Levels 58–61: Desktop Ricing

Level 58: X11, Wayland & Window Managers

Command	What it does
`echo $XDG_SESSION_TYPE`	Check whether you’re on X11 or Wayland
`loginctl list-sessions`	List every active login session
`ls /usr/share/xsessions`	List available X11 window manager sessions
`ls /usr/share/wayland-sessions`	List available Wayland-native sessions
`pgrep -l i3`	Check whether a specific WM process is running

Level 59: i3 Window Manager

A tiling window manager: no dragging windows, everything snaps into a grid, controlled entirely from the keyboard.

Command	What it does
`i3-msg reload`	Apply a config edit live, no restart
`i3-msg restart`	Restart i3 itself, preserving the current layout
`bindsym $mod+Return exec alacritty`	Bind a key to launch a terminal
`bindsym $mod+2 workspace 2`	Bind a key to switch workspace
`bindsym $mod+Shift+2 move container to workspace 2`	Bind a key to move a window to a workspace

Level 60: AwesomeWM & Compositors

AwesomeWM configures entirely in Lua. A compositor like picom adds the transparency, shadows, and smooth rendering a tiling WM doesn’t provide on its own.

Command	What it does
Lua	The language `rc.lua`, AwesomeWM’s config, is written in
`picom &`	Launch the compositor in the background
`picom --config ~/.config/picom.conf`	Launch with a specific config file
`pgrep picom`	Check for an already-running compositor
`pkill picom && picom -b`	Cleanly restart the compositor, daemonized

Level 61: Dotfiles & Theming

The tier’s closing skill: managing every config you just spent three levels tuning, so one command reproduces your whole setup on a new machine.

# The "dotfiles as a bare repo" trick
git init --bare $HOME/.dotfiles
alias config='/usr/bin/git --git-dir=$HOME/.dotfiles/ --work-tree=$HOME'
# from here: config add ~/.vimrc && config commit -m "vimrc"

# Or, package-based with GNU Stow
stow nvim

# Theming
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface gtk-theme "Nordic"
feh --bg-fill ~/Pictures/wallpaper.jpg

Finish this level and the run keeps going: five more tiers cover git, Docker, snap/flatpak, tmux, and a TUI toolbelt before graduation. See Git & Version Control for what’s next, or how to play for what the actual graduation ceremony looks like at the end of level 86.