Can anyone please recommend a newbie the best way (required steps) to install i3 window manager on FreeBSD 11.1?
I have followed your steps and installed it. Now what should I do to run it?Code:pkg install i3 i3status i3lock dmenu
or from ports
Code:cd /usr/ports/x11-wm/i3/ make install clean cd /usr/ports/x11/i3status/ make install clean cd /usr/ports/x11/i3lock/ make install clean cd /usr/ports/x11/dmenu/ make install clean
Yes, you need them for keyboard and mouse under Xorg.Do I have to addtoCode:dbus_ensble="YES" hald_enable="YES"
?Code:/etc/rc.conf
I did thisYes, you need them for keyboard and mouse under Xorg.
#pkg install xorg
#pkg install i3 i3status i3lock dmenu
#echo "dbus_enable=\"YES\"" >> /etc/rc.conf
#echo "hald_enable=\"YES\"" >> /etc/rc.conf
%echo "exec /usr/local/bin/i3" > ~/.xinitrc
#shutdown -r now
%startx
That's a standard i3 config, from this point on you need to configure i3 as you desire, what terminal to use, which keys, etc. The documentation on how to customize i3 is here or you could use a config from someone else:http://dotshare.it/category/wms/i3/I did thisand got the messeges to choose i3 config and $mod key but after entering that all I see is a blank screen with a mouse pointer, and $mod+enter also does not work.Code:#pkg install xorg #pkg install i3 i3status i3lock dmenu #echo "dbus_enable=\"YES\"" >> /etc/rc.conf #echo "hald_enable=\"YES\"" >> /etc/rc.conf %echo "exec /usr/local/bin/i3" > ~/.xinitrc #shutdown -r now %startx
But I thought $mod+enter would bring up the terminal, even with the standard config.I think that it is important to start by saying very clearly that i3 is not intended for beginning, inexperienced, average, or even 'normal' Unix-like users. Yes, that means exactly what it says -- the vast majority of Unix-like users are not going to find i3 useful, or even very interesting.
That's a standard i3 config, from this point on you need to configure i3 as you desire, what terminal to use, which keys, etc. The documentation on how to customize i3 is here or you could use a config from someone else:http://dotshare.it/category/wms/i3/
FreeBSD is a barebone install which need user intervention. To use $Mod+Enter you need to copy the standard config of i3 to your user folder (eg: cp /usr/local/etc/i3/config ~.config/i3). In some GNU/Linux distribution that config file is added in the .config/i3 folder by the package manager but that's not the case with FreeBSD.But I thought $mod+enter would bring up the terminal, even with the standard config.
Anyway I am going with XFCE. That will be best for me. Thanks for your advice and help.
fluxbox exec
as the last entry and add your programs to the x11-wm/fluxbox menu in your usr directory.FreeBSD is a barebone install which need user intervention. To use $Mod+Enter you need to copy the standard config of i3 to your user folder (eg: cp /usr/local/etc/i3/config ~.config/i3). In some GNU/Linux distribution that config file is added in the .config/i3 folder by the package manager but that's not the case with FreeBSD.
Yes, you need [HAL and DBus] for keyboard and mouse under Xorg.
But I thought $mod+enter would bring up the terminal, even with the standard config.
This is a long standing bug of i3 on FreeBSD and not some kind of weird philosophical decision to differentiate it from Linux. On FreeBSD i3's initial config wizard generates an incomplete config file and as a result some key definitions are missing from it. See PR 208069 and https://github.com/i3/i3/issues/2141. Copying the config from /usr/local/etc/i3/config is a usable workaround if you remove the last line from it that starts the wizard afterwards.FreeBSD is a barebone install which need user intervention. To use $Mod+Enter you need to copy the standard config of i3 to your user folder (eg: cp /usr/local/etc/i3/config ~.config/i3). In some GNU/Linux distribution that config file is added in the .config/i3 folder by the package manager but that's not the case with FreeBSD.