Retro-Futuristic Linux Rice

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Screenshot - Main Rice

Screenshot 2 - Main Rice

Screenshot 3 - Alternate Version

Screenshot 4 - Alternate Version

diinki-retrofuture is a rice that revolves around this youtube video, where I teach how to make this exact rice from scratch. Naturally, the github version has cleaner config files and more comments, I bid you a read of the config files and code; you will need to edit some lines yourself regardless.

This project also includes a GTK3/4 theme which matches the aesthetic.

📌 Installation Steps

Feel free to watch this part of my video where I demonstrate how to install this rice.

I assume you use arch / arch-based, but the steps should be similar regardless.

1. Installation

   • Run sudo pacman -S sway wofi waybar nemo nautilus kitty dconf dconf-editor in your terminal.
   • Run yay eww in your terminal (you will need to install yay).
   • Install the Maple Mono font, as this font is used a lot in this Linux rice. Move the font-file to /usr/share/fonts, then run fc-cache -f -v to update the fonts.
   • Run git clone https://github.com/diinki/diinki-retrofuture to clone this repo, or install it from the Releases section.

2. Configuration & Setup

   • Copy all folders in the diinki-retrofuture/config directory to your local user .config directory (~/.config). Skip the hypr folder if you don't also want the hyprland config files.
   • Copy the diinki-retro-dark folder in diinki-retrofuture/gtk_theme to your local .themes directory (~/.themes), you may need to create this directory manually.
   • Use a text editor to edit the sway config file in ~/.config/sway/config. You need to edit the config to setup your wallpaper and monitor settings. I've commented the file with the steps.
   • Enter dconf-editor in your terminal to open up the dconf gui program, search "gtk-theme", and set the theme value to diinki-retro-dark. You may also use dconf to set your icon theme and cursor theme to ones of your liking.

3. Creative Liberty

   • I have the config files in a concise and descriptive manner, I recommend reading them and editing them as you see fit; you may want to add or change things, such as the keybinds for sway, or the fonts used.
   • Feel free to continue reading this document for more details on the design & softwares used.

   Note: I have also included a Hyprland Config Directory (config/hypr), in case you want to use this rice with Hyprland, it works by default and the only thing you need to do is drag the hypr folder into your ~/.config directory.

⌨️ Keyboard bindings

All key-binds can be find in the sway config file, simply refer to those and edit them if you'd like. The most important default bindings are:

• mod = the super key, (the windows key, as some people refer to it as). You can re-bind mod to something else if you wish.

• mod + Enter = launch terminal.

• mod + D = launch application launcher.

• mod + [any number, 1-9] = switch focus to the workspace equivalent to the number.

• mod + Shift + [any number, 1-9] = move the focused window to the workspace equivalent to the number.

• mod + Shift + Space = toggle floating mode for the focused window.

• mod + Shift + C = restart eww and all other things such as waybar and eww.

• mod + Q = Exit/Kill the focused window.

• mod + F = toggle full-screen mode for the focused window.

• mod + Right Mouse Button = re-size a window

• mod + Left Mouse Button = move a window

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💾 Toolkit & Software

This rice uses the following tools and softwares:

• sway (The window manager)
• hyprland (The alternate window manager)
• wofi (Application Launcher)
• waybar (Taskbar/Infobar)
• dconf & dconf-editor (Used to edit gtk themes and cursors, and default softwares used)
• nemo or nautilus (File explorer).
• kitty (The terminal Emulator)
• themix-oomix (Used to create the non GTK4 themes.)
• network-manager-applet (Used for tray and other nm things, probably installed with your OS by default.)
• eww (Widgets)

ℹ️ In the guide I used EndeavorOS with Gnome as a basis and showed how to switch from gnome to sway. In order to boot between swaygnome I decided to demonstrate the ly login manager.

• ly Login/Display manager that's used.

🖌️ Design Language

This Linux rice is simple in essence, no massive and complicated config files and designs; that being said there's still thought put into the design of each element in order to achieve a Retro Futuristic Aesthetic, this includes the design for the wallpapers included with this rice.

Design system descriptions can be found in the design_system directory of this repository.

🎨 Color Palette

The main color palette used widely for this rice in both the GTK themes and other components are:

Core:

• Accent: #AC82E9
• Accent Deep: #8F56E1
• Dark: #141216
• Lighter Dark #27232b
• Foreground: #d8cab8
• Complementary Accent: #c4e881

Additional:

• Warning: #fcb167
• Danger: #fc4649
• Yellow: #f3fc7b
• Green: #c4e881
• Blue: #7b91fc
• Cyan: #92fcfa
• Magenta: #fc92fc

🌆 Wallpapers:

Wallpapers for this rice can be found in the wallpapers directory of this repo.

You may use sway-fx instead of sway, which is a fork of sway with additional features such as shadows, rounded edges, and blur; hyprland also has those features which baseline sway doesn't posses.

All Wallpapers included in this repo are bespoke for the rice, made by me. Additional elements may have been cut-out / traced from images, I'll include credit if I find the reference sources.

🖋️ Fonts:

I mainly use the Maple Mono font in this rice, it's a good font and so I recommend installing it. You can edit the font by editing the config files.

For other unicode symbols, you will likely need to download nerd-fonts.

You can install the font directly from github, I recommend keeping it relatively up-to-date. Move the font files to your system /usr/share/fonts directory, then update the font cache by running fc-cache -f -v

GTK & Icon Theme:

I recommend using the included GTK theme, however for the icon theme you may pick whichever you like. The GTK theme is likely what would change most if I ever update this rice.

Alternate Version:

The alternate_version directory contains alternate configs for alternate designs of this rice. it's an alternate style that incorporates blur and corner radii into the design, yet maintains the same colors.

Note: Using the alternate version will require either using the alternate hypr config with hyprland, or installing swayfx so you can set-up blur; the alternate versions wont look good without blur; which default sway doesn't support.

📜 License

This project is licensed under the MIT permissive license.