Latest revision as of 21:50, 28 November 2023

Prerequisites

Install AlpineLinux
Create a user account (optional but recommended)
Enable the Community repository

Installing packages

Install basic desktop system and gnome packages.

# setup-desktop gnome

It will take care of installing the basic packages and setting up the display manager.

If you want, you can install additional GNOME apps for a more complete GNOME experience with:

# apk add gnome-apps-extra

And even all of GNOME games with:

# apk add gnome-games-collection

Enabling GNOME Shell screen recording

For the embedded screen recording in GNOME Shell to work, you will need some additional packages:

# apk add pipewire wireplumber gst-plugin-pipewire

Enabling GNOME Software

For GNOME Software to be able to manage APK packages, it needs the apk-polkit-server service working. To enable it and start it up:

# rc-update add apk-polkit-server default && rc-service apk-polkit-server start

Troubleshooting

If you are unable to log in, check /var/log/gdm/greeter.log, there may be info there from X that indicates failed modules, etc.

If GNOME Terminal doesn't start, add the following to /etc/profile.d/locale.sh: LANG=en_US.UTF-8 and reboot.

If the on-screen keyboard shows up in GDM after installing other UIs such as Phosh, you need to disable it by opening the Accessibility menu (top right) when you are in the GDM login screen. You can disable the on-screen keyboard there. Or set org.gnome.desktop.a11y.applications screen-keyboard-enabled to false for the gdm user with dconf

Slow applications or rendering issues

Please note that some applications, i.e. Gnome Web (Epiphany), may require the installation of libraries related to hardware acceleration to work correctly.

In quite some cases, this can be solved by installing mesa-gles (OpenGL ES). Check if you you have issues loading the shared library libGLESv2.so.2. If so, you can install it with:

# apk add mesa-gles

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-= Initial setup =
-Start by booting up Alpine (see [[Installation|these]] instructions on how to do that)<BR>
-When you Alpine is up and running, do the initial setup.
-{{Cmd|setup-alpine}}
-Add either the v2.2 or the edge repo
+= Prerequisites =
-{{Cmd|echo "http://dl-3.alpinelinux.org/alpine/v2.2/packages/main" >> /etc/apk/repositories}}
-OR
-{{Cmd|echo "http://dl-3.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/packages/main" >> /etc/apk/repositories}}
-= Install packages =
+* [[Installation|Install]] AlpineLinux
-Install basic desktop system and gnome packages.<BR>
+* [[Setting_up_a_new_user#Creating_a_new_user|Create a user account]] (optional but recommended)
-This might take a few minutes depending on your network speed.
+* [[Repositories#Enabling_the_community_repository|Enable the Community repository]]
-{{Cmd|apk add alpine-desktop gnome-base}}
-== Optional packages ==
+= Installing packages =
-=== Video and Input packages ===
-You <u>might</u> also want to install a package suitable for your video chipset and input devices.<BR>
-For example, if you have an Sis video chipset install 'xf86-video-sis', for Intel video chipset install 'xf86-video-intel'.<BR>
-{{Cmd|apk add xf86-video-sis}}
-and / or
-{{Cmd|apk add xf86-input-synaptics}}
-Run 'apk search xf86-video*' to see available xf86-video packages.<BR>
+Install basic desktop system and gnome packages.
-Run 'apk search xf86-input*' to see available xf86-input packages.<BR>
+{{Cmd|# setup-desktop gnome}}
-=== acpid ===
+It will take care of installing the basic packages and setting up the display manager.
-If you installed your Alpine Linux as a VirtualBox or VMWare guest you might find it handy be able send ACPI shutdown.<BR>
-{{Cmd|rc-update add acpid}}
-= Configure xorg-server (optional) =
+If you want, you can install additional GNOME apps for a more complete GNOME experience with:
-You can configure xorg-server and make your modifications
+{{Cmd|# apk add gnome-apps-extra}}
-{{Cmd|Xorg -configure}}
-This will result in `/root/xorg.conf.new`. You can modify this file to fit your needs.<BR>
-(When finished modifying and testing the above configuration file, move it to `/etc/X11/xorg.conf` for normal usage.)
-== udev ==
+And even all of GNOME games with:
-Adding udev might help you with some finicky hardware like touchpads.
+{{Cmd|# apk add gnome-games-collection}}
-{{Cmd|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...
-{{Cmd|apk add xf86-input-evdev}}
-= Create user accounts =
+= Enabling GNOME Shell screen recording =
-Create a normal user account.
+For the embedded screen recording in GNOME Shell to work, you will need some additional packages: {{cmd|# apk add pipewire wireplumber gst-plugin-pipewire}}
-{{Cmd|adduser ncopa}}
-Optionally, give that user sudo permissions in /etc/sudoers.
+= Enabling GNOME Software =
+For GNOME Software to be able to manage APK packages, it needs the <code>apk-polkit-server</code> service working. To enable it and start it up:
+{{cmd|# rc-update add apk-polkit-server default && rc-service apk-polkit-server start}}
-= Start your desktop =
+= Troubleshooting =
-Start lxdm and log in with your new user.
-{{Cmd|rc-service lxdm start}}
-Once you have verified that it actually works you can make lxdm start up at boot:
+If you are unable to log in, check /var/log/gdm/greeter.log, there may be info there from X that indicates failed modules, etc.
-{{Cmd|rc-update add lxdm}}
-= Troubleshooting =
+If GNOME Terminal doesn't start, add the following to /etc/profile.d/locale.sh: <code>LANG=en_US.UTF-8</code> and reboot.
-If you are unable to login, check /var/log/lxdm.log, there may be output there from X to indicate failed modules, etc.
+If the on-screen keyboard shows up in GDM after installing other UIs such as Phosh, you need to disable it by opening the Accessibility menu (top right) when you are in the GDM login screen. You can disable the on-screen keyboard there. Or set <code>org.gnome.desktop.a11y.applications screen-keyboard-enabled</code> to <code>false</code> for the <code>gdm</code> user with <code>dconf</code>
+== Slow applications or rendering issues ==
+Please note that some applications, i.e. Gnome Web (Epiphany), may require the installation of libraries related to hardware acceleration to work correctly.
+In quite some cases, this can be solved by installing <code>mesa-gles</code> (OpenGL ES). Check if you you have issues loading the shared library <code>libGLESv2.so.2</code>. If so, you can install it with:
+{{Cmd|# apk add mesa-gles}}
+== See also ==
+* [https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/GNOME GNOME - Archwiki]
+* [https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/GNOME GNOME - Gentoo Wiki]
+* [https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/GNOME GNOME - PostmarketOS Wiki]
+[[Category:Desktop]]
+[[Category:Desktop Environments]]