Base Configuration

This repository contains my Arch/Artix build. It is set up so that it can bootstrap a bare installation of Arch/Artix (in general, this should work if pacman is available).

Setup

Clone this repository (and submodules) into the ~/.config:

mkdir -p ~/.config
git --recurse-submodules clone https://github.com/navaz-alani/base.git ~/.config/base

Do not rename it as the name is used in some of the configuration.

After cloning, just run make bootstrap to

• install the dependencies (see setup/install-deps script)
• compile & install dwm, dwmstat, st
• link up various application configs
• set-up zsh (see setup/zsh-setup script); this currently just installs a nice poweline theme, but I plan to get plugins working
• set-up the pleasant Nordic GTK theme system-wide (and Breeze cursor set)

After the make step is successfully completed, your shell will have been changed to zsh. You need to re-login for certain environment variables to be set-up properly and all the scripts to work as expected.

After re-logging-in, running startx in a TTY should bring up a graphical environment, the details of which are discussed later. If you have any problems, on the initial startx invocation, try restart your machine OR ensure that the drivers for your graphics card have been installed (this setup process does not attempt to do that!). See here for more information on driver installation (tip: use neofetch to name the installed graphics card).

NOTE: startx is aliased to point to the xinitrc configuration, which is intentionally not located in the home directory to prevent clutter. You can find the xinitrc file at config/x11/xinitrc.

Build Details

At a high level, this build uses the following major programs

• (patched) dwm as the window manager
• (custom) dwmstat as the status bar
• (patched) st as the terminal emulator (st has some cool features, but alacritty is also installed - it seems to render glyphs better and, honestly, is much easier to customize)
• rofi as the application launcher, list selection utility, etc.

dwm

The Mod key for dwm is set to the Super (windows) key, because combinations of the default mod key Alt are used by programs like Firefox.

This dwm build has been patched with the following additional functionality

• xrdb patch, which enables dwm to read colors from the Xresources at runtime. This allows dwm's theme to be changed dynamically e.g. when the background is changed (more on this later).
• gaps patch, which allows a margin to windows to make the setup more visually pleasant. Use Mod+Plus and Mod+
• shift-tools patch, which allows shifting through tags and much more. See here for more information.
• pertag patch keeps layout, mwfact (master width factor), barpos (bar position) and nmaster (number of master windows) per tag.
• moveresize patch which allows moving and resizing floating windows using the keyboard.

Keybindings

This is a (probably not comprehensive) list of the keybindings in this dwm build.

• Go to tag: Mod+[num] where num is the tag number

• Shift between tags: Mod+i and Mod+o shift to the previous and next tags respectively

• Toggle bar: Mod+b toggles the top bar

• Window navigation: Use Mod+j and Mod+k to navigate windows on a tag. Note that this only changes focus, use Mod+Enter to swap the focused window in the stack and the master window. This is layout-independent.

• Full-screen a window: Mod+Shift+f. This operation is its own inverse.

• Kill window: To kill the program running in a window, run Mod+Shift+C.

• Kill dwm: To kill dwm (maybe to test your changes), run Mod+Shift+Q. Note that this will kill all running programs.

• Layouts

  • Mod+t switches to the tiled layout. In this layout, there are two main components: the master window and the window stack. There is a single master window (this can be changed, but is disabled in this build) and the rest of the windows are placed in a window stack which appears to the right of the master window.

    Use Mod+h and Mod+l to reduce and increase the master window's width factor respectively.

  • Mod+f switches to the floating layout. This layout is the default one on MacOS/Windows, and requires manual window management, which may be necessary (and more convenient) for some programs such as Gimp and Firefox.

    A floating window can be moved around by holding Mod and using the mouse to click and move it around. There are also keybindings for this - which may be considerably faster than using the mouse/trackpad. In the following keybindings, let dir be a direction inputted by the arrow keys (UP, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT).

    • Use Mod+[dir] to move a floating window around.
    • Use Mod+Shift+[dir] to increase/decrease the floating window's dimensions.
    • Use Mod+Ctrl+[dir] to move the floating window's the maximum amount in dir. For example, Mod+Ctrl+UP will move the window so it's top border is at the top of the screen.
    • Use Mod+Ctrl+Shift+[dir] to increase the window's border the maximum amount in direction dir. For example, Mod+Ctrl+Shift+DOWN will move the window's bottom border all the way to the bottom of the screen.

  • Mod+m switches to the monocle layout. This layout stacks the windows on top of each other, master being on the top (visible) and the rest being beneath.

• Move window to tag: Mod+Shift+[num] where num is the tag number. This moves the selected window to tag num.

• Make window floating: Focus on a window and press Mod+Shift+Space to make it floating, while maintaining the tag's layout.

• Show widow on every tag: Focus on a window and press Mod+Shift+0 to make it appear on every tag. If you want to stop a window from appearing on every tag, explicitly move it to a particular tag (Mod+Shift+[num]).

  NOTE: the previous 3 bindings can be used to create a proper picture-in-picture window (one that appears on every tag, in the same position). Focus on a picture-in-picture window, press Mod+Shift+Space to make it floating. Then, press Mod+Shift+0 to make it appear on every tag. You can then use the keybindings for floating windows to resize/move the picture-in-picture window around.

• Additionally show window on specific tag: Focus on a window and press Mod+Ctrl+Shift+[num] where num is the tag number. This adds the window to tag num as well as the tag it's currently in. This operation is its own inverse.

st

In this st build, the Mod key is Alt and the Termmod is Ctrl+Shift.

This st build has been patched with the following additional functionality.

• xresources patch, which enables st to read colors from the Xresources. This allows st's theme to be changed dynamically e.g. when the background is changed (more on this later).
• dynamic-color-cursor patch which helps to make the cursor more visible.
• vim_browse patch which adds scroll-back and a Vim-like normal mode (to move through scroll-back, select and yank to clipboard).

Keybindings

• Font size: Use Ctrl+equals and Ctrl+minus to increase and decrease the font size respectively. Use Termmod+Esc to reset the font size to default.
• Scroll-back navigation: Press Mod+c to enter a Vim-like environment where navigation through the scroll-back buffer is possible using normal Vim keys. Selected text can be copied to the clipboard by yanking it. Mouse scrolling will not move through the scroll-back buffer. See here for more information.
• Copy Paste: Termmod+v pastes clipboard contents and Termmod+c copies selected text to the clipboard.

Misc

Keybindings

• Super+p brings up rofi to select an application to run.
• Super+Shift + b brings up a background selection utility.
• Super+Ctrl+Shift + b selects a random background and sets it.
• Super+Ctrl + s brings up a screenshotting utility.

Keybindingds can be added through in the config/.xbindkeysrc file.

Screenshotting (screenshot and view-screenshots)

A simple script called screenshot, which can be launched using Super+Ctrl+s brings up rofi to enable the user to select between "Screen", "Window" and "Selection" modes of taking a screenshot (which are pretty self explanatory).

Note, however, that "Window" mode takes a sceenshot of the currently focused window, so make sure you focus on the window before taking the screenshot!

Screenshots are stored in the SCREENSHOTS_DIR directory, which by default is set to ~/media/screenshots and named screenshot-[DD]_[MM]_[YY]-[hh]:[mm]:[ss].png. These can be changed by editing the cfg file and the screenshot script respectively.

To view captured screenshots, the view-screenshot script can be used (launch it using rofi, or if you frequently use it, make a key-binding for it).

Changing Desktop Background (chbg)

By default, when startx is run, a new random background is set (chbg rand). A color-scheme (based on the selected background) is generated which, programs getting their colors from Xresources can use. So dwm and st will automatically obey this color scheme.

Backgrounds are stored in the backgrounds directory. You can add your own there.

When you run chbg choose, a thumbnail list of all the backgrounds in the backgrounds directory will be brought up in sxiv. You can use Enter to maximize a thumbnail and Enter again to minimize it. Vim keys h, j, k, l can be used to move around the thumbnail list. To set an image as the background, focus on its thumbnail and press Ctrl+x+w in quick succession.

Conventions

• All scripts in the scripts directory which begin with sb_ are for use with the status bar.

TODO

• ACPI handling (so the system doesn't power off when power button is clicked)
• Handle audio events e.g. headphones plugged in and refresh bar
• Work on a dwm patch to inform status bar module where it was clicked
• zsh plugins