Initial setup

Warning: This document has yet to be fully tested

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

Add either the v2.2 or the edge repo

echo "http://dl-3.alpinelinux.org/alpine/v2.2/packages/main" >> /etc/apk/repositories

OR

echo "http://dl-3.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/packages/main" >> /etc/apk/repositories

Install packages

Install basic desktop system and gnome packages.
This might take a few minutes depending on your network speed.

apk add alpine-desktop gnome-base

Optional packages

xfce 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