i3 FAQ - Individual question feed

i3 FAQ - Individual question feedhttps://faq.i3wm.org/questions/Frequently asked questions and answers about the i3 window managerenCopyright i3, 2012Sat, 16 May 2015 05:35:04 +0000Do I need a composite manager (compton)?https://faq.i3wm.org/question/3279/do-i-need-a-composite-manager-compton/New user of Arch with i3. Out of the box everything looks and runs great. So I'm wondering, should I install a composite manager like Compton? I actually did install Compton, but don't really notice any difference (other than a gray background/workspace with compton vs a black background/workspace without compton). Did I launch compton with any command line switches -- no. Am I running compton with a config file -- no. Perhaps that's why I don't notice any difference. Is there another composite manager that I should consider besides Compton. Thanks for your help! Eric Sat, 18 Jan 2014 20:34:43 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/3279/do-i-need-a-composite-manager-compton/Comment by acgtyrant for New user of Arch with i3. Out of the box everything looks and runs great. So I'm wondering, should I install a composite manager like Compton? I actually did install Compton, but don't really notice any difference (other than a gray background/workspace with compton vs a black background/workspace without compton). Did I launch compton with any command line switches -- no. Am I running compton with a config file -- no. Perhaps that's why I don't notice any difference. Is there another composite manager that I should consider besides Compton. Thanks for your help! Eric https://faq.i3wm.org/question/3279/do-i-need-a-composite-manager-compton/?comment=4925#comment-4925If you have a lots of GNOME applications, then the compton can make their corner roundout.Mon, 10 Nov 2014 07:47:15 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/3279/do-i-need-a-composite-manager-compton/?comment=4925#comment-4925Comment by Michael for New user of Arch with i3. Out of the box everything looks and runs great. So I'm wondering, should I install a composite manager like Compton? I actually did install Compton, but don't really notice any difference (other than a gray background/workspace with compton vs a black background/workspace without compton). Did I launch compton with any command line switches -- no. Am I running compton with a config file -- no. Perhaps that's why I don't notice any difference. Is there another composite manager that I should consider besides Compton. Thanks for your help! Eric https://faq.i3wm.org/question/3279/do-i-need-a-composite-manager-compton/?comment=3280#comment-3280Note that compositing managers are not officially supported with i3. There may be graphical glitches and other weird effects.Sat, 18 Jan 2014 20:37:57 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/3279/do-i-need-a-composite-manager-compton/?comment=3280#comment-3280Answer by peterN for New user of Arch with i3. Out of the box everything looks and runs great. So I'm wondering, should I install a composite manager like Compton? I actually did install Compton, but don't really notice any difference (other than a gray background/workspace with compton vs a black background/workspace without compton). Did I launch compton with any command line switches -- no. Am I running compton with a config file -- no. Perhaps that's why I don't notice any difference. Is there another composite manager that I should consider besides Compton. Thanks for your help! Eric https://faq.i3wm.org/question/3279/do-i-need-a-composite-manager-compton/?answer=4584#post-id-4584I had some issues with xfce4-terminal and borders. Initially the borders where displayed correctly but after switching workspaces, moving windows around the borders always looked very garbled. I now disabled Compositing in X11/Xorg like this: Section "Extensions" Option "Composite" "Disabled" EndSection This has solved some ugly visual artifacts I had seen. So it seems one has to either use a compositing tool like compton, which is not officially supported, or disable the Composite Extension in X11/Xorg.Tue, 26 Aug 2014 09:58:58 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/3279/do-i-need-a-composite-manager-compton/?answer=4584#post-id-4584Answer by msx for New user of Arch with i3. Out of the box everything looks and runs great. So I'm wondering, should I install a composite manager like Compton? I actually did install Compton, but don't really notice any difference (other than a gray background/workspace with compton vs a black background/workspace without compton). Did I launch compton with any command line switches -- no. Am I running compton with a config file -- no. Perhaps that's why I don't notice any difference. Is there another composite manager that I should consider besides Compton. Thanks for your help! Eric https://faq.i3wm.org/question/3279/do-i-need-a-composite-manager-compton/?answer=5972#post-id-5972These are my settings for Compton with i3, love them actually: http://pastebin.com/S8m1jnY3 Fri, 08 May 2015 12:29:35 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/3279/do-i-need-a-composite-manager-compton/?answer=5972#post-id-5972Comment by msx for These are my settings for Compton with i3, love them actually: <a href="http://pastebin.com/S8m1jnY3">http://pastebin.com/S8m1jnY3</a> https://faq.i3wm.org/question/3279/do-i-need-a-composite-manager-compton/?comment=5997#comment-5997I wonder why the downvote. Would the anonymous fag behind this dare to explain?Sat, 16 May 2015 05:35:04 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/3279/do-i-need-a-composite-manager-compton/?comment=5997#comment-5997Answer by TonyC for New user of Arch with i3. Out of the box everything looks and runs great. So I'm wondering, should I install a composite manager like Compton? I actually did install Compton, but don't really notice any difference (other than a gray background/workspace with compton vs a black background/workspace without compton). Did I launch compton with any command line switches -- no. Am I running compton with a config file -- no. Perhaps that's why I don't notice any difference. Is there another composite manager that I should consider besides Compton. Thanks for your help! Eric https://faq.i3wm.org/question/3279/do-i-need-a-composite-manager-compton/?answer=3282#post-id-3282i3 is peculiar among window managers in that it is not a [compositing window manager](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compositing_window_manager). From Wikipedia: > A compositing window manager is a window manager that provides applications with an off-screen buffer for each window. The window manager composites the window buffers into an image representing the screen and writes the result into the display memory. i3 depends on an external application for compositing and Compton is an excellent choice if you want to improve rendering quality or apply hardware-accelerated translucency effects. There are two issues I am aware of that affect stock compositing. One is screen tearing, which you may notice with animated effects such as Firefox's smooth scrolling. Another is a flash of partially rendered content when switching workspaces, or opening and closing windows. Using Compton should resolve those issues if it is configured correctly. Compton also has special effects it can apply to windows such as fading and shadows. Shadows don't make much sense in a tiling window manager because windows always take up the full area of the screen, so the place where shadows would normally be rendered is off the screen. Fading is mostly supported except for a bug with vertically split windows. The frame for the titlebars behind these windows is not transparent. The best known workaround for that is to disable titlebars with `new_window pixel`. This issue might be fixed in a future release. If you have any questions about using Compton with i3, you can ask them here on the faq.Sun, 19 Jan 2014 09:09:41 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/3279/do-i-need-a-composite-manager-compton/?answer=3282#post-id-3282Comment by TonyC for i3 is peculiar among window managers in that it is not a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compositing_window_manager">compositing window manager</a>. From Wikipedia: <blockquote> A compositing window manager is a window manager that provides applications with an off-screen buffer for each window. The window manager composites the window buffers into an image representing the screen and writes the result into the display memory. </blockquote> i3 depends on an external application for compositing and Compton is an excellent choice if you want to improve rendering quality or apply hardware-accelerated translucency effects. There are two issues I am aware of that affect stock compositing. One is screen tearing, which you may notice with animated effects such as Firefox's smooth scrolling. Another is a flash of partially rendered content when switching workspaces, or opening and closing windows. Using Compton should resolve those issues if it is configured correctly. Compton also has special effects it can apply to windows such as fading and shadows. Shadows don't make much sense in a tiling window manager because windows always take up the full area of the screen, so the place where shadows would normally be rendered is off the screen. Fading is mostly supported except for a bug with vertically split windows. The frame for the titlebars behind these windows is not transparent. The best known workaround for that is to disable titlebars with <code>new_window pixel</code>. This issue might be fixed in a future release. If you have any questions about using Compton with i3, you can ask them here on the faq. https://faq.i3wm.org/question/3279/do-i-need-a-composite-manager-compton/?comment=3293#comment-3293@joepd fixing the white flashes and tearing are the only observable improvements in rendering quality I've found so far. To me that makes a big difference. Also, I think that cairo switches to the xrender/glx backend for rendering fonts to bitmaps which should increase speed a little.Mon, 20 Jan 2014 16:12:46 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/3279/do-i-need-a-composite-manager-compton/?comment=3293#comment-3293Comment by eweber for i3 is peculiar among window managers in that it is not a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compositing_window_manager">compositing window manager</a>. From Wikipedia: <blockquote> A compositing window manager is a window manager that provides applications with an off-screen buffer for each window. The window manager composites the window buffers into an image representing the screen and writes the result into the display memory. </blockquote> i3 depends on an external application for compositing and Compton is an excellent choice if you want to improve rendering quality or apply hardware-accelerated translucency effects. There are two issues I am aware of that affect stock compositing. One is screen tearing, which you may notice with animated effects such as Firefox's smooth scrolling. Another is a flash of partially rendered content when switching workspaces, or opening and closing windows. Using Compton should resolve those issues if it is configured correctly. Compton also has special effects it can apply to windows such as fading and shadows. Shadows don't make much sense in a tiling window manager because windows always take up the full area of the screen, so the place where shadows would normally be rendered is off the screen. Fading is mostly supported except for a bug with vertically split windows. The frame for the titlebars behind these windows is not transparent. The best known workaround for that is to disable titlebars with <code>new_window pixel</code>. This issue might be fixed in a future release. If you have any questions about using Compton with i3, you can ask them here on the faq. https://faq.i3wm.org/question/3279/do-i-need-a-composite-manager-compton/?comment=3291#comment-3291TonyC - thanks for your very thorough answer! Somehow I was under the impression that a C.M. made everything look better somehow (fonts, menus, content, etc). Sounds like its more targeted to eye candy at the window-frame level (shadows, fading, translucency, etc). Again, thanks for your time!Mon, 20 Jan 2014 00:27:03 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/3279/do-i-need-a-composite-manager-compton/?comment=3291#comment-3291Comment by joepd for i3 is peculiar among window managers in that it is not a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compositing_window_manager">compositing window manager</a>. From Wikipedia: <blockquote> A compositing window manager is a window manager that provides applications with an off-screen buffer for each window. The window manager composites the window buffers into an image representing the screen and writes the result into the display memory. </blockquote> i3 depends on an external application for compositing and Compton is an excellent choice if you want to improve rendering quality or apply hardware-accelerated translucency effects. There are two issues I am aware of that affect stock compositing. One is screen tearing, which you may notice with animated effects such as Firefox's smooth scrolling. Another is a flash of partially rendered content when switching workspaces, or opening and closing windows. Using Compton should resolve those issues if it is configured correctly. Compton also has special effects it can apply to windows such as fading and shadows. Shadows don't make much sense in a tiling window manager because windows always take up the full area of the screen, so the place where shadows would normally be rendered is off the screen. Fading is mostly supported except for a bug with vertically split windows. The frame for the titlebars behind these windows is not transparent. The best known workaround for that is to disable titlebars with <code>new_window pixel</code>. This issue might be fixed in a future release. If you have any questions about using Compton with i3, you can ask them here on the faq. https://faq.i3wm.org/question/3279/do-i-need-a-composite-manager-compton/?comment=3290#comment-3290Excellent read! Could you maybe specify 'improve rendering quality'? Sun, 19 Jan 2014 23:28:26 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/3279/do-i-need-a-composite-manager-compton/?comment=3290#comment-3290