Title: Installing Alpine as a Desktop

	Title: Installing Alpine as a Desktop
	Author: Solène
	Date: 30 April 2023
	Tags: linux alpine
	Description: In this article, I'll share a bit about my experience for
	installing Alpine linux to get it working as a desktop system. This is
	mostly a cheatsheet with instructions and documentation link.

	# Introduction

	While I like Alpine because it's lean and minimal, I have always
	struggled to install it for a desktop computer because of the lack of
	"meta" packages that install everything.

	However, there now is a nice command that just picks your desktop
	environment of choice and sets everything up for you.

	This article is mostly a cheat sheet to help me remember how to install
	Alpine using a desktop environment, NetworkManager, man pages etc...
	Because Alpine is still a minimalist distribution and you need to
	install everything you think is useful.

	Alpine Linux official project page

	UPDATE 2023-05-03: I've been told that such a guide already existed in
	Alpine wiki 😅.

	Alpine Wiki about Post installation

	# Setup

	During the installation process started by `setup`, just type
	`syscrypt` for full disk encryption installation.

	## Installing a desktop environment

	The most missing part when using Alpine for me was figuring out which
	packages to install and which services to run to get a working GNOME or
	Plasma.

	But now, just run `setup-desktop` and enjoy.

	## Installing man pages

	A few packages are required to be able to read man pages.

	```
	# apk add docs less
	```

	If a man page is missing, search for the package name with the `-doc`
	suffix, using `apk search $package \| grep doc`.

	## Internationalization

	If you want your software in a language other than English, just use
	`apk add lang`, this will install the -lang packages for each installed
	package.

	## NetworkManager

	By default, the installer will ask you to set up networking, but if you
	want NetworkManager, you need to install it, enable it and disable the
	other services.

	As I prefer to avoid duplication of documentation, please refer to the
	relevant Wiki page.

	Alpine Wiki about NetworkManager

	You may want to add a few more packages:

	```
	apk add networkmanager-tui
	apk add networkmanager-openvpn-lang
	apk add networkmanager-openvpn
	apk add networkmanager-wifi
	```

	## Bluetooth

	Nothing special for Bluetooth, except NetworkManager will make it
	easier to use. The wiki has setup instructions.

	Alpine Wiki about Bluetooth

	## Use a recent kernel

	By default, Alpine Linux sticks to Long Term Support (LTS) kernels,
	which is fine, but for newer hardware, you may want to run the latest
	kernel available.

	Fortunately, the Alpine community repository provides the `linux-edge`
	package for the latest version.

	## Fonts

	You may want to install some extra fonts, because by default there is
	only the bare minimum, and your programs will look ugly.

	Alpine Wiki about Fonts

	## Emojis

	Having working emojis is important for me now, and Alpine only provide
	a default emoji font with black-and-white pictures, without the
	complete set.

	It's a single package to add in order to get your emojis working. The
	revelant Wiki page is linked below.

	Alpine Wiki about Emojis

	## Keep binary packages in cache

	If you want to keep all the installed packages in cache (so you could
	keep them for reinstalling, or share on your network), it's super easy.

	Run `setup-apkcache` and choose a location (or even pass it as a
	parameter), you're done. It's very handy for me because when I need to
	use Alpine in a VM, i just hook it to my LAN cache and I don't have to
	download packages again and again.

	# Conclusion

	Alpine Linux is becoming a serious, viable desktop Linux distribution,
	not just for containers or servers. It's still very minimalist and
	doesn't hold your hand, so while it's not for everyone, it's becoming
	accessible to enthusiasts and not just hardcore users.

	I suppose it's a nice choice for people who enjoy minimalism and don't
	like SystemD.

	# Credits

	Thanks to raspbeguy for the various hints about Alpine, and for making
	me trying it once again.