ArchLinux - cllu/.rc GitHub Wiki

This page record my configuration to use linux as my main desktop. I have used lots of Linux distributions, like Debian/Ubuntu, Red Hat/CentOS etc. Before today, I only know that the Arch Linux Wiki is quite awesome. And finnaly I made my mind to have a try on Arch Linux. By the time I finish the installation, I really fall in love with it. It is really a gift for those who have strong desire of control and perfection.

  • Base: Arch Linux
  • Shell: zsh
  • Editor: Emacs, Vim
  • PDF: acroread(need to install ia32-libs)

Package Management

Archlinux use pacman as its package management system.

systemd

Another thing is systemd

X window

  • xinit, provide startx
  • awesome, window manager
  • xterm, X terminal
  • xscreensaver

Audio

Install two packages, alsa-utils and pulseaudio, use alsamixer to un-mute the sound.

Network

  • pptp-linux, to set up VPN connection.
  • wireless-tools, to provide utilities for wireless connection.
  • ssh

Python/Ruby package management

Now we can directly use pacman to manage the package.

Fonts

  • ttf-wqy-microhei
  • ttf-wqy-zenhei
  • xfonts-wqy
  • ttf-ubuntu-font-family
  • xfonts-terminus
  • ttf-dejavu, programming fonts.
  • fonts-inconsolata

文泉驿字体：

  • 文泉驿点阵宋体：wqy-bitmapfont
  • 文泉驿正黑体：wqy-zenhei，纯矢量字体

The aur package ttf-mac-fonts have fonts from MAC, extracted from safari for windows. ttf-ms-fonts and ttf-vista-fonts have fonts from Windows. The official ubuntu fonts ttf-ubuntu-font-family is also nice.

$ yaourt -S ttf-mac-fonts
$ yaourt -S ttf-ms-fonts 
$ yaourt -S ttf-vista-fonts
$ sudo pacman -S ttf-ubuntu-font-family

$ sudo pacman -S ttf-bitstream-vera

File

  • rar/p7zip.

R

add CRAN deb sourse to sources.list.d add .Renviron file to $HOME, including R_LIBS_USER variable definition ~/.usr/lib/R/library.

and set JAVA_HOME variable to point here.

clear up /var space

sudo apt-get clean

Migrate Linux Installation

I bought a new SSD and want to migrate the original Linux installation to new hard drive.

  • partition and format the new drive
  • Boot into recovery mode
  • mount the partition to some folder
  • cp the file [bash] cd / find ./ -xdev -print0 | cpio -pa0V /mnt/sdb1 [/bash]
  • update fstab
  • update grub

Move swap space

Sometimes you want to change swap, here are some quick notes.

sudo swapon -s # check currently enabled swap space
sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/swapfile bs=1024 count=524288 # make a new swap file.
sudo mkswap /swapfile # change to swap file
sudo chown root:root /swapfile 
sudo chmod 0600 /swapfile # more strict permission
sudo swapon /swapfile   # enable new swap file
sudo swapoff /var/swap # disable original swap
free -m # check current swap space.

iDevice Charge.

To charge my iTouch, I use this.

Gnome Shell

The ArchLinux's gnome group provides essential set of gnome applications. The following packages are removed:

  • epiphany
  • gnome-contacts
  • gnome-user-docs
  • totem
  • gnome-terminal

Audio

Install two packages, alsa-utils and pulseaudio, use alsamixer to un-mute the sound.

  • Music: Rhythmbox
  • Commonly used libraries: gstreamer, gst-libav.
  • Video: VLC

Network

  • pptp-linux, to set up VPN connection.
  • wireless-tools, to provide utilities for wireless connection.
  • ssh

File

  • rar/p7zip.

Misc

  • texlive
  • synergy
  • build-essential
  • octave
  • git/subversion/mercurial
  • mysql-server/sqlite
  • mplayer
  • sysstat, provide iostat command
  • cups, for printing.
  • gtk2-engines, gnome-icon-theme-full, for Clearlooks theme to work.
  • sshfs, to provide ssh filesystem support.
  • tree
  • axel to allow multi-connection download for large files.

Too many opened files

$ # append to /etc/security/limits.conf
*               -       nofile          32768
$ # append to /etc/sysctl.conf
fs.file-max=32768

Migrate Linux Installation

I bought a new SSD and want to migrate the original Linux installation to new hard drive.

  • partition and format the new drive
  • Boot into recovery mode
  • mount the partition to some folder
  • cp the file

cd / find ./ -xdev -print0 | cpio -pa0V /mnt/sdb1

  • update fstab
  • update grub

Move swap space

Sometimes you want to change swap, here are some quick notes.

sudo swapon -s # check currently enabled swap space sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/swapfile bs=1024 count=524288 # make a new swap file. sudo mkswap /swapfile # change to swap file sudo chown root:root /swapfile sudo chmod 0600 /swapfile # more strict permission sudo swapon /swapfile # enable new swap file sudo swapoff /var/swap # disable original swap free -m # check current swap space.

LaTex

  • texlive-core
  • texlive-fontsextra
  • texlive-pictures
  • texlive-latexextra, provides multirow for table

References