Terminator as WM?

[siklopz]

i'm not sure how this would go over here. terminator isn't exactly minimal, because of the python requirement, and of course xorg. i'm wondering if anyone has attempted to use terminator as a sort of tiling WM. it seemed an interesting idea, that's popped into my head occasionally. possibly using transparency, with feh for background...
i'm a bit curious if it's already been done?

[machinebacon]

Hello,

it should be possible in a quite easy way: in .xinitrc, set it as "exec terminator --fullscreen" or "exec terminator --maximise" (or both). This would be terminator as standalone magic process (instead of a WM). Entering "exit" in terminator will close the X session. Problem: application windows started later will not be managed at all, they will glue in the left upper corner, stacked. Not exactly what you want.

Of course you can go one step further and start terminator before of a tiling WM, for example spectrwm, xmonad, cwm, or our BBQ-own hcwm.

If you would skip the python dependencies, you could use rxvt-unicode with tmux, or screen, as magic process to achieve similar results.

[dkeg]

was thinking the same, urxvt with tmux, or dvtm

[pidsley]

What would be the advantage over using tmux in the console?

[franksinistra]

i would rather use kmscon or fbterm if you want some 'accelerated' graphics features and fontconfig rendered fonts....


with tmux or dvtm of course



EDIT: adding some phrases to make it sound like a pompous elitist.

[siklopz]

i was thinking of a console only system. terminator has the advantage of being able to be subdivided nearly infinitely. there would be no other windows or tiles. all applications would be opened in another subdivision of the desktop terminal. i'm beginning to think this might be easier to do with a WM, such as openbox or flux (to allow for workspaces), or, as mentioned above, a tiling WM. i just thought it might make for an interesting console system experiment. thanks for the advice, 'terminator --maximise' seems to work from an existing XFCE4-terminal.

[siklopz]

i'm looking at urxvt and tmux/screen right now. you're right, i need to do more research. this would probably be worlds lighter.

EDIT: i think i'm just trying to reinvent the wheel here. thanks again, i'm looking into tiling WMs, like i3 and CWM.

[pidsley]

You don't need X or urxvt if all you want is a tiled console. tmux can tile and create new windows all by itself.

Check the "noX" screenshot thread to see what some people have done with tmux in the console.

http://linuxbbq.org/bbs/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=1011

I am also not sure why people pick i3 as a first tiler -- in my opinion, spectrwm is much easier to configure and a much better first tiler.

[simgin]

^ Utterly agree with the SpectreWM comment.

[rhowaldt]

thanks for that spectrwm endorsement pidsley, i will try it next. (getting tired of herbstluftwm limitations to my desired workflow).
i realize now spectrwm always seemed shit to me simply because i couldn't stand they changed their name from scrotwm, and we lost the scrotum reference. but i guess Elsa was right when she said, "Let it go".

[rhowaldt]

P.S. siklopz, y u no intro thread!?

[pidsley]

rhowaldt, you can always try sscrotwm (shriveled scrotwm) if you are hung up on the spectrwm name. :)

https://github.com/sporkexec/sscrotwm

It was written by hackers for hackers and it strives to be small, compact and fast. It was forked from scrotwm when it became too bloaty and when the authors decided on an unfortunate name change to spectrwm due to butthurt users.

[rhowaldt]

hahahaha shit, i had no idea my sentiment was shared! will consider both :)

[siklopz]

i'll look at spectrwm, as well...and the tmux + console idea. i'm new to tiling WMs. i usually use XFCE or Openbox, though i love the ease of JWM. i just accidentally nuked a Void install, so i rebuilt it on JWM, using Manjaro JWM configs without some of the weight (it looks a bit like openbox, including the right-click menu). thanks for all of the advice. i'll have to do more experimentation, my favorite part of Linux.

rhowaldt, i'll have to come up with an intro thread soon. my people skills are in the range between hermit and wild animal. sorry for the bad manners.

pidsley, can you set a fullscreen background behind your tiled consoles, in tmux??? if so, do you know of any BBQ spins that might satisfy?

[siklopz]

anybody know what happened to "Standard Mixture", from Dec 14, 2014? it seemed like a good base, and i'm familiar with openrc.

[machinebacon]

just set transparency to true in Xresources or use compton to have a transparent background, though tmux does not always respect the Xresources background color.

standard mixture is still existing, we just move stuff that is over a year old into a no-support section because we don't have time to support over 100 different spins. openrc is at the moment broken in sid (I think it still is). the actual replacement for "standard mixture" is "anorexia". you can always switch init systems later. or simply go with Greatest Hits /jessie/ (or any other spin), stay with sysvinit for a while, and customize as you desire.

whatever you want to do, it can be done on all bbq releases (or all linuxen). they are all built up on the same Debian base (except those which are built on something else)

edit:
http://www.linuxbbq.org/bbs/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2441
http://www.linuxbbq.org/bbs/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2382
http://www.linuxbbq.org/bbs/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2243
http://www.linuxbbq.org/bbs/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2392

make use of "apt".

by the way, if you use something like spectrwm, you don't even need tmux anymore. spectrwm tiles like a dream and looks nice. don't get hung up on the transparency - it is easy to change/get. really just one line in Xresources.
that's the spin I have been using for ... years: http://www.linuxbbq.org/bbs/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=1605

[siklopz]

thanks, machinebacon, i found baconator, adipositas and the excellent tutorial you've provided. i think i'm on the way. thanks again.

[machinebacon]

If you take a release with openrc, please also check this: http://www.linuxbbq.org/bbs/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=2442

The best practice for now is to put openrc on hold, or install sysvinit, remove openrc, reboot, and then dist-upgrade if necessary.

[rhowaldt]

rhowaldt, i'll have to come up with an intro thread soon. my people skills are in the range between hermit and wild animal. sorry for the bad manners.

no worries. just consider it a reminder. and also, it doesn't have to be anything fancy. just tell us something about yourself, why you are here, what your favourite colour is and why you hate L*on*el R*ch*e. we shall then welcome you and, depending on circumstances, ask more questions such as your favourite animal and physical location.
if you don't feel like sharing any of that, that's fine too. just type up some shit and say hi :)

[Theo]

^Why on earth did you mention that L*on*el thing.. Dammit, Dancing on the ceiling is now for hours in my head.. :P