/debian_on_mac

My Linux configs on a Mac

Primary LanguageShellGNU General Public License v2.0GPL-2.0

Debian on Mac

This repo is used to store my config files when using Linux on Mac.

Overall setup

I have a late 2013 Mac laptop hardware and I use Debian with i3 as the window manager. Many of the files here are architecture agnostic, such as vimrc and bash_profile.

i3 config - file: i3_config

This file is the main i3 configuration file. It must be located at ~/.i3/config

This file will:

  • initialize the laptop screen to 1920x1200
  • Create two terminals on screen 1 split horizontally
  • Open iceweasel on screen 2
  • Set the left Command key as $mod (the default)
  • Set Command + Shift + a to lock the screen
  • Rightfully set keys for screen brightness, keyboard backlit and sound
  • Set screensaver to 10 minutes with xautolock
  • Define a blurry background image for the screensaver

There are a few package dependencies for this file to work fully:

  1. xbacklight: to adjust screen brightness
  2. alsa-utils: to adjust volume - up and down
  3. pulseaudio-utils: to mute and unmute
  4. Keyboard backlight: this is a script, not a package. See section below
  5. xautolock: to set a timer for the screensaver

i3 status bar - file: i3status.conf

This file is the i3 status bar configuration below the screen. It must be located at ~/.i3status.conf

Keyboard backlight - file: keyboard_backlight

This is a manually added script. It should be located at /usr/local/sbin/ and must be executable

For the mapped key to work properly as it requires root privileges, the following line should be added to the sudoers file:

ALL ALL=(root) NOPASSWD: /usr/local/sbin/keyboard-backlight

Touchpad - file: 50-synaptics-clickpad.conf

This file makes several improvements to the usability of the trackpad. It must be located at /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d

Screensaver - file: screensaver.sh

This is the parameter run by xautolock. It takes a screenshot of your desktop, makes it blurry and sets it as the background of the screensaver.

Adjust monitors - file: adjust_monitors.sh

Automatically sets the resolution for multiple monitors. This is run when logging in to i3.

Bash Profile

My preferences on bash.

Additional useful i3 commands and cheat sheet

  1. Changing the screen size and adding a second HDMI screen at the right of the laptop screen

xrandr --output eDP1 --mode 1920x1200 --pos 0x0 --output HDMI2 --auto --right-of eDP1

  1. Changes to default i3 configuration

Command + b = split vertically This is required because the terminal is mapped to copy and paste with Command + c and Command + v by changing the shortcuts.

Other linux on Mac tips:

  1. Wifi: a new non-free repo must be added to the /etc/apt/source.list file: deb http://http.debian.net/debian/ jessie main contrib non-free

Once this is added, run apt-get update and install package broadcom-sta-dkms. This will recognize the wifi card.

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