dwm and i3wm systray removal & desktop setup tricks

These days, there are two window managers I enjoy using “more than the others I have tried”. They are dwm & i3wm.

After long time use (more than a year on each) I felt the need to cleanup and simplify my desktop installs. All part of my trying to keep things simple and easy to use.

It is worth noting that I run both window managers (wms) in the same user space on the same device. All keybindings are shared between my wms via a single sxhkd config file.

The cleanup and simplification tasks I have implemented include:

• removal of my systrays (system notification trays) both on i3 and dwm. I want to see if I can live without a systray; just as I have trained myself to unlearn the need for desktop icons.
• creation of “elegant?” wm bars. I want my wm bars not only to look good but be informative, as well. To accomplish this, I have built unique setups for both dwm and i3.
  1. I use slstatus on dwm (keeping dwm as simple as possible).

     

     The slstatus bar setup/ layout is contained in config.h of slstatus. My config.h is available for download here. I assume you know how-to use it…

  2. I chose to use conkybar on i3 (because I like how it looks). When I use i3bar it really ends up looking pretty much the same as slstatus; and who wants that?!?!?

     

     conkybar is invoked using the following command in my i3 conf file:
     status_command ~/.config/i3/conkybar.sh
     My conkybar script is available here.

• I removed picom/ compton because xcompmgr does the trick for me. FWIW, here is the xcompgr setting I use.  I run it from .xprofile.
  # compositor
xcompmgr -CnfF -I-.015 -O-.03 -D6 -t-1 -l-3 -r4.2 -o.5 &
• I installed and setup a few light-weight keyboard accessible functions to replace the removed “tray items” and their supported function(s):
  • nmtui: Because I lost access to the systray networking icon (nm-applet), I created a new method of access to the networking/ wifi function by installing nmtui (via pacman) and created a keybinding to invoke nmtui, as needed. I have also included this in my system maintenance yad popup. Just in case you have no idea what nmtui looks like, here’s a screenshot:

    

  • brightness-controller featuring the following:
    • Brightness Control
    • Saving color profile
    • Loading color profile
      Yet another stellar screenshot for inquiring minds to peruse. This function is also available via my system maintenance yad popup.

      

  • topgrade: to quote from their github site:

    • Keeping your system up to date mostly involves invoking more than a single package manager. This usually results in big shell one-liners saved in your shell history. Topgrade tries to solve this problem by detecting which tools you use and run their appropriate package managers.

  • lxtask: I simply installed the application (lxtask) and made it available via my system maintenance yad popup (also via a keybind). Lxtask allows me to see all active processes (and kill/stop those I don’t want running.)
  • pavucontrol:  Just a simple install; you can review how I have included it in my little yad script (available in this article).
  • The above functions (as well as several others) are made available on both dwm & i3 for simple access & use via a yad script.

    

    The Yad system maintenance tools script is available for download.

    Remember, like with all of my work, I am able to provide the following assurance(s):

    • It is almost certainly going to work until it breaks; although I have to admit it may never work and that would be sad.
    • When/if it does break, you may keep all of the pieces.
    • If you find my materials helpful, both you & I will be happy, at least for a little while.
    • My advice is worth every penny you paid for it!