Starting from scratch "server" installation

English Install/Boot/Login
1

Hello everyone. I would like to install OpenSUSE tumbleweed server only and then build everything I need on top of that. I have several questions, maybe someone can point me in the right direction?

  • I want to use i3 wm
  • How to make so that all apps can comunicate? For example if I click a link on a flatpak app then it gets opened on Firefox.
  • How can I set default applications? Like so that all links gets opened with my favorite browser.
  • How can I make so that applications that stores credentials, like Vorta (an interface for Borg) or Nextcloud, remember the passphrases and do not ask me for passwords on login?

I think for now these are the main points, most likely after that I’ll encounter more problems… But I would just like to know how to go about this. Thanks

2

What do you mean with that?
E.g. in my (without doubt rather personal) idea about a “server” system is one without any desktop at all.

3

Oh, I just mean that during TW installation I would choose “server” so no DE is installed and I can install every component by myself

4

If I understand this correct, you want to build a GUI end-user capable system by starting from scratch and then adding all the components that are normally put together by a DE Pattern yourself. Nice exercise.

5

Yes exactly. I’m trying to find some guidance on how to proceed about this.

Of course going Arch would be the complete experience but honestly I couldn’t live without all the goodies shipped with OpenSUSE like yast and snapper

6

Don’t know it, thus read the rest with a pinch of salt.

Flatpak is beyond my knowledeg, but I would say that that depends on the program itself. Does it start a sub-process of a hard-coded (or in it’s configuration defined) web-browser, or does it look into the default web-browser as defined by the desktop of the user?
For programs belonging to the desktop, they will certainly use the desktops default browser (id i3 supports that, but maybe we can assume it supports desktop.org rules.).

See above.

That of course depends complete on the program.
E.g. in KDE, integrated programs will try to use Kwallet, but third party programs are not obliged to follow KDE (or Gnome, or i3) interfaces. That is what DEs provide: integration of the most used end-user programs with the features of the DE.

7

Yes, so how should I go about this?

8

If you want a desktop in the end, whatever that might be, you are better off starting with the “Generic Desktop” system role. The “Server” option is truly for servers and you end up missing many basic pieces needed even by a basic desktop: nice exercise but a waste of time even if you know exactly how to do it.

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9

You mean doing something like Fedora i3 spin that basically comes with xfce “suite” on the background?

10

No, the “Generic Desktop” basically installs the system stuff needed to reach the systemd graphical target, X11, system management tools and the desktop modules for YaST and IceWM that is a basic window manager.

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