105 sats \ 5 replies \ @ek 22 Dec 2023 \ parent \ on: Stacker Saloon
Have you used (tiling) window managers before?
If not, I would recommend to use other tiling window managers first. I started with awesome and then i3. After i3 became too opinionated for me (or I became too opinionated for i3), I switched to dwm because it's also from suckless like dmenu and I really like dmenu.
However, the config in C of dwm is definitely something that is quite unique among window managers. After every change, you have to recompile your window manager. But this sounds worse than it actually is in the long run. The hardest part is just to get comfortable with a configuration so you never have to touch it again, lol
But since you're working with C code, it's definitely intimidating and if you want to have some common features, you have to patch it yourself into your configuration file using patches other people provided.
I think I also almost ditched it because I couldn't figure out terminal scrolling, lol. But then I started to just use tmux as my default terminal which has scrolling built-in. And now I can't live without tmux: tmux + dmenu = <3
Btw, here is a comparison table of tiling window managers.
I've tried i3 and it didn't stick. I've used Tmux for probably 10 years now so I like this type of UI. I think having issues with basic tasks (the learning curve) has been the barrier.
I did this with Vim back in the day. Knew it was better but it took a few tries to stick. Never regretted it. Thanks for the tips and links.
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Mint is solid and more windows like. I recommend Fedora with Gnome but I haven't used Winblows since 98 and I don't game at all.
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I agree. Mint > Ubuntu. I think anything is better than Ubuntu tbh, lol
Bonus points if it has some Windows apps compatibility & Gaming.
I heard Proton should work quite well these days. ProtonDB lists how compatible games are with Linux. But if you play anything remotely competitive online then I think you can forget gaming on Linux. The required anti-cheat software seems to usually not work / exist on Linux. At least that's my experience with Rising Storm 2 and Rocket League. However, League of Legends did work iirc. (It's been some time since I tried gaming on Linux though.)
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I think having issues with basic tasks (the learning curve) has been the barrier.
Yeah, it can be quite frustrating dealing with a new setup in the beginning. I think the most important thing in the beginning is to know how to get unstuck fast. I think i3 has a hotkey to open up the help where you can look up common actions. You could also print it out. But yes, you need to bring some time in the first few days but the idea is it will be worth it in the long run just like with vim:
I did this with Vim back in the day. Knew it was better but it took a few tries to stick. Never regretted it. Thanks for the tips and links.
Yeah, vim is awesome :) There is still so much I could learn about it but figuring out how to use vim macros was already a game changer for me. I want to switch from VSCode to neovim one day but I am not there yet.
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