Arch post-install notes

Posted: 2021-12-05

Some of my notes on Arch Linux.

waves

Installing KDE

The conventional way to install it is to use either kde-applications package group or kde-applications-meta meta-package. My problem with this approach is that those groups contain a bunch of programs that, frankly, look like they would be of use to no one (PIM, Kontact, games, etc). So what I usually do is I install Plasma package group first:

pacman -S plasma

And then install only a small subset of KDE applications:

pacman -S ark filelight kate kcalc kdialog konsole \
          print-manager dolphin gwenview spectacle \
          okular

And I also recommend installing some optional dependencies for them:

pacman -S unrar p7zip kde-cli-tools ffmpegthumbs \
          kdegraphics-thumbnailers --asdeps

Subpixel rendering and the LCD filter

Subpixel rendering is now enabled by default (starting from FreeType 2.10.3).

If the letters seem to have a rainbow shade around them (especially in GTK applications), it makes sense to enable the LCD filter. Edit the file /etc/fonts/local.conf (or create it if it doesn’t exist):

<match target="font">
  <edit name="lcdfilter" mode="assign">
    <const>lcddefault</const>
  </edit>
</match>

Read more on ArchWiki: Subpixel rendering

Installing Wine

This section will only be relevant to users who want to run Windows programs or games.

Enable multilib repository first, as described in this article.

Install Wine:

pacman -S wine-staging

Install all its optional dependencies:

pacman -S giflib lib32-giflib libpng lib32-libpng libldap lib32-libldap gnutls lib32-gnutls mpg123 lib32-mpg123 openal lib32-openal v4l-utils lib32-v4l-utils libpulse lib32-libpulse alsa-plugins lib32-alsa-plugins alsa-lib lib32-alsa-lib libjpeg-turbo lib32-libjpeg-turbo libxcomposite lib32-libxcomposite libxinerama lib32-libxinerama ncurses lib32-ncurses opencl-icd-loader lib32-opencl-icd-loader libxslt lib32-libxslt libva lib32-libva gtk3 lib32-gtk3 gst-plugins-base-libs lib32-gst-plugins-base-libs vulkan-icd-loader lib32-vulkan-icd-loader

If you’re using DXVK/VKD3D/anything else Vulkan-related, you have to make sure you have the latest GPU drivers AND vulkan drivers installed. See this page for more information on what packages you might need depending on your GPU manufacturer.

See also: How to get out of Wine Dependency hell.

Wallpapers

Actually, Arch packages some nice wallpapers in its repositories!

pacman -S archlinux-wallpaper