Wishlist for 3.0

[mylinuxforwork]

Hi all,

the development of the ML4W Dotfiles 3.0 will start very soon, a big and important milestone for the whole project.

I want to hear from you your wishes for this version. Please share your ideas how to improve the ML4W Dotfiles in the future.

Best regards,

Stephan

[SSYH]

Forgive me if this is already a feature and I've not yet found it:

1. Can I (if not, this is a request) DEFINE my own keybindings?
2. Is it possible to have a utility that visually gives all keybindings, and when I attempt a new binding, detects conflicts and notifies me?

[dwilliam62]

yes you can create your own bindings. He has videos on his YouTube channel. The short version is copy the keybindings config file and rename it. Then edit as you wish. In his settings app select that modified file as the default. Done

[mylinuxforwork]

With right mouse click on apps you will get all keybinding.

[SSYH]

For workspaces, can you provide a simple config method (so I don't have to do the research ;) ) for NAMED workspaces and the default apps that get launched into them? eg WS for email, WS for scanning docs, WS for coding, etc...?

[SSYH]

New action:

• "Move window to workspace right"
• "Move window to workspace left"

This would allow me to create as many workspaces as I want, vs limited to 10 (can I already do this and I don't yet know?)

[dwilliam62]

Maybe begin the process of consolidation to the various config file locations
. I.e.
You have ~/dotfiles ~/.ml4w ~/.config/ml4w etc...... don't always know where to go when configuring or troubleshooting

I do understand about ~/dotfiles since you now support multiple configs But are others that can be moved to a common location?

[Bammede]

I agree! Perhaps it is beter to put all into .config directory

[mylinuxforwork]

Yes. That makes totally sense.

[dwilliam62]

Support for Hybrid laptops Most common combo is Intel with NVIDIA. https://wiki.hyprland.org/Nvidia/

https://wiki.hyprland.org/Configuring/Multi-GPU/

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/PRIME

GNOME and COSMIC have support for this built in. You can opt to run an app via integrated or discrete GPU

[dwilliam62]

Really wishful thinking would be a wrapper around something like rclone to integrate OneDrive, dropbox, or GoogleDrive, etc to your GUI or waybar

[dwilliam62]

Simpler one. Add more animation options. Recently Jakooklit added quite a few to his. I.e. from yours, END-4, etc You might want to look at those files and add them to yours.

https://github.com/JaKooLit/Hyprland-Dots/tree/main/config/hypr/animations

[dwilliam62]

Add support for Pyprland drop down terminals, etc.. I use drop down term very often. I can start a process in the drop down, then hide it, and recall it in any workspace. It loads at runtime so the recall is instant, and you don't have to create it first like you do with Hyprland special workspaces.

pyprland.binding.txt

pyprland.toml.zip

Then just need exec-once = pypr & in start up.

Pyprland offers quite a few features incl zoom, and 'expose` which shows an overview of running apps from all workspaces.

[HarshalGunjalOp]

I would also like to have this feature.

[dwilliam62]

For those with very high res displays, 4K+ especially. GTK apps like Chrome, the tabs are often very small as they don't scale but default. the ENV variable env = GTK_SCALE,1 Can help here. You can increase the scale. Adding support for this either in the GUI or adding it as a default config option, that's easily changed, might help some users.

[SSYH]

Wouldn't this be equivalent to the .../monitors/default.conf scale setting (1 vs 1.333333 vs 1.5 vs 2 etc)?

[dwilliam62]

Not quite. That scales up the entire display. GTK_SCALE makes things like browser tabs larger. So you can still have your high res screen but apps themselves are small (Sorry didn't see reply)

[RadheShyam51-tech]

If I tell you my wish it is

1. Battery notifier for laptop users like on 20% to charge and on 5% a countdown, even on full screen
2. A workspace switcher GUI like the AGS
3. Dock customisation like adjust length, position etc of dock from GUI
4. The sound and brightness indicator GUi

I am a noob at hyprland and these are just suggestions don't take it seriously thankyou what you have done is still beyond my expectations and our work is still exceptional.

[FlorianDilli]

Yess, a sound and brightness indicator GUI would be awesome!

[ivanMosquedaFTP]

but you can already have brightness and audio indicators on the waybar, im using the ml4w black theme and it works at least on that one.

[Kaijuchu]

Good day Stephan!

I first want to thank you for all the work you and all contributing members have put in. It has genuinely made the process of getting into Linux quite fun and intriguing, this is coming from someone who knows next to nothing about Linux and coding. I am super excited to see how this project develops in the future!

As for suggestions and ideas:

1. I think there should be an easier process in switching default apps, Ive been unsuccessful in changing my default browser and default email app. This is through the settings app for context. I was thinking of maybe having a drop down option or separate window that displays a list of apps to chose from as a default.

2. Another suggestion I have is a better way of customizing sequoia sddm theme. Ive tried adjusting it through the Code - OSS app to no avail. I haven't seeked support as its not a major issue for me, but think there could be an easier method. Maybe something in the settings app or a separate app all together to customize the sddm theme.

3. I feel this is a big ask but I will make it a idea nonetheless but I do understand if this is out of the scope of things. I think it would be cool to have some kind of Wallpaper Engine(the steam application) integration or some alternative. I do know swww supports video and gif wallpapers but I miss the integrated browsing of community wallpapers that Wallpaper Engine has.

I think that's all I can think of at the moment. I'm very very happy with everything else! Thank you again team for all the work you have done!

[dwilliam62]

Re: 1 Often that's a Linux settings issue not Hyprland/ML4W
e.g. I have two browsers installed but in discord the wrong one was used at the CLI I ran:
xdg-settings set default-web-browser thorium-browser.desktop
Re: 2 SDDM What are you trying to customize?

[Kaijuchu]

Hi there! Thanks for the reply, ahhh, I see. I was attempting to change it from Firefox to zen browser by changing the name in the settings app, but nothing worked.

I'll try your command but with zen browser in place.

Yes, I am trying to customize sdddm, i tried using code oss to customize as it layer everything out nicely. What i did was go into the theme conf under the seq theme and tried changing the welcome back text to something else.

After saving, no changes appeared.

Im currently doing a fresh install of arch + hyprland cz I messed some stuff up when trying other dot files. I may take a bit to respond if you get back to me.

Edit: tried your default browser and says invalid application name. Im assuming it has to do with the .desktop end because when i used flatpak list, zen browser is listed as app.zen_browser.zen

Ill try searching how to make a desktop version of this and see if I get anywhere.

Edit: I dont think i got anywhere.

[dwilliam62]

Re: SDDM I was able to edit it without an issue Make sure you have permission to edit that file.

[Kaijuchu]

Damn I'm stumped. I have a feeling it may have to do with permissions. I've tried through the text editor, and nothing changes after saving. I'm unsure of how to get around that.

Would you mind sharing the process you went through to change it?

Would you also know how to change the theme for sddm?

[dwilliam62]

I used the option in ML4W to set SDDM. sudo nvim /usr/share/sddm/themes/sequoia/theme.conf Edited the moto. I used his tools to set the background I didn't do anything special

[4urora3night]

Perhaps a progress bar could be used for the install script, although it may just slow down the script and increase complexity of the code.

[Mur1love]

Hi all,

the development of the ML4W Dotfiles 3.0 will start very soon, a big and important milestone for the whole project.

I want to hear from you your wishes for this version. Please share your ideas how to improve the ML4W Dotfiles in the future.

Best regards,

Stephan

Multiple Language Support.

[timelessParadox104]

Hey Stephan
Quick idea I wanted to run by you. I was thinking about adding an AI helper sidebar. like a bar where users could select different AI providers: OpenAI, Deepseek, Gemini, and Ollama etc,,

The goal would be to let them pick which "AI assistant " powers things like code generation, explanation, documentation, etc. Basically, integrate their APIs and let people choose. I'm thinking AGS could be the best here for managing all the different settings you see what am talking about somehow in material for you and end-4 dotfiles

I know it's not easy each API is different, and managing API keys is a pain. I'm just wondering if you think this direction has potential for the next v3 or 3.5 who knows .
cheers

[BenAuerDev]

Cool would be a simpler version of that.

Something that allows me to easier specify how my screens are arranged.

I tried quite a bit to get it right via config files and also with I think it was called nwg-displays but that only allowed me to do it in one line, not have a display underneath the other.

But I totally understand if you have other priorities 😄 🚀

[BenAuerDev]

Yep just tried it, I misunderstood a few details about the configuration. But now it works.

Thanks again 🚀

[dwilliam62]

You are most welcome! Glad to help resolve it.

[Veicm]

@BenAuerDev which application is in your screen shot ?

[BenAuerDev]

@Veicm that is the settings menu from pop_os_22.04

[Veicm]

@BenAuerDev Thank you

[4urora3night]

Matugen instead of pywwal?

[dwilliam62]

Have you tried it? I know a couple projects that tried it not really seeing the advantage of it vs. pywal. I could be totally wrong but curious if you've seen something different with it. TBH None of them are great IMO

[4urora3night]

I actually haven't but since its material themed, I would think readability is better in kitty

[4urora3night]

It's not very good when I tried.

[4urora3night]

Never mind, I haven't dived deep into the wiki for kitty but for waybar it looks amazing

[coderjan123]

Hi! Just a small idea: it would be great to have a GUI that lets you rearrange the Waybar modules (like the clock, Notifications, etc.) — for example, using drag and drop to move them between the left, center, and right sections. I know this might be challenging, but i think that this would be a very good feature. Either way, Thanks for this fantastic project!

[artimanzero]

i would like more customization options in the dotfiles settings app for rofi

[ModerNews]

Maybe late, but I'd love to see autogenerated vim/neovim compatible colorscheme among the ones used by posh, waybar, gtk, etc.

[Maciejonos]

@mylinuxforwork - awesome project. Here are some suggestions for 3.0:

1. Use the newest hyprsunset without shaders, it is the officially preferred method as the yellow filter is not present on screenshots.
2. Merge all ML4W apps, like Welcome, Settings, Dotfiles setting into a singular app to maintain simplicity and ease of use (centralisation of config and settings).
3. Use simpler and cleaner app launcher - Walker.
4. Use blueberry for Bluetooth management.
5. Use btop instead of htop for process management.
6. Use lazyvim, lazygit, lazydocker.
7. (Optional) Default to zsh.

Let me know if you'd like any help. I'd also be happy to donate to support your work, if there'll be an option to do so :)

[Maciejonos]

Fair points, I agree! Anyways merged ML4W apps would be nice.

[dwilliam62]

Yeah that 2nd one has always been a pain point for me. That is one thing I do like with quickshell GUIs I've seen END-4, HyprPerks, HyDE, etc.. Just wish they were customizable like waybar or rofi. (or hyprpanel)
Also with docker, if there were a default I would suggest podman over docker. Safer and compatible. So even there, with so many choices no one will agree. haha What might be interesting is a menu to add those things. Other devs I know do that. They give you a nice base to work with and bash based menus to add other features, apps.

[Maciejonos]

Have you seen a recent project for hyprland called Omarchy? https://omarchy.org

It's less customisable than ML4W but cleaner in some ways. For example the app launcher, terminal based config, dotfiles structure. It is also smoother.

In my opinion it lacks some UI elements that are done really well in ML4W (usage of matugen, nice UI and blur out of the box etc.)

I'm trying to sort of merge the two to get the best from both worlds.

[dwilliam62]

I have. I tried his earlier one as well for gnome on ubuntu. They are both nice but very opinionated. His style, his choices. ML4W as you pointed out is much more tunable.

[Jean-Paul76]

I've tried omarchy as well, but I don't like the opinionated approach. I always keep coming back to ML4W. It's awesome. I just need to learn how to save my custom configs better.

[coderjan123]

Maybe you could also add a command or prompt in the dotfiles that copies key info to the clipboard. This snippet could then be pasted into ChatGPT (or similar tools), effectively turning it into a sort of 'dotfiles assistant'—able to answer questions, suggest changes, or help debug your setup.

[ivanMosquedaFTP]

please, for the love of god or whatever you believe in, make a declarative way to install. ive been through 2 huge ml4w updates and they both have broken my automated arch installation script and also my custom configurations for ml4w, as well as both my laptop and pc ml4w installations, one when it wasnt hosted on gitlab anymore and the other one just recently with the AUR package removal. please make an alternative to the flathub app, something that can be used through a tty and this way compatible for bash scripts since my automated script is ran right after installing arch. i dont know if theres a current declarative or tty method to installing on arch or another distro but trust me ive been looking for that since the AUR package was removed and havent found it, and i know this could potentially involve a lot of work, but basically what im asking for is a streamlined, pure terminal, way to install ml4w. ml4w has ruined me, i just love the way it looks so no matter how many times i have to rewrite my scripts im always coming back, all im craving for is a less painfull option to keep shooting myself in the foot on every update. but regardless thank you sir and all the contributors for this amazing project.

[dwilliam62]

FYI: My branch for this is here. https://github.com/dwilliam62/NixOS-Hyprland/tree/NixOS-ML4W This setup has a flake and very minimal home manager config.

[mylinuxforwork]

Great. Thanks. Will compare it with my flake.

[dwilliam62]

Also what it's based on from Jak (which is based on zaneyos) ;) is even simpler as it has no home manager.

[Gianfilippo980]

What is that file manager?

[dwilliam62]

@Gianfilippo980 That is yazi with catppuccin theme

[Bammede]

Rofi alternative: https://github.com/abenz1267/walker

[ivanMosquedaFTP]

i prefer rofi, looks way better in my opinion.

[Maciejonos]

@dwilliam62 was right - people will never agree as everyone can have different preferences.

@mylinuxforwork - if you want to, you could include walker as an option so we can pick rofi/walker. Walker has some more advanced features and can be used as a very clean logout menu instead of wlogout for example.

Also - I've seen some discussions on hyprland forum, it was pointed out that you put everything as shell scripts in various locations, which is hard to track and tweak (which is a tiny bit annoying sometimes). Just a note :)

[mylinuxforwork]

So walker is confirmed to be added now?

If my tests are successful, then yes. I am planning to create a dedicated walker video.

[mylinuxforwork]

i prefer rofi, looks way better in my opinion.

I will make it optional for the user.

[artimanzero]

Can you also add the option for fuzzel?

[artimanzero]

fish shell and starship configuration like there is for bash and zsh

[dwilliam62]

the same starship.toml file should work for fish.

[artimanzero]

add zoxide and eza

[Bammede]

eza is missed in fedora repo, but lsd is there

[mylinuxforwork]

eza is shipped with the dotfiles as binary and will be installed through the setup script on fedora.

[ang-63]

Hi!
Guys firstly i want to express my respect and gratitude for such a fantastic job!
Here are my suggestions for considering inclusion in the new version:
1, I usually install any flatpaks quite simply. With ML4W i also have to do a lot of manual and not quite obvious work here, and I still have to look at the instructions on the website. Although I used to just run yay -S ml4w and get a ready setup. It would be great to simplify the flatpack installation process.
2. Is it possible to add keyboard switcher on waybar? I am not an experienced user enough, I have tried several times to edit the waybar settings in particular, and any others, and it seemed difficult. I've also heard from many people that ML4W dotfiles are cool, but very difficult to modify, everything is somehow overcomplicated and confusing.
3. Is it possible to make a simple theme without all that stuff like hardware sensors etc for desktop computers? Or somehow easuly disable some blocks everywhere on config files?
4. Is it possible to add a possibility to temporarily disable dotfiles to try something else and later to enable it again?

Thanks in advance

[Jean-Paul76]

chezmoi for managing custom config?

https://www.chezmoi.io/comparison-table/

[Jean-Paul76]

Option to select CopyQ as the clipboard manager?

[4urora3night]

Hello again ML4W,
Hope you are having good day.
I have two suggestions for your consideration:

• https://github.com/J-Lentz/iwgtk - iwd is generally a better cli app than nmcli so how about intergrating a gui with it?
• https://github.com/ErikReider/SwayOSD - the waybar can have less modules so can be more simple to move volume and screen brightness to a osd

[mylinuxforwork]

Hello again ML4W, Hope you are having good day. I have two suggestions for your consideration:

• https://github.com/J-Lentz/iwgtk - iwd is generally a better cli app than nmcli so how about intergrating a gui with it?
• https://github.com/ErikReider/SwayOSD - the waybar can have less modules so can be more simple to move volume and screen brightness to a osd

Thank you. Two great suggestions.

[4urora3night]

No problem and thank you for making this amazing project :)

[hannespix]

Hey Stephan,
thanks so much for your fantastic work and this marvellous project!

A few small quality-of-life suggestions:

The hardware and tools modules in Waybar can be a bit tricky to use with the instant toggle on hover. I worked around it with a small script that turns them into click-toggles so they stay open when needed. It would be great to have that behavior as a built-in option.

The nwg-dock has a nice -d option for auto-hide — maybe something similar could be added as a toggle in the ML4W sidebar app?

Not sure if I’m the only one using a dual-monitor setup on ML4W, but the workspace switcher can get a bit awkward in that configuration. The sidepad (which I really love!) could also use a little optimization for multi-monitor setups.

And by the way — the preview for the new theme looks really, really cool 👍

Thanks again for all your effort — this setup really makes using Linux & Hyprland even more joy!

[ArekKubinski]

Yes the dual/triple monitor setup could get some love. Really agree with this statement.

[SSYH]

I run 2 4K 43" displays.
Until today, I had to hack putting workspaces 1-5 on HDMI-A-1, and 6-10 on DP-1, manually :(
So I found I could set those in monitors/default.conf... slow me.
This would be a nice kickstart for usability.

Future: named workspaces
(eg thunderbird could go in workspace "mail", thinkorswim could go in workspace "schwab", tradingview could... etc.)