awesome is awesome. I use it on all Arch Linux desktop/laptop machines that I have control over (admittedly, it is not designed for handheld smartphones/tablets).
one-key-combo switching between tiling and stacking window management styles.
the ability to do dynamic tagging (meaning it is not enabled by the default configuration---at least up to v3.5.4 (Brown Paper Bag) released on 2 April 2014).
This repo holds my personal take of awesome's configuration. Hightlights:
persistent dynamic tagging across (both regular and randr-induced) restarts.
dynamic tagging means tags can be created/moved/renamed/deleted on the fly without touching the configuration.
persistent means tags and the clients/programs associated with each tag is preserved across awesome restart.
These dependencies are mostly derived from the application keybindings. Some are needed to enable basic features like theming (feh), Desktop Entry Specification-style autostart (dex), audio setup (alsa-utils), backlight (xorg-xbacklight), Webcam (cheese), music player (mpd and mpc), screen lock (xscreensaver), network management (network-manager-applet), terminal (sakura), and screen setup (arandr), etc..
make sure that you can write to /tmp (for dynamic tagging), e.g., through tmpfs
populate your $HOME/.config/autostart with Desktop Entry Specification-style autostart files (optionally with OnlyShowIn=awesome if you only want them to auto-start in awesome).
Take a look at the "rc.lua" configuration file ($HOME/.config/awesome/rc.lua; perhaps by pressing the keybinding [modkey]+c which will open rc.lua with the primary editor---for me, Vim).
Most keybindings are prefixed with the "Modkey." This config associates "Modkey" to X Window's "mod4" . On many machines, this associates the "Super_L" (tip: use xmodmap in terminal emulator to verify/change this), which usually translate to the (intuitively) "Windows" key.
Some keybinding requires further input (e.g., rename a tag), which will "grab" the key focus from your application. The [esc] key is used to cancel partial input.
window management
restart/quit/info
key combo
function
comment
[modkey]+[ctrl]+r
restart
"r" for restart; used for apply updated "rc.lua" config file
[modkey]+[shift]+q
quit
"q" for quit; used for apply updated "rc.lua" config file
[modkey]+|system info popup
[modkey]+[f1]
open help in browser
layout
key combo
function
comment
[modkey]+[space]
change to next layout
[modkey]+[shift]+[space]
change to prev layout
mouse action
function
[left button]]
change to next layout
[right button]
change to prev layout
[scroll up]
change to prev layout
[scroll down]
change to next layout
only the following layouts are enabled
layout
comment
floating
allow window stacking; the default
tile
tiling with master on the left
fair
fair allocation of screen space
fullscreen
the focused client fullscreened
magnifier
the focused client centered but not fullscreened
in the floating mode, the following mouse actions on client window are enabled
mouse action
function
[modkey]+[left button]
move client
[modkey]+[right button]
resize client
multiple screens/multi-head/RANDR
key combo
function
comment
[modkey]+[ctrl]+j
focus on the next screen
"j" is easy to reach
[modkey]+[ctrl]+j
focus on the prev screen
"k" is easy to reach
[modkey]+o
send client to the other screen
misc
key combo
function
comment
[modkey]+[f2]
prompt a program to launch
inherited from awesome defaults
[modkey]+[f3]
toggle touchpad
depend on synclient from xf86-input-synaptics
[modkey]+[f4]
prompt Lua code to be eval-ed in awesome
inherited from awesome defaults
[modkey]+c
edit "rc.lua" with the primary editor
"c" for configuration file
[modkey]+/
show main menu
[modkey]+`
launch screen saver/locker
[modkey]+[enter]
launch user terminal
[modkey]+[alt]+[enter]
launch root terminal
dynamic tagging
add/delete/rename
key combo
function
comment
[modkey]+a
create a new tag after the current one and view it
"a" for add
[modkey]+[shift]+a
create a new tag before the current one and view it
"a" for add
[modkey]+[shift]+d
delte the current tag if there is no client on it
"d" for delete
[modkey]+[shift]+r
rename the current tag
"r" for rename
view
key combo
function
comment
[modkey]+p
view previous tag
"p" for previous
[modkey]+n
view next tag
"n" for next
[modkey]+z
view last tag
[modkey]+g
prompted for a tag to view
with tag name completion with [tab]
[modkey]+[1-9,0]
view the first-ninth, tenth tag
prompt for "add a new tag" if not already existed
[modkey]+[ctrl]+[1-9,0]
view also the first-ninth, tenth tag
prompt for "add a new tag" if not already existed
move
key combo
function
comment
[modkey]+[ctrl]+p
move the current tag backward by 1 position
[modkey]+[ctrl]+n
move the current tag forward by 1 position
client management
operation
key combo
function
comment
[modkey]+[shift]+c
kill focused client
[modkey]+f
toggle fullscreen status
"fullscreen" hides statusbar
[modkey]+m
toggle maximized status
"maximized" leaves statusbar visible
[modkey]+[shift]+m
minimize
minimized client need mouse click on tasklist to restore
[modkey]+[ctrl]+[space]
toggle floating status
[modkey]+t
toggle ontop status
[modkey]+s
toggle sticky status
[modkey]+,
toggle horizontal maximized status
[modkey]+.
toggle vertical maximized status
[modkey]+[
decrease opacity by 10%
need composite manager, e.g., xcompmgr
[modkey]+]
increase opacity by 10%
need composite manager, e.g., xcompmgr
[modkey]+[shift]+[
disable composite manager
[modkey]+[shift]+]
enable composite manager
change focus
key combo
function
comment
[modkey]+j
focus on the next client in current tag
"j" is easy to reach
[modkey]+k
focus on the prev client in current tag
"k" is easy to reach
[modkey]+[tab]
focus on the last-focus client in current tag
[modkey]+u
jump to the urgent client
"u" for urgent
swap order/select master
key combo
function
comment
[modkey]+[ctrl]+[enter]
select current client as the master
master is featured on the screen
[modkey]+[shift]+j
swap current client with the next one
"j" is easy to reach
[modkey]+[shift]+k
swap current client with the prev one
"k" is easy to reach
move/copy to tag
all these keys work on the single currently focused client
key combo
function
comment
[modkey]+[shift]+p
send the client to the previous tag
"p" for previous
[modkey]+[shift]+n
send the client to the next tag
"n" for next
[modkey]+[shift]+g
move the client to the named tag
with tag name completion by [tab]
[modkey]+[ctrl]+[shift]+g
toggle the named tag for the client
with tag name completion by [tab]
[modkey]+[shift]+[1-9,0]
move the client to {first-ninth, tenth} tag
prompt for "add a new tag" if not already existed
[modkey]+[ctrl]+[shift]+[1-9,0]
toggle the {first-ninth, tenth} tag for the client
prompt for "add a new tag" if not already existed
change space allocation in tile layout
key combo
function
comment
[modkey]+=
reset master width to 50%
"=" for equal partition of screen
[modkey]+l
increase master width by 5%
"l" towards right on keyboard
[modkey]+h
decrease master width by 5%
"h" towards left on keyboard
[modkey]+[shift]+l
increase number of masters by 1
"l" towards right on keyboard
[modkey]+[shift]+h
decrease number of masters by 1
"h" towards left on keyboard
[modkey]+[ctrl]+l
increase number of columns by 1
"l" towards right on keyboard
[modkey]+[ctrl]+h
decrease number of columns by 1
"h" towards left on keyboard
misc
key combo
function
comment
[modkey]+[shift]+`
toggle the visibility of current client's titlebar
app bindings
shortcut keys are bound for most common apps; the keybinding is designed to be balanced between the left (pressing the [modkey]) and the right hand (an additional easy to reach key).
The items can be changed with awesome-client. Example:
customization.option.wallpaper_change_p=true-- enable random wallpaper choosingcustomization.timer.change_wallpaper.timeout=7.5-- choose a wallpaper every 7.5 seconds
value
type
meaning
default value
customization.option.wallpaper_change_p
boolean
random wallpaper choosing enabled?
true
customization.timer.change_wallpaper.timeout
number
randomly choose a wallpaper from the "wallpaper" directory after every this number of seconds
15
todo
improve persistent dynamic tagging: preserve tag configuration (e.g., layout style and client positions)
