Enhanced Linux

Hello World! GNOME 3.0 was just released to the public and already it’s available in Arch Linux. Granted it’s in the testing and unstable repository (at the time of this writing), but it’s very much available and very much usable. In this article I will outline how to fresh-install GNOME 3.0 on your Arch Linux system.

Configuration

In order to install GNOME 3.0 on Arch Linux you’ll need to make some changes to your pacman.conf file. This will instruct pacman to reference two new repositories, the [testing] and [gnome-unstable]. GNOME 3.0 is built on top of testing, so the order is important here as well. Your pacman.conf should end up looking like this:

[gnome-unstable]
Server = http://mirrors.kernel.org/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch

[testing]
Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist

[core]
Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist

[extra]
Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist

#[community-testing]
#Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist

Once you’ve made this change you’re ready to install the new gnome package and its dependencies.

Installation

Installing GNOME 3.0 is very similar to installing 2.3x, with the only difference that you’re pulling it from a different repository. Referencing the new repository allows you to make sure you’re getting the right package:

pacman -S gnome-unstable/gnome


and for additional applications

pacman -S gnome-unstable/gnome-extra

Into the future…

GNOME 3.0 is just the first of a new generation. We can expect GNOME 3.2 in the fall (September) with a number of great improvements! In the meantime, please install it, play with it, offer feedback, and let’s make GNOME great!

The .chm file type is a “Microsoft Compressed HTML Help” file in a proprietary format for online help files. Linux and UNIX generally don’t come with native .chm support, but the functionality can easily be added. There are a number of solutions available, which I’ll outline below:

chm conversion

One option is to simply convert the .chm file to a more usable format, like .pdf. Most Linux distributions will come with a native .pdf viewer so conversion will allow you to use an existing application to view the information included in a .chm file. The most common conversion utility is chm2pdf. To install this application, use your favorite package manager, as shown below:

Ubuntu / Debian

sudo apt-get install chm2pdf

Fedora / CentOS

sudo yum install chm2pdf

The basic syntax for this utility is chm2pdf input_file output_file

GNOME .chm viewers

Another option is to install a native GNOME application to view .chm files. There are two such options, one is the gnochm utility and the other is chmsee. To install one of these applications, use your favorite package manager, as shown below:

Ubuntu / Debian

sudo apt-get install gnochm

sudo apt-get install chmsee

Fedora / CentOS

sudo yum install gnochm

sudo yum install chmsee

I have had much better luck with the second, chmsee. The gnochm utility crashes on me randomly, where chmsee has been very reliable.

KDE .chm viewers

There are a few options for KDE users as well. One option is to install a new application, and another is to use a plugin for Okular. I’ll outline each below.

First, you can try the utility kchmviewer. This is a native KDE application to open and view .chm files.
Second, you can add extra functionality to your existing viewer, Okular. You can install either of these using your preferred package manager, as shown below:

Ubuntu / Debian

sudo apt-get install kchmviewer

sudo apt-get install okular-extra-backends

Fedora / CentOS

sudo yum install kchmviewer

sudo yum install okular-extra-backends

Generic X viewers

For those looking for something a little more desktop-environment-agnostic, you might want to try xchm. This can be installed using the same methods outlined above:

Ubuntu / Debian

sudo apt-get install xchm

Fedora / CentOS

sudo yum install xchm

Conclusion

As a GNOME user I have had the best luck with chmsee. It feels very native and all of the .chm files I have opened are very well formatted. Navigation is easy, font style and size are easily readable as well.

I’d be interested in hearing what other options are out there. While it isn’t everyday that Linux users run into .chm files, when we do it is nice to have good solutions available.

I was getting curious about the progress of the new GNOME-Shell (which will be part of GNOME 3.x), so I went to find how to install it in Arch Linux. It is, just like a number of things, available in the Arch User Repository (AUR), but I also found that there is an official package in the gnome-unstable repository. This post outlines how to add the gnome-unstable repository and install GNOME-Shell in Arch Linux

Repository

The first requirement for installing GNOME-Shell is the addition of the gnome-unstable repository. This can be done by adding the following to your /etc/pacman.conf:

[gnome-unstable]
Server = http://mirrors.kernel.org/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch/


You’ll notice I’m using mirrors.kernel.org, but you should be able to use your own preferred mirror.

Installation
Once you’ve added the repository, you can add the GNOME-Shell using the following command:

sudo pacman -Sy gnome-shell clutter

Usage

To launch GNOME-Shell (and replace your current environment for this session), run:

gnome-shell --replace

You should now be in GNOME Shell. Have fun playing with this, still in development, Desktop Environment.