Are you bored of your default, personality-less workflow and desktop, fear no more, here I will simplify the process of ricing your setup to your heart’s content.
Ricing is the process of customizing and optimizing the visual aesthetic and functionality of your Linux desktop environment. This guide will cover the basics of ricing, including the essential components and tools you need to get started.
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Choosing a Window Manager
- Essential Tools for Ricing
- Configuring Your Environment
- Customizing with Scripts
- Ricing Resources
Introduction
Ricing your Linux system involves customizing its appearance and behavior to suit your preferences. This can range from changing the color scheme and fonts to tweaking the window manager settings and creating custom scripts. The term “ricing” originally comes from the automotive world, where “ricers” customize their cars for better performance and aesthetics.
Choosing a Window Manager
The window manager is the core component of your desktop environment. It controls the placement and appearance of windows. There are two main types of window managers: tiling and stacking.
Tiling Window Managers
Tiling window managers automatically arrange windows in a non-overlapping manner. This is ideal for users who prefer keyboard-driven workflows. Popular tiling window managers include:
- i3: A popular, flexible, and highly customizable tiling window manager.
- bspwm: A binary space partitioning window manager that uses
bspcfor control and scripting. - Awesome: A highly configurable tiling window manager with Lua scripting.
Stacking Window Managers
Stacking window managers allow windows to overlap, similar to traditional desktop environments like GNOME or KDE. Examples include:
- Openbox: A lightweight stacking window manager that is highly configurable.
- Fluxbox: A stacking window manager based on the Blackbox 0.61.1 code.
Essential Tools for Ricing
To get started with ricing, you’ll need a few essential tools. These tools help you customize various aspects of your desktop environment.
Terminal Emulator
A terminal emulator is a must-have for any Linux user. Some popular options include:
- Alacritty: A GPU-accelerated terminal emulator that is fast and lightweight.
- Kitty: A feature-rich, fast, and GPU-accelerated terminal emulator.
- URxvt: A highly customizable terminal emulator with good performance.
Text Editor
A good text editor is essential for editing configuration files. Popular choices include:
- Vim: A highly configurable text editor that is popular among power users.
- Nano: A simple and easy-to-use text editor for quick edits.
- Emacs: A powerful and extensible text editor with a steep learning curve.
File Manager
A file manager helps you navigate your filesystem. Some options include:
- Thunar: A lightweight file manager for Xfce.
- Ranger: A terminal-based file manager with a minimalist design.
- Nemo: The default file manager for the Cinnamon desktop environment.
Compositor
A compositor adds visual effects and manages window transparency and shadows. Some popular compositors include:
- Picom: A lightweight compositor with support for transparency, blur, and animations.
- Compton: An older compositor that is still popular for its simplicity.
System Monitor
A system monitor helps you keep track of your system’s resources. Some popular options include:
- htop: An interactive process viewer for Unix systems.
- Conky: A highly customizable system monitor that can display various system stats on your desktop.
Configuring Your Environment
The configuration process involves editing various dotfiles and installing themes and icons. Here’s a step-by-step guide to get you started.
Dotfiles
Dotfiles are configuration files stored in your home directory, typically hidden (files beginning with a dot). Common dotfiles include:
~/.bashrcor~/.zshrc: Configuration for your shell.~/.vimrc: Configuration for Vim.~/.config/i3/config: Configuration for the i3 window manager.~/.config/bspwm/bspwmrc: Configuration for bspwm.
Fonts
Choosing the right fonts can significantly enhance the look of your desktop. Popular fonts for ricing include:
- Hack: A typeface designed for source code.
- Fira Code: A monospaced font with programming ligatures.
- Roboto: A modern, clean font family.
Themes and Icons
Installing themes and icons can drastically change the appearance of your desktop environment. Popular theme and icon resources include:
- GTK Themes: Themes for GTK-based applications. Some popular themes are Arc, Adapta, and Numix.
- Icon Packs: Collections of icons for applications and system elements. Popular choices include Papirus, Numix, and Moka.
To install a theme or icon pack, you typically place it in ~/.themes or ~/.icons respectively and select it using your desktop environment’s settings.
Customizing with Scripts
Scripts can automate tasks and add functionality to your setup. Shell scripts are common for ricing. Here are a few examples:
- Polybar: A highly customizable status bar that can be configured with scripts.
- Rofi: A window switcher, application launcher, and dmenu replacement that can be extended with scripts.
- dunst: A lightweight notification daemon that can be customized with scripts.
Ricing Resources
There are many resources available to help you with ricing:
- r/unixporn: A subreddit dedicated to showcasing riced setups and sharing tips.
- dotfiles.github.io: A collection of dotfiles from various users for inspiration.
- archcraft-os.github.io: A minimal Linux distribution focused on ricing.