--- title1: Installing GNOME2 title2: on Arch Linux break:
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--- # %(title1)% # %(title2)% %(break)% ## Introduction With the recent release of [GNOME3](http://www.gnome3.org/), it has become virtually impossible to productively use the GNOME desktop. Forcing the netbook interface upon the desktop computer isn't a smart decision in my opinion, so I am one of the few who has chosen not to upgrade to the sleek yet unproductive GNOME3 interface: ![GNOME3: upgrading aesthetics, downgrading everything else.](images/gnome3.png) %(break)% ## Installing Xorg Since the Arch repos are all hosting only GNOME3 now, you can use the Arch Rollback Machine (ARM) and work with a snapshot of the main repository. I've found that the last non-GNOME3 snapshot was from April 30, 2011. No other mirrors exists as far as I can tell, so that's the only mirror you can safely use for now. Overwrite your `/etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist` with this single line to use the ARM as your one and only mirror: # Replace "x86_64" with "i686" if you are running 32-bit Arch. Server = http://arm.konnichi.com/2011/04/30/$repo/os/x86_64/ Now that you've switched repositories, update your Pacman package database to reflect those changes: pacman -Syy Install Xorg to get started: pacman -S xorg-server xorg-xinit xorg-utils xorg-server-utils Xorg might need some more packages to actually work with your hardware: # If you're using a laptop with a trackpad: pacman -S xf86-input-synaptics # Video drivers for ATI cards: pacman -S xf86-video-ati # Video drivers for Intel cards: pacman -S xf86-video-intel # Video drivers for newer Nvidia cards: pacman -S nvidia nvidia-utils # Video drivers for older Nvidia cards (Geforce FX series): pacman -S nvidia-173xx nvidia-173xx-utils # Video drivers for ancient Nvidia cards: pacman -S nvidia-96xx nvidia-96xx-utils %(break)% ## Installing GNOME2 ### The Core Now, time to install the full GNOME2 experience: pacman -S gnome gnome-extra gnome-system-tools gksu gamin consolekit %(break)% ### GDM To start GNOME upon boot with GNOME Display Manager (GDM), the login screen for GNOME, edit your `/etc/rc.conf`. The last line of the file should look somewhat like this: # ----------------------------------------------------------------------- # DAEMONS # ----------------------------------------------------------------------- # # Daemons to start at boot-up (in this order) # - prefix a daemon with a ! to disable it # - prefix a daemon with a @ to start it up in the background # DAEMONS=(syslog-ng dbus hal netfs crond cups alsa) Add GDM at the end of the `DAEMONS` list: # ----------------------------------------------------------------------- # DAEMONS # ----------------------------------------------------------------------- # # Daemons to start at boot-up (in this order) # - prefix a daemon with a ! to disable it # - prefix a daemon with a @ to start it up in the background # DAEMONS=(syslog-ng dbus hal netfs crond cups alsa gdm) Now, when you reboot, the login manager should greet you. %(break)% ### User Directories I'm not sure why GNOME doesn't create the default user folders automatically, but it's quite simple to do manually: pacman -S xdg-user-dirs xdg-user-dirs-update Now the Downloads, Documents, Music, etc. folders should be created with the appropriate icons. %(break)% ### Network Manager When dealing with internet connections, Networkmanager is a nice graphical network configuration tool, used in Ubuntu and almost every other GNOME-based Linux distro. You can install it with Pacman: pacman -S networkmanager network-manager-applet You'll have to configure it similarly to GDM, by adding the daemon to `/etc/rc.conf`. The last line of the file looks somewhat like this: # ----------------------------------------------------------------------- # DAEMONS # ----------------------------------------------------------------------- # # Daemons to start at boot-up (in this order) # - prefix a daemon with a ! to disable it # - prefix a daemon with a @ to start it up in the background # DAEMONS=(syslog-ng dbus hal netfs crond cups alsa gdm) Add networkmanager in between `dbus` and `hal` in the `DAEMONS` list: # ----------------------------------------------------------------------- # DAEMONS # ----------------------------------------------------------------------- # # Daemons to start at boot-up (in this order) # - prefix a daemon with a ! to disable it # - prefix a daemon with a @ to start it up in the background # DAEMONS=(syslog-ng dbus networkmanager hal netfs crond cups alsa gdm) Once you reboot, Networkmanager should kick in (you might have to add the applet to your panel). If nothing happens, run it through the `ALT + F2` dialog: # After hitting ALT + F2 nm-applet %(break)% ### Sound If you want to play sound on your new GNOME2 install, you'll need a sound backend. I recommend `gstreamer`, as it works. Install gstreamer, the audio decoders, pulseaudio (a nice audio backend, used in Ubuntu), and the GNOME configuration utilities with Pacman: pacman -S pulseaudio-alsa paprefs pavucontrol pulseaudio-gnome gstreamer0.10 gstreamer0.10-bad gstreamer0.10-bad-plugins gstreamer0.10-base gstreamer0.10-base-plugins gstreamer0.10-ffmpeg gstreamer0.10-good gstreamer0.10-good-plugins gstreamer0.10-python gstreamer0.10-ugly gstreamer0.10-ugly-plugins For a nice music player, I recommend Rhythmbox. It's GNOME software and does what you'd expect a music player to do. ![Rhythmbox, how I adore thee](images/rhythmbox.png "Rhythmbox, how I adore thee") To install it, run Pacman: pacman -S rhythmbox %(break)% ## Lazy Installer As you can see, GNOME is pretty modular, so not everything comes pre-installed and configured. For the extremely