Multiple monitors with i3 wm

 This took a very long time to happen. Ultimately it is a downgrade which has made me to take up multiple monitor setup. A Dell laptop, around 5 years old, was discarded by my son certifying it to be very slow. However, the laptop was upto the task considering the mac mini which I had. So, upgraded the hdd to ssd. I started from a clean slate. Installed a clean copy of windog 10(well, paid for the license when the laptop was brought). After a flurry of updates and reboots... phew.. it was complete.

Now to the favorite part. Getting Arch Gnu/Lnux onto the laptop. Tried installing arch based derivatives with i3 as the wm. However, was not happy with the plethora of packages which got installed. I have nothing against the distros. However, I have been destroyed by the plain/vanilla install of arch Gnu/Linux on all my computers. So wiped again, and did a vanilla arch gnu/linux install. Installing packages as and when I was hitting a wall for a particular task. Just goes a long way to tell how much effort you have put to make your arch gnu/linux install "your own". That is not time wasted. But, time well spent.

As I again, brought the install to my liking, it is bewildering to see the control one has on his computer. Compare it with the windows install. Cannot compare. Yes, cannot compare the ease with which GBs of software lands on your computer in the name of "ease of use". Well, Freedom is never easy and never will be. 

 However, the point of the post is multiple monitor setup with i3. Let me start by telling that it was not easy. Lot of web searching and personal shares of various users have made me to nearly approach the setup which I liked. Again, which I liked... so... The basic premise is I wanted 05 workspaces on the QHD monitor and another 05 workspaces on the laptop display(FHD). This was my requirement. However, wherever, I was searching, the majority of the results concentrated on moving workspaces or containers or windows or another atomic elements in i3. I did not want to move applications between the monitors. Some apps are better on QHD and some on FHD. So the applications will go respectively to those workspaces as decided by the user(me). Tie the workspaces to the monitors

Howver, the point of the post is multiple monitor setup with i3. Let me start by telling that it was not easy. Lot of web searching and personal shares of various users have made me to nearly approach the setup which I liked. Again, which I liked... so...

The basic premise is I wanted 05 workspaces on the QHD monitor and another 05 workspaces on the laptop display(FHD). This was my requirement. However, wherever, I was searching, the onus was on moving workspaces or containers or windows or another atomic element in i3. I did not want to move applications between the monitors. Some apps are better on QHD and some on FHD. So the applications will go respectively to those workspaces as decided by the user(me).

Tie the workspaces to the monitors

workspace $ws1 output $qhd
workspace $ws2 output $qhd
workspace $ws3 output $qhd
workspace $ws4 output $qhd
workspace $ws5 output $qhd
workspace $ws6 output $fhd
workspace $ws7 output $fhd
workspace $ws8 output $fhd
workspace $ws9 output $fhd
workspace $ws10 output $fhd

Added the following to meet the requirement which I set out to achieve. When you now hit the hot key for navigating to a particular workspace, irrespective of the monitor, the focus is on that particular workspace.

bindsym $mod+1 focus output $qhd;workspace $ws1
bindsym $mod+2 focus output $qhd;workspace $ws2
bindsym $mod+3 focus output $qhd;workspace $ws3
bindsym $mod+4 focus output $qhd;workspace $ws4
bindsym $mod+5 focus output $qhd;workspace $ws5
bindsym $mod+6 focus output $fhd;workspace $ws8
bindsym $mod+7 focus output $fhd;workspace $ws7
bindsym $mod+8 focus output $fhd;workspace $ws8
bindsym $mod+9 focus output $fhd;workspace $ws9
bindsym $mod+0 focus output $fhd;workspace $ws10

As a bonus, now, let us say you have the workspace you want to work on in clear view on the other monitor. You just want focus on that monitor. Add the following to your config

bindsym $mod+period focus output left

Kindly bear in mind, the keybindings which are already utilized in your config file before changing anything.

Thats it.

A big Shout-out and Thanks to all the devs and users making the "free as in freedom" world possible.

My tryst with Ian Murdock's Debian GNU/Linux

I bought an assembled computer in the year 2000. The hardware was assembled by friends from my computer science department(I being a Mech engineer). They installed me the "latest" operating system, Win ME. I was also very happy, friends visited my home to see my computer. They wanted to "see" a computer with 128 GB RAM and a blazing fast 650 Mhz processor. Before that I had used DOS to run foxpro programs for my 1st sem engg. The next exposure was using Autocad in my final semester. The computers in the college were old school and "just" enough to run the required app. Played around with my new computer. Heard a heap os mp3s, watched a few movies on vcds, played a few games and thats it. After a month, the only result was that I learnt Autocad with great proficiency. After this, it got boring. Did not touch for around a month later. During this time, while discussing with a friend who had just joined a UNIX course. He did not know that he was learning GNU/Linux, Not his mistake.(At this juncture I did not know anything except Win****. Infact I did not know that there was another operating system). So, let us excuse my friend here and request the reader to excuse me too. Now in the discussion happening what caught my fancy was that my friend was repeatedly telling me that it is a tough nut to crack and one life time is not enough to learn *nix. Let us go back to the day I bought my desktop. I fell short of a 1000 bucks while buying it. So, the shop owner sent the person doing the assembly to my house with my friends to bring back the money. Once the desktop reached my home, All the components were quickly connected, hdd formatted and winME installed. Now, my computer science friends started having a chat with the assembler. The assembler told that he had learnt to install a new OS called Redhat 6 GNU/Linux. This caught the fancy of my computer friends and they asked him to show them the install methodology of Redhat 6 GNU/Linux. All this while I was a mute spectator. I just took care of all my friends with the snacks department. The assembler started the installation and I believe it took an hour or so. Once the installation was over it was late in the night and everybody just went home. My friends told that they would visit me again in the course of the week to "format" back the installation space taken by the GNU/Linux system.

Now, let us come back to the friend who told that *nix was a tough nut to crack. Since all the use case scenarios of win ME was exhausted I thought of venturing into fresh waters. Came back home the same day and booted Redhat GNU/Linux 6. I was dropped to a terminal with a blinking cursor with a black backdrop. I did not know the login ID and password. Immediately requested and begged my father for giving me money to buy a book. Went to the biggest store in Bangalore and bought "Redhat Linux 6 UNLEASHED". Here I came to learn of VI and Emacs editors. Somehow I though emacs was the editor for me. While reading the documentation for emacs I came across the history of GNU and the GPL licenses. I was glued. I just was at awe at the philosophy of "free as in freedom". After that it was learning everyday. I installed nearly all the OSs on my desktop. QNX, Minix and the like. Then Redhat GNU/Linux 7 was released and I recognised that GNU/Linux had arrived. From now on slackware, calderra, Mandrake and many others were tried. But I was always hearing about Debian GNU/Linux while on forums and reading magazines. I tried ubuntu somewhere here and applied for free cd shipping also and I did recieve them. But, somehow, my installations of ubuntu GNU/Linux always was not up to my expectation. There was a sort of "restriction". I cannot tell what it is. But I felt tied. This feeling I did not get while using any other GNU/Linux distros. After trying all the distros, I tried Debian woody. The installation, I thought was similar to slackware. But what caught my fancy was the way the distro was managed. The democratic setup, the clear responsibilities in the social contract, the "release when ready" philosophy, the plethora of packages and the wiki. I loved the distro. Being in India we were not luck in the internet department. I used to eagerly wait for stable releases. I had developed a relationship with a local cd/dvd vendor(Individual) who was selling GNU/Linux cd/dvd on his blog and was charging only for his efforts, true to the RMS philosophy. I would be the first customer for every major release from v 3.0 through 5.0 and I used to buy all the cds dvds not just the first one. While installing, my selction of sofware during installation would make me to swap the cd/dvd many number of times. I loved the release names owing to the fact that I am a huge fan of the toy story franchise.

My tryst continued with debian GNU/Linux after I bought a HP laptop. I have always documented my installation experiences on my blog. It continued on to a dell laptop. But, I got a high by installing the powerpc version of Debian Gnu/Linux on the PS3 while it was still supported by the otheros option. The last 15 years of my computing would have not been exciting if not for Debian GNU/Linux. I salute the vision of Ian Murdock. I salute all the developers/users/maintainers of this awesome OS. I always used to get a package for doing any task I wanted to do within the pack of the DVDs. Debian GNU/Linux is a part of my life as much as my friends/my family. I have spent more time on using Debian GNU/Linux systems than any other beside my job. Yes, I am not a pro. I am not a programmer. I am a GNU/Linux enthusiast. I am a fan of Debian GNU/Linux.

I request the force to give Ian Murdock all the peace he needs. His death didnt seem a normal one. I wish his family and friends all the positive force in the universe. This definitely applies to the man who spearheaded the development of the Universal Operating system.

Thanks a lot Ian Murdock. You definitely have left a mark in this universe.

PS: I had succesfully installed Debian GNU/Hurd also. That is one more Hats off to Sri Ian Murdock. Thanks. May the force be with you.