Graphical desktop is not included in default runtime on inst

tdsmart

I've just gone through the handbook for a fresh install of Gentoo with the plasma-desktop profile (no systemd) and all seemed well until the final test - reboot.
Booting into the fresh system doesn't log me into a KDE environment, just the regular old console.

Is this expected behaviour? I can see the links to Gentoo wiki pages for KDE setup, and X setup, but these appear to be geared towards users who already have a Gentoo system and want to add functionality.
I selected the kde profile guessing these would be under that worldset.

I'm not complaining if this is the expected behaviour and now I need to go through the KDE setup instructions, but I don't want to start a series of instructions that may interfere with existing setup options that may or may not have been included in the plasma profile, so I've got to ask if I've done something wrong that's landed me here or not.
If I do need to set up KDE, and X, the question becomes do I need or is it recommended to use Wayland these days? I just want a graphical desktop, so have no preference just need to know where to go from here. The console is pretty and all, but...

Also, Hi all - this is my first install of Gentoo and post on the forums. Looking forward to tinkering with my shiny new system!

Phoenix591 · Guru Joined: 17 Sep 2007 Posts: 487

if you have an nvidia gpu, with nvidia's binary drivers wayland still doesn't really work.

What the profiles do is set USE flags to reasonable defaults for the profile selected, eg asking packages to include support for kde/plasma and qt, and X and so on, thats about it.

Yes, you do need specifically install KDE (any/all applications you may want from it), and X. I'd setup X before trying to go with wayland in any case, nvidia or not. There isn't too much to setting up X nowadays, but it does need to be explicitly installed, because its possible to run X applications on a remote X server (via ssh forwarding, for instance)

tdsmart · Posted: Tue Aug 20, 2019 6:25 am Post subject:

Hi g2g591, thanks for the extra guidance

- I'll get stuck into the X setup then KDE tonight.

NeddySeagoon · Posted: Tue Aug 20, 2019 9:21 am Post subject:

tdsmart,

Its a design feature.

When you reboot after following the hardbook, you have a system that can boot on its own and install more software.
That about it.

Gentoo gives you
a) The things you have asked for
b) The things you need for the things you asked for.

It follows that if you have not asked for it yet its not installed yet.

There are lots of use cases for Gentoo, not just desktop systems. You have reached the point where you tailor your install to your use case.
You are actually using Gentoo, which in the Portage package manager and the ::gentoo ebuild repository to build your own disto.
As everyone does this everyones Gentoo installs are different.
_________________
Regards,

NeddySeagoon

Computer users fall into two groups:-
those that do backups
those that have never had a hard drive fail.

tdsmart · Posted: Wed Aug 21, 2019 1:10 am Post subject:

Right - I suppose an attentive reader of the handbook would have absorbed that information... I've been a Debian user for ten years or so, and it was just embedded in the train of thinking that selecting a profile at install would bring in that software.

Over the night I worked through the X setup and basic KDE install - the empty KDE interface was quite easy on the eyes. Before bed I asked emerge to bring in the KDE apps meta package, and I saw it still happily compiling these in the morning. It'll be good to work with these in the evening - it's taken me longer than I'm proud of to set up this system, but learning something every day is worthwhile.

The machine is a work utility for me - I'll bring in Libreoffice, KDE's mail and scheduling client, Freecad and a nice Larry the Cow wallpaper, and be ready to rock and roll with my tiny (one man) engineering consultancy!

NeddySeagoon · Posted: Wed Aug 21, 2019 10:57 am Post subject:

tdsmart,

Gentoo should not take any more of your time to install than a binary distro. Well, it will the first time because you need to set all the controls that a binary distro hides from you. That takes time.
Gentoo will take a lot more CPU time than a binary distro.

All the best with your engineering consultancy.
_________________
Regards,

NeddySeagoon

Computer users fall into two groups:-
those that do backups
those that have never had a hard drive fail.