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With Compiz in Unity, I could press Ctrl-Alt-6 to place a window on the right-half of the screen, Ctrl-Alt-4 to place it on the left half, Ctrl-Alt-7 to place it in the top left quarter of the screen, and so on. Is there something similar in Gnome-Shell?

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note: Numbers mentioned are on the NumPad. – int_ua Nov 30 '11 at 17:31

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Install gconf-editor.

sudo apt-get install gconf-editor

Now, run gconf-editor ( Alt+F2 gconf-editor)

Go to apps/metacity/window_keybindings and edit the move_to_center / move_to_corner entries to your liking. (see screenshot:)

enter image description here

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How do you denote NumPad keys when entering in key combinations in the "Value" column? – Thucydides411 Nov 30 '11 at 20:28
Never mind, I see that KP means keypad, and that you have the obvious layout above. – Thucydides411 Nov 30 '11 at 20:34
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How do you denote Keypad's 5 key? – drozzy Apr 20 '12 at 20:02
Also - there has GOT to be an easier way of doing this! Editing 10 things (in an error prone way too) on every computer that I want this feature... – drozzy Apr 20 '12 at 20:05
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@drozzy to denote Keypad's 5 key use KP_5. – severin Apr 24 '12 at 9:50
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up vote 1 down vote

In Ubuntu you can still use Compiz Config (or, alternatively, gconf-editor) to set up the keys the same way you do in Unity.

But, unfortunately, it does not work as expected. It does move the window where you asked it to, but then (at least, for some windows) they will jump back to the original position.

For example, in gconf-editor open apps/metacity/window_keybindings and add some shortcut for move_to_side_e, e.g. < Ctrl >< Alt >KP_6. Now open Files (Nautilus) and press this key combination. The window will move to the right side. Now double click any folder to enter it: the window will jump back to the position it was...

I am not sure whether it is a bug or the fact that Gnome-Shell does not support Compiz anymore, but hope that the feature will be supported sooner or later. This Compiz plugin and Place Windows (the one that opens new windows such that they occupy open space on the desktop) are, probably, the only, or at least the most important, plugins I still miss from the Gnome 2 and Compiz...

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Except that gconf-editor always crashes after you set about 5 keys.... – drozzy Apr 20 '12 at 20:11
Not in my case, though. Unity crashes all the time when you modify something in ccsm, that is the fact. gconf-editor works fine here, even when I modify may keys at once (and I do modify many when reinstall the system). – Vadim Apr 20 '12 at 20:16
Cool.. i'm just giving Bluetile a try... but alas, it is failing to compile on my system. – drozzy Apr 20 '12 at 20:20

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