I have been using debian OS for close to ten years now, anywhere there was a need for a linux set-up. There are many good things about debian like the fact that you can have a working machine in less than you can say “ctrl alt delete”. For me though it was the right time for a change.
I have decided to go with Arch for my next re-install. Things I like about Arch Linux so far: fairly well documented, more transparent about what is installed, the latest packages, less bloat.
This is also my second compiz adventure; so far so good:
I listed below the steps required to achieve this: compiz, transparency, semi-transparent Conky, cairo-dock and a panel bar (tint2).
install:
edit rc.conf:
LOCALE=”en_GB.UTF8
KEYMAP=”uk”
MOD_AUTOLOAD=”yes”
HOSTNAME=”[your hostname]”
ineterface=eth0
check:
/etc/hosts
/etc/locale.gen
/etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
test networking:
#ping -c 3 example.com
# pacman-db-upgrade
# pacman -Syy
upgrade system:
#pacman -Syu
add a user:
# adduser
additional groups (comma separated) []: audio,lp,optical,storage,video,wheel,games,power,scanner
install sudo:
pacman -S sudo
visudo (uncomment as appropriate – group wheel)
install X:
pacman -S xorg-server xorg-xinit xorg-utils xorg-server-utils mesa mesa-demos
setup Nvidia:
pacman -S xf86-video-nouveau
pacman -S nouveau-dri libgl
touchpad:
pacman -S xf86-input-synaptics
set-up keyboard in X:
#vi /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/10-evdev.con
add to [Identifier “evdev keyboard catchall”]:
Option “XkbLayout” “gb”
pacman -S dbus
add dbus to Daemons in rc.conf
pacman -S ttf-dejavu
# pacman -S compiz-core ccsm emerald fusion-icon compiz-fusion-plugins-main compiz-fusion-plugins-extra
# pacman -S tint2 conky gnome-terminal
install cairo-dock from AUR
$ sudo pacman -S base-devel
$ wget http://aur.archlinux.org/packages/cairo-dock/cairo-dock.tar.gz
$ tar xvfz cairo-dock.tar.gz
$ cd cairo-dock
$ makepkg -s
$ pacman -U cairo-dock-2.3.0-3-i686.pkg.tar.xz
cairo-dock-themes is installed in the same way.
my .xinitrc:
tint2 &
cairo-dock -o &
conky -o ~/.conkyrc &
exec ck-launch-session fusion-icon
my .conkyrc:
alignment top_right
background no
border_width 1
cpu_avg_samples 2
default_color white
default_outline_color white
default_shade_color white
draw_borders no
draw_graph_borders yes
draw_outline no
draw_shades no
use_xft yes
xftfont DejaVu Sans Mono:size=12
gap_x 5
gap_y 60
minimum_size 5 5
net_avg_samples 2
no_buffers yes
nvidia_display yes
out_to_console no
out_to_stderr no
extra_newline no
own_window yes
own_window_class Conky-semi
own_window_type normal
own_window_hints undecorated,below,sticky,skip_taskbar,skip_pager
own_window_argb_visual yes
own_window_argb_value 49
stippled_borders 0
update_interval 1.0
uppercase no
use_spacer none
show_graph_scale no
show_graph_range no
double_buffer yes
TEXT
$nodename – $sysname $kernel on $machine
$hr
${color 494949}Uptime:$color $uptime
${color 494949}Frequency (in MHz):$color $freq
${color 494949}Frequency (in GHz):$color $freq_g
${color 494949}RAM Usage:$color $mem/$memmax – $memperc% ${membar 4}
${color 494949}Swap Usage:$color $swap/$swapmax – $swapperc% ${swapbar 4}
${color 494949}CPU Usage:$color $cpu% ${cpubar 4}
${color 494949}Processes:$color $processes ${color grey}Running:$color $running_processes
$hr
${color 494949}File systems:
/ $color${fs_used /}/${fs_size /} ${fs_bar 6 /}
${color 494949}Networking:
Up:$color ${upspeed eth0} ${color 494949} – Down:$color ${downspeed eth0}
$hr
${color 494949}Name PID CPU% MEM%
${color lightgrey} ${top name 1} ${top pid 1} ${top cpu 1} ${top_mem mem_res 1}
${color lightgrey} ${top name 2} ${top pid 2} ${top cpu 2} ${top_mem mem_res 2}
${color lightgrey} ${top name 3} ${top pid 3} ${top cpu 3} ${top_mem mem_res 3}
${color lightgrey} ${top name 4} ${top pid 4} ${top cpu 4} ${top_mem mem_res 4}
Setting up auto mounting of devices
$ sudo pacman -S autof
$ sudo vi /etc/autofs/auto.master
uncomment the last line
$ cp /etc/autofs/auto.misc /etc/autofs/auto.media
$ vi /etc/rc.conf
add ‘autofs’ to DAEMONS section and ‘autofs4’ to modules
$ sudo reboot
make sure that the modules load and that’s it, auto-mounting sorted.