Recommendations for New Arch Convert (Please help)

Question

I need some help deciding what to go with for a few different things. I'm trying to stay as far away from GUIs as a I can.
WM: I'm looking into a good tiling windows manager that supports dual screens.
Password Management:  I have very complex passwords, that I cannot remember and have been using Keepass for Windows.  I know about KeepassX but if there is a cli program, I would prefer it.
Panel:  Something lightweight and doesn't have many icons or any at all.
Video Player:  Need support for Xvid/x264 and that's about it
Music Player:  Looking for a CLI Version of songbird or something with good library management
Browser:  I love firefox, but I'm open to anything as long as it has good documentation.
Multiprotocol IM CLI based with MSN and AIM support
I want something based around these concept
http://omploader.org/vMjlxcA
http://omploader.org/vMjlnMg
Last edited by destructo123 (2009-09-06 17:55:14)

Answer 1

WM: I'm looking into a good tiling windows manager that supports dual screens.
Xmonad Awesome ...  there are several options, I suggest trying a few of them to see which has a style you like, as well as which of them support duel screens.
Also take a look at screen. It splits your console up into sections, and when combined with dvtm, it makes a good "tiling WM" without needing X. I am not sure how well it handles multi-monitor set ups though, as I have never had the inclination to try it out.
Password Management:  I have very complex passwords, that I cannot remember and have been using Keepass for Windows.  I know about KeepassX but if there is a cli program, I would prefer it.
it looks like, based on a couple of searches of the AUR and the repos, that pwsafe is the only cli-specific password manager. There are others though that do not specify if they are cli or gui based.
Panel:  Something lightweight and doesn't have many icons or any at all.
My vote is for tint2, because it supports transparency from xcompmgr(-dana) + transset-df. It supports system trays and a lack of icons for any iconified programs. (iconified means minimized in Window's terms, fyi)
Video Player:  Need support for Xvid/x264 and that's about it
VLC or mplayer. mplayer I know works nicely in framebuffer. I use it that way myself when I just want to watch movies. (Arch boots faster than my DVD player...)
Music Player:  Looking for a CLI Version of songbird or something with good library management
MPD. I would go with that one. There is not much to argue for it over xmms, but I liked it better personally.
Browser:  I love Firefox, but I'm open to anything as long as it has good documentation.
uzbl is pretty good, but it is still alpha level...  links-g & elinks are also pretty nice as cli-centric browsers. (You can always keep a copy of Firefox/Chromium for when you're in the GUI.
Multiprotocol IM CLI based with MSN and AIM support
Pidgin + Fitch. I have never actually used fitch, but I use pidgin a good bit.
Edit: Typos
Last edited by LeoSolaris (2009-09-06 21:44:40)