{"slug": "i3", "name": "i3", "category": "os", "category_name": "Operating systems and desktop", "description": "A tiling window manager for X11 on Linux and BSD, configured through a plain-text file.", "recommenders": 13, "commenters": 28, "warners": 0, "score": 15.231, "rising": 3.71, "first": "2025-11-14", "latest": "2026-10-28", "why": "Loved for fast, keyboard-driven tiling and per-task workspaces, and for a simple, lightweight setup that users keep for years.", "why_is_quote": false, "has_verdict": true, "sentiment": {"recommend": 13, "neutral": 16, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [2, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2], "listed": true, "loved": ["Keyboard productivity", "Long-term loyalty"], "caveat": "X11 only", "short_quote": "Many years later, I have switched to i3 because it's not using a programming language for configuration.", "icon": true, "domain": "bernat.ch", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://i3wm.org/", "pricing": "open source", "aliases": ["i3"], "verdict": [{"text": "Loved for fast, keyboard-driven tiling and per-task workspaces", "cites": [{"id": 784471763, "item_id": 49029485, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49029485", "by": "didriksg", "date": "2026-07-23", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Coming from i3, navigating a mac felt so slow and inefficient.", "excerpt": "I'm actually in the opposite position. I've used Linux for 10 years until I recently had to switch to Mac due to work. I started off in Ubuntu in 2016 and moved to Arch in 2018. I ran it until I started in a new job. One thing that Linux just gets right compared to macos and windows is the package managers. Brew is nice and all, but it's nothing compared to pacman/apt. I also miss it for the window managers. Coming f", "context": "former Linux user now on Mac for work", "use_case": "window management", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What Linux distro do you daily drive?"}, {"id": 734966529, "item_id": 45935408, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45935408", "by": "Duanemclemore", "date": "2025-11-14", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I started with i3 and really like the keybindings.", "excerpt": "When I got back on Linux as a daily driver a year ago I knew I wanted to be on a tiling / dynamic window manager. I started with i3 and really like the keybindings. A couple months later I found out about xmonad through general interest in the subject. I installed it, found someone's config to use i3 keybinds (which I was used to at that point) and had a lot of fun. It's definitely quick as heck and I like how compac", "context": "Linux daily driver", "use_case": "tiling window manager", "switched_from": "", "story": "Moving Back to a Tiling WM \u2013 XMonad"}, {"id": 797271616, "item_id": 49829476, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49829476", "by": "Oxodao", "date": "2026-09-24", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "in i3 I have no taskbar but it's perfect for serious work", "excerpt": "oh yeah I forgot about this but I absolutely have a grip with this. Though I'm not 100% in line with this because in i3 I have no taskbar but it's perfect for serious work because: 1. Each app / type of app I use has its own workspace 2. The indicator of workspace only shows those which have a window on it, even if they always exist That pretty much replicates the taskbar experience but with the added benefits that I", "context": "", "use_case": "tiling window manager", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ideas on modernizing the open-source desktop"}, {"id": 763345600, "item_id": 47709100, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47709100", "by": "ray__", "date": "2026-04-09", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "the productivity of i3", "excerpt": "This looks interesting and I will give it a try. I agree that the space-switching animation is painful. I don't however think that this will solve spaces on MacOS, for the simple reason that opening new instances of apps is inconsistent and often doesn't behave how you'd expect it to once one more than one space is involved (in my experience, anecdotal). I've come to peace with the fact that I will never be able to s", "context": "", "use_case": "window management", "switched_from": "", "story": "Native Instant Space Switching on macOS"}]}, {"text": ", and for a simple, lightweight setup that users keep for years.", "cites": [{"id": 797232785, "item_id": 49827049, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49827049", "by": "t_mahmood", "date": "2026-09-24", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "barebones i3 with everything mapped to my preference", "excerpt": "Last thing I would want AI running on my desk and doing unpredictable things. I love my silly simple Gnome desk or barebones i3 with everything mapped to my preference. I can search and enter my search, and expect same results everytime, so muscle memory friendly. Gnome's search does calculation in search just fine, or search files, no need of any models. And app can provide their own search endpoint that gnome uses,", "context": "", "use_case": "window manager", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ideas on modernizing the open-source desktop"}, {"id": 783737424, "item_id": 48983589, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48983589", "by": "vbernat", "date": "2026-07-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Many years later, I have switched to i3 because it's not using a programming language for configuration.", "excerpt": "I have switched from FVWM to awesome because of Lua. Many years later, I have switched to i3 because it's not using a programming language for configuration. It's fine to have a configuration language if you have time to maintain, but your configuration can become quite complex and difficult to evolve. And it is also far more subject to breakage when upgrading. I think I've found balance by using a Python daemon as a", "context": "", "use_case": "window manager", "switched_from": "awesome", "story": "Hyprland 0.55 announced the switch to Lua for its config files"}, {"id": 787087716, "item_id": 49192982, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49192982", "by": "jolmg", "date": "2026-08-05", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Archlinux with i3 and a focus on using the shell with a very light terminal (urxvt; others like gnome-terminal were too slow) and other very light apps made it very responsive.", "excerpt": "I get it. Got one. Compromises are many. Speed wise, it clears the bar for me of being able to watch Youtube on Firefox and use the controls, but yeah it's got bugs and other issues. I may be able to tolerate the speed because of how I used my netbook many years ago. Windows XP was completely useless because of how laggy the GUI was. Archlinux with i3 and a focus on using the shell with a very light terminal (urxvt; ", "context": "", "use_case": "window manager", "switched_from": "", "story": "I'm switching my phone from Android to Linux"}, {"id": 802464560, "item_id": 50154035, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50154035", "by": "simlevesque", "date": "2026-10-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I decided to go all in with i3. I don't regret that choice", "excerpt": "15 years ago I thought: should I go all in on i3 or tmux ? both manage windows for me, I don't need to learn both tools. Since I use web browsers for my work, I decided to go all in with i3. I don't regret that choice but I regret seeing the problem as \"this or that\" when I could have mastered both.", "context": "web-based work", "use_case": "window management", "switched_from": "", "story": "Tmux and Claude Code: Sessions, Send-Keys, and the Ceiling"}, {"id": 743785584, "item_id": 46486599, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46486599", "by": "forgotpwd16", "date": "2026-01-04", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "i3+NixOS+urxvt+zsh+Emacs+rofi+maim+xdotool", "excerpt": "Heh, interesting seeing we use pretty much the same things, i3+NixOS+urxvt+zsh+Emacs+rofi+maim+xdotool, only differentiating in browser choice (it's Firefox for me) and (me) not using any term multiplexer. >So from my perspective, switching from this existing, flawlessly working stack (for me) to Sway only brings downsides. Kudos to Michael for even attempting it. Personally nowadays unless my working stack stops, we", "context": "", "use_case": "window manager", "switched_from": "", "story": "Can I start using Wayland in 2026?"}]}, {"text": " The most common caveat is that it is tied to X11, and some suggest Wayland-based Sway instead", "cites": [{"id": 737541713, "item_id": 46096357, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46096357", "by": "s20n", "date": "2025-11-30", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I used i3 for the longest time", "excerpt": "I used i3 for the longest time and I'd say a wayland based alternative like sway or miracle is a better choice nowadays. Even KDE Plasma recently dropped x11 support [1] so going forward, most apps will target wayland first. Migrating my i3 config to sway hardly took any effort. I was also able to get rid of a lot of xorg specific configurations from various x11 dotfiles and put them directly in the sway config (Such", "context": "", "use_case": "window manager", "switched_from": "", "story": "CachyOS: Fast and Customizable Linux Distribution"}, {"id": 743785584, "item_id": 46486599, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46486599", "by": "forgotpwd16", "date": "2026-01-04", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "i3+NixOS+urxvt+zsh+Emacs+rofi+maim+xdotool", "excerpt": "Heh, interesting seeing we use pretty much the same things, i3+NixOS+urxvt+zsh+Emacs+rofi+maim+xdotool, only differentiating in browser choice (it's Firefox for me) and (me) not using any term multiplexer. >So from my perspective, switching from this existing, flawlessly working stack (for me) to Sway only brings downsides. Kudos to Michael for even attempting it. Personally nowadays unless my working stack stops, we", "context": "", "use_case": "window manager", "switched_from": "", "story": "Can I start using Wayland in 2026?"}]}, {"text": "; others note that it can need tinkering on new hardware and suits touch use poorly.", "cites": [{"id": 737758193, "item_id": 46109887, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46109887", "by": "AbbeFaria", "date": "2025-12-01", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "get My Dell docking station and i3 window manager to work. But that is something I was willing to live with.", "excerpt": "I just bought a Thinkpad T14s a couple of months ago. It\u2019s lightweight, has great build quality. I installed Ubuntu and it almost ran out of the box but I ended up having to tinker with it to get My Dell docking station and i3 window manager to work. But that is something I was willing to live with. So far, I have had no complaints. If you\u2019re using Linux, the sleep and standby performance aren\u2019t good. But much better", "context": "Linux user", "use_case": "window manager", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Quality of recent gens of Dell/Lenovo laptops worse than 10 years ago?"}, {"id": 804478450, "item_id": 50279903, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50279903", "by": "Liftyee", "date": "2026-10-28", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I wouldn't want to run the i3 setup I have on my desktop.", "excerpt": "I use a stylus to take lecture notes and solve problem sheets on my ThinkPad X13. Xournalpp works ok, Ubuntu 24.04, though there was a mutter bug that I had Sol patch out. Only better than paper because of data storage, honestly carrying a notebook is lighter than the usb c second display I use. When I have it folded, it's intuitive to use the touchscreen like a tablet. But I wouldn't want to run the i3 setup I have ", "context": "", "use_case": "desktop window manager", "switched_from": "", "story": "MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display and Touch"}]}], "praise": [{"label": "Keyboard productivity", "summary": "Keyboard-driven tiling makes navigation feel fast, and other systems feel slow by comparison.", "quotes": [{"id": 784471763, "item_id": 49029485, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49029485", "by": "didriksg", "date": "2026-07-23", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Coming from i3, navigating a mac felt so slow and inefficient.", "excerpt": "I'm actually in the opposite position. I've used Linux for 10 years until I recently had to switch to Mac due to work. I started off in Ubuntu in 2016 and moved to Arch in 2018. I ran it until I started in a new job. One thing that Linux just gets right compared to macos and windows is the package managers. Brew is nice and all, but it's nothing compared to pacman/apt. I also miss it for the window managers. Coming f", "context": "former Linux user now on Mac for work", "use_case": "window management", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What Linux distro do you daily drive?"}, {"id": 734966529, "item_id": 45935408, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45935408", "by": "Duanemclemore", "date": "2025-11-14", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I started with i3 and really like the keybindings.", "excerpt": "When I got back on Linux as a daily driver a year ago I knew I wanted to be on a tiling / dynamic window manager. I started with i3 and really like the keybindings. A couple months later I found out about xmonad through general interest in the subject. I installed it, found someone's config to use i3 keybinds (which I was used to at that point) and had a lot of fun. It's definitely quick as heck and I like how compac", "context": "Linux daily driver", "use_case": "tiling window manager", "switched_from": "", "story": "Moving Back to a Tiling WM \u2013 XMonad"}, {"id": 763345600, "item_id": 47709100, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47709100", "by": "ray__", "date": "2026-04-09", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "the productivity of i3", "excerpt": "This looks interesting and I will give it a try. I agree that the space-switching animation is painful. I don't however think that this will solve spaces on MacOS, for the simple reason that opening new instances of apps is inconsistent and often doesn't behave how you'd expect it to once one more than one space is involved (in my experience, anecdotal). I've come to peace with the fact that I will never be able to s", "context": "", "use_case": "window management", "switched_from": "", "story": "Native Instant Space Switching on macOS"}]}, {"label": "Long-term loyalty", "summary": "Users stick with it for years and don't want to give it up.", "quotes": [{"id": 802464560, "item_id": 50154035, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50154035", "by": "simlevesque", "date": "2026-10-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I decided to go all in with i3. I don't regret that choice", "excerpt": "15 years ago I thought: should I go all in on i3 or tmux ? both manage windows for me, I don't need to learn both tools. Since I use web browsers for my work, I decided to go all in with i3. I don't regret that choice but I regret seeing the problem as \"this or that\" when I could have mastered both.", "context": "web-based work", "use_case": "window management", "switched_from": "", "story": "Tmux and Claude Code: Sessions, Send-Keys, and the Ceiling"}, {"id": 734954802, "item_id": 45934675, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45934675", "by": "wanderingmind", "date": "2025-11-14", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love my Debian+ i3 too much to give it up.", "excerpt": "Teams is a must if you are a professional in Australia. However, I love my Debian+ i3 too much to give it up. Using it through chrome is not easy especially to chat. So, I install it as appomage through appman and it works beautifully well that I can automatically update as well.", "context": "", "use_case": "window manager", "switched_from": "", "story": "Unofficial Microsoft Teams client for Linux"}, {"id": 797254176, "item_id": 49828386, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49828386", "by": "Oxodao", "date": "2026-09-24", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I gave up and stay on i3 and the common tools I use", "excerpt": "Yeah and when change do occur, its for the worse (e.g. Gnome) > Why bother to learn a new UI, when all that does is get you back to square 1, and it might not even stick around Exactly. That's why I gave up and stay on i3 and the common tools I use. I've been for a few month under hyprland and yeah no I'll go back to X11+i3 the pain it provides is just not worth it even if the common user would think they're pretty s", "context": "", "use_case": "window manager", "switched_from": "Hyprland", "story": "Ideas on modernizing the open-source desktop"}]}, {"label": "Simple, stable config", "summary": "The plain configuration and predictable behavior keep working without constant upkeep.", "quotes": [{"id": 783737424, "item_id": 48983589, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48983589", "by": "vbernat", "date": "2026-07-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Many years later, I have switched to i3 because it's not using a programming language for configuration.", "excerpt": "I have switched from FVWM to awesome because of Lua. Many years later, I have switched to i3 because it's not using a programming language for configuration. It's fine to have a configuration language if you have time to maintain, but your configuration can become quite complex and difficult to evolve. And it is also far more subject to breakage when upgrading. I think I've found balance by using a Python daemon as a", "context": "", "use_case": "window manager", "switched_from": "awesome", "story": "Hyprland 0.55 announced the switch to Lua for its config files"}, {"id": 797232785, "item_id": 49827049, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49827049", "by": "t_mahmood", "date": "2026-09-24", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "barebones i3 with everything mapped to my preference", "excerpt": "Last thing I would want AI running on my desk and doing unpredictable things. I love my silly simple Gnome desk or barebones i3 with everything mapped to my preference. I can search and enter my search, and expect same results everytime, so muscle memory friendly. Gnome's search does calculation in search just fine, or search files, no need of any models. And app can provide their own search endpoint that gnome uses,", "context": "", "use_case": "window manager", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ideas on modernizing the open-source desktop"}, {"id": 743785584, "item_id": 46486599, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46486599", "by": "forgotpwd16", "date": "2026-01-04", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "i3+NixOS+urxvt+zsh+Emacs+rofi+maim+xdotool", "excerpt": "Heh, interesting seeing we use pretty much the same things, i3+NixOS+urxvt+zsh+Emacs+rofi+maim+xdotool, only differentiating in browser choice (it's Firefox for me) and (me) not using any term multiplexer. >So from my perspective, switching from this existing, flawlessly working stack (for me) to Sway only brings downsides. Kudos to Michael for even attempting it. Personally nowadays unless my working stack stops, we", "context": "", "use_case": "window manager", "switched_from": "", "story": "Can I start using Wayland in 2026?"}]}, {"label": "Workspace organization", "summary": "Dedicated workspaces per app or task replace a taskbar and keep work grouped.", "quotes": [{"id": 797271616, "item_id": 49829476, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49829476", "by": "Oxodao", "date": "2026-09-24", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "in i3 I have no taskbar but it's perfect for serious work", "excerpt": "oh yeah I forgot about this but I absolutely have a grip with this. Though I'm not 100% in line with this because in i3 I have no taskbar but it's perfect for serious work because: 1. Each app / type of app I use has its own workspace 2. The indicator of workspace only shows those which have a window on it, even if they always exist That pretty much replicates the taskbar experience but with the added benefits that I", "context": "", "use_case": "tiling window manager", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ideas on modernizing the open-source desktop"}, {"id": 787805616, "item_id": 49237851, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49237851", "by": "calvinmorrison", "date": "2026-08-09", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "So far I have to live with a bunch of i3 screens I name after whatever I'm working on.", "excerpt": "This is awesome. I always have imagined my computer being well, my desk. So far I have to live with a bunch of i3 screens I name after whatever I'm working on. I'd love to be able to page through the bench to flip to a task. Unfortunately with apps going so mono-windowed (slack, etc) it's harder to do. If I could just say have my slack window for this client, with their docs, proposals, database, whatever up, that'd ", "context": "", "use_case": "window management workspaces", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What are you working on? (August 2026)"}, {"id": 745366000, "item_id": 46585375, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46585375", "by": "i_am_a_peasant", "date": "2026-01-11", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "anything that\u2019s not a tiling window manager nowadays just feels wrong to me.", "excerpt": "This was my first DM, i even put my mother on it on her home laptop. I use i3 nowadays, glazewm on windows, and aerospace on macos. anything that\u2019s not a tiling window manager nowadays just feels wrong to me. Even if sometimes my screen doesn\u2019t look pretty because i randomly threw on virtual screen 7 all the windows i don\u2019t currently use.", "context": "", "use_case": "tiling window manager", "switched_from": "Xfce", "story": "XFCE Is Great"}]}, {"label": "Lightweight", "summary": "A minimal i3 setup keeps old or low-RAM machines responsive.", "quotes": [{"id": 787087716, "item_id": 49192982, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49192982", "by": "jolmg", "date": "2026-08-05", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Archlinux with i3 and a focus on using the shell with a very light terminal (urxvt; others like gnome-terminal were too slow) and other very light apps made it very responsive.", "excerpt": "I get it. Got one. Compromises are many. Speed wise, it clears the bar for me of being able to watch Youtube on Firefox and use the controls, but yeah it's got bugs and other issues. I may be able to tolerate the speed because of how I used my netbook many years ago. Windows XP was completely useless because of how laggy the GUI was. Archlinux with i3 and a focus on using the shell with a very light terminal (urxvt; ", "context": "", "use_case": "window manager", "switched_from": "", "story": "I'm switching my phone from Android to Linux"}, {"id": 757853712, "item_id": 47365857, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47365857", "by": "oveja", "date": "2026-03-13", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "So I used a minimal i3 installation and interacted mostly with a terminal.", "excerpt": "This reminds me of learning linux and cli commands because an old netbook with like 512 of ram was struggling with modern guis and web browsers. So I used a minimal i3 installation and interacted mostly with a terminal.", "context": "Linux user", "use_case": "lightweight window manager on old netbook", "switched_from": "", "story": "\"This Is Not the Computer for You\""}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "X11 only", "summary": "One user says Wayland alternatives like Sway are a better choice now that apps are moving to Wayland.", "quotes": [{"id": 737541713, "item_id": 46096357, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46096357", "by": "s20n", "date": "2025-11-30", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I used i3 for the longest time", "excerpt": "I used i3 for the longest time and I'd say a wayland based alternative like sway or miracle is a better choice nowadays. Even KDE Plasma recently dropped x11 support [1] so going forward, most apps will target wayland first. Migrating my i3 config to sway hardly took any effort. I was also able to get rid of a lot of xorg specific configurations from various x11 dotfiles and put them directly in the sway config (Such", "context": "", "use_case": "window manager", "switched_from": "", "story": "CachyOS: Fast and Customizable Linux Distribution"}]}, {"label": "Hardware setup", "summary": "Getting it working with hardware such as a docking station can take some tinkering.", "quotes": [{"id": 737758193, "item_id": 46109887, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46109887", "by": "AbbeFaria", "date": "2025-12-01", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "get My Dell docking station and i3 window manager to work. But that is something I was willing to live with.", "excerpt": "I just bought a Thinkpad T14s a couple of months ago. It\u2019s lightweight, has great build quality. I installed Ubuntu and it almost ran out of the box but I ended up having to tinker with it to get My Dell docking station and i3 window manager to work. But that is something I was willing to live with. So far, I have had no complaints. If you\u2019re using Linux, the sleep and standby performance aren\u2019t good. But much better", "context": "Linux user", "use_case": "window manager", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Quality of recent gens of Dell/Lenovo laptops worse than 10 years ago?"}]}, {"label": "Not for touch", "summary": "It is a poor fit for stylus or tablet-style touchscreen use.", "quotes": [{"id": 804478450, "item_id": 50279903, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50279903", "by": "Liftyee", "date": "2026-10-28", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I wouldn't want to run the i3 setup I have on my desktop.", "excerpt": "I use a stylus to take lecture notes and solve problem sheets on my ThinkPad X13. Xournalpp works ok, Ubuntu 24.04, though there was a mutter bug that I had Sol patch out. Only better than paper because of data storage, honestly carrying a notebook is lighter than the usb c second display I use. When I have it folded, it's intuitive to use the touchscreen like a tablet. But I wouldn't want to run the i3 setup I have ", "context": "", "use_case": "desktop window manager", "switched_from": "", "story": "MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display and Touch"}]}, {"label": "Missing work apps", "summary": "Being on Linux or BSD can mean losing access to tools like MS Office or needing workarounds for Teams.", "quotes": [{"id": 763345600, "item_id": 47709100, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47709100", "by": "ray__", "date": "2026-04-09", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "the productivity of i3", "excerpt": "This looks interesting and I will give it a try. I agree that the space-switching animation is painful. I don't however think that this will solve spaces on MacOS, for the simple reason that opening new instances of apps is inconsistent and often doesn't behave how you'd expect it to once one more than one space is involved (in my experience, anecdotal). I've come to peace with the fact that I will never be able to s", "context": "", "use_case": "window management", "switched_from": "", "story": "Native Instant Space Switching on macOS"}, {"id": 734954802, "item_id": 45934675, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45934675", "by": "wanderingmind", "date": "2025-11-14", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love my Debian+ i3 too much to give it up.", "excerpt": "Teams is a must if you are a professional in Australia. However, I love my Debian+ i3 too much to give it up. Using it through chrome is not easy especially to chat. So, I install it as appomage through appman and it works beautifully well that I can automatically update as well.", "context": "", "use_case": "window manager", "switched_from": "", "story": "Unofficial Microsoft Teams client for Linux"}, {"id": 802520336, "item_id": 50157521, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50157521", "by": "benfrancom", "date": "2026-10-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "i3 for non-terminal work, and tmux in the terminal. Loved it", "excerpt": "I used both for a long time. i3 for non-terminal work, and tmux in the terminal. Loved it, and am ready to move back to Linux for better OS-tiling management. I also ran it on OpenBSD on my laptop as a daily driver for about ~9 months. Loved the security/simplicity, but made it more difficult or impossible for certain Linux only tools.", "context": "", "use_case": "window tiling", "switched_from": "", "story": "Tmux and Claude Code: Sessions, Send-Keys, and the Ceiling"}]}, {"label": "Workflow fit", "summary": "Some users find tiling doesn't help a browser-and-terminal tab workflow.", "quotes": [{"id": 749155280, "item_id": 46822205, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46822205", "by": "benrutter", "date": "2026-01-30", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I've used i3, awesome and pop quite a bit.", "excerpt": "I love the WM innovation that is happening in Linux right now. I've used i3, awesome and pop quite a bit. That said, I've gone full circle and just use a regular ol' floating style for now. This is because if the realisation that my workflow is to open a browser, a terminal, and then just use tabs within them. I always want to know other people's workflows! I'm sure for some people who need/want lots of windiwd open,", "context": "Linux user", "use_case": "tiling window manager", "switched_from": "", "story": "The Dank Case for Scrolling Window Managers"}]}], "who": [{"by": "simlevesque", "context": "web-based work", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50154035", "date": "2026-10-19"}, {"by": "BSDobelix", "context": "11 years FreeBSD user", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49589873", "date": "2026-09-06"}, {"by": "godelski", "context": "power user who lives in the terminal", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49483236", "date": "2026-08-28"}, {"by": "didriksg", "context": "former Linux user now on Mac for work", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49029485", "date": "2026-07-23"}, {"by": "krupan", "context": "Emacs and tiling WM user", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48256664", "date": "2026-05-24"}, {"by": "oveja", "context": "Linux user", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47365857", "date": "2026-03-13"}, {"by": "benrutter", "context": "Linux user", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46822205", "date": "2026-01-30"}, {"by": "AbbeFaria", "context": "Linux user", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46109887", "date": "2025-12-01"}, {"by": "Duanemclemore", "context": "Linux daily driver", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45935408", "date": "2025-11-14"}], "tags": ["for keyboard-driven users", "for Linux users", "for low-end hardware", "runs on BSD", "for terminal-heavy workflows"], "use_cases": ["window manager", "tiling window manager", "window management", "desktop window manager", "window tiling", "window management workspaces"], "compared": [{"slug": "sway", "name": "Sway", "co": 14, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 3}, {"slug": "niri", "name": "niri", "co": 6, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 1}, {"slug": "hyprland", "name": "Hyprland", "co": 6, "switched_from": 1, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "xfce", "name": "Xfce", "co": 2, "switched_from": 2, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "xmonad", "name": "XMonad", "co": 4, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 1}, {"slug": "arch-linux", "name": "Arch Linux", "co": 5, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "awesome", "name": "awesome", "co": 3, "switched_from": 1, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "kde", "name": "KDE", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 1}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49825642", "title": "Ideas on modernizing the open-source desktop", "mentions": 3}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50148855", "title": "Tmux and Claude Code: Sessions, Send-Keys, and the Ceiling", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46584173", "title": "XFCE Is Great", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45928873", "title": "Moving Back to a Tiling WM \u2013 XMonad", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50276940", "title": "MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display and Touch", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50143132", "title": "Mitos editor is a fork of Helix", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"neutral": 2, "recommend": 2}, "2025-12": {"neutral": 3}, "2026-01": {"neutral": 4, "recommend": 1}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-04": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-05": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-06": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-07": {"recommend": 2}, "2026-08": {"neutral": 2, "recommend": 2}, "2026-09": {"neutral": 1, "recommend": 2}, "2026-10": {"neutral": 2, "recommend": 2}}, "quotes": [{"id": 804478450, "item_id": 50279903, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50279903", "by": "Liftyee", "date": "2026-10-28", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I wouldn't want to run the i3 setup I have on my desktop.", "excerpt": "I use a stylus to take lecture notes and solve problem sheets on my ThinkPad X13. Xournalpp works ok, Ubuntu 24.04, though there was a mutter bug that I had Sol patch out. Only better than paper because of data storage, honestly carrying a notebook is lighter than the usb c second display I use. When I have it folded, it's intuitive to use the touchscreen like a tablet. But I wouldn't want to run the i3 setup I have ", "context": "", "use_case": "desktop window manager", "switched_from": "", "story": "MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display and Touch"}, {"id": 802520336, "item_id": 50157521, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50157521", "by": "benfrancom", "date": "2026-10-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "i3 for non-terminal work, and tmux in the terminal. Loved it", "excerpt": "I used both for a long time. i3 for non-terminal work, and tmux in the terminal. Loved it, and am ready to move back to Linux for better OS-tiling management. I also ran it on OpenBSD on my laptop as a daily driver for about ~9 months. Loved the security/simplicity, but made it more difficult or impossible for certain Linux only tools.", "context": "", "use_case": "window tiling", "switched_from": "", "story": "Tmux and Claude Code: Sessions, Send-Keys, and the Ceiling"}, {"id": 802464560, "item_id": 50154035, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50154035", "by": "simlevesque", "date": "2026-10-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I decided to go all in with i3. I don't regret that choice", "excerpt": "15 years ago I thought: should I go all in on i3 or tmux ? both manage windows for me, I don't need to learn both tools. Since I use web browsers for my work, I decided to go all in with i3. I don't regret that choice but I regret seeing the problem as \"this or that\" when I could have mastered both.", "context": "web-based work", "use_case": "window management", "switched_from": "", "story": "Tmux and Claude Code: Sessions, Send-Keys, and the Ceiling"}, {"id": 802306274, "item_id": 50144142, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50144142", "by": "jon128", "date": "2026-10-18", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I use i3 or Sway, so I already have macros that do just this", "excerpt": "An articulated rationale for why a fork would go a long way for awareness of why an existing user of Helix might consider to use Mitos instead (or not) really needs to be the first thing we see on the front page of the site for Mitos. One thing that really sticks out to me and gives me a feeling I won't consider to use Mitos, is the presentation further down on Mitos' front page of rendering of image files inside the", "context": "", "use_case": "window manager", "switched_from": "", "story": "Mitos editor is a fork of Helix"}, {"id": 797271616, "item_id": 49829476, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49829476", "by": "Oxodao", "date": "2026-09-24", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "in i3 I have no taskbar but it's perfect for serious work", "excerpt": "oh yeah I forgot about this but I absolutely have a grip with this. Though I'm not 100% in line with this because in i3 I have no taskbar but it's perfect for serious work because: 1. Each app / type of app I use has its own workspace 2. The indicator of workspace only shows those which have a window on it, even if they always exist That pretty much replicates the taskbar experience but with the added benefits that I", "context": "", "use_case": "tiling window manager", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ideas on modernizing the open-source desktop"}, {"id": 797254176, "item_id": 49828386, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49828386", "by": "Oxodao", "date": "2026-09-24", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I gave up and stay on i3 and the common tools I use", "excerpt": "Yeah and when change do occur, its for the worse (e.g. Gnome) > Why bother to learn a new UI, when all that does is get you back to square 1, and it might not even stick around Exactly. That's why I gave up and stay on i3 and the common tools I use. I've been for a few month under hyprland and yeah no I'll go back to X11+i3 the pain it provides is just not worth it even if the common user would think they're pretty s", "context": "", "use_case": "window manager", "switched_from": "Hyprland", "story": "Ideas on modernizing the open-source desktop"}, {"id": 797232785, "item_id": 49827049, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49827049", "by": "t_mahmood", "date": "2026-09-24", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "barebones i3 with everything mapped to my preference", "excerpt": "Last thing I would want AI running on my desk and doing unpredictable things. I love my silly simple Gnome desk or barebones i3 with everything mapped to my preference. I can search and enter my search, and expect same results everytime, so muscle memory friendly. Gnome's search does calculation in search just fine, or search files, no need of any models. And app can provide their own search endpoint that gnome uses,", "context": "", "use_case": "window manager", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ideas on modernizing the open-source desktop"}, {"id": 793437969, "item_id": 49589873, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49589873", "by": "BSDobelix", "date": "2026-09-06", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "GUI is I3/X11/AMD-Card everything works", "excerpt": "I use FreeBSD on all my machines for everything sinc about 11 years GUI is I3/X11/AMD-Card everything works, but please test it yourself, it's like with linux, you just know what's not/is working if you use it daily for all your edge-cases (maybe your scanner, maybe your barcode-scanner your Bluetooth-Stuff your wireless etcetc) Overall i really love FreeBSD for everything computing (Pi/Laptop/Workstation/Servers). A", "context": "11 years FreeBSD user", "use_case": "window manager", "switched_from": "", "story": "Research carried out using NetBSD"}, {"id": 791731776, "item_id": 49483236, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49483236", "by": "godelski", "date": "2026-08-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "these things aren't only highly usable, they're absolutely beautiful", "excerpt": "I'm surprised there's only a single mention of tiling window managers here. No talk about i3[0] or hyprland[1]? I mean these things aren't only highly usable, they're absolutely beautiful[2]. I'll also add that being keyboard driven helps people with disabilities AND makes things easier for AI agents. For exactly the same reason too. It's far easier for programs to hit key codes than try to determine pixel locations ", "context": "power user who lives in the terminal", "use_case": "tiling window manager", "switched_from": "", "story": "GUIs should be fully keyboard-driven"}, {"id": 787805616, "item_id": 49237851, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49237851", "by": "calvinmorrison", "date": "2026-08-09", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "So far I have to live with a bunch of i3 screens I name after whatever I'm working on.", "excerpt": "This is awesome. I always have imagined my computer being well, my desk. So far I have to live with a bunch of i3 screens I name after whatever I'm working on. I'd love to be able to page through the bench to flip to a task. Unfortunately with apps going so mono-windowed (slack, etc) it's harder to do. If I could just say have my slack window for this client, with their docs, proposals, database, whatever up, that'd ", "context": "", "use_case": "window management workspaces", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What are you working on? (August 2026)"}, {"id": 787087716, "item_id": 49192982, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49192982", "by": "jolmg", "date": "2026-08-05", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Archlinux with i3 and a focus on using the shell with a very light terminal (urxvt; others like gnome-terminal were too slow) and other very light apps made it very responsive.", "excerpt": "I get it. Got one. Compromises are many. Speed wise, it clears the bar for me of being able to watch Youtube on Firefox and use the controls, but yeah it's got bugs and other issues. I may be able to tolerate the speed because of how I used my netbook many years ago. Windows XP was completely useless because of how laggy the GUI was. Archlinux with i3 and a focus on using the shell with a very light terminal (urxvt; ", "context": "", "use_case": "window manager", "switched_from": "", "story": "I'm switching my phone from Android to Linux"}, {"id": 786659778, "item_id": 49166236, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49166236", "by": "nvrmndmnm", "date": "2026-08-04", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "(I use Xorg/i3 though)", "excerpt": "I ran a similar test and got completely different results. My girlfriend (hair stylist/artist) with zero coding background mentioned a Telegram bot idea. I asked \"Why not build it yourself?\" I gave her a Windows laptop, but she said she wanted what I have instead. So I handed her a USB stick and told her she was on her own now. Fast forward: she now runs Arch Linux with Hyprland (I use Xorg/i3 though), fully riced wi", "context": "", "use_case": "window manager", "switched_from": "", "story": "LLMs reward expertise"}, {"id": 784471763, "item_id": 49029485, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49029485", "by": "didriksg", "date": "2026-07-23", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Coming from i3, navigating a mac felt so slow and inefficient.", "excerpt": "I'm actually in the opposite position. I've used Linux for 10 years until I recently had to switch to Mac due to work. I started off in Ubuntu in 2016 and moved to Arch in 2018. I ran it until I started in a new job. One thing that Linux just gets right compared to macos and windows is the package managers. Brew is nice and all, but it's nothing compared to pacman/apt. I also miss it for the window managers. Coming f", "context": "former Linux user now on Mac for work", "use_case": "window management", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What Linux distro do you daily drive?"}, {"id": 783737424, "item_id": 48983589, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48983589", "by": "vbernat", "date": "2026-07-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Many years later, I have switched to i3 because it's not using a programming language for configuration.", "excerpt": "I have switched from FVWM to awesome because of Lua. Many years later, I have switched to i3 because it's not using a programming language for configuration. It's fine to have a configuration language if you have time to maintain, but your configuration can become quite complex and difficult to evolve. And it is also far more subject to breakage when upgrading. I think I've found balance by using a Python daemon as a", "context": "", "use_case": "window manager", "switched_from": "awesome", "story": "Hyprland 0.55 announced the switch to Lua for its config files"}, {"id": 777694880, "item_id": 48605930, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48605930", "by": "calvinmorrison", "date": "2026-06-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "my UI workflows like i3 and dmenu", "excerpt": "my UI workflows like i3 and dmenu, but things like a systray for moc my music player. The desktop enviroment i use (KDE3.5) is also on top so Konqueror, Kmail, etc. glue scripts and small guis i have for i3 and dmenu that give me what i need, without a rewrite. emoji insert scripts i wrote for fun, random stuff you know it just works.", "context": "", "use_case": "window manager workflow", "switched_from": "", "story": "XLibre XServer 25.2.0 Released"}, {"id": 772106625, "item_id": 48256664, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48256664", "by": "krupan", "date": "2026-05-24", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I've been using less emacs windows and more i3/sway windows", "excerpt": "In case you don't understand the problem here, an emacs instance can be split into multiple \"windows\" and there are emacs key bindings to create and destroy these windows, move the \"focus\" from one window to another, resize the windows, etc. For many of us, this was our introduction to a tiling window manager experience before we'd ever heard of tiling window managers. When we switched to using a tiling window manage", "context": "Emacs and tiling WM user", "use_case": "tiling window manager", "switched_from": "", "story": "My I3-Emacs Integration"}, {"id": 763345600, "item_id": 47709100, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47709100", "by": "ray__", "date": "2026-04-09", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "the productivity of i3", "excerpt": "This looks interesting and I will give it a try. I agree that the space-switching animation is painful. I don't however think that this will solve spaces on MacOS, for the simple reason that opening new instances of apps is inconsistent and often doesn't behave how you'd expect it to once one more than one space is involved (in my experience, anecdotal). I've come to peace with the fact that I will never be able to s", "context": "", "use_case": "window management", "switched_from": "", "story": "Native Instant Space Switching on macOS"}, {"id": 757853712, "item_id": 47365857, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47365857", "by": "oveja", "date": "2026-03-13", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "So I used a minimal i3 installation and interacted mostly with a terminal.", "excerpt": "This reminds me of learning linux and cli commands because an old netbook with like 512 of ram was struggling with modern guis and web browsers. So I used a minimal i3 installation and interacted mostly with a terminal.", "context": "Linux user", "use_case": "lightweight window manager on old netbook", "switched_from": "", "story": "\"This Is Not the Computer for You\""}, {"id": 749155280, "item_id": 46822205, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46822205", "by": "benrutter", "date": "2026-01-30", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I've used i3, awesome and pop quite a bit.", "excerpt": "I love the WM innovation that is happening in Linux right now. I've used i3, awesome and pop quite a bit. That said, I've gone full circle and just use a regular ol' floating style for now. This is because if the realisation that my workflow is to open a browser, a terminal, and then just use tabs within them. I always want to know other people's workflows! I'm sure for some people who need/want lots of windiwd open,", "context": "Linux user", "use_case": "tiling window manager", "switched_from": "", "story": "The Dank Case for Scrolling Window Managers"}, {"id": 745368945, "item_id": 46585559, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46585559", "by": "jamiejquinn", "date": "2026-01-12", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "until I moved to i3", "excerpt": "I ran a pretty vanilla xfce setup from about 2010 until 2024 until I moved to i3. Xfce is great generally, pretty easy to backup and share the whole config, ideal collection of apps. I'm sure gnome and kde have more features but for a good, solid, predictable desktop experience, cannae beat xfce.", "context": "", "use_case": "window manager", "switched_from": "Xfce", "story": "XFCE Is Great"}, {"id": 745366000, "item_id": 46585375, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46585375", "by": "i_am_a_peasant", "date": "2026-01-11", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "anything that\u2019s not a tiling window manager nowadays just feels wrong to me.", "excerpt": "This was my first DM, i even put my mother on it on her home laptop. I use i3 nowadays, glazewm on windows, and aerospace on macos. anything that\u2019s not a tiling window manager nowadays just feels wrong to me. Even if sometimes my screen doesn\u2019t look pretty because i randomly threw on virtual screen 7 all the windows i don\u2019t currently use.", "context": "", "use_case": "tiling window manager", "switched_from": "Xfce", "story": "XFCE Is Great"}, {"id": 743785584, "item_id": 46486599, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46486599", "by": "forgotpwd16", "date": "2026-01-04", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "i3+NixOS+urxvt+zsh+Emacs+rofi+maim+xdotool", "excerpt": "Heh, interesting seeing we use pretty much the same things, i3+NixOS+urxvt+zsh+Emacs+rofi+maim+xdotool, only differentiating in browser choice (it's Firefox for me) and (me) not using any term multiplexer. >So from my perspective, switching from this existing, flawlessly working stack (for me) to Sway only brings downsides. Kudos to Michael for even attempting it. Personally nowadays unless my working stack stops, we", "context": "", "use_case": "window manager", "switched_from": "", "story": "Can I start using Wayland in 2026?"}, {"id": 743589876, "item_id": 46474367, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46474367", "by": "delaminator", "date": "2026-01-03", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I use i3-wm and have multi terminals each with a different instance of Claude.", "excerpt": "I do a lot of AI coding Receipts: https://github.com/lawless-m?tab=repositories I started in Cursor - the tab completion is superb. As an assistant to the coder it is incredible. But then I started to lean on Sonnet more and more. I expressed my ideas and they came alive. As I got better at prompting I can code at the speed of thought. So I switched to Claude Code entirely. I\u2019m a Max 200 customer now. On Windows I st", "context": "", "use_case": "window management on Linux", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Do you prefer AI coding in an IDE or CLI? And why?"}, {"id": 742118017, "item_id": 46382376, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46382376", "by": "galkk", "date": "2025-12-24", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I dual boot Linux (i3wm) and windows.", "excerpt": "I love my x1 extreme, I dual boot Linux (i3wm) and windows. I hate macOS with passion. My next laptop will be 16\u201d MacBook Pro, when m5 version will arrive. I looked at reviews, I tried \u201cdeep research\u201d with llms\u2026 there is just nothing even remotely comparable.", "context": "", "use_case": "window manager", "switched_from": "", "story": "I'm returning my Framework 16"}, {"id": 739032402, "item_id": 46189525, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46189525", "by": "cess11", "date": "2025-12-07", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Prepared me well for a much later move to i3.", "excerpt": "It was released 25 years and four days ago, and is still around. Simple enough to still work I'd bet, though the last official release was in 2017 or so. https://www.nongnu.org/ratpoison/ http://savannah.nongnu.org/projects/ratpoison I used it for a while back then, before switching to IceWM because it was more fun to configure. Prepared me well for a much later move to i3.", "context": "", "use_case": "window manager", "switched_from": "IceWM", "story": "Emacs is my new window manager (2015)"}, {"id": 737758193, "item_id": 46109887, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46109887", "by": "AbbeFaria", "date": "2025-12-01", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "get My Dell docking station and i3 window manager to work. But that is something I was willing to live with.", "excerpt": "I just bought a Thinkpad T14s a couple of months ago. It\u2019s lightweight, has great build quality. I installed Ubuntu and it almost ran out of the box but I ended up having to tinker with it to get My Dell docking station and i3 window manager to work. But that is something I was willing to live with. So far, I have had no complaints. If you\u2019re using Linux, the sleep and standby performance aren\u2019t good. But much better", "context": "Linux user", "use_case": "window manager", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Quality of recent gens of Dell/Lenovo laptops worse than 10 years ago?"}, {"id": 737541713, "item_id": 46096357, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46096357", "by": "s20n", "date": "2025-11-30", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I used i3 for the longest time", "excerpt": "I used i3 for the longest time and I'd say a wayland based alternative like sway or miracle is a better choice nowadays. Even KDE Plasma recently dropped x11 support [1] so going forward, most apps will target wayland first. Migrating my i3 config to sway hardly took any effort. I was also able to get rid of a lot of xorg specific configurations from various x11 dotfiles and put them directly in the sway config (Such", "context": "", "use_case": "window manager", "switched_from": "", "story": "CachyOS: Fast and Customizable Linux Distribution"}, {"id": 734966529, "item_id": 45935408, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45935408", "by": "Duanemclemore", "date": "2025-11-14", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I started with i3 and really like the keybindings.", "excerpt": "When I got back on Linux as a daily driver a year ago I knew I wanted to be on a tiling / dynamic window manager. I started with i3 and really like the keybindings. A couple months later I found out about xmonad through general interest in the subject. I installed it, found someone's config to use i3 keybinds (which I was used to at that point) and had a lot of fun. It's definitely quick as heck and I like how compac", "context": "Linux daily driver", "use_case": "tiling window manager", "switched_from": "", "story": "Moving Back to a Tiling WM \u2013 XMonad"}, {"id": 734954802, "item_id": 45934675, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45934675", "by": "wanderingmind", "date": "2025-11-14", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love my Debian+ i3 too much to give it up.", "excerpt": "Teams is a must if you are a professional in Australia. However, I love my Debian+ i3 too much to give it up. Using it through chrome is not easy especially to chat. So, I install it as appomage through appman and it works beautifully well that I can automatically update as well.", "context": "", "use_case": "window manager", "switched_from": "", "story": "Unofficial Microsoft Teams client for Linux"}, {"id": 734870080, "item_id": 45929380, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45929380", "by": "Der_Einzige", "date": "2025-11-14", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "it had really nice I3, bspwm, and xmonad distributions.", "excerpt": "The only reason I used manjaro and thus arch was that it had really nice I3, bspwm, and xmonad distributions. It's very fun to rice a setup and make something worthy of posting on r/linuxporn.", "context": "", "use_case": "tiling window manager", "switched_from": "", "story": "Moving Back to a Tiling WM \u2013 XMonad"}]}