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i3 tilling window manager

To start i3 as soon as X starts add following line to ~/.xinitrc:

exec i3

Then you can start X manually from tty by running:

startx

Our you can do it at startup by adding following line to ~/.bash_profile, preferably near the end:

[ "$(tty)" = "/dev/tty1" ] && ! pgrep -x i3 >/dev/null && exec startx

Your tty1 virtual console will now be running i3. If you want to log out from a virtual console press Ctrl+Alt+BackSpace. You can also change a virtual console by pressing Ctrl+Alt+F1 through Ctrl+Alt+F2.

If you want to install Gnome as a desktop environment, which comes fully equiped with tons of applications (maybe even too much for my taste) you should run:

sudo pacman -S [gnome|lxdm]
sudo systemctl start [gdm|lxdm].service
sudo systemctl enable [gdm|lxdm].service

There are also options "stop" and "disable" for services.

Install Xorg server, i3 window manager, LightDM display manager, and two terminals (rxvt will be used as default, xterm is a fallback option):

sudo pacman -S xorg-server xorg-xinit xorg-xclock xorg-twm xterm rxvt-unicode
sudo pacman -S i3 dmenu
sudo pacman -S lightdm lightdm-gtk-greeter

Some other xorg packages might be needed:

sudo pacman -S xorg-server-xephyr xorg-backlight ttf-dejavu

Make sure i3 is started when X starts:

sudo 'exec i3' > ~/.xinitrc

Start LightDM service (if you want autostart put 'enable' instead of 'start'):

systemctl start lightdm.service

On the first start i3 should prompt you for the setup. If not, just run:

i3-config-wizard

It creates i3 config file in ~/.config/i3/config. Before you rerun the i3-config-wizard make sure to delete the old config.

Setup gaps between windows in i3-gaps (probably installed by default instead of i3-wm) by adding following lines in ~/.config/i3/config (measurement is in px):

gaps inner 5
gaps outer 5

To apply changes to i3 config, restart i3 with $mod-Shift-r.

Setup desktop background:

sudo pacman -S feh
feh --bg-fill geeky_wallpaper.png

For startup, put it into ~/.xinitrc:

echo 'feh --bg-fill geeky_wallpaper.png' >> ~/.xinitrc

If you have no background image, you can fetch them with wget:

sudo pacman -S wget
wget https://www.dropbox.com/s/d8rr7mjb4ifa8u4/geeky_wallpaper.png?dl=0

Set transparent terminal windows with Compton:

sudo pacman -S compton

Run compton as a daemon, without shadow effects (for autostart, put it into ~/.xinitrc):

compton -CGb

Add following configuration for rxvt in your ~/.Xresources file to manage transparency:

urxvt*depth: 32
urxvt*background: rgba:0000/0000/0200/c800

Also, add these lines to ~/.Xresources to make rxvt dark and pretty:

URxvt*scrollBar: false
URxvt*background: Black
URxvt*foreground: White
URxvt*colorUL: yellow
URxvt*underlineColor: yellow
URxvt.font: xft:monospace:size=8

Restart your xrdb:

xrdb .Xresources

If you don't need a display manager (LightDM) and want to start X manually you can simply configure ~/.xinitrc with something like:

setxkbmap hr
feh --bg-fill ~/geeky_wallpaper.png
compton -CGb
xrdb ~/.Xresources
exec i3

And then, after logging to tty with your credentials, start X manually with:

startx

If you later want to kill X server and return to tty simply use Ctrl-Alt-Backspace shortcut.

Setup conky:

sudo pacman -S conky
conky -bd

Notifications with dunst

Install dunst, a lightweight replacement for notification daemons:

sudo pacman -Syu dunst

Initialize dunst (you can put it in .xinitrc):

dunst &

Send notifications:

notify-send "Notification text!"

Problems with screensharing on Microsoft Teams

As of 1.3.00.16851 update to Microsoft Teams they introduced screensharing red border indicator and this breaks in i3 - only a black screen with red border is visible. A quick fix is to rename this file so that it is not used:

/usr/share/teams/resources/app.asar.unpacked/node_modules/slimcore/bin/rect-overlay

I renamed it to rect-overlay-BACKUP.

See this discussion for details: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/42095/sharing-screen-not-working-anymore-bug.html

Removing title bars from windows

See section 4.12. Default border style for new windows: https://i3wm.org/docs/userguide.html#_layout_mode_for_new_containers

If you want to remove the title bars but keep the border of certain width put this in your i3 config:

default_border pixel 2
default_floating_border pixel 2

NOTE: This is still not working? Some windows on some applications still have title bars?

Setting floating window size

To set a specified floating window size add this to your i3-config:

# Set the minimim and maximum floating window size (in pixels) with width x height
floating_minimum_size 1100 x 900
floating_maximum_size 1100 x 900

This will constrain resizing your floating window! As an alternative you can always resize your window on spot with $mod r and move it with $mod Shift [arrows].