i3buntu

This project is for setting up a minimal Ubuntu installation with the i3 window managing system together with other options that will make the operating system work and look well. The main goal of the project is to construct a flavour of the Ubuntu operating system which

• it should contain all the default repositories plus more to allow for easy installation of most of the typical applications people want access to
• it should come preinstalled with all needed drivers
• the i3 window manager should be the default and only (preinstalled) window manager on the system. A number of customizations should be made in order for it to be both visually attractive and allow for productive workflows.

Requirements

• A version of Ubuntu Desktop (21.04 recommended, later ones may work, too).
• An internet connection.

Installation

1. Download and install Ubuntu Minimal

A guide on how to construct a installation media (CD, DVD or USB key) can be found in the above link for Ubuntu Minimal. During the installation select the English language and German keyboard layout, uncheck the options for additional software. As of November 2020 I cannot recommend using ZFS as it just makes our lifes harder in many ways at the moment. After the new installation is booted, open a Terminal and optionally put your config at ~/.i3brc, like this:

wget -O ~/.i3brc https://i3b.chrissx.de/i3brcs/x220.i3brc

2. Download and install i3buntu

Type the following in the Ubuntu Bash:

wget -O - https://i3b.chrissx.de/netsh | bash

This will download the startup script of i3buntu and run it.

Updating/Upgrading

You can upgrade your existing i3buntu installation like this:

cd ~/.i3buntu
git pull
./update

WARNING: When upgrading across Ubuntu versions, expect stuff to break! I recently tried upgrading from 19.10 to 20.04 and it broke a lot, so be ready to reinstall.

Testing

There is no reason why anyone other than me would want to do this, but to quickly test i3buntu, use this command on a newly installed Ubuntu Minimal:

wget -O - https://i3b.chrissx.de/test | sh

FYI: This only works, if you have an apt cache set up at 192.168.2.102:3142.

Feedback

The project continues to be a work in progress. Even though I constantly hope to have included everything necessary to make an optimal setup I often realize that perfections can be made. Anyone should feel absolutely free to come with suggestions on how to improve the project. One may (for instance!) suggest:

• What packages to add. Again, I may have missed something which can easen our lives.
• How to make it easier for others to customize my setup.
• Something that I may not have thought of yet.

All suggestions are appreciated - and people may of course also fork the project.