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How do I start i3?

asked 2015-06-14 07:43:51 +0000

QBWR gravatar image

So, this is a bit embarrassing, but, uh, how do I actually start i3? I downloaded the i3 package for fedora just to try it out, and I can't find anything about how to actually start it. I tried "i3", and it just says "cannot open display".

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Are you running some other window manager / desktop environment currently?

Airblader gravatar imageAirblader ( 2015-06-14 08:29:06 +0000 )edit

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answered 2015-06-14 08:30:56 +0000

Airblader gravatar image

Assuming no other window manager / desktop envrionment is running: if you just start "i3" from the TTY, it will tell you that it cannot open the display because the X server is not yet running.

The easiest way to get started is to edit (or create, if misisng) ~/.xinitrc. If it didn't exist, simply put exec i3 in there. If it exists, check the bottom for some exec call, comment it out and put exec i3 instead.

Once the file is saved, run startx from the TTY. This will start an X server, read the file and then start i3.

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That got it working, thanks. Now I'm going to have to start playing around with it.

QBWR gravatar imageQBWR ( 2015-06-14 09:00:48 +0000 )edit

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Asked: 2015-06-14 07:43:51 +0000

Seen: 1,054 times

Last updated: Jun 14