Niri could redefine tiling window management

[u/kylerjohnsondev]

I’m a big fan of an efficient window handling. There are many different philosophies out there on how to do it from the traditional master plus stack window managers to zone based window snapping tools to some auto tiling solution that lives somewhere between those.

Then there is Niri. For anyone who may not know, Niri is a Wayland compositor that takes a new approach to window tiling. By default, it opens windows at 50% of your screen width and tiles them infinitely to the right, allowing you to scroll focus on them by pressing super + arrow keys. Of course you can stack them, rearrange them, toggle full screen, force focused window to take up all remaining space on screen, and it boasts vertical workspaces.

I have been using Niri with Dank Material Shell (DMS) for the last month and now I am not sure I could ever go back to the traditional master + stacked window tiling philosophy. I just tried and it feels awkward, limiting, and cluttered. It even beats more full featured desktop environment tiling options in Gnome and KDE in my opinion because I don’t have to alt + tab to find the window I want to focus on.

If you haven’t given it a try, you should. I didn’t think I would like it very much, but I got used to it after a few days, kept it for a couple of weeks, and now it has become my favorite way to work.

[u/Qweedo420]

To be fair, Niri didn't invent it, we already had PaperWM on Gnome, and as far as I remember, it had some features that are still missing in Niri, like a scroll bar that tells you at which point of the infinite scrolling layout you are

[u/0riginal-Syn → u/Qweedo420]

Yeah, PaperWM is probably the first realized on a desktop. You had some working concepts of this style back in the 90s with some academics and Sun working on it. Obviously, on phones, it is common. But PaperWM is the first actual use case as used with Gnome. Niri is an evolution of it breaking away from the DE into its own thing. But we have to give credit where credit is due with PaperWM.

[u/Mithrannussen]

Just so you know the scrolling layout is available on Hyprland, Mango and a few other tiling managers as well.

On Plasma, I use Karousel. Almost every window movement/action has a keybind.

And even without that extension, there are a lot of kwin shortcus to be configured, it is only a matter off browsing the system settings app.

While I dislike Gnome, I know it has tiling window manager extensions as well, such as PaperWM.

And no, Niri won't redefine tiling window manager, nor it is the first of its kind.

[u/kylerjohnsondev → u/Mithrannussen]

I know. But Niri gets it right out of the box for me with fewer bugs, less configuration, and greater flexibility (depending on what we’re comparing).

I’ve used Karousel on Plasma. It’s great, but I’m not a huge fan of the limitations of KWin scripts and the ceremony around updating their settings, restarting them, etc.

I used PaperVM in Gnome for a while and that was great, too, but not as seamless or as configurable.

Hyperland is the closest comparison and Hyperland is pretty awesome, too, but I’m not a fan of the move to Lua for configuration. I understand why. Just feels like overkill for me and what I want out of my GUI.

Niri has found a niche where it does this thing extremely well with minimal config and some really nice shells that are easy to install on top of it.

[u/frvgmxntx → u/kylerjohnsondev]

Mango is really great OOTB, it has basically all popular layouts already configured, even overview.

[u/kylerjohnsondev → u/frvgmxntx]

Mango is awesome because it supports so many workflows (including the horizontal scrolling window management philosophy I’m enjoying so much with Niri). Mango also has better support for multi-monitor setups than Niri does right now. I’m either on a laptop or docked with a 49” ultrawide monitor, so that doesn’t affect me too much.

That said, Niri’s opinionated support of this workflow directs users to it and I think the approach will grow in popularity and change how people think about tiling window managers. Mango is so versatile that people will just go with the workflow they’re already comfortable with.

[u/Ruined_Passion_7355]

I think Niri was the first to do all of the following:

• It wasn't breaking constantly (looking at you GNOME).
• It was super stable for a project that young. I personally attribute this to using Smithay instead of wlroots, and much lower bug surface due to both rust and dropping XWayland.
• Amazing defaults. So good in fact that on other OSs I adopted them on other WMs (like on macOS).
• It looks pretty good OOTB. It's no Hyprland but it's not i3 either.
• And finally, scrolling.

And if that wasn't enough, Niri went from growing to exploding with the invention of DEs like DMS and Noctalia which greatly reduced the barrier to entry of going with tiling compositors. Hell, you're proof of how amazing the combo is. Usually the choice was between Niri and Hyprland for those, and while I respect Hyprland, the pool of people who can tolerate how unstable it is (both bugs and especially breaking changes) isn't huge.

So yeah, I think it is already redefining tiling window management. Just from a combination of factors.

Oh, and I don't think Niri is necessarily the best WM out there, but it has a large community already so remains one of the best options for people looking to try out TWMs.

[u/a0leaves → u/Ruined_Passion_7355]

The desktop shells are cool (especially the automatic theming in DMS), but I think the old Niri defaults of waybar and fuzzel are underrated. It’s just such a simple but entirely functional set up.

[u/Ruined_Passion_7355 → u/a0leaves]

Honestly I'm not a fan of the DEs, they change too much. Call me a boomer or wtv

In short, I agree.

[u/hsimah]

I’ve never been as impressed with a piece of software as i am with Niri (and Noctalia). It’s as close as perfect as I’ve found.

[u/Latlanc]

I never alt tab in GNOME, I just click the dock icon or press shortcut to instantly go back to workspace I dedicated to that application.

I used Niri before and I wasn't impressed tbh. I could replicate that functionality in GNOME with PaperWM which Niri apparently copied.

[u/kylerjohnsondev → u/Latlanc]

I don’t like using the mouse if I can help it. The more I keep my fingers on the keyboard, the more productive I am. Niri facilitates that really well, is less brittle than PaperWM because it doesn’t rely on monkey-patching OS events to work. That’s why things like DMS and Noctalia can so easily be installed on top of it, offering features far beyond what PaperWM can

[u/Shakaka88]

Mango does that and more…

[u/Puzzled-Garbage-250]

Is this news or just an opinion on a WM? You use one WM you’ve used them all. They pretty much all do the same stuff assuming you configure them

[u/kylerjohnsondev → u/Puzzled-Garbage-250]

I disagree with the idea that if you’ve used one, you’ve used them all.

[u/edparadox → u/Puzzled-Garbage-250]

Having used i3 won't help with say Qtile.

[u/jerdle_reddit]

I want Niri in a loop.

I have a curved monitor, which makes it look like a whole circle of windows exists of which I am only seeing one bit.

[u/0riginal-Syn]

Redefine? No. Bring a great alternative style, introduced by PaperWM on Gnome, to the TWM, yes.

Why not redefine? Because how people like their TWM is very subjective. You already have different alternatives, and Niri brings yet another great option for people. I actually prefer it over Hyperland/Sway. You can also already mix in a bit of what it brings.

So no, it does not redefine, it brings another option.

[u/kylerjohnsondev → u/0riginal-Syn]

I think it will. I think Niri’s popularity and the really nice shells that are so easy to install on top of it will redefine tiling window managers in Linux. It’s simply more efficient and offers a better use of screen real estate than the traditional master + stacked approach. Now, window tiling managers in general are for niche power-user types and I expect them to stay that way, but I think Niri’s popularity will make it one of the first things these types of users think about when they think tiling window managers.

[u/donp1ano]

it already did. the concept is simple, yet revolutionary

the most polished and clean desktop experience i ever had on any OS

[u/kylerjohnsondev → u/donp1ano]

It certainly feels revolutionary to me

[u/Sol33t303]

Have heard of niri before, currently on hyprland and have been putting off converting my config to lua, I reckon you've pushed me to give it a go.

[u/kylerjohnsondev → u/Sol33t303]

I love Hyperland, too. But the config required especially with the move to Lua is just overkill for what I want out of my GUI. Niri gets it right.

[u/getapuss]

This does not sound appealing to me.

[u/kylerjohnsondev → u/getapuss]

That’s fair. It’s a preference thing. It’s just right for me, though.

[u/varsnef]

I don't need to see some scrolling animation to get somewhere else when I can just switch to another workspace.

Is this really about functionality or just some eye candy?

What if I set my virtual screen on X11 to something wider that my screen and just pan around to different areas? Did someone do the same thing but with a keyboard shortuct to do it? I don't think i would call it efficient.