Grid workspace for the COSMIC compositor
How I patched the COSMIC compositor: a 5×5 workspace grid for Pop!_OS Context My workspaces are a map, not a scroll. One 4-finger swipe moves me north, south, east, or west across a 5×5 grid that wraps at the edges, and login drops me on the center cell — so no workspace is ever more than two gestures away, and my hands navigate it without looking. COSMIC, the desktop this runs on, is System76's…
The COSMIC compositor, which powers the desktop environment on Pop!_OS, now includes a 5x5 workspace grid for improved navigation. This feature, developed by System76's Rust/Wayland desktop environment, allows users to move between workspaces using a 4-finger swipe or keyboard shortcuts, with edge-wrapping for seamless transitions.
The grid starts on the center cell, making it easily accessible without looking. The implementation, available in the cosmic-grid branch of the cosmic-comp and cosmic-workspaces crates, uses a row-major mapping for calculation, without altering the existing layout. This change was added through a simple user RON config option and does not require rebuilding other packages.
The installation process ensures safety by backing up original binaries and holding them during updates. The grid's control surface includes both swipe and keyboard navigation, maintaining consistent muscle memory for up/down and left/right movements.
Written by urgent.news from Dev.to's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
