fairyglade/ly

Note: the above animation can be found here!

Ly is a lightweight TUI (ncurses-like) display manager for Linux and BSD, designed with portability in mind and doesn't require systemd to run.

Join us on Matrix over at #ly-dm:matrix.org!

• zig 0.17.x (you must use a release version of zig; check that zig version does not have a -dev* suffix)

• libc

• pam

• xcb (optional, required by default; needed for X11 support)

• xorg

• xorg-xauth

• brightnessctl

# apt install build-essential libpam0g-dev libxcb-xkb-dev xauth xserver-xorg brightnessctl

# dnf install kernel-devel pam-devel libxcb-devel zig xorg-x11-xauth xorg-x11-server brightnessctl

# ausearch -m avc -ts recent

denied { transition } for pid=XXXX comm="ly" path="/usr/bin/bash"
scontext=system_u:system_r:unconfined_service_t:s0
tcontext=unconfined_u:unconfined_r:unconfined_t:s0
tclass=process permissive=0

# ausearch -m avc -ts recent | audit2allow -M ly-local

# semodule -i ly-local.pp

# pkg install ca_root_nss libxcb git xorg xauth

Enter a development shell with all dependencies:

$ git clone https://codeberg.org/fairyglade/ly.git && cd ly
$ nix develop

Then follow Manually building from the zig build step.

If you want to pimp your Ly installation even further than what the traditional configuration file allows you to, a community repository exists containing custom animations & scripts, so go check it out!

Every environment that works on other login managers also should work on Ly.

• Unlike most login managers Ly has an xinitrc and shell entry.

• If you installed your favorite environment and you don't see it, that's because Ly doesn't automatically refresh itself. To fix this you should restart Ly service (depends on your init system) or the easy way is to reboot your system.

• If your environment is still missing then check at /usr/share/xsessions or /usr/share/wayland-sessions to see if a .desktop file is present.

• If there isn't a .desktop file then create a new one at /etc/ly/custom-sessions that launches your favorite environment. These .desktop files can be only seen by Ly and if you want them system-wide you also can create at those directories instead.

• If Xorg sessions don't work then check if your distro compiles Ly with Xorg.

• Logs are defined by /etc/ly/config.lua or /etc/ly/config.ini:

• The session log is located at ~/.local/state/ly-session.log by default.

• The system log is located at /var/log/ly.log by default.

The procedure for manually building Ly is pretty standard:

$ git clone https://codeberg.org/fairyglade/ly.git && cd ly
$ zig build

After building, you can (optionally) test Ly in a terminal emulator, although authentication will not work:

$ zig build run

The next sections will explain how to use Ly with a variety of init systems. Detailed explanation is only given for systemd, but should be applicable for all.

Now, you can install Ly on your system:

# zig build installexe -Dinit_system=systemd

Note that you also need to disable your current display manager. For example, if you are using LightDM, you can execute the following command:

# systemctl disable lightdm.service

Then, similarly to the previous command, you need to enable the Ly service:

# systemctl enable ly@tty2.service

# systemctl disable getty@tty2.service

On non-systemd systems, you can change the TTY Ly will run on by editing the corresponding service file for your platform.

# zig build installexe -Dinit_system=openrc
# rc-update del lightdm
# rc-update add ly
# rc-update del agetty.tty2

# zig build installexe -Dinit_system=runit
# unlink /var/service/lightdm
# ln -s /etc/sv/ly /var/service/
# touch /etc/sv/agetty-tty2/down
# unlink /var/service/agetty-tty2

# zig build installexe -Dinit_system=s6
# s6-rc -d change lightdm
# s6-service add default ly-srv
# s6-db-reload
# s6-rc -u change ly-srv

To disable TTY 2, edit /etc/s6/config/tty2.conf and set SPAWN="no".

# zig build installexe -Dinit_system=dinit
# dinitctl disable lightdm
# dinitctl enable ly

To disable TTY 2, go to /etc/dinit.d/config/console.conf and modify ACTIVE_CONSOLES.

# zig build installexe -Dinit_system=sysvinit
# update-rc.d lightdm disable
# update-rc.d ly defaults

To disable TTY 2, go to /etc/inittab and comment out the line containing tty2.

# zig build installexe -Dprefix_directory=/usr/local -Dconfig_directory=/usr/local/etc -Dinit_system=freebsd
# sysrc lightdm_enable="NO"

To enable Ly, add the following entry to /etc/gettytab:

Ly:\
	:lo=/usr/local/bin/ly_wrapper:\
	:al=root:

Then, modify the command field of the ttyv1 terminal entry in /etc/ttys (TTYs in FreeBSD start at 0):

ttyv1 "/usr/libexec/getty Ly" xterm on secure

You can also install Ly without overriding the current configuration file. This is called updating. To update, simply run:

# zig build installnoconf

You can, of course, still select the init system of your choice when using this command.

You can find all the configuration in /etc/ly/config.lua. The file is fully commented, and includes the default values.

It uses the Lua language, which means you can make the configuration dynamic. You could, for example, choose a random animation each time Ly starts up.

You may also check the validity of your configuration file (i.e. if there are any errors in it) with the following command:

$ ly --validate-config /etc/ly/config.lua

Use the Up/Down arrow keys to change the current field, and the Left/Right arrow keys to scroll through the different fields (whether it be the info line, the desktop environment, or the username). The info line is where messages and errors are displayed.

If your .xinitrc file doesn't work, make sure it is executable and includes a shebang. This file is supposed to be a shell script! Quoting from xinit's man page:

If no specific client program is given on the command line, xinit will look for a file in the user's home directory called .xinitrc to run as a shell script to start up client programs.

A typical shebang for a shell script looks like this:

#!/bin/sh

• The numlock and capslock states are printed in the top-right corner.
• Use the F1 and F2 keys to respectively shutdown and reboot.
• Take a look at your .xsession file if X doesn't start, as it can interfere (this file is launched with X to configure the display properly).

The name "Ly" is a tribute to the fairy from the game Rayman. Ly was tested by oxodao, who is some seriously awesome dude.

Also, Ly wouldn't be there today without ashametrine, who has done significant contributions to the project for the Zig rewrite, which lead to the release of Ly v1.0.0. Massive thanks, and sorry for not crediting you enough beforehand!

If you like Ly and wish to support my work further, feel free to donate via my Liberapay!