[TacticalCoder]

On the subject of tiling managers (I use one since so long I don't even remember when I started using those), time for a rant...

I never ever understood why those who do allow gaps (i.e. some space between each window) are basically all, by default (and sometimes it's very hard to change), do add "gaps" near the monitor's borders.

I mean seriously: why on earth are empty pixels added between the leftmost window(s) and the left side of the monitor, between the rightmost window(s) and the right side of the monitor, between the bottommost window(s) and the bottom of the monitor?

This, to me, makes absolutely zero sense. And they all do that, including this one for Windows 10 (as can be seen in the screenshots).

Why? Really: just why? I want to rant and ask: what's wrong with people? : )

It just makes no sense. There's not a world in which it makes sense.

Worse, Awesome VM calls all the gaps "useless gaps" even though it's a fact that gaps between windows aren't useless (especially when you're tiling terminal windows with no borders or with a 1-pixel border, where it can be hard to detect boundaries between two terminals if there's no gap).

But gaps near the monitor's borders are really useless: it's ok, I don't risk mistaking what's at the right of my monitor (atm a physical cup of coffee) or what's at the right of my monitor (atm a tower with three Raspberry Pi stacked) for, say, a terminal window!?

I hacked my tiling VM (the "Awesome VM" on Linux) to not have these really useless gaps on the borders but the assumption that they should be there are so deeply tied in the code that's it's a PITA to do.

"Use the source Luke" and all that but, why, just why? And why hardcode these assumptions in the code? Why do they all do that?

I just don't get it and never will.

Rant off : )

[zwayhowder]

I can't speak for everyone, but on my 4k 40" monitor I appreciate the gap at the left/right border because it can be quite difficult to read the text on the far left/right of the screen unless I'm sitting over 120cm away from the screen. It's literally only the first column of text (in a console) so the left gap just pushes everything over enough that I can see it easier.

[Galanwe]

I have a cute wallpaper, I like the impression that windows are inside the overall workspace, and I can spare 5px left and right.

Its purely esthetical :-)

[nononononono__]

Your perspective seems to be purely based on optimizing for screen real estate. I don't use a tiling VM for the efficient use of pixels but for the usability benefits they provide. Useless gaps are useless when optimizing for use of pixels for content that is relevant to you. I like to have some visual "breathing" space between object I look at for the same reason passe-partouts are a thing in art for a very long time and pauses matter in music.

[harperlee]

Yes bit shouldn’t that be the role of the application, that decides to either put info too near the edge or not? You should treat your borders as edges and not put letters too near them, leaving breathing space for the fact that who knows what’s beyond.

[nononononono__]

No. I want to define global behavior and don't want to rely on all applications doing that. Application windows are the objects on screen I want space between, that space should be visually reliable and consistent independently from the applications design and color.

I don't even want to convince people this is right way to do it and just want to make clear there are different perspectives and for some visual composition is more important than information density on screen. I get this might be important for a laptop but running three 4k displays I find it important to clearly visually distinguish all the things on my screens at a glance and also to enjoy an uncluttered but spacey desktop.

[Izkata]

If the window is sitting at the edge of the screen, with no gap at all, it can easily create the illusion that part of the window is off the edge of the screen. Especially when text sits right against the edge. The extra border is just a visual indicator that yes, you are seeing the entire window.

[nvrspyx]

FancyZones for Windows allows you to adjust or disable the gaps.

Some people prefer the aesthetic of the gaps, but it should at least be an option for tiling window managers.