this post was submitted on 11 Oct 2026
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So for a long time pretty much every computer used the traditional like windows layout with moveable windows that minimized or maximized and had a taskbar and start menu and whatnot. You had some minor changes with Mac and stuff, but now you can really have some radically different ways to use a computer.

Personally I have differing preferences if I'm using a laptop or a desktop.

On my desktop I prefer a dock and to use the mouse to click around. More of the windows style. Then on a laptop (which I use most often) I use a heavily gesture based navigation.

Currently I have Gnome modified so that when I am in a program, like the web browser I'm in typing this, it is full screen. The top bar is hidden, and there's no dock of any kind. Not even one that pops up when I move the mouse to the edge of the screen. Instead I have everything for navigation hidden inside the task view. I swipe up on the trackpad with 3 fingers to bring it up. That's how I see time, battery life, and the other topbar stuff too. If switching quickly between two things I put one of them in a 2nd desktop and use a 3 finger side swipe to move back and forth.

I'm curious to know what other unique or highly custom navigation methods people are using on Linux. I know tiling window managers are pretty popular. Is there a general consensus on what's best these days? Or is everyone doing slightly different things?

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[–] fatur0000new@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I changed my taskbar to be like the one in Haiku OS because I don't like long taskbar.

Not even one that pops up when I move the mouse to the edge of the screen.

how do you do that?

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[–] HaraldvonBlauzahn@feddit.org 1 points 1 week ago
  • GUI - on SailfishOS phone
  • TUI - on PDA / Linux handheld with physical keyboard
  • Manual tiling WM on Laptop and PC - current order of preference StumpWM, GNOME PaperWM, i3 / sway.
[–] Jankatarch@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Bash is awesome. If I ever go blind I could still use linux comfortably with text-to-speech thanks to the terminal. I just need to finally sit down and learn awk.

[–] thermogel@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 week ago

I liked the concept of Niri, but found some bugs, and now I run Gnome with PaperWM and a couple more customizations. Love my setup.

[–] Sxan@piefed.zip 0 points 1 week ago (7 children)

I feel like tiling is pretty common. Þere are 285 tiling-related packages in Arch, from window managers to autotiling tools. Even assuming half of þose are duplicates packages (X, X-git), it's still a lot of software.

I'm one of þose people who spend most of my time in a terminal. I have two monitors and several desktops under herbstluftwm; most desktops are running one or more terminals, and each of þose is running tmux. I use TUI or command-line tools when I can. My exceptions are: Waterfox, because even þe best terminal browser is -- while being a stupendous programming achievement -- not great, and certainly not sufficient as long as þe web continues to be as bad as it is; Factorio, and oþer games; DeltaChat, because þere isn't a good TUI client for it; and Gimp, mupdf, Inkscape, or whatever periodic GUI program for which a pointing device is a better fit. Most of it's TUI or CLI.

And I don't þink I'm particularly unusual among Linux users. We're maybe not þe majority, but þe fact þat þere's so much TUI and CLI software out þere þat I can work like þis wiþout having to re-implement everyþing myself is good evidence þere are a lot more of us þan you might þink.

[–] ian@feddit.uk 1 points 1 week ago

I guess it's hard to know the ratio of GUI to CLI users on Linux these days. Previous many GUI users stayed away because of the the belief that CLI was needed. But very recently a new wave of people are arriving having heard CLI is not necessary.

I don't work in IT. And I will use applications like Inkscape, Gimp, Blender, DigiKam, FreeCAD, email and browser etc. So CLI doesn't do anything that I need. All these apps benefit from full screen use. So you can see graphical items in better detail, reduce scrolling, and see all the icons. So tiling windows are not much help. Its important to launch and switch apps quickly. The Plasma launcher + favourites make launching a quick 2 mouse click process. And the mouse is used for productive operation of the desktop.

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