Linux® From Scratch - Quality of Life (System V Edition) - Version #0a75

Chapter 4. i3

i3-4.24

Introduction to i3

The i3 package contains an easy-to-use tiling Window Manager.

Package Information

i3 Dependencies

Required

libev-4.33, libxkbcommon, Pango, startup-notification, TTF and OTF Fonts (only TTF fonts are necessary), XCB Utilities, xcb-util-xrm-1.3, Xorg Libraries, and yajl-2.1.0

Recommended

asciidoc and xmlto (for generating documentation)

Optional

dmenu (for the default launcher), i3lock (for the default screen locker), i3status (for the default status bar generator), and xss-lock (for the default screen locker)

Installation of i3

Install i3 by running the following commands: 

mkdir build &&
cd    build &&

meson setup ..          \
    --prefix=/usr       \
    --buildtype=release &&

ninja

Now, as the root user: 

ninja install &&
mv -v /usr/share/doc/i3{,-4.24}

Command Explanations

mv -v /usr/share/doc/i3{,-4.24}: This command makes the doc directory versioned to be consistent with other packages.

Configuring i3

Config Files

~/.config/i3/config. The default version is in /etc/i3 and will not be used. It can be copied to ~/.config/i3 manually, or automatically at startup.

Configuration Information

If you did not already make the configuration file, it can be created when first launching i3 when you are asked if you want to generate a default configuration file. Now inspect the file and make any changes if you wish. You may need to if you have not installed any of the optional dependencies.

You can also create it using i3-config-wizard, or you can simply copy /etc/i3/config to ~/.config/i3/config (or ~/.i3/config) and edit as necessary.

If i3 is the only Window Manager you want to use, you can start it with an .xinitrc file in your home folder. Be sure to backup your current .xinitrc before proceeding. 

echo "exec i3" >> ~/.xinitrc

Contents

Installed Programs: i3, i3bar, i3-config-wizard, i3-dmenu-desktop, i3-dump-log, i3-input, i3-migrate-config-to-v4, i3-msg, i3-nagbar, i3-save-tree, i3-sensible-editor, i3-sensible-pager, i3-sensible-terminal, and i3-with-shmlog (link to i3)
Installed Libraries: None
Installed Directories: /etc/i3, /usr/include/i3, /usr/share/doc/i3-4.24, and /usr/share/xsessions

Short Descriptions

i3

is the i3 Window Manager

i3bar

displays the bar

i3-config-wizard

creates and edits the config file

i3-dmenu-desktop

executes commands using dmenu if dmenu is installed

i3-dump-log

dumps the log

i3-input

is the input daemon used by i3

i3-migrate-config-to-v4

converts earlier config versions to the newest version

i3-msg

sends messages to the screen

i3-nagbar

displays the navigation bar

i3-save-tree

saves the current layout tree

i3-sensible-editor

invokes the default editor, like vim

i3-sensible-pager

invokes the default pager, like less

i3-sensible-terminal

invokes the default terminal, like xterm

i3-with-shmlog

is a symlink pointing to i3, outputs a log via /dev/shm