Those of you who know me, know I hate window managers and GUI in general under linux. After using nothing but screen for ages and testing a window manager here and there, I finally found a window manager I liked: Ion3.
In essence, Ion3 is screen… as a desktop manager. Based on PWM, Ion3 is meant to be a mouse-less window manager. After playing with it for a few days I was hooked. It’s interface is slim and sexy. It’s lightweight. Most importantly, it doesn’t remove the “command line” feel of screen. With hot-keys for changing desktops, moving and resizing windows, splitting upwards and down, and even hot-keys for launching applications.
The hot-keys for launching applications is really one of my favorite parts of Ion3. Using the F-keys, you can launch applications from a dynamic menu, open an ssh window, or create new desktops. Another great feature of Ion3 is that, while it feels like a command line, you still have full GUI. Firefox runs wonderfully under Ion3. Even flash videos play flawlessly.
I highly recommend trying Ion3. It’s installation is easy and quick. If you prefer a command line this is a great way to add some extra functionality to that command line.
Download: http://www.freshports.org/x11-wm/ion-3/
PWM Information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PWM_(window_manager)