 So today I'm going to be talking about bars and panels and I Want to emphasize the fact that my workflow is going to be different than a lot of other people's workforce so a lot of people consider a bar to be superfluous or a waste of space and I can understand that argument and I'll talk a little bit about why I can understand it later on But I wanted to talk a little bit about why I think that bars are so important when it comes to window managers And even desktop environments, although we call them panels and desktop environments I think that it's important in both of those situations for a lot of reasons So that's what we're gonna talk about today now before we jump in let's talk about the elephant in the room here There's no camera. There was no intro to this with me on camera and that's because my webcam has malfunctioned I don't know what's going on there. I will try to fix it. If not, there will be some interesting times ahead I suppose but anyways, that's the reason why you're not seeing my lovely face So let's go ahead and jump into the topic. So why do I think bars slash panels are so important? Well, the answer to that question is quite simple first of all bars provides you information and that's really their main purpose in My particular case the two most important things that a bar gives me is the location of where I am in terms of workspaces So I use a lot of workspaces right now. I have 12 of them I have clients on all but three so I windows and apps and stuff open on all but three workspaces and If I did not have a bar, I would not know where my current position was But I would also not know what apps were where or what workspaces had apps on them I'd actually have to switch to that workspace to know now Some people would say or some people would argue that well Matt you should just remember well That's true. And if I only use like two or three workspaces, it'd be fine But I use 12 here in Qtile. I use 20 and I 3 so you can kind of get an idea of why it's harder for me to remember where things are when it comes to Workspaces and stuff the bar gives me that information. So right now I know that the music application that I've been using is on workspace 11 I know that OBS and audacity on workspace 6 so on and so forth I know those things are existing and I know that they're there because the Callers tell me that those are there now in Qtile. I use icons in I3 with poly bar. I use numbers really doesn't matter how That works for me. I just know that when I have something on that workspace it changes to a different color whatever rice I'm using and I also have a way to know what workspace I'm on currently so right now. It's underlined and green so you can see that here So that's one of the reasons why I think the bar is so important the other one and the other piece of information that Bars give me that I wouldn't get anywhere else or at least not very quickly is the clock Now I understand that everybody has a clock near them pretty much all the time. I'm not one of those people I don't have a clock in my office here at all other than my phone And the thing is is that if I were to use my phone as the only clock that I have nearby I'd have to pick my phone up And I'm not the type of person who has the willpower not to also get on there and either you know check YouTube studio or start reading a story or you know Navigate through sports scores, whatever if I pick my phone up, I'm gonna use it So while it hasn't always on display, I try to ignore my phone, especially when I'm trying to actually do work So the bar presents me with a clock now. I understand that there's an obvious solution I could just use a watch and I do have a watch I just don't wear it very often hurts my wrist So I don't do that very often so that's a solution But the fact that I need a bar anyways because of the workspace allows me to also have a clock And those are the two pieces of information that I consider absolutely essential And why I think that bars are essential those two pieces of information are kind of like the bare minimum But bars also do other things and they allow you to have information now Some people will argue that this information isn't stuff that you really need all the time And I agree with that Outside of the clock and the workspace information the rest of this information here is not essential So I don't need to know the name of the song that's currently playing with NPD I don't need to I like to I don't need to know the current weather outside all the time I could always just go check the weather when I need to Specifically I could just you know do that, but I like having it up there I don't need to know how many DNF updates are available all the time. I could just do an update It doesn't really matter, right? I don't need to know what my CPU or memory are doing All the time. In fact, it's actually a waste of resources to have that stuff up there, but I like it So those extra pieces of information from here all the way to here are not necessary But I like to have them there for reasons So I like having the weather so I can kind of see what the temperature is outdoors If I decided to go and smell some grass, you know, I mean I like having the number of updates that I have available to me up in my bar So I know kind of when I need to update So right now I have only 14 updates available. I don't really need to update I can update in a couple days and that'll be good, right? It kind of gives me an idea of when I need to do an update I don't need the CPU thing even though I like to keep an eye on it It keeps me from having to open up H top all the time I just have it up there same thing with the memory, right the other part of the bar that I Sometimes have and sometimes don't have is the cis tray Now recently I've been having cis trays in almost all my bars And the reason why is because there are certain applications up there that I can't get to in any other way So that really the only one that I have open right now is pCloud pCloud does not have a standalone application that you can just launch It lives in the taskbar or in the system tray And if you don't have a system tray, there's no way to open up The drive or the preferences or any of that stuff You have to have that icon up there in order to get to any of that stuff It's dumb. I don't like that. I have to have it because I consider this whole thing really ugly But you know, there are certain situations where, you know, I just kind of need to get there So that's one part of the bar. I kind of resent So that is the reason why I consider a bar essential It really does boil down to workspaces and the clock for me personally That's the reason why I prefer to have a bar Now, for those of you who don't like bars, the arguments that I've heard are Several so the first one is that I waste space. So if I were to open up a window here You can see it takes up a good probably 5% of my screen real estate If I did not have a bar, I would be able to use that for actual stuff So my window would then be up there and I could, you know, open up multiple windows And I'd have more space if I did not have a bar that is an excellent argument against the bar That argument can't be argued against if the bar wasn't there, I'd have more space And more space is almost universally a good thing. So I can't argue against it The other arguments that I hear against bar usage is that it is distracting. So There are moving parts to my bar. So for example, the CPU and the memory those things Update quite often and they will catch my eye from time to time That's again another argument that I can't really argue against That's true. It does distract me from time to time It doesn't distract me a lot because I've just gotten used to ignoring it and just looking at it when I need to But it's an argument that I can understand another one Is that it's just unnecessary and this is the most kind of broad argument against the bar These people argue that I don't need to know what workspace I'm on. I should just remember it And I guess if my memory was better, I could remember Specifically where I am and you know, because I could remember where I start And then I when I switch to workspace 5, I just remember that I'm in workspace 5 But oftentimes I'm on workspaces for a significant amount of time I'll spend, you know, a couple hours here on workspace 5 Say, you know doing some work and if I'm there for that long I'm not going to actually have remembered switching to workspace 5 I may remember it doesn't mean I won't but there's a good chance that I'll forget where I'm at And once you've kind of lost the thread of where you are in terms of your workspaces It's hard to get that back without, you know, doing something to get your bearings straight Those same people argue that the time should just be something that I look at on the phone or on my watch or Have an actual clock in my room That's a good argument, I suppose, but it's just not the way I choose to do things So honestly, the biggest argument against a bar that really does Have some weight with me is the waste of space because it does take up a lot of space, especially if you use gaps And usually if you're going to use a bar or a panel, you're probably going to have some gaps and Gaps are also one of those useless things that you don't really need I like gaps because well, they're cool But they don't really serve any purpose for me personally the gaps that I have right now are pretty minimal when it comes to stuff I mean There's maybe just a couple pixels there in terms of between everything Most of the gaps are going to be up here and and at the top for the bar So yes, that stuff kind of, you know, wastes some space but My argument against the whole waste of space argument is that I don't care The benefits of having a bar and knowing where I'm at in terms of work spaces and having a clock and having all that other information up there That stuff outweighs the space that the bar takes up It's useful enough for me that I'm okay with it taking up that amount of space Would I have a different opinion if I were to be using Linux on a laptop all the time? That's a good question I don't use Linux on the laptop all the time and when I do I usually use a desktop environment that comes with a Bar or comes with a panel I should say so I don't think that my opinion would change that much I think the gaps would probably go away but Probably not the bar. So before I jump out Let me talk a little bit about desktop environments because it's a little bit different when it comes to a desktop environment And I think that most people who who Argue against the bar would also agree with this that most people who use a desktop environment should use a panel of some kind Mostly because the panel contains the menu And if you're not going to launch your menu through like a u-launcher or rofi or K-runner or something like that You're probably going to launch most of your applications through the menu that comes with your desktop environment And that usually resides in the panel So desktop environments are a little bit different than window managers in that the panel serves other purposes mainly the idea that the menu lives there Usually your notification system is also spawned from there. That's at least true in terms of kd plasma You know, so the bar the panel in a desktop environment definitely plays other roles Than what a bar does in a window manager. So that argument there is a little bit different I think that most people Would at least agree that a panel is probably necessary from people in a desktop environment when it comes to a window manager it's a little bit different and a lot of people live without a Bar in a window manager all the time. They just prefer that way of doing things either they Don't have any system for Workspaces or any of that stuff or they use scripts and have it come through a notification server like dunce or something You know people have a ways of working around Not having a bar me personally. I don't want to have to work around not having a bar I just would rather have a bar So in the comment section below, I'd love to hear from you bar or no bar. What are your thoughts on that? I'm sure that I'm going to get some people on both sides of the argument And uh, let me know why you think one way or the other that'd be awesome You can follow me on twitter at the linux cast. You can follow me on master designer odyssey Those links will be in the video description. You can support me on patreon at patreon.com slash the linux cast Just like all these fine people. Thanks to everybody who does support me on patreon youtube you guys are all Absolutely amazing. Thanks so much for your support I just Without you the channel would just not be anywhere near where it is right now. So thanks for your support I promise I will be getting the the webcam up and running hopefully tomorrow For the podcast. I don't know what's going on there. So anyways, thanks everybody for watching. I'll see you next time