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A Frugal Alterantive To X11 And Wayland: NOTHING
================================================
tl;dr
Here's a link to a FAQ-Page that lists how i solve common tasks.
DIR FAQ
Prologue
========
For many years now i was fascinated with the idea of running a desktop
computer that is not running any display-manager (neither X11 nor wayland).
Motivation:
- My system runs on a smaller codebase.
- Less lines of code i haven't read.
- My system is smaller, so I come closer to understand it as a whole.
- Needs less ressources.
- Dropping the graphical paradigm frees my mind.
Overcoming the Obstacles
========================
I still want all the good stuff:
- movies
- pictures
- memes
- chatting
- playing games
- etc
In order to run a desktop without any dsiplay-manager you need to
overcome some obstacles.
When running linux on a laptop without starting a display-manager or
desktop-evirontment all you get is one terminal.
TMUX replaces my window-manager
-------------------------------
Coming from an already pretty minimal setup (x11 + suckless dwm), i wanted
to keep some goodies.
The famous slstatus can be integrated in tmux aswell. Simply put this line
in your ~/.tmux.conf:
> set -g status-right #(slstatus -1)
I currently only use it to show:
- time
- RAM usage in MiB
- Battery %
SURFING the Web
---------------
Since i try to avoid javascript-reliant websites anyway it's less of a
problem to switch to a terminal-based http-browser:
w3m (httpclient):
for many sites i have wrapper scripts and make heavy use of
search parameters, e.g.:
https://dict.cc/?s=$1
sacc (gopherclient):
the gopherspace full of intresting stuff and maybe the better place to
be if compared to the web
MEDIA - videos/movies/music/pictures
------------------------------------
I'm a cinema fanatic and could hardly live without the possibility to
watch movies. So here is how this can be done without display-manager.
mpv (media player):
I already use mpv for a long time, but it took a while to discover that
mpv can render video directly to the framebuffer.
If configured correctly it still takes commands:
- pause/play
- volume up/down
- quit
But it will always cover the full screen.
Here comes the GAME CHANGER:
I learned about the function "cycle vid".
I bound it to the button 'a' by simply adding the following line
to ~/.config/mpv/input.conf:
> a cycle vid
This allows me to disable the video by pressing 'a'. The audio will still
be running. Therefore it feels like really nice multitasking.
I can have a movie playing, while doing something else. Once the movie
get's really exciting i switch to the pane that is running mpv and press
'a' to bring back the video.
I was really happy when i figured that out!
Following youtubers you like is possible aswell:
I browse youtube via gopher using:
DIR idiotbox
And i can follow for new vids using:
DIR sfeed_curses
Props to Evil_Bob for creating these awesome tools!
Hint: for being able to control mpv spawned form sfeed_curses you need
to set the environment variable SFEED_PLUMBER_INTERACTIVE=1
Let me know if this article inspired you.
DIR contact me
As i'm writing this, my battery is at 53%.