When comparing herbstluftwm vs WMFS2, the Slant community recommends herbstluftwm for most people. In the question“What are the best window managers for Linux?” herbstluftwm is ranked 14th while WMFS2 is ranked 34th. The most important reason people chose herbstluftwm is:
Configuration of herbstluftwm can be done live in the command line, so no booting in and out of the desktop is necessary.
Question Ranking
Pros
Pro Can be reconfigured from the command line while it's still running
Configuration of herbstluftwm can be done live in the command line, so no booting in and out of the desktop is necessary.
Pro Uses a simple bash script for configuration
The configuration file for herbstluftwm is a bash script and is easily configurable.
Pro Offers a combination of manual and automatic tiling
Users can set up auto-tiling per app, or they can change any application to manual tiling to where they want on the screen.
Pro Highly customizable
Different layouts can be used in different frames on the same workspace, so the user can customize their layout to their liking on the fly.
Pro Great multi-monitor support
Herbstluftwm has built-in multi-monitor support that can customize to any size desired on the screen. This implies that the user is not held back by being forced to use each monitor's size.
Pro Built-in panel
WMFS2 has a status bar built into the desktop. This implies that no extra app is required for users who like to use a panel on their desktop.
Pro Supports tabbed view
WMFS2 has tabs like i3 WM. The bottom tile has three tabs, with only one visible window. Press alt+shift+k (by default) to get a combined tabbed window.
Pro Multiple desktops
WMFS2 utilizes a feature called "tags" which is very similar to virtual desktops. With tags, WMFS2 can display multiple desktops in a singular desktop, as well as separate ones also.
Pro Easy to customize
WMFS2 uses a singular configuration file that is easy to edit and understand.
Pro Good mouse support
Re-sizing and moving tiled windows with the mouse is easy and intuitive.
Cons
Con No system tray
There is no system tray support in herbstluftwm. In that case, users who wish to have one must use an external application.
Con No single window floating
The user cannot use floating for dialogs or anything else without making the entire workspace float. Their only choice is pseudo tiling.
Con Bug with tag numbers on Debian
There is a bug where the tag numbers do not highlight correctly on Debian (though this may get fixed in the future and may not be a problem on other distros).