Regolith Linux makes learning a tiling window manager easy

Tiling window managers are one of the most efficient ways to interact with your operating system — depending on how you prefer to work. If you’re someone who wants to keep your fingers on the keyboard and doesn’t mind learning a host of new keyboard shortcuts, then a tiling window manager is for you.

If, on the other hand, you prefer using your mouse, I’d advise against a tiling window manager.

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Curiosity piqued? If so, there’s a particular Linux distribution that can help you learn the ins and outs of one particular tiling window manager — i3.

The Regolith Desktop is a productivity-focused Linux distribution that combines i3, Say, and GNOME to create the fast, keyboard-driven workflow of a tiling window manager, while infusing it with a bit of traditional desktop environment features.

Regolith includes features like gnome-session for system management, regolith-look for theming and configuration adjustments, and support for both X11 (i3) and Wayland (Sway).

Choose between i3 and Sway

Yup. Regolith Linux gives you the choice between the i3 and Sway tiling window managers. Think of Sway as a drop-in replacement for i3 that works with Wayland. Because Regolith Linux ships with both i3 and Sway, you can be sure that, no matter which window server you need (X11 or Wayland), you’ll have a similar experience. Because Sway and i3 are similar (but not identical), if you can get up to speed with one, you’ll be up to speed with the other.

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The differences between i3 and Sway are as follows:

• i3 uses X11, whereas Sway uses Wayland.
• Sway includes built-in gaps functionality and supports multiple non-modifier keys for key bindings.
• Sway can create containers from floating windows for group movement and resizing.
• Sway handles input, output, and wallpaper options without relying on separate applications.
• Sway offers slightly better battery life on laptops.
• Some X11 apps might not work on Wayland, which means i3 has much broader application support.
• Sway is more actively developed than i3 and offers a bit more in the GUI department.

Here’s the thing to keep in mind: once upon a time, Regolith was available via an ISO. Unfortunately, that ISO install is an outdated version. To get the latest version of Regolith, start with a running instance of Ubuntu 22.04 or 24.04 and install the necessary packages. To do that, you have to run the following commands:

wget -qO – https://archive.regolith-desktop.com/regolith.key | gpg –dearmor | sudo tee /usr/share/keyrings/regolith-archive-keyring.gpg > /dev/null

echo deb “[arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/regolith-archive-keyring.gpg] https://archive.regolith-desktop.com/ubuntu/stable noble v3.2” | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/regolith.list

sudo apt update

sudo apt install regolith-desktop regolith-session-flashback regolith-look-lascaille -y

You can optionally install the Sway version with:

sudo apt-get install regolith-session-sway -y

If you install the Sway version (which I would recommend), select Regolith on Wayland at the login screen.

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Once those packages are installed, reboot your instance of Linux and select either i3 or Sway at the login prompt. I’d much prefer it if the developers of Regolith would release an ISO image with the latest version, but the installation isn’t difficult, as long as you already have a running instance of Ubuntu (Debian will work just fine). The total time for the installation shouldn’t take you more than five minutes.

Once you have the latest version of Regolith installed, you should now be able to switch between i3 or Sway (the older version only offers i3 because it doesn’t support Wayland/Sway).

What makes Regolith special?

You’re going to laugh about this, but Regolith includes a handy information tool that is accessible from the bottom panel (via the Super+Shift+? keyboard combination). Click that combination, and a pop-up appears with all the tiling window manager key combinations required to navigate everything.

This is something every tiling window manager should include because learning all of those key combinations can take some time. With a mouse click away, that information app does a great job of helping you get up to speed with either i3 or Sway. If you’re interested in using a tiling window manager, that feature alone makes Regolith Desktop worth trying.

Doesn’t sound like much, but if you’re serious about taking advantage of the efficient workflows found in tiling window managers, this is the way to go.

Here’s the thing about Regolith: you kind of have to know your way around Linux to really get it up and running. It can be tricky to get it going (which is why I’m shocked the developers haven’t released an official ISO for the latest version), and even then, there can be issues. It took me a while to get the Regolith on Wayland session to work as I needed it to, but once it was fully functional, I found it offered a very efficient workflow.

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But for those who do not already know their way around Linux, the Regolith Desktop can be a bit daunting.

Yes, Regolith can make using a tiling window manager super easy, thanks to the keyboard shortcut pop-up and the more advanced bottom panel. As long as you don’t expect i3 or i3 on Wayland to be as user-friendly as GNOME or KDE Plasma, and you’re willing to put in the time to learn the ins and outs of a new desktop metaphor, Regolith is a great option.