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Fedora 40 XFCE Live modifications

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This is just an 'internal memo' to myself, to keep track of the package installations I do to make my basic machine install out of the standard Fedora (40) XFCE Live install-to-disk base image. There are slight variations from previous version, due to shifting package availablity and my own preference changes.

Create a Live XFCE USB Key

Creating and using live USB

On my main (Fedora) machine (warning : DOES NOT WORK):

dnf install livecd-tools

tail -f /var/log/messages
# plug in USB drive - look for 'Attached SCSI removable disk'
# 'sdd' is the right device ...

ls -l /dev/sd*
# look for most recent entry

cd ~/Downloads/complete/Fedora-Xfce-Live-x86_64-40/
livecd-iso-to-disk --format --reset-mbr \
                   --home-size-mb 2048 \
                   Fedora-Xfce-Live-x86_64-40-1.14.iso /dev/sdd

DOES NOT WORK... : Very depressing. OTOH, the key point of a Live USB is mainly to be able to create it easily from a Windows machine (for example). So perhaps the Live-Fedora generated within Fedora isn't on the critical path for fixes.

Working method:

dd if=Fedora-Xfce-Live-x86_64-40-1.14.iso \
   of=/dev/sdd status=progress bs=8M oflag=direct
# Seems to work...

Boot into the new machine using the USB key

  • Requires fiddling around with the boot order using the machine BIOS settings
    • Remember to do a media check when booting from the USB key

Then do an install on to the new machine's main disk:

  • Launch using the 'Anaconda' icon on the desktop
    • Set up the right timezone
    • Enable a root user, and set up a password
    • Create a regular user for yourself (without admin permissions)
    • Create a machine name
    • Networking not necessary (until the installation is complete)
  • Set up the installation HD:
    • Obliterate existing Windows install (if any)
    • Remove the default '/home' mount point (this is my personal preference)
    • Expand the '/' mount point to include the whole disk
  • Give the image time to install to the hard disk
  • Boot into the new, fresh machine

Then, potentially do some XFCE costmetic changes, including:

  • Change background desktop image to simple vertical gradient
  • Remove icon Panel 2; Shift Panel 1 to bottom : Makes it very Windows95-ish
  • Add a keyboard shortcut 'Super-T' to Terminal Emulator

Now the Essential first steps

systemctl enable sshd
systemctl start sshd

dnf install joe git unzip

Base Packages

# Dead-weight
dnf remove pragha parole abiword
dnf remove claws-mail* leafpad orage ristretto 
dnf remove pidgin transmission gnumeric asunder

# Unnecessary helpers
dnf remove dnfdragora dnfdragora-gui

# Only now do the update :
dnf update

# Better alternatives
dnf install libreoffice deluge

# Specific possibly desirable extras
dnf install baobab unzip ack

# Leave out : gstreamer1-plugin-mpg123 unison240

dnf install uv              # Faster pip (for python envs)

# Specific python extras (noteably for numpy/jupyter use)
#dnf install python-devel python2-virtualenv \
#            gcc gcc-c++ cmake \
#            scipy numpy python-scikit-learn python-pandas Cython \
#            blas-devel lapack-devel atlas-devel  \
#            python-pillow graphviz \
#            libyaml hdf5-devel

# Standard graphics
dnf install eog evince gimp inkscape

Disable SELINUX (for sanity, mainly)

Sorry - but SELINUX is still to arcane to just use...

scite /etc/selinux/config
# Change "SELINUX=enforcing" to "SELINUX=permissive"

Google Chrome

Instructions for Fedora 40 (NB: Google repo page doesn't let you see the actual repo url to download from):

dnf install fedora-workstation-repositories      # Includes about 4 repos, 
dnf config-manager --set-enabled google-chrome
dnf install google-chrome-stable

Other 'multimedia'

dnf install youtube-dl      # Archiving of videos
dnf install simple-scan     # Scan to PDF
dnf install blender         # 3D graphics (1Gb install)

More 'multimedia'

dnf install obs-studio      # Recording of video content
dnf install shotcut         # Video/audio post production

Backup

dnf install borgbackup      # Backup solution of choice
dnf install gvfs-mtp        # Talk to Android MTP storage, already there

Other 'security'

dnf install fuse-encfs      # For secure file storage
dnf install keepassxc       # For password management

joe /etc/fuse.conf  ## Add (/uncomment):  "user_allow_other"

As a user...

ssh-keygen # Accept default file, no passphrase
# Your public key has been saved in ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub
#   :: Your public key is what you hand to other people...
# They should copy it into their:
#   ~/.ssh/authorized_keys 
# ... (if they want you to be able to log to their machine in without a password)

All done.

UNTESTED : Printer installation (depending on location)

For Brother Multifunction printers, mostly follow the instructions in my previous blog entry, except for the rpm packages now have slightly different names.

Also, because Brother hasn't got the dependencies right, the following 32-bit library needs to be installed:

dnf install glibc.i686

Also, these should be installed before installing the scanner driver:

dnf install sane-backends sane-backends-drivers-scanners

Note that the printer/CUPS controls can also be accessed at http://localhost:631/.

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