dwm on os x [work in progress!]

DWM-ON-OS-X.md

Installing and configuring dwm on OS X

1. Install XQuartz (http://xquartz.macosforge.org) which is the development version of the X11.app that ships with OS X, which means it is way more up to date. I have had some weird issues with X11.app v. 2.3-something. XQuartz 2.5.0 fixed that.

2. Install dwm from Homebrew, brew install dwm. This makes a bunch of necessary tweaks to the DWM configuration.

3. Add the following script to $PATH, name it dwm-launch and chmod 755:

   cd ~
   while true
   do
     xsetroot -name "`date +"%Y-%m-%d %H:%M"`"
     sleep 5
   done &
   exec /usr/local/bin/dwm
   

4. Add the following to ~/.xinitrc:

   PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/bin
   xsetroot -solid '#4a525a'
   exec >>~/.xsession-errors 2>&1
   ~/bin/dwm-launch
   

5. Add the following to ~/.Xmodmap:

    remove Mod2 = Meta_L
    add Mod1 = Meta_L
   

6. X11 uxterm is launched as a non-login shell, which is undesirable. To launch uxterm as a login shell, add the following to ~/.Xdefaults:

   XTerm*foreground: white
   XTerm*background: black
   

7. Start X11.app. dwm should start. You need to change a few settings to make copy/paste between X11 and Aqua work. Go to X11 -> Preferences... and enable Emulate three button mouse under Input. Next, enable everything under Pasteboard.

   In X11 you copy text by selecting it with the mouse, and you paste by pressing Alt and clicking the mouse.

Issues

• After some time you might not be able to open new terminals. This has something to do with permissions, and can be fixed with xhost +. Do you know a permanent solution? (Possibly fixed with one of the settings under X11 -> Preferences… -> Security)