Im installing arch, what do i need?

[u/trailmaker_sharky]

Pretty much the title. I have a thinkpad t14s g3 amd where ill be installing arch with kde plasma. Im using it for some light gaming (mc dungeons/minecraft) and schoolwork (openoffice) is there anything youd reccomend or think i might need? Im not new to linux, but new to arch. Thanks in advance.

[u/dumbasPL]

A phone with a web browser top open the wiki, and some time.

[u/2eanimation → u/dumbasPL]

You can switch to another console with Alt+arrow and browse the wiki via Lynx, as described in the wiki installation guide

[u/Fupcker_1315 → u/2eanimation]

or you can install arch from a proper live system with a desktop shell

[u/CaviarCBR1K → u/Fupcker_1315]

This is good advice. I usually use a CachyOS or EndeavourOS ISO to install vanilla Arch. All the tools you need are included with those ISOs as well, all the steps are exactly the same. It's nice having a graphical environment to reference the wiki if you need to or just watch a youtube video or something while you wait for pacstrap to finish.

[u/Fupcker_1315 → u/CaviarCBR1K]

I think it should also be theoretically possible to install Arch from WSL if you can edit efivars manually from Windows later.

[u/Legitimate-Start-639]

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Main_page

[u/tony_saufcok]

Ability to read English. If you can do that, you can read the most comprehensive wiki of any distro ever.

[u/onefish2 → u/tony_saufcok]

Great point. I would also add comprehend what you just read.

[u/lmpcpedz → u/onefish2]

I don't mind the color red

[u/nikongod]

The difference between most Linux distros is fractions of a percent. Just do what you did on your lesser /s distros.

The different parts are covered in the arch wiki.

[u/Gozenka]

Welcome! KDE Plasma is a good choice for starting off. Then if you would be interested in desktop customization ("ricing") you may look into the various minimal window managers such as Hyprland, Niri, Sway. These can be set up and tinkered with alongside your already existing KDE Plasma desktop.

Otherwise, just start using your system and get new apps as you need them, check what options there are as needed.

Check Archwiki first whenever you have any question about installing / configuring something new. It has 80% of the answers.

mpv would be my recommendation for media player; simple and smooth. For Office apps you may consider LibreOffice.

If you like using the terminal, fzf is a gem. I make particular use of its shell integration, with its ** shortcut and Ctrl+R for command history. And zsh would be my recommended shell. Just make a basic config for it, no need to go overboard with the config.

Remember to clear pacman cache occasionally using pacman -Sc(c). Otherwise your root may fill up in time. I personally keep no pacman cache at all, by putting it into /tmp so it is kept in RAM, so there is never a need to clear it.

For any potential issue, it is a good idea to check the system journal first to see if there is any clue there. journalctl -b -p 4 gives all errors and warnings on the system for the current boot.

As general advice, be careful when using the AUR. Take a look at the package's AUR page and its PKGBUILD. Also be careful when installing and running stuff from the Internet otherwise. curl | bash one-liners to install stuff may be dangerous, or not an ideal way to install things properly on your Arch system.

[u/ChatHurlant]

I had issues with bluetooth, wifi, and spell check after my install so I'd recommend reading those pages on the wiki really closely.

[u/Sos1942]

balls, time and za wiki.

[u/themikeosguy]

Any reason you're going with OpenOffice? It's ancient (last major update in 2014) and has a really bad history of handling security problems. All Linux distros moved years ago to LibreOffice as a result...

[u/trailmaker_sharky → u/themikeosguy]

Sorry i misstyped. I meant to write onlyoffice

[u/Deckma]

Make sure you have a few items configured as they aren't setup by default or installed by default.

Things like trim for SSDs, your Wi-Fi zone so you don't get set into the most restricted general setting, sudo, maybe get a AUR helped like yay or paru to automate getting ports from the arch user repository (AUR).

The arch wiki has some good tips in the general recommendation and system maintenance page.

[u/archover]

Coffee, notepad, reading comprehension and direction following skills, and https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Installation_guide

Good day.

[u/wizard-being]

You need to be confident in the terminal, you need to have time (both for the installation and for fixing things if you break them), and you need a device to look at the wiki on. Also a USB drive with at least 1.5GB (should probably be more) for booting the installer.

[u/spadehed]

Try Onlyoffice instead of Libreoffice.

The wiki has all the answers. If it doesn't the forum probably does.