How To Install xmonad on Ubuntu 18.04
Introduction
In this tutorial we learn how to install xmonad on Ubuntu 18.04.
What is xmonad
xmonad is:
Xmonad is a minimalist tiling window manager for X, written in Haskell. Windows are managed using automatic layout algorithms, which can be dynamically reconfigured. At any time windows are arranged so as to maximise the use of screen real estate. All features of the window manager are accessible purely from the keyboard: a mouse is entirely optional. Xmonad is configured in Haskell, and custom layout algorithms may be implemented by the user in config files. A principle of Xmonad is predictability: the user should know in advance precisely the window arrangement that will result from any action.
This package comes pre-configured with the default configuration. If you want to build your custom-configured version, make sure that libghc-xmonad-dev is installed and put your configuration in ~/.xmonad/xmonad.hs
There are three methods to install xmonad on Ubuntu 18.04. We can use apt-get, apt and aptitude. In the following sections we will describe each method. You can choose one of them.
Install xmonad Using apt-get
Update apt database with apt-get using the following command.
sudo apt-get update
After updating apt database, We can install xmonad using apt-get by running the following command:
sudo apt-get -y install xmonad
Install xmonad Using apt
Update apt database with apt using the following command.
sudo apt update
After updating apt database, We can install xmonad using apt by running the following command:
sudo apt -y install xmonad
Install xmonad Using aptitude
If you want to follow this method, you might need to install aptitude first since aptitude is usually not installed by default on Ubuntu. Update apt database with aptitude using the following command.
sudo aptitude update
After updating apt database, We can install xmonad using aptitude by running the following command:
sudo aptitude -y install xmonad
How To Uninstall xmonad on Ubuntu 18.04
To uninstall only the xmonad package we can use the following command:
sudo apt-get remove xmonad
Uninstall xmonad And Its Dependencies
To uninstall xmonad and its dependencies that are no longer needed by Ubuntu 18.04, we can use the command below:
sudo apt-get -y autoremove xmonad
Remove xmonad Configurations and Data
To remove xmonad configuration and data from Ubuntu 18.04 we can use the following command:
sudo apt-get -y purge xmonad
Remove xmonad configuration, data, and all of its dependencies
We can use the following command to remove xmonad configurations, data and all of its dependencies, we can use the following command:
sudo apt-get -y autoremove --purge xmonad
References
Summary
In this tutorial we learn how to install xmonad package on Ubuntu 18.04 using different package management tools: apt, apt-get and aptitude.
