i3

[Jon Solworth]

I'm using i3, and I like it so far better than
kde or xfce, but its definitely not the window
manager to start using qubes with.

I have some questions

1. https://www.qubes-os.org/doc/i3/ is very helpful,
but I'm a bit confused by the configuration instructions
at the bottom. It says to install a script qubes_autostart_xdg.sh
but it doesn't say
(a) in which domain
(b) in which directory
(c) what filename should be used
(It would also be helpful to know what the script is needed for)

2. What should I use to launch individual applications from the status
bar (e.g., keypassx or firefox)? I'll make key bindings for some,
but I'll want others on the bar. These are security sensitive,
aren't they, since they run in dom0?

3. Is there a recommended way of bringing up VMs? I'm using qvm-start
for the VM, and .config/autostart for applications I always want to
started in the VM. Any better suggestions?

4. nm_applet seems to sometimes go away. Any suggestions?

5. I would be pleased to see other peoples config files.

thanks,
Jon

[se...@redhat.com]

Not sure where all the i3 users are...

1. I'm not sure of the official answer needless to say, but there's a few ways in which it could be done.
a) presumably in dom0 as that's where i3 is
b) depends how you want to run it, systemd unit or profile script?
c) same as b

2. You use demenu to launch apps? It's typically bound to $mod+d by default.

3. By starting an application from dmenu, it will start the vm. Alternatively you can use the qubes manager to do it with clicking.

4. It went away on first few runs, but it seems to be fine now. Perhaps start a bug ticket if this is an issue you're having?

5. I can post up my config but it's very stock other than removing anything using the arrow keys. (vim keybindings are fine thanks)

[Jon Solworth]

Apparently, the configuration at the bottom of https://www.qubes-os.org/doc/i3/
are unnecessary if you install i3-settings-qubes. You should do that before running i3, if you haven't remove .config/i3 in dom0 and then rerun. In addition to customizing terminal generation, and fixing up the scripts, it also provides a qubes specific status bar.

I'm not a big fan of dmenu. I did build a mode switch ($mod+p) for starting programs in various VMs; probably build another mode switch for starting a terminal in various VMs.

I used an external monitor in addition to notebook screen so I created an extra 10 workspace (using the function keys).

[jd.sch...@gmail.com]

Regarding 4. When this happens, I launch "network connections" in sys-net to bring the icon back. I usually need to do this on starting a new session.

Other than that, I just use dmenu. You can set applications in the VM manager, and they show up in dmenu with the VM name prefixed. This way i can, for example, launch keepassx on vault by typing something equivalent to "vaul kee"

I rarely start/stop VMs manually. The VM manager seems to handle it automatically well enough.

Jonathan