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What Linux "Productivity" (ideally FOSS) tools do you use? (lemmy.ml)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/linux@lemmy.ml
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I'm in a bit of a productivity rut and whilst I suspect the issue is mainly between the keyboard and chair I'm also interested in what (FOSS) tools there are that people find effective.

One of my issues at the moment is cross managing different workstreams particularly with personal projects which are more in the "if I have time category".

I'm interested in anything that helps manage time or limit distractions or anything that makes it easier to keep track of progress/next steps for project when there may be a bit of a time gap between.

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[–] 41 points 2 years ago (6 children)

One of my issues at the moment is cross managing different workstreams particularly with personal projects which are more in the "if I have time category".

Literally what I use virtual desktops to solve

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  • [–] 21 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    That and using multiple instances of the browser instead of one instance with many tabs helped me a lot. If i have to switch tasks i go to a new workspace and only open the software related to that task there. Once I'm done i just close everything in the workspace and move back to the previous one that is the same way it was before i switch.

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  • [–] [S] 2 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    So you keep a project open in the Virtual Desktop and then boot it up when you are working on it?

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  • [–] 6 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    They're not talking about a virtual machine. There is no "booting up".

    You can have multiple desktops in linux, I personally use three, which you can switch between using a keyboard shortcut (or widget/ taskbar item).

    It's kinda like turning one computer into multiple computers that you hop between on demand.

    I have one for gaming and entertainment, one for work, and a third for personal projects.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    How does resource management work for desktops? Is the computer running all of the processes in the background as though they are just minimized?

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  • [–] 5 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Yes. Or out of focus. If you have one monitor, three virtual desktops would be like having three monitors. Looking at a different one, doesn't stop anything running on another. You can also "send" a window on one desktop to another, equivalent to dragging a window from one monitor to another when using two or more.

    KDE Activities is a similar feature, but it can actually suspend everything running in a certain "activity" when you switch to another, if that's something you want.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    It's essentially the same as having more monitors, except you can only see the active ones. Nothing changes except what your displays are showing.

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  • [–] [S] 1 point 2 years ago

    Ah thanks for the clarification. I never did manage to use Virtual Desktops effectively but it sounds like the problem was me trying to use them within the workflow rather than for different projects. I always found it difficult to switch compared with just having an extra monitor.

    I do worry it might be quite resource intensive just sitting loads in the background though.

    I'm going to give it a try!

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (1 child)

    Is it possible to "save" those sessions between reboots? That would be awesome.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (1 child)

    I do with KWin rules. It's not elegant but it doesn't require coding

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

    Thank you, I will look into KWin.

    Turns out, it is awesome and does more than I need. I already move a lot of my applications with xdotool to prediscribed positions and sizes, via hotkeys, which start some scripts. Now I found out, it also can move them across virtual desktops. Nice :)

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