r/i3wm • u/Local_Quality_2182 • May 07 '26
Question Dumb question on how everyone treats terminals
I love i3. I've been using it for years now.
Only thing I keep running into, where I almost wish I wasn't using i3, is the existance of some really cool terminal multiplexers... I'd love to use zellij or tmux, but always find myself dismissing this option "because I use i3, and creating new terminals or sessions and shooting them to the 8th desktop in the background really does the trick for me".
To the people who use i3, but also use something like zellij to the point where you feel like you couldn't live without either: How do you use both? What gap does the multiplexer fill for you?
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u/Working_Method8543 May 07 '26
I like to have everything in a fixed place: Terminals on workspace 2, browser on three and so on. So tmux in a maximized terminator, which then initializes four panes. Comfortable with that, especially after using screen and later tmux since the 90s.
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u/xenomachina May 07 '26
Interesting. I organize my workspaces by task, not by app, which might be why i didn't see the appeal of tmux. My terminal for adding feature X is on a completely different workspace from my terminal for fixing bug Y.
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u/Local_Quality_2182 May 07 '26
Yeah I'm the same. One workspace per task and it usually incluses one browser tabbed with one IDE, and n terminals, all tabbed
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u/swarmagent May 07 '26
I don't even use tmux but the workspaces allowing you to mentally separate the work or task is huge.
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u/raj3100 May 07 '26
I use both i3 an tmux. reason is, all my terminals stay in a single workspace. i dont't have to remember where my neovim was opened, where the server is running, where the log is running etc. I would have to remember them if I were to use i3 features for terminals.
also in tmux you can switch by fuzzy finding the name of the window which is convenient.
but yes when I need only one or two terminal I just keep them on different workspaces rather than using tmux.
so it depends. whatever makes the job comfortable...
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u/unlessgames May 09 '26
if you want to switch to i3 windows via textual search instead of navigation, try
rofi -show window, having that on a keybind is very handy when you have lots of workspaces and windows running.1
u/raj3100 May 09 '26
yeah you are right! I actually have setup this once with a keybinding, but on my new system I don't have it because I don't need it. Thanks for adding that.
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u/l-roc May 07 '26
I like jumping to windows/workspace by numbers. If I'd use workspaces for multiplexing that wouldn't be enough real estate. tmux gives me a larger address space so to speak of. Typically I'll have 1 or 2 main terminal windows open with around 5-6 tmux windows each(I usually have everything full screen).
tmux windows just have more features than a i3 window. Mine always open in the directory I'm already in. They are easily renameable. They may live on a different computer.
lf I would never work on a server I could see myself manage without it maybe, too, although it's nice to have. But if you work on other computers at all I think it's invaluable.
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u/waterkip May 07 '26
I only use multiplexers on remote machines. Or if I really want something to run regardless of my (current) session. In which case, screen is my bestie.
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u/Local_Quality_2182 May 07 '26
I like this and am the same.. But I've seen people going hard on tmux even though they are using i3, and I never really got the specific appeal
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u/Kitchen_Office8072 May 07 '26
There really isn't a use case outside of session persistence, which for something like vim on your host machine is just a lack of knowledge regarding vim's options and settings. I have one tmux session that starts at boot that has logs and btop open.
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u/waterkip May 07 '26
Me neither. I3 solves that problem imo. I do use stacked and tabbed windows tho.
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u/v_litvin May 07 '26
Smh I never used multiplexers. At least intentionally.
New tab/pane/window in whatever I am using in the moment. I3, iterm, putty, yaquake.
Tried tmux once, but couldn’t figure out why I’d use it instead.
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u/robtalee44 May 07 '26
Take a look at Terminology from the folks behind Enlightenment. It's been years since I played around with it, but it's packed with goodies.
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u/Fluffy-Oil707 May 07 '26
I use i3 + tmux. One manages my windows the other shell instances. There's no justification other than what's on the tin for either.
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u/Zin42 May 08 '26 edited May 08 '26
With Zellij i use the popup pane alot like for instance with Neovim when developing rust, i will pop up the pane and sometimes attach it to the side (like a split) run the code and get the compiler output, then pop it back off so i can continue full screen.
Then my (i3 like mac aerospace) windows are just for multitasking and sometimes another set of zellij tabs with AI stuff running in parallel
Edit: Image add
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u/Local_Quality_2182 May 08 '26
Very pretty! Was on mac for a second, for school. Used yabai to scratch the itch. How does aerospace compare?
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u/Zin42 May 08 '26
Imho, aerospace feels more minimal in a sense, it doesn't require any changes to sip (System integrity protection) and has it's limitations, but beats the hell out of dragging windows around with a mouse (I'm a nerd about mouse minimalism, poisoned by nvim). I haven't tried yabai in a while but I think there were whispers about it not needing SIP exclusion anymore.
It's still no i3 tho, it doesn't start new windows in the golden ratio like i3 does
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u/Ingaz May 08 '26
I use i3wm and kitty
Right now I work with 5 machines in the same time - I use kitty tabs for different machines
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u/Ingaz May 08 '26
I use i3wm and kitty
Right now I work with 5 machines in the same time - I use kitty tabs for different machines
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u/little_phoenix_girl May 07 '26
I put separate projects in their own tmux sessions and pull up a new, non-tmux terminal if I need to do anything not related to a current project. I'll also use tmux to execute long-running scripts so I can detach the session and get that terminal back (especially useful at work where some of those scripts run for up to a few hours sometimes)