Re: [dev] Tiling windowmanager workflow (Was: [dvtm] Fibonacci layout patch)

On 1 Jun 2010, at 12:56, Moritz Wilhelmy wrote:

>> On Tue, Jun 01, 2010 at 01:27:07PM +0200, Mate Nagy wrote:
>>> Using the vim splits may be cheating, but it sure is convenient.
>> sorry for self-reply: I thought that maybe for maximum punishment,
>> the
>> fibonacci layout could support nmaster. (Also note that this is a
>> 2560x1600 setup, that's why so much division (and nmaster) makes
>> sense.)
>
> Ah, guess it's just my 1280x1024 screen then :)
> Actually tiling doesn't even make much sense on it, when I went with
> monocle on
> the netbook I grew used to it and use it everywhere now.
> Anyone else interested in sharing their way how they use their
> System? It seems
> like an interesting topic.

I've been fighting with window managers all my computing life, not
counting the 8-bit machines. I've tried a variety of semi-fixed
layouts in FVWM, but really, whether you like tiled or floating or
some strange hybrid, multi-window systems only work if you have a big
enough screen. At one point I was using WindowMaker & while I liked
the dock & clip, I set it to automatically full-screen-maximise every
(non-transient) window. I eventually got a 1600x1200 monitor and said
to myself (out loud, I think) "Oh THAT'S how window systems are
supposed to work!"

My Windows-using nephews maximise everything, or if they're using
something which doesn't belong maximised and they have to look at it
for more than a few seconds they minimise everything else. Basically
they get a monocle view too. They have 1280x1024 screens, one per
computer.

Apple OS X is curious. Maximisation is poor, but applications are
meant to have small windows which the window system neatly cascades.
There is a hide function which is kinda half-useful; it hides all the
windows of an application but it would be better if windows could be
grouped by project and hidden that way. I still somehow prefer it to
virtual desktops...

TL;DR
Summarising years of experience^Wfrustration:
* Window systems are pointless without very large screens.
* OS X (really NextStep) tries hard to work with smaller screens but
is still clunky.

-- 
Do not specify what the computer should do for you, ask what the  
computer can do for you.