macOS is my favourite operating system. Finder in column view with arrow keys to navigate, combined with space for file preview, is incredibly fast and intuitive. Trackpad integration also results in less hand movement. I’m building a Linux (Bazzite) desktop, though, and I’ve set my sights on the stars.
nnn looks to be an incredible file manager, and was a great recommendation. It looks even more capable than Finder, albeit without scrolling/zooming previews, thanks to macOS having unmatched trackpad functionality. Not to mention Spotlight, which makes opening apps trivial–especially with Alfred available as well. I want to go beyond mere file management, though.
File managenent, browsing, gaming, everything. Just how much can you configure a Linux system to eliminate mouse usage? Shortcut guides welcome (I already know the major ones). I also have a keen interest in tiling window managers, but I’ve not delved that deep yet. I don’t know how to set one up.
Guess I’m forced to learn Emacs/Vim/similar.
XMonad would make that exceptionally easy. If you want to try it, I’d recommend doing it on NixOS and just forking a working config that uses a tiling window manager. This is a great config that I used as the foundation for my own: https://github.com/gvolpe/nix-config
Should I just forego Bazzite entirely? NixOS seems fun. Might require more setup on the gaming end, but I’d like more UX freedom.
Until a port to Wayland is made, I would avoid using this DE. X.Org is unmaintained legacy software. Maybe Sway would work as a replacement?
You’re right, and it’s such a bummer that Waymonad isn’t a thing. No other window manager or DE comes close to XMonad for me. i3/Sway are way off, IMO.
They’re working on Waymonad as we speak.
If OP didn’t notice, the config I linked also has a Hyprland option. Personally, I’m sticking to Xmonad until Waymonad is ready. Nothing comes close.
ps. I decided to start a sister community to my XMonad one for Waymonad. I will try to post updates there whenever possible.
To achieve this you will need a tiling window manager like Sway, Hyprland, or i3 and try to use as many CLI-based programs as possible for everything else. For browsers, there are projects like Nyxt (and some others I can’t remember) that allow you to use vim or emacs like shortcuts to browse around.
However most GUI apps probably won’t support an all-keyboard workflow so you will still need one. Depending on what software you use, however, you could make the vast majority of your regular computing mouse-free
Last I checked there’s a vim-ifying Firefox addon, don’t know if it’s maintained though
I did mention tiling managers already. Other comment has me interested in NixOS, and I think I’ll be changing my plans to account for both. It’s a nerdier setup now, RIP Bazzite.
I love Mullvad browser, though. It’s a great “peace of mind” browser. I’ll stick with it for now, but I will be looking into Nyxt. Might take a while.
Thank you!
I would strongly recommend not to dive into NixOS yet.
It has its benefits and I think it’s awesome, but it has a bit of a learning curve and you already have plenty of learning to do with going mouseless and the whole interface stuff. You do not want to deal withbreakages in unstable NixOS, or broken Nvidia drivers in stable.
If Bazzite’s immutability is holding you back, just switch to another distro you are familiar with: Be that Fedora, Ubuntu, Debian, openSUSE, whatever.
Hyprland is the most complete and configurable tiling window manager today, so definitely start with that. You can install it in any Linux distro.
I have Arch familiarity already, and I’ll use it if all else fails. I’ll read into NixOS beforehand and decide, but I am a quick and determined learner. I want to expand my experience with this build. Won’t do anything stupid–promise!
I spent about a year in NixOS, and my main desktop still has it, though mostly out of laziness. I did end up switching back to Arch, mostly because if there’s anything you need that isn’t in the Nix repos it’s a pain to install. The other big issue I had was the lack of documentation, so you’ll be figuring a lot of stuff out completely on your own, because Nix works differently enough to everything else that a lot of general Linux resources just don’t apply.
If I had a recommendation for switching to nixos, I’d probably say use the Nix package manager on Arch for a while first, and just slowly switch everything to Arch. It’ll get you more familiar with everything, and then you can make the switch more easily.
I use a firefox plugin on librewolf and i3 (since qubes doesnt support wayland). Mostly works but still some things that require mouse for other gui applications.
A lot of fucking around getting it set up in a way i like. Modifying dom0 scripts live, injecting python themes to get dark mode in the qube manager, fucking around compiling dubious drivers from source and installing them in dom0, fuckig around with getting windows to behave itself (havnt got it working but i just have a drive partition i pass back and forth to tranfer data). Other than that its pretty good. I3 is a godsend for efficiency, have got ctr+shift+c/v as muscle memory now.
Am currently fucking around with getting split backend for keepass so i can use the keepassxc browser plugin and have it then requesting access to the keepass backend in a seperate qube. Got it working in 1 qube manually. Currently having systemd kicking my ass over a ncat socket in /run/user/1000/app/org.keepassxc… that doesnt exist untill the browser extension tries to access it but thats well after boot so systemd has already crashed the service.
Overall having lots of fun tinkering. And god do i love the ability to just blow up my os whenever i feel like it. I can sudo rm -rf / --no-preserve-root whenever i feel like it and my system is fine.
Step 1: open a terminal emulator of your choice. There’s no step 2 because you are already done. All features, 0 dependency on your mouse.
You’re welcome :)
Even better, after your machine boots up, press ctrl+alt+F(3-6) to access TTY sessions and then there is no mouse at all. Plenty of TUI apps work just fine here too.
Difference being you can still do things like launch steam games as long as you have a DE installed even if you’re using TTY primarily.
Unfortunately there is often a use case for mouse that is hardly doable without, such as nondestructive video editing or image editing. I even use the mouse in Vim. Why is there this obsession not to touch the mouse??
Some people just don’t want to move their hands off the keyboard, it can be an incredibly productive workflow if you’re used to it.
My point is, it depends on the workflow and the tools. Try editing complex images with keyboard alone with GIMP or Inkscape. I’m a Vim user and used tiling window managers for years, so I know exactly what you mean with keyboard centric workflow being productive. But sometimes ignoring the mouse can make the workflow harder, not easier. Off course it always depends on what you actually do.
Edit: Guess I answered my … question (even though it wasn’t a question). Never mind.
One of the early window managers was called Rat poison for this very reason.
As you’re doing a bazzite build, it’ll come with KDE/GS connect so you can use your phone.
We don’t have a window manager in the Ublue space yet other than community images, but fedora atomic offers a sway spin, it won’t be bazzite, but it’ll run games just as well for the most part.
As others have suggested, getting more familiar with the terminal and using a tiling window manager will help a lot. And yeah it’s a great idea to learn Vim or other advanced terminal editors. I use Helix+Zellij for development, Vim for system configuration, and i3 or Sway for GUI stuff. Also check out w3m for simple web searches.
If you want to get rid of the mouse entirely, you can also try using a programmable keyboard with mouse support. I don’t use a physical mouse anymore because I do most things in the terminal, and when I do need a mouse I just use my keyboard to move the cursor. For super mouse-heavy tasks like image editing it’s good to keep one around or use a Wacom tablet
