So Ive been using linux for a long time and mostly with gnome. I know about window managers and how using them will reduce the memory usage by system a lot because they are less bloated etc. I want to try a window manager on my nixos machine - this will be my first time trying one, I have good knowledge in programming so technical stuff wont bother me that much. Which window manager do you suggest? Customization is my priority.
I have to put in a plug for herbstluftwm.
It really depends on whether you like the keyboard and tiling widow managers, or if you like dragging windows around and resizing them. Tiling widow managers are popular, but they’re definitely a taste.
hlwm and bspwm are a - “configurationless” breed - I think river on Wayland is the same. This has become my one requirement for a window manager. Every configuration is done through a command line client call, and it’s game changing. The “configuration” is just a specific shell script hlwm runs when it starts up, and it’s full of whatever client calls needed to configure the system. Every call in that script can be run outside the script; it’s literally a just shell script. I run all sorts of things in that script: launching “desktoppy” programs like kanata, setx, autostart programs that start on a specific screen; one script lays out one screen in a complex 2x1 layout where each pane is tabbed and contains three terminals each, and then launches terminals that connect to various remote computers - that’s my “remote server” screen, and it’s all set up when I log in.
However - definitely for tiling enthusiasts. I used i3 for a decade before I found bspwm, which converted me to configurationless WMs, and I ended up with hlwm. It’s honestly what’s preventing me from giving Wayland a serious go, although river might do the trick.
River is sooooo good when it doesn’t break (it’s stable, you just need to get it working in the beginning). The guile config is beautiful, always reminds me of xmonad.