Awesome2
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Introduction
From the awesome website:
awesome is a floating and tiling window manager initially based on a dwm code rewriting. It's extremely fast, small, dynamic and awesome.
Installation
Standard Method
Awesome 2 used to be available in the standard repositories (community), but was replaced by Awesome 3.
Getting Started
Using awesome
To start awesome from a login manager, see this article. SLiM is a popular lightweight login manager and comes highly recommended.
To run awesome without a login manager, simply add exec awesome to the startup script of your choice (e.g. ~/.xinitrc.)
Configuration
Awesome includes some good default settings right out of the box, but sooner or later you'll want to change something. Fortunately, awesome uses the standard dot-file configuration, in this case ~/.awesomerc.
Creating an .awesomerc file
Whenever compiled, awesome will attempt to use whatever custom settings are contained in ~/.awesomerc. This file is not created by default, so we must copy the template file first:
$ cp /usr/share/doc/awesome/awesomerc ~/.awesomerc
For more information about configuring awesome, check out the awesome wiki or run the following command:
$ man awesomerc
Validating your .awesomerc file
It is good practice to validate the syntax of your .awesomerc configuration file whenever you make changes to it, to ensure that no errors exist. This is done easily by running the following command in a terminal:
$ awesome -k
Assuming there are no issues with the config file, you'll see something like this:
[user@host] $ awesome -k Configuration file OK.
Note: It seems this option as of 23-11-08 is not included in the standard package, only if you build it from git.
More configuration resources
Some good examples of .awesomerc would be (note that the awesomerc syntax changes regularly, so you will likely have to modify any configuration file you download):
- Calmar's Awesome Setup
- Sen's config
- An example awesomerc | Wisdom is the prime thing
- Gigamo's config - configs for the development version, updated very often
Tips & Tricks
Feel free to add any tips or tricks that you would like to pass on to other awesome users.
To make a keyboard macro for changing the volume, put the following in the "keys" section of .awesomerc, this makes Ctrl+Alt+Up turn the volume up and Ctrl+Alt+Down turn the volume down.
key { modkey = {"Mod1", "Control"} key = "Up" command = "spawn" arg = "amixer sset Master,0 5%+" } key { modkey = {"Mod1", "Control"} key = "Down" command = "spawn" arg = "amixer sset Master,0 5%-" }
Using awesome for the first time
Starting a new window manager for the first time, especially one without a built-in menu system can be daunting. Opening your awesomerc in a virtual console that you can then switch to to look at key-bindings is almost a necessity on your first launch.
Editing and validating config files
I use two terminals to edit .awesomerc. In the first I edit .awesomerc file, then save it. In the second one I run:
$ awesome -k
to check config file for mistakes before I do "Mod4 + Ctrl+ r" to restart awesome/reload config. You can also do:
$ echo 0 exec awesome | awesome-client
for the same thing.
Transparency
Awesome has support for (2D) transparency through xcompmgr. Note that you'll probably want the git version of xcompmgr, which is available in AUR.
Add this to your ~/.xinitrc
xcompmgr &
See man xcompmgr or xcompmgr for more options.
The .awesomerc has a couple places to add transparency:
general { opacity_focused = 1.0 opacity_unfocused = 0.7 } rules { name = "A Window" opacity = 0.1 }
Troubleshooting
Mod4 key
Alias the Win key. Somehow, my Mod4 key isn't mapped by default. If that's your case too, you can check the keycode of your Mod4 key with
$ xev
It should be 115 for the left one. Then add this to your ~/.xinitrc
xmodmap -e "keycode 115 = Super_L" -e "add mod4 = Super_L" exec awesome
Mod4 key vs. IBM ThinkPad users
IBM ThinkPads do not come equipped with a Window key (although Lenovo have changed this tradition on their ThinkPads). As of writing, the Alt key is not used in command combinations by the default .awesomerc (refer to the Awesome wiki for a table of commands), which allows it be used as a replacement for the Super/Mod4/Win key. To do this, use the replace function in your favourite text editor to change all instances of Mod4 in your .awesomerc to Mod1.
Note: Awesome does a have a few commands that make use of Mod4 plus a single letter. Changing Mod4 to Mod1/Alt could cause overlaps for some key combinations. The small amount of instances where this happens can be changed in the easily modifiable and understandable .awesomerc file. While changing some awesome commands to match my work desktop commands (eg changing Mod1+K to Mod1+Tab (the good old Alt+Tab)) most of these instances have disappeared. Custom commands using Using Mod1 plus certain single letters might cause issues. E.g., Alt+F is a shortcut for the first drop-down menu option 'File' in many programs like Firefox, Gimp etc.
Additional Resources
- http://awesome.naquadah.org/ - The official awesome website
- http://awesome.naquadah.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page - the awesome wiki