Ion3 is amazing

[NinjaWork]

Man, I love Ion3...total focus. I am amazed! At first, I didn't like it...I couldn't understand what the point was, but then I tried programming with it and my productivity soared!

I read somewhere there's an X and Y axis and a Z axis for depth, which the tiling managers remove.

Anyone else using this program?

[olejorgen]

Me me! :) Yes, ion is the best WM I've used so far. Too bad the development have slowed down. But then it is fairly mature.

#ion @ freenode btw

[Psychopump]

Sorry, but WTH is Ion?
Could you provide some links or explanation?

[Therion]

Sorry, but WTH is Ion?
Could you provide some links or explanation?
Executive Summary: Ion is a tiling, tabbed, window manager.

Think of your entire desktop controlled by Firefox-esque windows/tabs. If you're reeeeally good with the keyboard a tabbed WM can be a real blessing because you cut down/eliminate the lag-factor of going back and forth from mouse to KB.






/I'm soooo gonna get flamed for that oversimplification.

[olejorgen]

Ion isn't only tiled though. It has a fully functional (but a bit different from your typical gnome/kde/windows) floating mode.

Also, the mouse can be put to good use too.

http://modeemi.fi/~tuomov/ion/

[Therion]

Ion isn't only tiled though. It has a fully functional (but a bit different from your typical gnome/kde/windows) floating mode.

Also, the mouse can be put to good use too.

http://modeemi.fi/~tuomov/ion/
I'm certainly no expert on the topic. I am just under the general impression that one of the Big Draws to tiled/tabbed WM's was less time spent away from the keyboard.

[olejorgen]

Sure that is a big win, but it's not like you can't use the mouse :)

[Niniel]

That guy is quite a character (total nut :) ) though.
Some of his thoughts on screen fonts:

"fascist operating systems" - meaning all modern OS. :)
http://modeemi.fi/~tuomov/b/archives/2008/03/20/T13_47_17/
"And yet fascist core software – an industry-wide trend – such as Xft/fontconfig are shipped for such end-of-the-rainbow technology, without regard for the present – without regard for differing tastes, oppressing users who do not like their fonts blurred."
http://modeemi.fi/~tuomov/ion/faq/entries/Blurred_fonts.html

[olejorgen]

If you read his opinions, they're not that much off though. A bit heavily worded, but the core is mostly a bit true

[Niniel]

Indeed.
I read his thoughts on anti-aliasing of screen fonts with interest.
It's just sad that he's another guy who really doesn't know history that well or he wouldn't throw around the word "fascist" so carelessly.

I'm wondering though, whatever happened to PostScript display fonts? I remember them from AIX in the early 1990s, and they looked fantastic on 30" CRT monitors.

[dudafmendes]

Hi,

Does anyone know the main differences between Ion3 and Awesome?

D.

[TheKid965]

It's just sad that he's another guy who really doesn't know history that well or he wouldn't throw around the word "fascist" so carelessly.


Totally agreed. That habit of his is one of the main reasons why I won't use Ion myself, even though it's a perfectly fine piece of software that does things other tiling WMs seem to have trouble with. And even though I know I probably shouldn't hold software accountable for the actions of its author (one word: "ReiserFS"), I find it awfully difficult sometimes. Tuomo represents one of those times, especially when you have to dig through his (there is no other word to describe them) sermons about "FOSScrap" to find out how to do things in his software. Screaming "fascism" in the context of computer software, of all things, is one of the quickest ways to get me to instantly ignore anything you have to say, even if you do have perfectly sound and valid points to make. And Tuomo does, make no mistake... which only frustrates me all the more.

And now from a practical standpoint, Tuomo has seemingly gone Windows-only in his daily use (as per this recent blog post (http://iki.fi/tuomov/b/archives/2009/07/21/T17_26_09/)), so I don't expect Ion will be maintained for much longer, especially since it seems he's developing a strong antipathy to even Cygwin. A shame that it's come to this, but that's life sometimes.

[TheKid965]

Hi,

Does anyone know the main differences between Ion3 and Awesome?

D.

The main difference from an end-user level is that Ion supports tabbed windows (think Fluxbox, but with a tiling paradigm as opposed to a traditional desktop), whereas Awesome does not. (Neither do most other tiling WMs, for that matter -- Xmonad doesn't have this feature, nor do wmii or dwm.) Because of Tuomo's personal beliefs, Ion does not officially support Xinerama, Xft-based fonts, or really anything not contained in the strict definition of the X standard. (That said, said support is often compiled in as separate modules, and is often the case when Ion is installed from a binary package, such as an .rpm or .deb.) Conversely, Awesome does support most of these "missing" features in Ion.

Between the two, I would say that Ion is slightly more configurable whereas Awesome is easier to use. However, as I mentioned in the post directly above this one, indications are that Tuomo probably won't be working on Ion for much longer given his current attitudes toward Linux and the FLOSS movement in general, though it's always possible someone else will pick up the project when/if he abandons it. If it's important to pick a project that has a healthy developer community and a more stable future ahead, then the way things stand right now Awesome would be my pick of these two choices. Still, the current Ion snapshot is very mature and stable, and honestly I cannot think of too many ways it can be improved upon. It's up to you.

[muximus]

wow!!.... it is guys like this that give geeks a bad rep..no .. scratch that.. he reads more like an arabic extremist..n he wud even give them a bad rep..

[TheKid965]

wow!!.... it is guys like this that give geeks a bad rep..no .. scratch that.. he reads more like an arabic extremist..n he wud even give them a bad rep..

He's entitled to his opinion. And the truly sad part about it is, if you look past the axe-grinding and general hatred of anything connected to FLOSS... the man does raise several good points about unsettling trends in the evolution of the "personal" computer. But because of his essentially hostile attitude towards the "FOSS herd," as he terms people like us, he has to pepper his reasoning with verbiage and phraseology seemingly designed with no other purpose than to attack, insult, or at the very least, annoy. And whenever you do that, whatever good points you may have are going to get lost in the noise machine.

I'm really not trying to rag on the guy; he's obviously a very talented programmer (Ion is testament enough to that) and I can even identify with his frustration when he sees the world running blindly in a direction opposite of the one he thinks they should be going in. But, well, it's very hard to cozy up to a cactus...

[ceti331]

Is Ion the "Final Solution" to the window management problem ? :)
Tried and I was very impressed, i had tried awesome and i agree the tabs are much better - plus it's much more initially useable with the mouse which is always nice if you have to go back to other enviroments like windows and can't remember all the hotkeys..


I keep going back to regular overlapped wm's for aesthetic reasons though, I think there are so many programs that are really designed to be used in a particular aspect ratio (smarter dynamic UI should be able to adapt). I'm finding e16's "unclutter windows" on a hotkey a real help for increasing it's mouse-less useability.

[TheKid965]

^ FVWM can also be configured nicely, and relatively simply, to cut down on the mouse use. I'm hardly what you'd call an expert, but I've read enough sample .fvwm2rc files floating around to cobble together a setup where I have the unused keys on my number pad (NumLock off) bound to various window-management tasks, including changing virtual desktops, opening the root menu, and moving windows to strategic locations around the screen.

It's a bit more work, but I think it's a nice halfway-house between the traditional desktop metaphor and an all-out, keyboard-driven tiling WM.