I troubleshooted my first major Linux issue
I recently built myself a new PC and opted for a Linux distro for my operating system. I was tired of the bloat and spyware in Windows and felt that now was the perfect opportunity.
So far, it's been pretty smooth sailing. I installed CachyOS and have been having a great time.
However, there was one issue that kept plaguing me for a while: foreign language input. Specifically, Japanese language input.
I've been learning Japanese for a bit now and have been making steady progress. I also really enjoy re-structuring and re-writing my written notes into a document to export as a PDF. I distill my notes to act as a sort of "cheat sheet."
On Windows, doing so was no problem. Just go into the language settings and install the necessary language pack. You can then switch between different language inputs on the fly. Easy peasy. Can get it done in literally 30 seconds.
But on Linux... ooh boy. I had so much trouble. Gah.
Because CachyOS is based on Arch Linux, Arch's documentation can be used without much problem. So I followed it.
Fired up the terminal and installed the necessary fonts. Cool. Had to change locale. Okay. Just need to edit that file. No problem. Speaking of editing a file, I should try out Vim. That's a cool editor. Or was it Neovim for a better experience? Wait, there's also Lazyvim? Whatever, that stuff looks cool. Make me feel like a legit programmer. Back on track: gotta install about five different packages for the input. Yeah, sure man. I'm hip to that. Just type that shit out in the terminal. Pfft, ez. Hey, I actually quite like using the terminal. Makes me feel like a capital-J jenius. What now? Gotta put some code in the environment variable... Wait, where? It doesn't say. I'm new to Linux, where the crap is that? Where is this file supposed to be? Wait, another tutorial I saw uses a different shell and shows where that file is. I think? What am I using? Oh, "bash." Then where's the environment variable in bash? Let's Google. Okay, got it. Added it in (had to create it because it wasn't there by default?). Should work, right? Nope. Let's switch to the shell used in the tutorial. It's called "zsh"? That reminds me, Linux often has these funky names. I can barely remember half of them. A music package is called something like "mcmnnpcppcp" or whatever. Let's just get this over with. Ah, crap. I can't change my shell? No, I should be able to. Wait. The terminal literally says I successfully changed shells. It's right there. Why is the previous one still being use-oh I have restart my system. Ah, there we go. And where is the environment variable for this shell? Okay, here it is. Gotta create it again... I should write some notes to remember where I'm putting this stuff. Don't wanna break anything. Hahaha, wouldn't that suck :):):) If I do break something I least I don't have a bunch of important stuff on my drive, considering I just started. Oh, wait. This distro features something called "Snapshots" which allows me to revert back to before I inevitably mess something up. Perfect. Hopefully that isn't a pain to set up. Okay, now it should work. Woops. Nevermind. Okay, you know what? Lemme just uninstall and re-install everything. Let me try another tutorial while I'm at it. Oh, wait. This tutorial said I should've restarted my system after a certain step. Let's try that! Nope, still nothing. You know what? How about we take a break? Yeah, that'll be good. I'll just uninstall everything and start fresh later. But man, I really gotta get this thing working. My other computer, that busted-ass, old-ass, shit-ass, ass-ass laptop of mine is on its deathbed. I really need to get this working. Let's try again. Another tutorial. Follow the steps. Same shit (I swear if this doesn't work) and... oh... oh my god, oh my god kimchi. Holy moly. 今日本語で書けます！I can write in Japanese now!
Jesus Christ. That took like three whole days of intermittent troubleshooting.
Why does this shit have to be so hard, man?
But whatever. I'm proud of myself. Linux has been forcing me to interact with my computer and operating system on a deeper, often technical level. I've also been utilizing the terminal more. Having everything done through there, and thus via your keyboard, is actually quite handy. Looks cool, too. I can see the appeal of only using the keyboard and not have to move your hand over to the mouse.
So now I've got Japanese working... just I gotta do the same for Spanish (my second language), Korean, and Arabic. Hmm.
Wish me luck.
P.S.
I wrote the above in a mad dash last night. It's now morning and I've got Korean working, too. I'm so damn smart. ㅋㅋㅋ. 한국어랑 일본어로 쓸 수 있어요.
P.P.S.
Just got العربية working. Simply added it into my input method settings and ta-dah. Didn't need to install fonts or mess with the shell or terminal or anything. It was almost too easy. I'm not sure if there's a catch, but it's working for now. Next is Spanish, إن شاء ألله.
P.P.P.S.
Feliz cumpleaños a mi, porque ahora peudo escribir en español! I'm seriously wondering why I had so much trouble with Japanese.
Hopefully those scripts actually actually show up here. If not, you'll see complete gibberish.