Linux tips from Zoe

My distribution of choice is Artix Linux. It is similar to Arch Linux (it's just as beginner-unfriendly) but does not include systemd.

IMO Artix's main install guide is not quite as helpful as their runit install guide.

I have switched back to Arch just because Artix has various small problems that I did not want to keep putting up with. (Such as how their installer is so out of date that it is difficult to get pacman to work at all.)

I switched distros again, to Manjaro. When I have some Free Time™ (note: may be a while from now) I will substantially update this page based on what I have actually found useful


Recommended apps


Tips for using a minimalist linux distro on a laptop


mpd tutorial

mpd is a music player which runs as a linux service. it will make you feel very cool and linux hacker-y if you listen to music with it.

  1. Install mpd: On arch or artix this is just
    sudo pacman -S mpd
    , for other distros the package is probably also named mpd
  2. You can choose to configure mpd, (see the arch wiki page) but the default will work just fine with a folder called "music" in your home folder.
  3. Make mpd always run: On most distros you can run
    systemctl --user enable mpd
    then
    systemctl --user start mpd
    . On artix you'll have to start it some other way, I have it in my i3 config
  4. Install ncmpcpp: This is a client for mpd. It isn't the only client but I like it. It runs in the terminal. The name just stands for NCurses (text-based gui library) MPC (music player client), with the "C" changed to "CPP" bcuz it's written in C++. install it on arch/artix with
    sudo pacman -S ncmpcpp

What keys to press in ncmpcpp: (This isn't every key, but just the ones that I think are useful.)

More to this page coming soon!


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