requirements.)
Arch with Wayland and Sway.
I'm fucking around with it on my ancient Surface Pro 3, and it's been a wonderful experience so far. I haven't even got XWayland. Helps that I'm only using it to use Firefox and write some code in vim.
I'm fucking around with it on my ancient Surface Pro 3, and it's been a wonderful experience so far. I haven't even got XWayland. Helps that I'm only using it to use Firefox and write some code in vim.
I ended up trying out Fedora 35 after years of Debian/Devuan.
Super happy with the Gnome experience. The whole OS feels very professional and polished - reminiscent of OSX, where you still have command line powers.
Super happy with the Gnome experience. The whole OS feels very professional and polished - reminiscent of OSX, where you still have command line powers.
NSCDE (https://github.com/NsCDE/NsCDE) which is an adaptation of FVWM to resemble CDE. I can't comment how precise an adaptation it is, as I never used CDE.
I have originally switched to Linux ~8 years ago because I was fed up with how Windows doesn't help in managing windows. I then spent most of the time with i3 and xmonad.
I have originally switched to Linux ~8 years ago because I was fed up with how Windows doesn't help in managing windows. I then spent most of the time with i3 and xmonad.
Dwm here (it's like i3 or awesome: a tiling wm).
I love tiling WM and would.never go back to "floating" ones. It a bit ugly at first but so much more usable: windows don't change place, you can easily replace them using only the keyboard, etc..
If you want to try a WM don't go for dwm: it's "too" simple and you need plenty of other helper scripts (volume control, resolution change, ...), But use a more "advanced" (user friendly) one instead
I love tiling WM and would.never go back to "floating" ones. It a bit ugly at first but so much more usable: windows don't change place, you can easily replace them using only the keyboard, etc..
If you want to try a WM don't go for dwm: it's "too" simple and you need plenty of other helper scripts (volume control, resolution change, ...), But use a more "advanced" (user friendly) one instead
I use XFCE because of it's stabilty.
For tiling: I came across the tool xpytile (search on github for it). It almost perfectly fits my needs. Since it's written in Python I could pretty easily tweak it or even add new features. Very helpful is the concurrent auto-resizing of windows which are placed side by side.
I've been using PopOS which is GNOME plus Pops Shell - their custom tiling WM.
I tried i3 before but it sometimes broke with certain apps and took way too much fiddling to configure.
The nice thing about Pop Shell is that there's no config, and when I'm confused or doing something simple, I can just turn it off and use a regular floating style WM. It lets me focus on doing stuff rather than learning hundreds of keybindings and the internals of a WM.
I tried i3 before but it sometimes broke with certain apps and took way too much fiddling to configure.
The nice thing about Pop Shell is that there's no config, and when I'm confused or doing something simple, I can just turn it off and use a regular floating style WM. It lets me focus on doing stuff rather than learning hundreds of keybindings and the internals of a WM.
BSPWM
I sometimes try to set up cinnamon, gnome, xfce, i3 or similar using the same keyboard shortcuts I use in my bspwm setup, but I always return to bspwm.
Been using it for like 5 years now.
I sometimes try to set up cinnamon, gnome, xfce, i3 or similar using the same keyboard shortcuts I use in my bspwm setup, but I always return to bspwm.
Been using it for like 5 years now.
I'm also using bspwm after using awesomewm for years.
Do you use any theme for GTK and/or KDE?
Years ago (early '2000) I was using FVWM on my Gentoo setup (screenshot https://www.deviantart.com/sonic969/art/Station-32316919) now I'm using macOS and I have no idea of the state of FVWM, it was great at the time!
MATE - because I like Gnome 2 and don't like Gnome 3
Yep. I was a Gnome user until the transition to Gnome 3. I found a new home with KDE Plasma and haven't looked back since.
KDE Plasma desktop environment with KWin window manager
Cinnamon. Every once in a while I try again Gnome and KDE but quickly go back to Cinnamon. It's the only DE where I'm mostly fine with the defaults. Everything else has to be tuned to death to be even remotely decent. Or they just crash because I have one monitor that requires HiDPI scaling and the other doesn't. I'm sad, nothing we have today is as good as Gnome 2 was.
Dwm because it sucks less https://dwm.suckless.org/
I used to use ST, but I got real bored of suckless
Because dwm is customized through editing its source code, it's pointless to make binary packages of it. This keeps its userbase small and elitist. No novices asking stupid questions. There are some distributions that provide binary packages though.fvwm, since 1998.
I've started to use the new version 3 on desktop. But it still has got some problems when connecting/disconnecting monitors, so I use version 2 on the laptop where I need to do that.
No DE, unless you count LXQt as a basic session manager. I don't know why, but it seems things works more smoothly with a session manager instead of just starting fvwm from .xsession.
I've started to use the new version 3 on desktop. But it still has got some problems when connecting/disconnecting monitors, so I use version 2 on the laptop where I need to do that.
No DE, unless you count LXQt as a basic session manager. I don't know why, but it seems things works more smoothly with a session manager instead of just starting fvwm from .xsession.
I'm always a sad enlightenment(1) doesn't seem to get any notice anymore...
I used to run E everywhere - Thanks Raster!
But I have to admit, lately - I run KDE
1) https://www.enlightenment.org/
But I have to admit, lately - I run KDE
1) https://www.enlightenment.org/
I use dwm because it's lightweight and performs well on my old laptop; plus I like the minimalistic approach and I've been able to configure it to run as I want (I like to full-screen my apps and use large font).
At work, i3 on Plasma. At home, plain i3 (with polybar). Simple, and amazingly practical.
Currently running Arch + i3, which I have done for years. However, I have recently been thinking of moving to a more featured setup. I've decided this weekend to fresh install Manjaro and Gnome
I use a custom minimalist setup I created:
https://lamda-chops.bearblog.dev/alpine-linux/
https://lamda-chops.bearblog.dev/alpine-linux/
Gnome 41.1, it just works, has everything I need and is quite simple.
Plain old Gnome (41.1) on Arch. Simple and gets out of the way. There are some annoyances, but it works well enough. I’ve used KDE Plasma (on Neon) and XFCE (Xubuntu) in the past.
Plasma.
I've used a ton of minimal WMs and almost every DE. But I find Plasma much easier to get started with. Minimal tinkering and I can get going.
I've used a ton of minimal WMs and almost every DE. But I find Plasma much easier to get started with. Minimal tinkering and I can get going.
XFCE under Rocky Linux 8.
Multi-display setup.
I patched the source code so my side monitor retain its windows when I switch workspaces.
Multi-display setup.
I patched the source code so my side monitor retain its windows when I switch workspaces.
IceWM and Xfce. Glad to see recent development on IceWM. Xfce has always been just comfortable for my uses.
Kde plasma. Because it is what I have used for 20+ years and I am too lazy to switch.
after many, many years with xfce, i tried kde plasma and being happily using it since earlier this year.
Mint MATE
Xfce. I like it, lol.
sway for coding and gnome when need to talk via zoom
gnome because it is default de with ubuntu
KDE.
i3 wm.
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xfwm