I3wm

i3 is a tiling window manager, primarily targeted at advanced users and developers.

Prerequisites

• Internet connectivity, unless the packages have been pre-fetched into a local cache.
• Install appropriate Graphics driver drivers for your hardware. Without graphics drivers, errors are likely to occur when starting your desktop.
• A non-root user account.
• The community repository must be enabled.
• Set up eudev.
• Install and enable D-Bus. Without D-Bus, icons and keyboard shortcuts may be missing.
• Install Xorg

Installation

Install i3, i3 status bar and terminal packages i3wm, i3status, xterm

# apk add i3wm i3status xterm

Note: Add the user to input and video groups. The default configuration is minimal and most menu options won't work unless you customize and/or install additional packages.

Install drivers

Ensure you have the required drivers.

# apk search xf86-input*

# apk search xf86-video*

# apk add xf86-video-fbdev xf86-video-vesa

Install fonts

Install fonts. If you start i3 without fonts it will be unusable.

# apk add font-terminus

starting i3

Now you can start i3 manually:

# startx /usr/bin/i3

See also

• Legacy Xorg drivers
• i3 user guide
• startup i3 automatically