The system configuration section of this article will be continuously updated. Feel free to follow and discuss!
A while back, after installing the KDE version of Manjaro, I switched to Hackintosh, but it didn’t work out well. So, I obediently switched back to Manjaro. This time, I used GNOME. I haven’t used GNOME for a long time, and I must say, Manjaro’s setup has really impressed me!

Right from the boot-up, a "Hello" interface pops up. I hadn’t paid much attention to it before, but this time I discovered it already has several layouts pre-set. Seriously, it has everything—no need to tinker around myself. I immediately chose my favorite Unity layout (which is essentially the Unite plugin installed), and the result is quite nice!

Actually, I mainly used Ubuntu before. Later, when I switched to Manjaro, I wasn’t quite used to it. In between, I used Deepin, KDE, Xfce, and GNOME for quite a while. Now, I can finally say I’ve truly settled in. I used to worry that the system would crash after an update or that it might be less stable than Ubuntu. Turns out, Ubuntu’s stability is actually much lower than Manjaro’s!

For Ubuntu usage and configuration, you can refer to these two articles of mine:

• https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/49183823
• https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/56253982

This time, I unexpectedly found that ssh-agent works directly without any configuration. Back when I was using the KDE version, I had to set it up manually. This time, no extra steps were needed at all—Manjaro is improving so quickly...

There are still a few minor issues, though. For example, live streaming in the browser seems a bit more laggy compared to Windows... And when typing in the blog editor, sometimes the input gets messed up (not ruling out an input method issue).

Here’s a screenshot of my desktop:

Below, I’ll document the configuration process.

Essential Websites

The Arch Wiki! I feel that almost any problem encountered during system installation and usage can find a corresponding solution there. https://wiki.archlinux.org/

Archlinuxcn Repository

The simplest approach is to add the Tuna mirror. Edit the /etc/pacman.conf file and append the following content at the end:

[archlinuxcn]
Server = https://mirrors.tuna.tsinghua.edu.cn/archlinuxcn/$arch

Next, execute the following commands:

sudo pacman -Sy archlinuxcn-keyring haveged
sudo systemctl enable haveged
sudo systemctl start haveged
sudo pacman-key --init
sudo pacman-key --populate manjaro
sudo pacman-key --populate archlinux
sudo pacman-key --populate archlinuxcn

After that, you can happily install various useful software from the archlinuxcn repository～

Community mirror list: https://github.com/archlinuxcn/mirrorlist-repo

Input Method

New Setup

I've stopped installing Sogou—it's been too long since their last update and there are likely issues. Instead, I'm using sunpinyin/google pinyin + cloudpinyin, where cloudpinyin provides cloud input. The experience is excellent, comparable to Sogou, except for lacking Sogou's skins.

Installation steps:

sudo pacman -S fcitx-im fcitx-configtool fcitx-cloudyinpin fcitx-sunpinyin fcitx-googlepinyin

After installation, add environment variables: append the following code to ~/.xprofile and /etc/environment.

PS: Note that the latter is for Wayland support.

export XMODIFIERS=@im=fcitx
export QT_IM_MODULE=fcitx
export GTK_IM_MODULE=fcitx

Then restart.

You Really Want to Install Sogou? It's Not Impossible

Currently, the official Arch Linux repository has removed the fcitx-qt4 package, which Sogou depends on. As a result, the methods commonly found online no longer work. Installing the fcitx-im package will cause the input method to fail to activate. You need to use fcitx-lilydjwg-git instead.

However, this package is still available in the archlinuxcn repository, so it's quite simple. The installation method is as follows:

sudo pacman -S fcitx-lilydjwg-git fcitx-configtool fcitx-sogoupinyin

Then, add the environment variables:

mkdir ~/.config/autostart

If you have installed fcitx, a prompt about the existing folder will appear. Ignore it and proceed to the next step.

cp /etc/xdg/autostart/fcitx-autostart.desktop ~/.config/autostart/

echo "GTK_IM_MODULE=fcitx
QT_IM_MODULE=fcitx
XMODIFIERS=@im=fcitx" > .pam_environment

echo "export GTK_IM_MODULE=fcitx
export QT_IM_MODULE=fcitx
export XMODIFIERS=@im=fcitx" > .xprofile

Log out and log back in to use it.

PS: If you really cannot install Sogou, you can try the combination of sunpinyin+cloudpinyin. For reference: https://forum.manjaro.org/t/sunpinyin-cloudpinyin/114282

Reference: https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/80867772

Installing zsh

There's no question about it—zsh is a must-have.

PS: After trying fish, I thought it was quite good, but I haven't used it deeply enough to recommend it casually. I'll mention fish briefly later.

Installation

sudo pacman -S zsh

Change default shell

chsh -s /bin/zsh

Restart and that's it.

fish

Fish is short for "the friendly interactive shell," and its biggest feature is its convenience and ease of use. Many functionalities that other shells require configuration to enable are provided by default in Fish, without any setup.

If you want a convenient and easy-to-use shell without having to learn a bunch of syntax or spend a lot of time configuring, you should definitely try Fish.

Personally, using Fish feels like coding in an IDE—smart prompts, auto-completion, and even a visual configuration interface. It really has everything you need, and it's really wonderful.

For specific usage, you can refer to: http://www.ruanyifeng.com/blog/2017/05/fish_shell.html

Installing Docker

Essential for backend development～

Docker is available directly in the official Manjaro repository.

sudo pacman -S docker

Start the Docker service.

sudo systemctl start docker

Set it to auto-start on boot.

sudo systemctl enable docker

By default, Docker installed this way is only usable by the root user. We need to add the current user to the docker group to use it.

# If the docker group doesn't exist yet, add one
sudo groupadd docker
# Add your login name (${USER}) to this group. Then log out and log back in for the changes to take effect.
sudo gpasswd -a ${USER} docker
# Restart Docker Service
sudo systemctl restart docker
# Switch the current session to a new group or restart the X session
# Note: This step is mandatory; otherwise, because the `groups` command retrieves cached group information, the newly added group details will not take effect. Consequently, running `docker images` will also result in an error.
```bash
newgrp - docker

OR

pkill X

Tinkering with the Network

Learning Tools

It's the most painful fiddling time again, so difficult >_<.

The best graphical interface written in Qt: https://github.com/Qv2ray/Qv2ray

Configure SwitchyOmega: https://github.com/FelisCatus/SwitchyOmega/wiki/GFWList

Configuration: https://www.teaper.dev/2019/06/02/v2ray/

There is also a mediocre one written in PyQt: https://github.com/jiangxufeng/v2rayL

(This part is a bit hard to explain in detail, so please figure it out on your own.)

Git Proxy Settings

git config --global http.proxy "http://127.0.0.1:12333"
git config --global https.proxy "http://127.0.0.1:12333"

npm Proxy Settings

(It seems to work with or without the equal sign)

npm config set proxy=http://127.0.0.1:12333
npm config set https-proxy http://127.0.0.1:12333

Remove the proxy

npm config delete proxy
npm config delete https-proxy

Setting Up Automatic Hard Disk Mounting

I've personally tested that the Gnome version can be set up directly within the Disk program, but it seems the KDE version doesn't work the same way—each time I set it, there's no effect. You have to modify the fstab file. For specific instructions, please refer to the reference materials below.

References:

• https://blog.csdn.net/weixin_43840399/article/details/93475915
• https://www.jianshu.com/p/0098ee403e77

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