I'm looking for a lightweight way to snap windows in Lubuntu. It's possible to install compiz
, but doing so will make the system far less lightweight. Are there any alternatives or workarounds?
5 Answers
Super + arrow
Super + ← and Super + → split the screen horizontally.
Super + ↑ and Super + ↓ split it vertically.
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2
Using a lightweight window manager
You could use the lightweight compositing manager used by XFCE called xfwm4
This will give you basic windows snap.
N.B. if you dont like the default "change workspace when dragging a window off the screen" capability then untick the very last option shown in the picture.
Getting Tiling to work
However - if you want the "tiling-snap" of compiz you will need to get your coding-hands dirty because this is work-in-progress.
According to this article - there is a potential patch available to enable windows tiling (aka windows snap) for the xfwm4 compositing manager.
Through the following Q&A I have packaged this tiling patch into my PPA - instructions for installation can be found in the linked answer.
There is a great you-tube video showing this in action.
How to use xfwm4 in lubuntu/lxde
To use xfwm4 as your compositing manager instead of OpenBox.
In Desktop Settings - Advanced options change the window manager to xfwm4
Now in terminal:
cd ~/.config/lxsession
mkdir Lubuntu
cp LXDE/* Lubuntu/
Install the compositing manager:
sudo apt-get install xfwm4-themes
Logout and login for the xfwm4 compositing manager to take effect.
Change the style via xfwm4-settings
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To add xfwm4-settings to your preferences menu you can follow this: askubuntu.com/questions/295737/… May 15, 2013 at 13:29
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2This is a non-solution. People are using Lubuntu if they want LXDE and OpenBox, so installing XFCE4 is out of question. Remember that questions and their answers should be as generic as possible and not tailored to single users.– andynNov 21, 2014 at 9:21
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@andyn - I've no idea what you are referring to with the latter part of your statement. If you wish to discuss, pop into the general chatroom.– fossfreedom ♦Nov 21, 2014 at 10:10
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FWIW: Update to @fossfreedom's answer for
Lubuntu 15.10
. You need to add thexfwm4
entry into the following config screen:Application Menu
->Preferences
->Default applications for LXSession
->Core Applications
tab ->Windows Manager
entry: type inxfwm4
.– ATutorMeFeb 9, 2016 at 11:52 -
@ATutorMe I've asked a very related question, but I'm not sure if this fix is up to date. Could you check it out? askubuntu.com/questions/1192585/…– RikuNov 29, 2019 at 21:20
I personally use quicktile.
It allows you to snap windows in different regions of your screen based on keyboard inputs (e.g. Ctrl+Alt+1 to get the window to the top-left corner). It can be run as daemon on any X11-based desktop and only requires python as a dependency.
As far as I can tel, it does not have a drag-and-snap function, but your question did not seem restricted to mouse-only behaviour.
This thread on crunchbang forum talks about getting aero-snap
feature by tweaking openbox
. If you want to look into tile, cascade and expose like feature in lightweight environment you may look into this. Although posted in xfce forum it may be useful for other windowmanagers as it uses xwininfo
, wmctrl
and xdotool
. so you need to install
x11-utils
, xdotool
and wmctrl
and bind some keyboard action to the given script. I have been using it in xfce and it works OK for me. If you need compositing as well, try cairo-compmgr, which will give you transparency, expose like functionality and many others without replacing your window manager. In order to install:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:shnatsel/cairo-compmg
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install cairo-compmgr
And just start it OR add to your startup script.
Maybe you check out OpenSnap.
2020 UPDATE: https://lubuntu.me/tip-opensnap/
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2Whilst this may theoretically answer the question, it would be preferable to include the essential parts of the answer here, and provide the link for reference. Oct 6, 2013 at 0:01
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1OpenSnap was a good hint. His link is down. Here is an official one: lubuntu.me/tip-opensnap Apr 26, 2020 at 14:10