GNOME
Initial setup
Start by booting up Alpine (see these instructions on how to do that)
When you Alpine is up and running, do the initial setup.
setup-alpine
Install packages
Install basic desktop system and gnome packages.
This might take a few minutes depending on your network speed.
apk add setup-xorg-base alpine-desktop gnome-base lxdm
Optional packages
Video and Input packages
You might also want to install a package suitable for your video chipset and input devices.
For example, if you have an Sis video chipset install 'xf86-video-sis', for Intel video chipset install 'xf86-video-intel'.
apk add xf86-video-sis
and / or
apk add xf86-input-synaptics
Run 'apk search xf86-video*' to see available xf86-video packages.
Run 'apk search xf86-input*' to see available xf86-input packages.
acpid
If you installed your Alpine Linux as a VirtualBox or VMWare guest you might find it handy be able send ACPI shutdown.
rc-update add acpid
Configure xorg-server (optional)
You can configure xorg-server and make your modifications
Xorg -configure
This will result in `/root/xorg.conf.new`. You can modify this file to fit your needs.
(When finished modifying and testing the above configuration file, move it to `/etc/X11/xorg.conf` for normal usage.)
udev
Adding udev might help you with some finicky hardware like touchpads.
apk add udev /etc/init.d/udev start && /etc/init.d/udev-postmount start rc-update add udev sysinit rc-update add udev-postmount default
Adding evdev might also be necessary, for example if the keyboard doesn't work in X...
apk add xf86-input-evdev
Create user accounts
Create a normal user account.
adduser ncopa
Optionally, give that user sudo permissions in /etc/sudoers.
Start your desktop
Start lxdm and log in with your new user.
rc-service lxdm start
Once you have verified that it actually works you can make lxdm start up at boot:
rc-update add lxdm
Troubleshooting
If you are unable to login, check /var/log/lxdm.log, there may be output there from X to indicate failed modules, etc.