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Installing Arch Linux on Mac in Parallels

In January of 2020, I had need to set up an Arch Linux GUI environment on my MacBook Pro in Parallels. I knew virtually nothing about Linux, or operating systems in general for that matter. Every computer I had ever used came with an OS. That was pretty much all I knew about them. It was so ridiculously difficult that I figured other people out there may be struggling with the same problem, and they may benefit from my own experience.

I just followed your 177-step Arch install guide... and I give you praise because it's the only one that worked for me.. but now I think I need to combine tylenol, ibuprofen and a 30 minute break. Mike

Below you'll find a comprehensive, step-by-step guide for exactly how I set up Arch Linux on my MacBook Pro in Parallels. There won't be much in the way of explanation of what any of it means. Just the steps laid out. This is mostly because I don't really know what some of it means. But at the foot of this page you can find some good resources that will tell you what a lot of it means if that interests you. I myself just wanted it up and running, with a GUI, so if you're in those same shoes, just follow this step-by-step, word-for-word, and hopefully it will work for you as well.

Instructions

  1. Download the latest Arch ISO. This guide is based on the following image:
    https://mirror.rackspace.com/archlinux/iso/2020.01.01/
  2. Open Parallels Control Center.
  3. Select File > New.
  4. Choose “Install Windows or another OS from a DVD or image file.”
  5. Continue.
  6. Choose Manually.
  7. Drag the ISO you just downloaded onto the “Drag the image file here” spot. It will say “Unable to detect operating system.”
  8. Continue.
  9. Select “More Linux” > “Other Linux.”
  10. Ok.
  11. Choose a name for your new virtual device, like “Arch.”
  12. Check the “Customize settings before installation” box.
  13. Create.
  14. In the configuration box, select “Options.”
  15. Select “Sharing” in the top menu.
  16. Change “Home folder only” to “All disks.”
  17. Check the “Shared Profile” box.
  18. Select “Hardware” in the top menu.
  19. Move the Memory slider to 4GB.
  20. Close the Configuration window. Can we be rational if there is no God?
    If there is no reason behind your own mental processes, then there is no reason behind your own conclusions. So whose reason is behind your own mental processes?
  21. Continue.
  22. When the VM boot window displays, instead of selecting any of the options, hit the TAB button on your keyboard.
  23. Hit the spacebar once and then type: “cow_spacesize=10G”
  24. Enter.
  25. The command prompt should display. Type in the following (without the hashtag at the front):
    # nano /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
  26. Follow the nano editor’s usage directions (which should display at the bottom of the screen) in order to move about five local mirrors (mirrors that are local to your location) to the top of the list. This way, when stuff downloads to your machine, it won't download all the way from the other side of the universe, which would take a really long time. Arrows move your cursor, CTRL-k cuts a line, CTRL-u pastes it. When you’re done, CTRL-x attempts to close the nano editor. Hit SHIFT-Y to say that you would like to save, and ENTER finishes.
  27. Now we're going to partition the hard drive:
    # gdisk /dev/sda
    # p
     
    # n
    [ENTER]
    [ENTER]
    # +1G
    [ENTER]
     
    # n
    [ENTER]
    [ENTER]
    # +5G
    # 8200
     
    # n
    [ENTER]
    [ENTER]
    # +20G
    [ENTER]
     
    # n
    [ENTER]
    [ENTER]
    [ENTER]
    [ENTER]
     
    # w
    # Y
     
    # mkfs -t ext4 /dev/sda1
    # mkfs -t ext4 /dev/sda3
    # mkfs -t ext4 /dev/sda4
     
    # mkswap /dev/sda2
    # swapon /dev/sda2
     
    # mount /dev/sda3 /mnt
    # cd /mnt
    # mkdir boot home
    # mount /dev/sda1 boot
    # mount /dev/sda4 home
     
    # nano /etc/resolv.conf
  28. Add these nameservers to the top of the nameserver list:
    nameserver 8.8.8.8
    nameserver 8.8.4.4
  29. CTRL-x. SHIFT-Y. Enter. Does the Problem of Evil prove that God isn't real?
    The Problem of Evil argument cannot be presented without engaging in some kind of logical fallacy. The Palpatine Theodicy displays one... problem... with the Problem of Evil.
  30. Now look up a thing that we're going to need to reference:
    # ip link
  31. Using the second set of data displayed, find the correct service domain and put it into the following line.
    # sudo systemctl enable dhcpcd@enp0s5.service
    # ping google.com
  32. You should get a response from Google. If you don’t, you can try these three commands:
    # sudo systemctl start dhcpcd
    # sudo systemctl enable dhcpcd
    # sudo dhcpcd
  33. Once you are able to get a response from Google when pinging, continue.
    # pacstrap -i /mnt base base-devel
    # genfstab -p /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab
    # more /mnt/etc/fstab
    # pacstrap -i /mnt syslinux gptfdisk linux linux-headers nano networkmanager linux-firmware dhcpcd
    # arch-chroot /mnt
    # nano /etc/locale.conf
  34. Type the following into the nano editor.
    LANG="en_US.UTF-8"
  35. CTRL-x. SHIFT-Y. Enter. Now make sure it knows what language you speak.
    # nano /etc/locale.gen
  36. Uncomment the following lines by removing the hashtags in front of them (because of course you live in the US and speak English):
    #en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8
    #en_US ISO-8859-1
  37. CTRL-x. SHIFT-Y. Enter. Now set your time clock. If you don't live on the US east coast, stop typing after "zoneinfo/" and hit TAB a few times and see what happens:
    # locale-gen
    # ln -s /usr/share/zoneinfo/America/New_York /etc/localtime
    # nano /etc/hostname
  38. Type in the one-word, lowercase name of your VM. It can be absolutely anything you want, but you should probably make it something meaningful. Maybe “archlinux”. I’m going to assume you used “archlinux” and show you how to set up your hosts file if you did. If you didn’t, set up the hosts file with the name you actually used.
  39. CTRL-x. SHIFT-Y. Enter. How could time itself start?
    The Author Analogy easily explains many difficult questions about life, the universe, theology, religion, philosophy, epistemology, and the reality we find ourselves in.
  40. Now change the hosts file.
    # nano /etc/hosts
  41. Type in the following with your VM name to the nano editor.
    127.0.0.1 localhost
    127.0.1.1 archlinux.localdomain archlinux
  42. CTRL-x. SHIFT-Y. Enter. Now update some things and change some stuff:
    # syslinux-install_update -i -a -m
    # cd /boot/syslinux
    # cp /usr/lib/syslinux/bios/menu.c32 .
    # cp /usr/lib/syslinux/bios/vesamenu.c32 .
    # cp /usr/lib/syslinux/bios/chain.c32 .
    # cp /usr/lib/syslinux/bios/hdt.c32 .
    # cp /usr/lib/syslinux/bios/reboot.c32 .
    # cp /usr/lib/syslinux/bios/poweroff.c32 .
    # cp /usr/lib/syslinux/bios/libutil.c32 .
    # cp /usr/lib/syslinux/bios/libcom32.c32 .
    # mkinitcpio -p linux
    # passwd
  43. Type in the new password for the root account (not your regular user account) for the new Arch Linux VM. Then we'll do more cool stuff:
    # exit
    # cd /
    # umount /mnt/boot
    # umount /mnt/home
    # swapoff /dev/sda2
    # umount /mnt
    # sgdisk /dev/sda --attributes=1:set:2
    # reboot
  44. Let the system reboot. When it’s complete, it will ask you to log in. Log in as "root."
    # root
  45. Type in the root password that you created a couple of steps ago. Now update your mirrorlist again:
    # nano /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
  46. Move the local mirrors to the top of the list again.
  47. CTRL-x. SHIFT-Y. Enter. Then edit your nameservers again:
    # nano /etc/resolv.conf
  48. Add these nameservers to the top of the nameserver list:
    nameserver 8.8.8.8
    nameserver 8.8.4.4
  49. CTRL-x. SHIFT-Y. Enter. Then look up that thing again:
    # ip link
  50. Using the second set of data displayed from that command above, find the correct service domain and put it into the following line.
    # sudo systemctl enable dhcpcd@enp0s5.service
    # ping google.com
    # dhcpcd
    # ping google.com
    Trouble staying pure online?
    Accountable2You can help you find peace of mind and rebuild trust with detailed, real-time accountability software. Available for Arch Linux as well as other major operating systems.
  51. Hopefully, you’re receiving data from Google. Next, create your own user account. We'll pretend your name is Josh because... why wouldn't it be?
    # useradd --home-dir /home/josh --create-home josh
    # passwd josh
    # nano /etc/sudoers
  52. Once the nano editor opens, find the line that reads:
    root ALL=(ALL) ALL
  53. Under that line, add the following line just like it:
    josh ALL=(ALL) ALL
  54. CTRL-x. SHIFT-Y. Enter. Now do some more stuff:
    # exit
    # ip link show
    # sudo systemctl enable dhcpcd@enp0s5.service
    # sudo nano /etc/resolv.conf.head
  55. Add these nameservers to the empty text file:
    nameserver 8.8.8.8
    nameserver 8.8.4.4
  56. CTRL-x. SHIFT-Y. Enter. Now install a bunch more stuff and then reboot:
    # sudo pacman -S xorg-server xorg-xinit xorg-apps
    # sudo pacman -S xorg-iceauth xorg-sessreg xorg-xcmsdb xorg-xbacklight xorg-xgamma xorg-xhost xorg-xinput xorg-xmodmap xorg-xrandr xorg-xrdb xorg-xrefresh xorg-xset xorg-xsetroot mesa-libgl xterm
    # sudo pacman -S xf86-video-vesa
    # sudo pacman -S xfce4 xfce4-goodies sddm
    # sudo reboot
    # ping google.com
  57. Hopefully, that last ping -- the one after reboot -- just worked right off-the-bat and you're getting data from google.com. Install some more stuff and then test GUI functionality:
    # sudo pacman -S xorg-twm xorg-xclock
    # startx
  58. Here you can see a very simplistic GUI. In the first terminal, type the following:
    # exit
  59. You should be out of the GUI again now. Install some more stuff and restart:
    # sudo pacman -S ttf-liberation noto-fonts ttf-roboto ttf-anonymous-pro
    # sudo pacman -S ttf-hack ttf-inconsolata noto-fonts-emoji powerline-fonts
    # sudo pacman -S adobe-source-code-pro-fonts ttf-fira-mono ttf-fira-code
    # sudo pacman -S ttf-ubuntu-font-family ttf-dejavu ttf-freefont
    # sudo pacman -S ttf-droid terminus-font ttf-font-awesome
    # sudo pacman -S gnome gnome-extra
    # sudo systemctl enable gdm
    # sudo reboot
  60. The new GUI should automatically boot up. This should happen from now on. Open terminal again manually in your GUI. Install some important apps:
    # sudo pacman -S chromium
    # sudo pacman -S firefox
    # sudo pacman -S opera
    # sudo pacman -S flashplugin
    # gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.preferences button-layout ":minimize,maximize,close"
  61. Still in the terminal, clean up some font cache problems:
    # sudo rm /var/cache/fontconfig/*
    # rm ~/.cache/fontconfig/*
  62. Now install Parallels Tools so you can copy between your operating systems and so you can share directories and stuff. Parallels Tools just worked right for me first try, so I will just link to another source for instructions for installing Parallels Tools.
  63. In the future, to run a full system update, do this in the terminal:
    # pacman -Syu

Gilbert Guttlebocker, Defender of Dragons

Gilbert Guttlebocker, Defender of Dragons

Riveting, yet absurd; romantic, yet innocent; Gilbert Guttlebocker, Defender of Dragons is a little Roald Dahl, a little Harry Potter, and a little Chronicles of Narnia, all rolled into one. Timothy McCabe collaborates with the great Benedict Ballyhoot to bring you the novel of the century!

 

World Religions and Cults (volume 2)

In Printed Form

Along with numerous other authors including Don Landis, Bodie Hodge and Roger Patterson, Timothy McCabe contributes analyses of various world religions and cults in this volume from Master Books.

Other Writings

"Is there anything that troubles you personally about the belief system you adhere to? What is it and why is it troubling?"

The most troubling thing for me personally, and indeed this must necessarily trouble every Christian in some way, is that according to the Bible I am a sinner, deserving of death for my sins (Romans 3:23, 6:23). This does not trouble me because it seems to be untrue, but rather because it is so plainly true. All Christians must be troubled by this, because if they are not, there would be no motivation to repent and ask for the forgiveness of their Creator.
Continue reading...

"Is what is morally good commanded by God because it is morally good, or is it morally good because it is commanded by God?"

This question has been around at least since Plato, and is known by the name of the "Euthyphro Dilemma". It's really nothing more than a silly trick question wearing a "deep" philosophical mask. If one were to go with the first option provided, it leads to the conclusion that God is subject to the authority of Objective Morality and is not actually able to do whatever He wants, making Him not really God.
Continue reading...

"You say god cannot lie? He said that Adam and Eve would die if they ate from the 'Tree'.. yet they did not die. He said nothing about sin, he said that they would die."

Genesis 2:16-17 (NASB) The LORD God commanded the man, saying, "From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die." At first glance, it is difficult to see how this was true, according to the Genesis narrative. After all, the day that Adam and Eve ate from the forbidden tree, they didn't fall down dead.
Continue reading...

"Here is another contradiction of the millions in the bible: Hebrews 6:18 vs. Ezekiel 14:9, if you think this isn't a contradiction, please respond with proof from scripture."

Hebrews 6:17-18 (NKJV) Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.
Continue reading...

"Is it possible for God to be both all-loving and all-powerful if he allows Hell in the form of eternal suffering and torture?"

What is intended by the phrase "all-loving"? Does it mean that God loves everyone and everything? A God like this loves evil. He loves rape, murder, Satanism, the hatred of Himself, idolatry, etc. He loves the rejection of love. Such a God would love hell and would love sending people to it. Thus, if that is what it means for there to be a God who is all-loving, then the answer to the question is certainly, an all loving God could send people to hell for eternal suffering and torture.
Continue reading...

"Does the "problem of evil" show that an all-good, all-powerful, all-knowing god cannot exist?"

The "problem of evil" generally goes something like this. 1. If God had all-power over our universe, he would have been able to prevent the wickedness of Adolf Hitler. 2. If God had all-knowledge of our universe, he would have known how to prevent the wickedness of Adolf Hitler. 3. If God were morally good, he would have wanted to prevent the wickedness of Adolf Hitler. 4. Adolf Hitler was wicked in our universe. 5.
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"Did Jesus preach non-violence? He says in Mat 5:39 Whoever smites thee on thy right cheek offer him the other. But in Luke 22:36 he says He that hath no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one. How then can Heb 1:8-12 says he is unchanging?"

Addressing the last part of your question first, the text is below: Hebrews 1:8-12 (from Psalm 102:25-27) - NASB But of the Son He says, "YOUR THRONE, O GOD, IS FOREVER AND EVER, AND THE RIGHTEOUS SCEPTER IS THE SCEPTER OF HIS KINGDOM. "YOU HAVE LOVED RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HATED LAWLESSNESS; THEREFORE GOD, YOUR GOD, HAS ANOINTED YOU WITH THE OIL OF GLADNESS ABOVE YOUR COMPANIONS.
Continue reading...

"Why do bad things happen to good people?"

Jesus teaches us that no one is good but God (Mat 19:17, Mark 10:18, Luke 18:19, Rom 3:12). According to the Bible, every one of us has failed at what we have been called to do (Rom 3:23). Even the best people in the world have been dishonest, greedy, selfish, or lustful at some point in time. All of us have done something we shouldn't have, and as a result, our connection with our perfect Creator is damaged and broken.
Continue reading...

"How can chaos create order? That's impossible without intelligent direction. Atheism is emotional, not intellectual."

Precisely: atheism is emotional, not intellectual. Atheism denies any rational source for our intellect, thereby denying the rationality of rationality. It prohibits any possible reason for reasoning. It necessitates an absolute rejection of justified belief and thus, a rejection of intelligence altogether.
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"Is your worldview a "religion of peace"? If so, what does it mean to be a "peacemaker"?"

Christians worship the "Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6), Jesus the Christ. Christ taught that peacemakers are blessed (Matthew 5:9). The apostle Paul, author of many of the books of the New Testament, begins his letters by saying things like "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:3; 2 Corinthians 1:2; Galatians 1:3; Ephesians 1:2, etc).
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"Do you think atheists go to hell, why or why not?"

Yes. If the atheist does not change his ways, acknowledge his own disobedience toward his Creator, and ask God for forgiveness, he can expect to spend forever in the Lake of Fire (Revelation 21:8; cf Luke 12:46; Hebrews 11:6; Galatians 3:22; John 1:12, 3:3, 3:18, 8:24, 20:31; Acts 16:31; Romans 10:9; 1 Corinthians 1:21; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Revelation 20:15). We owe our lives to our Creator. But we don't give Him His due.
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"Regarding your answer to Lev 11:13-19... Rather disingenuous of you don't you think? The list is a list of birds (apart from bats) so the writer (god?) meant "birds", not "insects" or "flying things"."

I don't think it was disingenuous in the slightest, but thanks for asking. Here is your argument as I understood it: 1. The 1500 BC Hebrew word "'owph" has to have the exact same meaning as the 21st century English taxonomical classification "Aves". 2. The 1500 BC Hebrew word "'atalleph" has to have the exact same meaning as the 21st century English taxonomical classification "Chiroptera". 3.
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"When did your religion or worldview first begin?"

This question requires a two-pronged answer. When God created man, at the beginning of creation, man recognized God and worshipped Him in the way God ordained. In this sense, the worship of the Christian God and reliance on His grace (which is the essence of Christianity) has been around since the time of the very first man, Adam.
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"In Romans 1:23, God clearly says "you have brought down the image of the uncorruptible God to corruptible man". How then can you call Jesus God?"

This question is a continuation of an earlier question, linked to at the bottom of my answer. The question was asked in several parts, so I have compiled all of the questions together here, and will answer them all at once. In full, the questioner asks: "You mentioned that Jesus has two seperate identities. How? Did not Jesus say that he was 'the son of man'?
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"I'm not a Christian. Why doesn't God directly confront me about the error of my ways?"

Assuming what you say is true, that you are not a Christian, and that God has not in fact directly confronted you about the error of your ways, it may be because you are already aware of the error of your ways. The problem humanity is faced with, according to the Bible,
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