Config feature poll (to use in future documentation/advertising)
What's the most interesting/practical feature that you have configured in your xmonad? What's the thing that you miss most when using your xmonad config? I'll start. For me definitively is the UrgencyHook, combined with DzezUrgency and UrgentPP (thanks asgaroth) With the Notifications you've got a messaging framework, anyone chats you on a pidgin window , you get notified and a shortcut to fly directly to that window (Message Notifications plugin), set the Bell on term and you got your IMAP mutt telling of new mails, even vim says 'i'm here!', combining the dzenFlashingBar with a different coloring of the workspace (for when you are not in front of the computer) makes it hard to miss anything new. The other thinguie, LayoutModifiers, withIM keeps my contact window fully open in my IM workspace and with combinators i use two different layouts to arrange pidgin windows and IRC windows, a dwm Grid when they're a few and a tabbed layout when i have to focus in one, someone talks you, the tab gets colored, you won't have to use pesky tabs in pidgin anymore, you keep navigating your IM windows with the same shortcuts of ever. (I'm in the search for a multiwindow CLI irc client :) In this moment the only thing i'm missing is an inteligent launcher that will present me my most used programs and map them to my home row on the keyboard, and that support searching (narrowing the selection) and passing arguments, but i'm fine with ShellPrompt altough I hate tabbing for the options, I think it would be better to create a floating window with more accesible navigation, like gridselect but for programs. Yours? P.S: if you use xmonad teamed with another DE, plz explain what keeps you from going full xmonad solo (maybe we can pack some good software and make a live-cd with some xmonad-desktop examples)
On Tue, Apr 07, 2009 at 03:26:00PM -0300, Ismael Carnales wrote:
What's the most interesting/practical feature that you have configured in your xmonad?
I think one of best features of Xmonad is layout modifiers. Just the *idea* of layout modifiers puts xmonad light-years ahead of other tiling window managers. Instead of having to create each of one's desired layouts from scratch, or being limited to a fixed set of layouts, one can put together layouts like lego blocks. Even in core xmonad, one has the Mirror modifier. The modifiers I use: - ManageDocks, Gaps, WindowNavigation, Themes, PerWorkspace - Mirror - Reflect - Tabbed - IM - Master - Named I did use Combo for a while, but the navigation for it irritated me; trying to remember whether I was supposed to use the key-combo for Move or for Shift, depending on whether I was inside one of the combined layouts or wanting to move between them. Too many hotkeys to remember. I was very happy when I realized that I could use the Master modifier to get the layout I wanted, without having to go through the hoops required by Combo. I also use the IM layout, but strangely enough, not for IM. I use it for Gimp. I prefer being able to use Gimp in a tiled way rather than a floating way, with two tool windows on each side, and the image window in the middle. (I don't know why Gimp always starts floating when my manage-hook doesn't have a doFloat action for Gimp in it -- is it set in the default config or something?)
What's the thing that you miss most when using your xmonad config?
Pretty window decorations. Look, I know the common attitude of those who use tiling window managers is that decorations are for wimps and Real Men Don't Need No Fancy Decorations, but then I don't care to be a Real Man, and I miss my eyecandy. Even 3D borders would be an improvement. Ion had 3D borders, so I know it's not at odds with the tiling window manager concept. Kathryn Andersen -- _--_|\ | Kathryn Andersen http://www.katspace.com / \ | \_.--.*/ | GenFicCrit mailing list http://www.katspace.com/gen_fic_crit/ v | ------------| Melbourne -> Victoria -> Australia -> Southern Hemisphere Maranatha! | -> Earth -> Sol -> Milky Way Galaxy -> Universe
On Tue, 7 Apr 2009 15:26:00 -0300
Ismael Carnales
What's the most interesting/practical feature that you have configured in your xmonad?
What's the thing that you miss most when using your xmonad config?
Layout modifiers are a killer aspect for me too, even though I only use basic ones (mastered, Mirror, named, deco). Haskell as a configuration language is also an awesome feature by itself, because it allows me to try ambitious/complex things in my config without knowing it's going to crash anyway and debugging it is going to take forever and an eternity. Finally, the XMonad.Prompt modules are a favorite of mine because of their simplicity and flexibility. I'd like to see some better floating window support, but most of it is only a bit of hacking away. I've just written a placement hook that solves my most urgent problem, and I've also got a small module for moving/resizing both WindowArranger and floating windows transparently lying around, which I plan on eventually augmenting with move-to-edge/resize-to-edge kind of actions before sending it to contrib. So no, actually I don't miss anything.
participants (3)
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Ismael Carnales -
Kathryn Andersen -
Quentin Moser