Its in the config file in ~/.config/i3, you can either comment this to stop that behavior or uncomment the apps you want to open on specific workspaces.
Edit: Then save. Then press mod+shift key +r to reinitialize or log out and in. Next time you click mod key+w to open firefox it will just open in your current workspace. Thats the the beauty, the desktop is almost completely configurable by just opening and editing one config file. Most of it is well commented and self explanatory.
I find it actually much easier than clicking my way through and trying to find different functions in the setting gui… I am a i3 noob, started using it about two weeks now. Didnt even know it existed before that…
Thanks… No i haven’t yet but i plan to. I don’t know anything about the configs. Just trying to understand the flow and how to use it. I like KDE a lot so it’s hard.
Then moving windows from one workspace to the other: Mod+shift+2 for example to move a window to worspace 2.
Then resizing windows
Mod+r and left right arrow key
And close windows mod+c
And last one Mod+d to open app search on the top bar. Or F9 to have a visual app search. Thats pretty much everything I use. They keyboard on the bottom bar can be clicked to show the keybindings if you forget. I was pretty lost at the beginning. Just practiced that for 1-2 days now is automatic for me. I also have a xfce or cinnamon fallback when I feel I want to use a de. Kde is really nice!
Then I started changing the config file and press mod-shift-r to see what it looks like. Its pretty cool to just change one text file and change the userinterface look. For example colors of text and icons in the bottom bar. Just search the web for html color code and replace the color code where it says color for one of the bottom bar widgets for example volume indicator.
it is configured that way to showcase what you can do with workspaces, and as i do find it better that way to open a browser without being tiled in the first place, second you could open apps automatically like I was doing as I do need stuff like browser and email app every time I use my computer, so they do open automatically on their workspace indicating with an icon for it… so they go out of the way and are there by a simple click if I need them…
##########################################
# configuration for workspace behaviour: #
##########################################
# Define names for default workspaces for which we configure key bindings later on.
# We use variables to avoid repeating the names in multiple places.
set $ws1 ""
set $ws2 ""
set $ws3 ""
set $ws4 ""
set $ws5 ""
# bind program to workspace and focus to them on startup:
assign [class="Xfce4-terminal"] $ws1
assign [class="(?i)firefox"] $ws2
assign [class="Thunar"] $ws3
assign [class="Thunderbird"] $ws4
assign [class="TelegramDesktop"] $ws5
# automatic set focus new window if it opens on another workspace then the current:
for_window [class=Xfce4-terminal] focus
#for_window [class=(?i)firefox] focus
#for_window [class=Thunar] focus
#for_window [class=Thunderbird] focus
#for_window [class=TelegramDesktop] focus
No wish to offend . This needs ( # ) Terminal needs to be free . If on web and see command that help fix problem , you open terminal and it jump to ws1
need it on same WS as browser… hope you understand my point and no wish to offend
``
General rule for users
( pls not blindly copy commands off internet )
yea I personally use two terminals on i3 one is bonded to Terminal workspace used to show system monitors and stuff and another one is floating to be at hand when I need it.
Would you prefer it like that?
We could create also an empty workspace with conky to show some system monitoring stuff called monitor and have the xfce4-terminal floating per default.
Another question is if it would be better to have windows with a titlebar?
In my personal workflow it is also better to have tabbed mode on per default and only use tiling in some cases but as i3 is a so called tiling WM …
A complete other idea is also to go to create a tool to change stuff like theming and window behavior something like the welcome app where you get options to change from a developer setup to a multimedia setup and a gaming setup or an office setup, each one with settings to fit the needs you have.
@Shjim it is my idea to find out a generic good base set up here for the next release, and I need your input to get it a real community version including your basic needs
my opinion … keep it simple and usable ( clean like is now ) User want more they add and learn.
EOS has best +helpful community and always help if asked …
One of the problems I found irritating is that if you open first ws2 with firefox and later ws 1 and ws 3, the ws icons display in the following order:
ws2, ws1,ws3 on the bottom bar left.
This confuses me when I switch btw ws. Dont know if that was fixed.
I modified my config to have a number next to the icon. For terminal, I have 1:</, for firfox 2:foxsymbol etc also found that recommendation somewhere from an intro video, maybe distro tube on youtube…
I understand the rationale for automatic workspace assignment. It made me learn how to move windows from ws to ws. Or think about rethinking my workflow wm and ws style
After a while I also turn off terminal assignment to ws. But that pushed me to look into the config file to satisfy my needs.
Perhaps it may be useful to have a „settings“ icon with script that opens the config file in a text editor so newbies understand that most appearnce settings can be changed there. Like next to the keyboard icon or apps. Or ad a link in the welcome window if not already there.
@joekamprad I do not like my terminal floating… and prefer tili g rather than tabs. Perhaps we could have one tab option in the welcome menu with few scripts that modify the theme as you suggested. The one you have now is „vanilla eos“. Then gaming with colors similar to dr46onia? or dracula… however, we do not want to „waste your time“ for eyecandy. Personally, I would rather prefer these two functions in the installer: 1. normal vanilla mode, 2. nvidia with hybrid grafics nvidia/intel (very common) and high doi screens. This way when someone installs i3wm it works out of the box for basic functionality= can read text and grafics card work. Right now its har on high dpi because everything is tiny and unreadable and difficult to edit config file. I need to go into xfce, double fonts then edit config file…
I also do not use telegram and think its not part of the official pacman repo, perhaps replace with libre office or something commonly used and provided by default install?
Thanks for the great work and accepting community input
That the point… you no like then read up and change to your like … Good thing about EOS it give you the basics ( get you on road ) You want more ! then you add more
That the basis of Arch! if it installed its because you install it , your system your rules
I agree with what @Shjim says.
Window managers in general are very customizable. Even though we both may be using the same WM, our workflow, theme preferences, workspace bindings, keybindings etc are certainly very different.
I appreciate very much that you EnOS devs are trying to build a usable i3wm config. I have used the i3 edition and I must say that it remains true to what EnOS has been until now. Providing an easy to use close to arch system which even new users can easily transition to. At the same time it doesn’t dumb down things. This provides a very good base for users to have a linux distro as their daily driver and keep learning stuff on the way.
I’ve been using i3wm since over an year now, and also experimented with multiple other WM on the way. Based on my personal experiences with my dotfiles and other users’ dotfiles, I’ve noticed that it is easier to add stuff to the config as compared to removing stuff. This is a very subjective matter; and if I’m in the minority then I will highly suggest you to continue with your plans.
I will suggest having a simple config. What we have now is quite good. No bloat. (I haven’t tried the latest config. The last time I i3edition was over a month back). Rather than adding stuff to the i3config, we can have more wiki content for i3, so users can easily copy paste code for the functionality relevant to them.
These were my two cents. It is good to see the devs are having a good discussion regarding the development.
I do agree 100% the idea is not to provice a bloated i3 Desktop alike full featured Desktop, it was basically only the idea to give user a starting point with the bare minimal settings, but on creating this i see that it could be useful to put some hints and options (commented config parts) to make it ,more easy to startup… And of cause i do put a lot of hours into finding some settings and tools to make a transition more easy, this will be something only useful for someone new to the use of a WM, users already used to it will have to remove this stuff, it will be a Graduation.
config will stay simple i do think only on having options inside the config with some info text to hint you on useful stuff, but i see also that it is may a better idea to have a tutorial on the wiki.
The new config is mostly more minimal, and including updates on scripts and the theming like rofi changes to rasi file now e.t.c.
I would suggest to at least create an alternative set of config files for high dpi screens, so a user can at least edit files using terminal and text editor. Else text and icons are too tiny and the users spends a day trying to figure out how to make i3wm usable…
in truth that for user to do … i3 wiki is great plus you not need a alt config just the parts high dpi users need and that info could be in EOS i3 wiki
