[lug] Efficiency prioritized Linux desktop

[Maxwell Spangler]

On Mon, 2020-04-13 at 23:48 -0400, Steve Litt wrote:

> My desktop greatly emphasizes the keyboard over the mouse,because
> usually the keyboard is much faster.
> What the preceding did for me is now (after restarting Openbox), when
> Ipress Shift+Ctrl+semicolon, it pulls up a vertical list of
> everyexecutable on my executable path. As I type in characters, it
> narrowsthe list. When the list gets to a length of one, or when I
> press Enterwhile the highlight is on a list item, the highlighted
> list item isexecuted. Dmenu rules out all list items except those
> having the stringyou typed in, and it sorts items *starting* with
> that string on top. Inother words, I run a program using four or five
> keystrokes, includingthe final Enter key: This is much quicker than
> anything I could do withthe mouse, assuming I started and ended back
> up in keyboard home keyposition.

Thanks for sharing, this was interesting.

I use much of the same setup on Fedora using Gnome 3.

* I launch programs with WindowsKey + type part of the name to narrow
down + ENTER.

* I've created custom desktop launchers for things like terminal
windows so I can do

WindowsKey + 'right' + ENTER == launch a terminal, of a set size and
position it at a known location. (Top right, primary monitor).
WindowsKey + "test' + ENTER == launch a terminal, set size and position
on the aux monitor to the left where I normally run programs to test
what I'm coding on the primary.

Like you, I prioritize keyboard over mouse. There is a hidden dock but
I never use it.  Gnome provides a visual browse of icons to launch
things but I don't use that either.  I've completely switch (like you)
to WindowsKey + name of program + ENTER.  

This makes the GUI environment feel like a 'super terminal'.  It's a
GUI, but its not mouse to the menu, navigate, click, mouse to the app,
point, click, point click.  Mostly.

* I'm using the Gnome 3 'gTile' extension to program custom window
sizes. This lets me change window's size and position between several
pre-programmed spaces and sizes using the keyboard.  It's all about
maximizing screen usage and avoiding the need to grab the mouse and
carefully reposition and resize windows.

* I created some scripts that reposition and resize windows, too. This
works in X but not Wayland.  So if I do WindowsKey + "work" + ENTER. It
will
1. Run a desktop launcher called work.desktop
1.1 Runs a script called position.
1.1.1 Position reads a config file and executes 'wmctrl' to send
messages to apps to change their position and size.
This puts specific windows like KeepassX and Evolution email in
specific places and sizes.  It also sets window manager attributes like
'show KeepassX on all desktops'.

* I like using the trackball or trackpad ( I have both ) occasionally
in order to select things on the screen.  I use mouse focus so I can
swing the cursor into a new window and give it focus.  I could do this
with keyboard, but in an affort to prevent RSI, I think its good to get
your hands away from the keyboard and slow down, sometimes, in order to
get some additional muscle actions while you type so much.

-- 
Maxwell Spangler

===================================================================
Denver, Colorado, USA

maxwellspangler.com
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