Tiling Window Manager is alternative to using full blown desktop environment. More info on ArchWiki

I have recently started using WM, first i3 now on openbox. And absolutely love it.

If you are someone who is used to use normal desktop environment like gnome, kde, xfce or any other DE (Desktop Environment), I’d suggest to try out WM.You can start with anyone of those window manager you’re comfortable with. Setting up wm is easy on fresh arch install so it shouldn’t be a barrier.

You can do everything using keyboard shortcuts.

Opening windows, closing windows, moving to different workspaces etc, can be done using keyboard shortcuts. It took me few days to get used to use keyboard shortcuts but now i can say it’s miles better than using mouse.

One window doesn’t cover another

Yes it doesn’t (by default), and why the hell would you want to keep one window on top of another?

Easily customizable

I open up documentation in one workspace and vim with config file opened in another workspace. Changing everything is as easy as editing a text file. Documentations are mostly gets the job done, but if still doesn’t work one quick brave Search or youtube search does it.

Loading other’s configuration

Sometimes I don’t wanna configure everything by myself, so I’d go r/unixporn and load other’s configuration. And voilà its done. Well in reality I still have to open the config file and tweak here and there, but it’s usually ’less time consuming'.

Forces you to use the terminal

I’m a pretty new when it comes to Linux. Although terminal doesn’t scare me anymore, I sometimes still think using terminal is hard. Using a wm forces me to use terminal when possible.

Texts »> Icons

I have never been a fan of icons, I’d prefer simple texts over icons any day. A window manager normally doesn’t have icons.

Its minimal, less distracting, more productive

I don’t spend any time trying to arrange my opened tabs. (Suck on that Windows users) I’d open a programme because I want to open it, not because I was sitting mindlessly and getting bored.

Elitism Feeling

It comes with the OS, if you’re a Linux user you know what I’m taking about.

In conclusion:

If you are still not convinced, I’ll suggest you give it a try, take a break from conventional way of managing windows and embrace the new. You can always go back to doing things your way.

PS: I use Arch BTW

Post was last updated on July 1, 2023.