Setting up Linux Desktop

kenneth — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 05:54:48 +0000

Arch Linux

Finally got UEFI direct boot with LUKS-encrypted (without LVM) working, issue

change from old udev/Busybox hooks (encrypt) to systemd ones (sd-encrypt)
kernel params in efibootmgr boot entry changed e.g. cryptdevice now rd.luks.name, values/formats expected are also different.
check more carefully against online examples next time

Decided on Wayland for display server as it's supposed to be more modern and secure (who knows?)

Like the idea of Smithay-based compositors instead of wlroots as rust should be more memory-safe, decided to try Pinnacle comp with foot as the terminal emulator. Couldn't get foot to start.

Switched to niri as there was more discussion online, still couldn't get foot to start. Messed around with enabling the foot-server.socket, making sure it knows dependent on graphical-session.target as well.

Finally figured out the problem was missing font packages, decided on Hack.

Now foot works in Niri.

Thinking if I should switch back to pinnacle as i prefer dynamic tiling as the main paradigm (similar to old spectrwm), but pinnacle discord says it's no longer under active development, maintenance mode only.

Starting a Python project

kenneth — Thu, 16 Jul 2020 01:07:13 +0000

$ mkdir ~/my_project Create project directory under user home.
$ cd ~/my_project
$ git init Create git repo.
$ python -m venv venv Create virtual environment within the project directory. Preferred over a centralised virtual environments directory e.g. my_venvs/my_project as it is easier to find and manage. Not a hidden directory e.g. .venv for visibility.
$ source venv/bin/activate 5a. $ source venv/Scripts/activate for Python 3.9+
$ pip install pip --upgrade Because for some reason the virtual environment's pip is an older version?! Hints of Python dependency hell emerging.

DEV Community: kenneth

Setting up Linux Desktop

Starting a Python project