Skip to main content

KDE + Software Installation

Return to the Arch Index.


Info: These docs now use streamlined scripts for most tasks. Not a lot of manual steps needed.

The essentials
#

Quick Install
#

Lets get git and curl first:

sudo pacman -S --needed git curl

Run this one-liner to install all essentials:

curl -fsSL https://iua.lol/essentials | bash

Reflector
#

After the script completes, auto-select the fastest mirrors:

sudo nano /etc/xdg/reflector/reflector.conf
Disclaimer: NL = Netherlands. View all country codes here or remove --country NL for fastest global mirrors.

Add the following content:

--protocol https
--sort rate
--country NL  # Your country code
--latest 200
--save /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist

Enable the service:

sudo systemctl enable reflector.service

Start the service:

sudo systemctl start reflector.service



GPU Drivers
#

Warning: Install only the GPU drivers matching your hardware. Read carefully before proceeding.

For Nvidia GPU only, otherwise skip:

curl -fsSL https://iua.lol/nvidia | bash

For AMD GPU only, otherwise skip:

curl -fsSL https://iua.lol/amd | bash

For Intel GPU only, otherwise skip:

curl -fsSL https://iua.lol/intel | bash



Minimal KDE Install
#

Disclaimer: Minimal setup with core utilities (calculator, clock, PDF reader, media player).

Quick Install
#

I highly recommend to get at least a terminal and a browser. My choices are kitty and Brave. If you want some other package, you can look it up via pacman -Ss package-name or yay -Ss package-name:

sudo pacman -S --needed kitty

And for Brave browser:

yay -S --noconfirm brave-bin

Run this for a minimal KDE Plasma 6:

sudo pacman -S --needed plasma

Run this one-liner to install the rest of packages we need:

curl -fsSL https://iua.lol/kde | bash

Then reboot:

reboot

Done!
#

You’ve built a solid KDE Plasma 6 foundation with essential software. You can now install other packages of your liking (like steam, discord, etc) either from terminal or via the discover app.

Next: personal Setup with my preferred tools and tweaks. Highly recommend to stop here, as the below is more of my prefered setup and software.



Personal
#

Warning: This section covers my own personal preferred software and customizations. Continue for a setup like mine, or stop here.

Quick Install
#

Run this one-liner to install my own personal preferences and packages:

curl -fsSL https://iua.lol/personal | bash

After rebooting, we can then install some more via flatpak.

Grab hytale installation from hytale.com/download

Flatpak Packages:

flatpak install flathub com.discordapp.Discord
flatpak install flathub dev.vencord.Vesktop
flatpak install flathub com.slack.Slack
flatpak install flathub com.spotify.Client
flatpak install flathub org.videolan.VLC
flatpak --user install ~/Downloads/hytale-launcher-latest.flatpak



Finished!
#

Before rebooting, apply these essential settings for installed software and my preferred config files:

git clone https://github.com/purashy/dotfiles.git purafiles
cd purafiles
cp -r Wallpapers ~/Pictures
cd Configs
cp -r . ~/

Lets reboot
#

As a good rule of thumb, lets reboot one last time.

Of course we are not done. We want to sign our keys using sbctl to be able to enable Secure Boot and dual boot with windows if we wish to do so.