Dwm vs Qtile

Why I Changed from DWM to Qtile.

Both managers are configured in the language they are built in that is why I love both so much. (DWM - C; Qtile - Python)

Pros of DWM

• Great default - DWM is great out of the box and if you want something simple you just create somekind of script to update xsetroot -name and you are good to go;
• Patches - Many patches have been released that extend the power of dwm;
• Fast;
• Solid Documentation - Documentation is great;

Cons of DWM

• Patching - Patching comes as a pretty difficult task. In the beggining, when you have less patches it is easy, but as you patch dwm more and more patches conflict with each other and you will need to modify the files by hand. So for someone who wants something that “just werks” dwm might not be for them;
• Reloading - Everytime you change your config file you need to recompile and reload dwm. You will need to patch it or make a script that automatically restarts it.

Conlusion: Although I love dwm, it requires a lot of time and patience.

Why I prefer qtile

• Python - I am familiar with python so configuring qtile was a breeze;
• Documentation - Dwm docs are great but I found qtile ones way easier to understand.
• Reaload - When I changed to qtile the reload key binding felt like a blessing. Everytime I change my config I reload qtile and if it throws an error I just run python config.py so I see what went wrong.

Conclusion:

I love both window managers, but configuring qtile is much more time efficient and easier than configuring dwm.