There are two things that set StumpWM apart from the others I've tried, like dwm and xmonad. First, you can name desktops. I find this very handy for quickly switching; I don't have to remember that desktop 5 is where my tests are running. Second, there aren't preset tiling algorithms, but rather it works like emacs - split a window horizontally or vertically, and then resize. I find it easier for the limited amount of splitting I do than cycling through layouts.

> First, you can name desktops. I find this very handy for quickly switching

Xmonad has extensions for naming and renaming workspaces. And I think you over-exaggerate how Stumpwm/ratpoison tiling differs from Xmonad.

I'd be interested in knowing what programs you've had trouble with? In Awesome, you can switch your layout to a floating-based one (oddly default without some rc tweaking) and get around most issues these programs face. Or just switch it to a full screen-based layout :)

Anywho, figured some examples might give others' a heads up before devoting hours and mind share to trying it out.

Java (at least swing) apps behave oddly, by which I mean they show up as grey boxes. According to the xmonad faq, the problem is that Java uses a hardcoded list of wm's (rather than properly responding to wm events) which does not contain xmonad.

http://www.haskell.org/haskellwiki/Xmonad/Frequently_asked_q...

Even with the suggested fix, Java still has some focus issues.

Ah, the ability to switch is a good thing. I had issues with Pidgin, for one.