zim-wiki team mailing list archive

[Chuck Esterbrook <chuck.esterbrook@xxxxxxxxx>]

Here are my current notes for both WSL and Zim. I'm still on a .69 patched
for automerging btw though the below also includes setting up Python 3.


Notes
-----
https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/commandline/

Your whole C drive is accessible via /mnt/c

To run GTK like 'gedit' and 'zim', run this first on the command line:
sudo service dbus start

Upcoming improvement to file access in the April 2019 update:
https://www.howtogeek.com/fyi/windows-10-will-finally-offer-easy-access-to-linux-files/

Installing and using, 2019-05
-----------------------------
Upgrade to at least Windows 10 October 2018 update (1809, check with winver)
Run command prompt as admin
dism /Online /Enable-Feature /FeatureName:Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux
ref https://www.altaro.com/hyper-v/windows-subsystem-for-linux/

Get a distro from the Windows app store such as Pengwin or Ubuntu

# updates
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

# set up browser
ln -s '/mnt/c/Program Files (x86)/Google/Chrome/Application/chrome.exe'
browser
touch .bashrc-custom
nano .bashrc
# add to end:
source .bashrc-custom
# save; exit
nano .bashrc-custom
# add
export BROWSER="$HOME/browser"
# save

# misc dev stuff
sudo apt install curl wget nano
sudo apt install git

# python 2 for zim-wiki 0.69 and under
sudo apt install python2.7 python-pip # for zim wiki

# python 3
sudo apt install python3
sudo apt install <suggested packages from python3>
sudo apt install python3-pip
sudo apt install python3-venv

# other
sudo apt install python-pygments
sudo apt install mercurial

# warm up X-windows
download and install VcXsrv at https://sourceforge.net/projects/vcxsrv/
# add to .bashrc-custom
export DISPLAY=:0  # also add this to .bashrc
export LIBGL_ALWAYS_INDIRECT=1  # also add this to .bashrc
# then
source .bashrc-custom
sudo apt install x11-apps
xeyes  # app may launch behind other windows

# xdg goodness
sudo apt install xdg-utils

# warm up GTK - for ZimWiki or to use gedit
sudo apt install dbus-x11
sudo service dbus start
sudo apt install gedit
gedit
# verify that you can change preferences in gedit
# if you can't, it's likely due to dbus not installed or running

# from a stack overflow:
sudo apt-get install dbus synaptic nautilus --install-suggests
--show-progress

Linking Dropbox
---------------
cd
ln -s /mnt/c/Users/Cobra/Dropbox Dropbox

Fix Small Mouse Cursor
----------------------
The mouse cursor may be too small on a hi-dpi display. Steps to fix:

In File Explorer
browse to C:\Program Files\VcXsrv\fonts\misc
rename cursor.pcf.gz to cursor-small.pcf.gz
In Linux shell
sudo apt-get install big-cursor
cp /usr/share/fonts/X11/misc/big-cursor.pcf.gz /mnt/c/Users/Cobra/Documents/
In File Explorer
rename big-cursor.pcf.gz to cursor.pcf.gz
move to C:\Program Files\VcXsrv\fonts\misc

per
https://superuser.com/questions/1196399/how-do-i-set-the-size-of-the-x-mouse-pointer-in-the-windows-subsystem-for-linux

### Zim
ref http://zim-wiki.org/install.html

sudo apt install libgtk2.0-0 xdg-utils python-gtk2 python-xdg

cd ; mkdir zim ; cd zim
wget http://zim-wiki.org/downloads/zim-0.69.tar.gz
tar xzf zim-0.69.tar.gz
cd zim-0.69
./zim.py &

Go through prefs and plugins and set them up.

#### Patch for automerging
cd zim-0.69
wget https://github.com/zim-desktop-wiki/zim-desktop-wiki/pull/178.diff
patch -p1 < 178.diff

#### Dark theme
On Pengwin, use pengwin-setup > GUI > WINTHEME
This will give you a dark Win 10 theme and the app to switch to it:
lxappearance

If on Linux, but not on Pengwin, install lxappearance and get the Win 10
dark theme from:
https://github.com/B00merang-Project/Windows-10-Dark

Improving Performance
---------------------
https://medium.com/@leandrw/speeding-up-wsl-i-o-up-than-5x-fast-saving-a-lot-of-battery-life-cpu-usage-c3537dd03c74
Windows Defender can really slow down WSL


HTH