How can I go about using the tty only on my system

theshyprisoner@lemmy.ml to Linux@lemmy.ml – 54 points –

I wanted to have a separate laptop where I only use the terminal for my use cases. At the moment I am somewhat confident using the terminal, but I think limiting myself to tty only would build my confidence even more. Any tips?

EDIT: I am already using nvim and I already have installed a minimal distro (Arch). I just need advice on how to actually run this system effectively.

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Well yeah, but I want to know any tips on doing it effectively. If I just "don't install a DE" I wouldn't know where to go from there.

If I'm reading your post right, you basically want a fully functional system that is console only (no GUI), right? So when you go to install, just simply skip installing the desktop environment/window manager.

That, or you can set it up to where your system boots to the console, and you can activate the DE/WM if you want to (like startx for X11). Each environment is different, but I think it's removing the line for starting the DE/WM from either systemctl or maybe a hook, I forget.

Yes, I know how to this. I think the way I'm saying it is confusing so let me explain. I know how to install a minimal system without a GUI, however I needed advice on the tools to be able to run this system effectively (i.e. tmux, byobu, and other things people have been mentioning).

With systemd, you set the default target to something other than a desktop environment.