SwayOS is a productivity-oriented minimalist and super elegant desktop layer for unix-like operating systems. It is a collection of configuration files, open source applications and open source applications created exclusively for SwayOS.

UI Structure of SwayOS

SwayOS's UI has two parts : the status bar ( on top by default ) and the window area under the status bar. The status bar has the following sections from left to right : workspace block ( indicators ) , hardware status block ( in the center by default ), date and clock.

Usage of SwayOS

Source

https://github.com/swayos/swayos.github.io

Setup

Part One - Install sway and the basic utilities first with your package manager

sway
foot
wofi
ubuntu-font

Then clone the swayos github repo and copy the default config files to ~/.config

git clone https://github.com/swayos/swayos.github.io
cp -R swayos.github.io/home/. ~/

Now you can start sway by typing sway and open a terminal by pressing WIN+ENTER

note : on non-systemd distributions ( e.g. void linux ) you will need seatd and to set XDG_RUNTIME_DIR also for running sway

note : if WIN+ENTER is not working set a different modifier key for sway in ~/.config/sway/config

How to do it on Void Linux :

sudo xbps-install -Syu
sudo xpbs-install -y sway foot wofi ttf-ubuntu-font-family
sudo xbps-install -y seatd
sudo ln -s /etc/sv/seatd /var/service
sudo usermod -a $USER -G _seatd
sudo xbps-install -y git
git clone https://github.com/swayos/swayos.github.io
cp -R swayos.github.io/home/. ~/
exit
export XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/tmp
sway

How to do it on Debian Bookworm :

sudo apt-get install software-properties-common
sudo apt-add-repository --component non-free
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo apt-get install sway foot wofi fonts-ubuntu
sudo apt-get install git
git clone https://github.com/swayos/swayos.github.io
cp -R swayos.github.io/home/. ~/
sway

Part Two - Installing Sway Overview

Install the dev tools to build

clang
meson
ninja
cmake
pkg-config

Install the needed dependencies

libpng
freetype
libglvnd
glew
wayland
wayland-protocols
libxkbcommon

Clone the repo, build and install

git clone https://github.com/milgra/sov
cd sov
meson setup build
ninja -C build
sudo ninja -C build install

How to do it on Void Linux :

sudo xbps-install -y clang meson ninja cmake pkg-config
sudo xbps-install -y libpng-devel freetype-devel libglvnd-devel glew-devel wayland-devel libxkbcommon-devel wayland-protocols
git clone https://github.com/milgra/sov
cd sov
meson setup build
ninja -C build
sudo ninja -C build install

How to do it on Debian Bookworm :

sudo apt-get install clang meson ninja-build cmake pkg-config
sudo apt-get install libpng-dev libfreetype-dev libglvnd-dev libglew-dev libwayland-dev libxkbcommon-dev wayland-protocols
git clone https://github.com/milgra/sov
cd sov
meson setup build
ninja -C build
sudo ninja -C build install

Press WIN+SHIFT+E to exit sway and start it again. Now you can summon sway overview by pressing and holding CMD+1 or right clicking on the status bar. If fonts are too small or you want an other font change it under ~/.conifg/sov/html/main.css

Part Three - Installing Wayland Control Panel

Clone the Kinetic UI Dameon repo, build and install

git clone https://github.com/milgra/kuid
cd kuid
meson setup build
ninja -C build
sudo ninja -C build install
cd ..

Clone the Wayland Control Panel repo, install

git clone https://github.com/milgra/wcp
cd wcp
mkdir ~/.config/wcp
cp wcp-template.sh ~/.config/wcp/wcp.sh
cp -R res ~/.config/wcp/
cd ..

Update ~/.config/wcp/wcp.sh to suit your needs, or use wcp-void.sh or wcp-debian.sh from the repo.

Press WIN+SHIFT+E to exit sway and start it again. Now you can summon wayland control panel by pressing WIN+P or by left clicking on the status bar ( The buttons/sliders won't work yet. ) If fonts are too small or you want an other font change it under ~/.conifg/wcp/res/main.css

Part Four - Make SwayOS comfortable & Wayland Control Panel usable

Install grim and slurp for making screenshots

• Press WIN+PRTSRC to put a screenshot or WIN+SHIFT+PRTSCR to put a region under ~/Downloads. Create ~/Downloads directory if doesn't exist. Modify key bindings in ~/.config/sway/config

Install swayidle and swaylock

• Press WIN+L to lock and switch off display
• Uncomment the swayidle & swayblock related exec part from the bottom of ~/.config/sway/config if you need auto lock and auto idle ( and reload sway )

Install wob for volume/brightness indication

• Restart sway, if you have pamixer and brightnessctl installed then press volume/brightness keys on the keyboard to make wob visible. Modify key bindings in ~/.config/sway/config

Install brightnessctl for controlling monitor brightness

• Press brighntess keys on the keyboard to modify brightness Modify key bindings in ~/.config/sway/config

Install pavuctl and pamixer for detailed audio control

• Press the volume icon on the control panel to open pavucontrol or bind a key in ~/.config/sway/config

Install wdisplays for display configuration

• Press the display icon on the control panel to open wdisplays or bind a key in ~/.config/sway/config

Install iwd and iwgtk for smooth wifi experience

• Press the wifi icon on the control panel to open iwgtk ( if you have it ) or bind a key in ~/.config/sway/config

Install blueman for visual bluetooth setup

• Press the bluetooth icon on the control panel to open blueman ( if you have it ) or bind a key in ~/.config/sway/config

Install google-chrome or your favorite browser

• Press WIN+SHIFT+ENTER to open it or edit ~/.config/sway/config to modify the browser or the bindings

Part Five - Install zsh with autosuggestions and autostart sway on login

Install zsh and zsh-autosuggestions and dbus

If your distro doesn't have dbus, install it and enable it as a service.

Change shell to zsh :

chsh -s /bin/zsh

Now zsh will setup XDG_SESSION_DIR and start sway automatically as a dbus session on the default terminal ( sway as a dbus session is needed for pipewire and other programs ). It will also remember every command you typed and offers command completion which is the best thing in terminals. zsh-autosuggestions location may differ on different distros, edit ~/.zshrc with the correct location if error emerges.

If you want sway to run on vulkan backend, uncomment this line in .zshrc :

export WLR_RENDERER=vulkan

Part Six - Pipewire, Wireplumber and xdg-dekstop-portal-wlr

If you want screen sharing under sway/wayland you will need pipewire with wireplumber and xdg-desktop-portal-wlr. You may also have to install pipewire-pulse and libspa-bluetooth packages for bluetooth audio. If you use a non-systemd distribution you have to start these manually, in this case uncomment the autostart parts at the bottom of ~/.config/sway/config

For screen sharing in chromium/google chrome set preferred ozone platform to wayland under chrome://flags.

How to do it on Void Linux :

sudo xbps-install -y pipewire libspa-bluetooth xdg-desktop-portal-wlr
sudo usermod -a $USER -G bluetooth
sudo ln -s /etc/sv/bluetoothd /var/service
mkdir -p /etc/pipewire/pipewire.conf.d
ln -s /usr/share/examples/wireplumber/10-wireplumber.conf /etc/pipewire/pipewire.conf.d/
ln -s /usr/share/examples/pipewire/20-pipewire-pulse.conf /etc/pipewire/pipewire.conf.d/

// uncomment these lines in ~/.config/sway/config
exec pipewire
exec /usr/libexec/xdg-desktop-portal-wlr -r
exec sleep 1 && /usr/libexec/xdg-desktop-portal -r

How to do it on Debian Bookworm :

sudo apt-get install pipewire-audio xdg-desktop-portal-wlr

// uncomment these lines in ~/.config/sway/config
exec /usr/libexec/xdg-desktop-portal-wlr -r
exec sleep 1 && /usr/libexec/xdg-desktop-portal -r

Part Seven - Fine tune the looks of SwayOS

Set the default fonts and font sizes for GTK applications with gnome-tweaks, use Ubuntu font since it is the default for SwayOS

Set dark mode for GTK 4 apps by typing gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface color-scheme prefer-dark
Set dark mode for GTK 3 apps ( chromium ) by typing

mkdir ~/.config/gtk-3.0
echo '[Settings]\ngtk-application-prefer-dark-theme=1' > ~/.config/gtk-3.0/settings.ini

Set font sizes according to your display size and resolution for foot, sway and swaybar, if your screen res is too high/low

If you want other input sources/keymaps for other languages, edit ~/.config/sway/config and uncomment/edit the input part at the top.

Part Eight - Distro specific notes

Void Linux

To enable shutdown/reboot/suspend present in wcp-void.sh

sudo echo "$USER ALL=NOPASSWD:/sbin/reboot,/sbin/poweroff,/sbin/zzz" | sudo tee -a /etc/sudoers

Clean package cache and remove orphaned packages and kernels

sudo xbps-remove -yO
sudo xbps-remove -yo
sudo vkpurge rm all

Disable beeping

echo 'blacklist pcspkr' | sudo tee -a /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf

Q&A

Why is it named SwayOS? This is just a config/program collection on other OS's
True, but SwayDesktop sounds lame and generic

Where are the installer scripts from 2.0 and 1.0?
No time & energy to maintain those. Also this helps understanding Desktop/OS internals

Donations

paypal : https://paypal.me/milgra
patreon : https://www.patreon.com/milgra
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