How do I change from gnome to i3 Debian 8

Question

I have read all over the Internet about changing text files or running commands to change my wm but none of them work. I have looked all around the gnome lock screen for a button allowing me to change my wm but I could find none. I have installed and uninstalled i3 multiple times but I cannot get it to run. Is anyone able to help?

Solution

The best way to get i3 installed and running from a Gnome3 Desktop is, first to install i3:

apt-get install i3

Other packages may also be useful:

apt-get install feh xautolock xbacklight

Then, in the gdm3 after selecting a user, just choose the i3 desktop.

My advice is to keep as much from your GNOME desktop. For this, just add the following in your ~/.config/i3/config file:

# audio controls
bindsym XF86AudioRaiseVolume exec --no-startup-id pactl set-sink-volume 1 +5%
bindsym XF86AudioLowerVolume exec --no-startup-id pactl set-sink-volume 1 -5%
bindsym XF86AudioMute exec --no-startup-id pactl set-sink-mute 1 toggle

# screen brightness controls
bindsym XF86MonBrightnessUp exec xbacklight -inc 10
bindsym XF86MonBrightnessDown exec xbacklight -dec 10

# screenlock
bindsym Control+Mod1+l exec gnome-screensaver-command -l

# custom settings
exec --no-startup-id gnome-session         # GNOME session
exec --no-startup-id gnome-settings-daemon # GNOME desktop settings
exec --no-startup-id gnome-screensaver     # GNOME screensaver
exec --no-startup-id xautolock -time 10 -locker 'gnome-screensaver-command -l'

# background image
exec --no-startup-id feh --bg-fill /path/to/background.png