Kali i3-gaps | Custom ISO

Disclaimer

The project has moved to Gitlab.

Introduction

This is my take on Kali, using i3-gaps as a WM. I've done this because I've loved how i3-gaps worked on my new (well, it was new back in May 2019) laptop. It is really lightweight (compared to other WM's and DE's) while being really customizable and easy to use; especially as a guy with large hands and long fingers.

Building

To build this ISO first install the dependencies, themn either clone the Github or Gitlab repo. Afterwards, cd into kali-i3-gaps and start the build script.

$ sudo apt install -y curl git live-build cdebootstrap
$ git clone https://gitlab.com/Arszilla/kali-i3-gaps.git
$ cd kali-i3-gaps
$ ./build.sh --variant i3wm --verbose

or

$ sudo apt install -y curl git live-build cdebootstrap
$ git clone https://github.com/Arszilla/kali-i3-gaps.git
$ cd kali-i3-gaps
$ ./build.sh --variant i3wm --verbose

If you are on a non-Kali Debian based system, check out Kali's guide on building the ISO. Once the script is finished, your image should be in ~/kali-i3-gaps/images.

Bug Reports

I've been working on this since late November. There might be some errors here and there; bugs and/or features from official Kali I've missed. If that's the case and you find a bug and/or a missing feature:

• Fork the repo
• Make changes
• Submit a PR

I'll evaluate them ASAP and get back to you.

Keybinds

Now, this is the most important part about this ISO and i3-gaps in general. Unless you are familiar with i3-gaps, you might be confused on how to do anything on it. For the sake of newcomers, most vital keybinds are as follows:

• Mod key: Windows (Between Ctrl & Alt, usually)
• Launch a urxvt: Mod + Return
• Launch Rofi: Mod + d
• Launch Firefox: Mod +F1
• Launch a file pcmanfm file manager: Mod + F2
• Launch a file ranger file manager: Mod + F3
• Switch workspaces: Mod + 0-9
• Move the current window to another workspace: Mod + Shift + 0-9
• Launch the system menu: Mod + 0
• Switch between tiling and floating windows: Mod + Shift + Space
• Move the window: Mod + Shift and arrow keys or jkl;
• Resize the window: Mod + R then arrow keys or jkl;
• Take a fullscreen screenshot: Mod + Print
• Take a screenshot of a window: Mod + Shift + Print
• Take a screenshot of an area: Mod + Ctrl + Print

Rest of the keybinds could be found in ~/.config/i3/config

Customization

i3 is really customizable, which is one of the perfect aspects of it IMO. A summary on customization is as follows:

• ~/.config holds the majority of the dotfiles/Customization
• ~/.config/i3/config is i3-gaps' dotfile. You can change keybinds, execs, look and feel as well as many more aspects of your i3-gaps here. You can make your containers open in certain workspaces. For more information, check out i3wm docs.
• ~/.config/i3status is the i3status dotfile. You can customize your bar to your liking. For more information, check out i3status docs.
• ~/.Xresources is your Xresources file, where you can customize your X client applications. This includes urxvt and rofi.
• ~/.config/compton/compton.conf is the compton config. You can edit your compositor's settings here.
• ~/.config/dunst/dunstrc is the dunst dotfile. You can customize your notification delivery system here.

Acknowledgements

• TJNull for encouraging me to do this, as well as helping me and being an amazing friend.
• Raphaël Hertzog, g0t mi1k, Sophie Brun, Mati Aharoni and Devon Kearns for their work on live-build-config, making it possible to make this ISO happen.