I really like the gnome-extension PaperWM. Can I use a similar programm/windowmanager in Zorin lite? I took a look at niri but it seems to be difficult to install and officially only supported on wayland. Is there an easier way to reach the same?
For the small screen in my virtual machine on my laptop such a window behavior is phantastic because all windows are opened maximized and I don't need to close them to switch between the different apps.
When something like a Window Manager is enough for You, You could install something like i3 or sway. But to be clear: this would replace xfce as a Desktop.
To explain: xfce is a whole Desktop Environment. A Window Manager like i3 or Sway only shows Windows. there is no ready configured Environment or addititonal Software like a File Manager or other Stuff. You configure WM's mostly with a Config File to set them up.
i3 can replace XFWM4, not XFCE entirely.
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I've been running XFCE + i3 for a while now, and it's been great so far. I also tested it on Z17 Lite:
The integration is not perfect for some things, however. Not a huge problem for me but I guess depending on what you use.
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Do those windowmanagers offer this scrollable window function as in PaperWM or niri?
I didn't found guides how to set up i3 to behave like paperwm.
I'd like to take a look at lxqt with niri
When I install lxqt desktop on Zorin 17 lite, does it offer the niri package? Can I somehow enable Wayland or is it not required?
If it is not possible on Zorin lite, can I test it with Zorin 18 live bootstick and install lxqt there?
A few days ago I tried to install xfce4 in the live session of Zorin 18, but I couldn't login into xfce, there was no cog wheal to choose the other desktop. Is a reboot required to enter the other desktop?
So is this only possible with a usb stick with persistence or can I reach this by other means?
With a LiveUSB, you would have the same problem with LXQT as you did with XFCE: LiveUSB without persistence won't save installs or changes across a reboot and a reboot is necessary to switch desktop environments (Technically, logging out can do it, but as far as LiveUSB goes; a log out is the same as a reboot).
Is there no way to use
sudo systemctl restart gdm3
and add a command with && to define the session type/desktop type? Or to edit etc/gdm3/custom.conf so that the other desktop environment is the default one?
No, it's just a basic tiling effect. No scrolling.
No, because this would require persistence as it would fully log you out.
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I'm still searching for ideas how I can use a scrollable window manager within a normal desktop environment.
In gnome, it is easy, you can use gnome extension PaperWM.
In kde there is karousel.
In cosmic there is a project cosmic-ext-extra-sessions to run niri in cosmic
Newer versions of LXQT support niri.
What about XFCE?
Maybe DankMaterialShell or Noctalia could be a base?
What is the best way to proceed so that it is not too difficult to test something like this in Zorin Lite? What about the missing Wayland function there? Is it possible at all?
i3 tiling wm, bspwm, and compiz come to mind for XFCE an X11.
I am not sure if these meet your desire - continuous scrolling.
Wayland does not play well with XFWM, though the XFCE developers are working on creating Wayland compatibility.
You could try running a Wayland Session nested within it:
./target/release/niri --nested
You would need to ensure that Wayland is installed, so using Core, then installing XFCE would be the way to go.
Starting from a stock XFCE distro is likely to not include Wayland.
There is also "scroll". Has someone used it and can share the experience with it?
Which non rolling release distribution or easy to use distribution can I use that offers LXQT 2.3 desktop environment to test niri?