There are no Qtile threads yet! So as an EndeavourOS user that has switched to Qtile, I wanted to start one.
I switched to Qtile from i3 and I am loving it! It’s so lightweight and configurable. I think it works best with a single-monitor setup, however, since it is a WM where you summon the workspace you want to any active screen.
My only quarrel with Qtile has been that breaking one small thing in your config breaks the whole config, unlike i3, meaning that you have to remember how to use the default config for such situations - and the default config is completely different to mine. It can be a hassle.
EOS community, what has been your experiences with Qtile? Love it or hate it? Qtile community edition?
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It could just be my prejudice against Python, but almost anything written in Python that I had the misfortune of using sucked. That said, I haven’t tried Qtile, so maybe it’s really good, I wouldn’t know.
There’s definitely a prejudice against Python I could fall into, but I’m keeping an open mind as a coding noob. I have gathered that people think Python is slow and simple. Qtile does not seem slow compared to Xfce and i3, the other two environments I’ve spent a lot of time in. It’s stable, it’s very, very easy on system resources, and the performance is there. Basically, if you like tiling WMs you will probably find things you like about Qtile.
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It’s probably good to always have a base config file lying around for any window manager just in case for those break glass ctrl-alt-F2 situations.
Regarding testing your QTile configuration changes, did you see https://docs.qtile.org/en/latest/manual/config/index.html#testing-your-configuration ?
I didn’t know about this! Sounds like the answer to my problems. Checking it out now
I haven’t gotten the Zephyr script working yet, but reading the documentation also clued me into the fact than I can switch to tty2 and start a separate X session to test Qtile.
Got Xephyr working! Now testing Qtile is a breeze. Thanks to you and @flyingcakes who let me know about the example command on Arch Wiki that got it working for me.
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Do check out the Qtile community edition! It needs a bit more work, but might make it into the december release if we’re lucky.
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My main problem was making it work on two different monitors with different screen resolution. If I could fix that I would switch from i3wm to qtile. Found in general qtile to be more stable, less glitches when switching from full to tiled window. Also widgets are easy to use, so I don’t have to use 2-3 different config files.
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I’m checking it out now, I’ll test it a few days and let you know what I think! So far I think it’s great, I changed a few keybinds and I made the bar look a little cleaner to my eye, but otherwise I’m using it stock while I test it out.
Bar changes:
Double posted that last reply on the community edition thread
I was using it with a 1440p and a 1080p, both 32" so the bar was different sizes on the two identical sized screens… otherwise it worked okay. I still find that I prefer i3 when using a dual-monitor setup because of how you can dedicate workspaces 1-5 to monitor A and 6-10 to monitor B.
Err, the URL I shared was the Qtile site. But eh, you got it working, that’s what counts.
Oh to be clear the link to the docs you sent me covers everything, I just couldn’t get the script to work initially. I probably could now. The command on Arch Wiki works anywhere
This was the breaking point for me. Absolutely infuriating having to kill the session, attempt to debug what’s wrong and correct it, before you can return to your workflow. Other than that, it was quite nice.
Luckily the folks here and in the unofficial Discord server have taught me about Xephyr! It makes testing Qtile without restarting it a breeze. Creates a nested X session to check everything out in before restarting Qtile in your main session. Demonstration:
https://docs.qtile.org/en/latest/manual/config/index.html#testing-your-configuration
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Xephyr#Execution
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Thank you for this. I’ll make sure to use it the next time I’m on Qtile.
which one is the unofficial discord thread, can you provide the link please.
We are a small server still but plenty of good conversation to be had 
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thank you very much for the invite. i have to confess that i misunderstood it as unofficial ‘Qtile’ discord thread