According to XDA-Developers, writer Joe Rice-Jones detailed his journey from tiling window manager skeptic to a convert, thanks to a specific tool called Karousel. Published on November 9, 2025, the article explains that Karousel is a script for KDE Plasma’s KWin that creates a scrolling, horizontal tiling layout. This approach solved his core issue with traditional tiling on a laptop by providing “virtually infinite horizontal space,” allowing windows to remain large and readable without overlapping. However, he notes significant drawbacks, including a lack of mouse support, no multi-monitor functionality, and incompatibility with multiple workspaces. The tool is available on GitHub, but its limitations make its long-term use uncertain for the author.
The Real Problem With Tiling
Here’s the thing: the classic debate around tiling window managers often misses the point. It’s not really about keyboard vs. mouse people, or power users vs. casual ones. It’s about cognitive load. Joe’s initial resistance—preferring stacked windows and manual snapping—isn’t laziness. It’s about maintaining a sense of control and spatial memory. When apps auto-tile into positions you didn’t choose, it creates mental friction. You have to stop thinking about your task and start thinking about your window manager. That’s a workflow killer. His preference for semi-tiling tools like FancyZones makes perfect sense because they offer organization on demand, not by default. The system gets out of your way until you call for it.
Why Scrolling Changes Everything
So Karousel’s big idea is brilliantly simple. It swaps the 2D grid of a typical tiler for a 1D, horizontal line. This basically turns your desktop into a filmstrip or a timeline. And for a laptop user, that’s a game-changer. You’re no longer trying to cram three apps into a 13-inch screen. You give each app the vertical height it needs and just scroll sideways to find the others. It mimics how many of us already think about tasks—linearly, from one thing to the next. It feels less like “juggling” windows and more like walking down a hall of open doors. This is where the potential is huge. It reduces the alt-tab shuffle, where you’re blindly cycling through hidden layers, and gives you a persistent, visual map of everything that’s open.
The Mouse-Shaped Elephant in the Room
But the dealbreaker for Joe, and probably for a massive segment of users, is the mouse issue. Look, I get it. The tiling world is built by and for keyboard commandos. But forcing that paradigm on everyone is why tiling has remained a niche enthusiast toy for decades. The fact that Karousel’s trackpad gestures are broken on Wayland, and moving windows with a mouse is basically impossible, is a fatal flaw for adoption. It’s not about being anti-keyboard; it’s about flexibility. Sometimes you just want to grab something and drag it. A tool that can’t accommodate that fundamental desktop interaction feels half-baked. It’s a shame, because the core scrolling concept is so accessible and intuitive.
Is This The Future Or A Niche Experiment?
I think the takeaway here isn’t really about Karousel itself. It’s about the concept of a spatial, scrollable workspace. The limitations Joe lists—no multi-monitor support, no workspaces—are big for a daily driver. This feels like a compelling prototype for a new way of thinking about window management, especially on single-screen portable devices. Could this logic be baked into a mainstream OS? Maybe. For now, it’s another cool hack in the endless customization playground of Linux. It proves there are still fresh ideas to be had in a problem we all deal with: desktop clutter. But until these ideas embrace both keyboard and mouse as first-class citizens, they’ll remain fascinating experiments, not revolutionary tools.
