This tutorial is intended for beginners and covers some basic steps on what to do after you have installed Ubuntu 15.04 “Vivid Vervet” Desktop version on your computer in order to customize the system and install basic programs for daily usage.
15 Things to Do After Installing Ubuntu 15.04
### 1. Enable Ubuntu Extra Repositories and Update the System ###
The first thing you should take care of after a fresh installation of Ubuntu is to enable Ubuntu Extra Repositories provided by official Canonical Partners and keep an up-to-date system with the last security patches and software updates.
In order to accomplish this step, open from the left Launcher System Settings -> Software and Updates utility and check all Ubuntu Software and Other Software (Canonical Partners) repositories. After you finish hit the Close button and wait for the utility to Reload the cache sources tree.
For a fast and smooth update process, open a Terminal and issue the following command in order to update the system using the new software repositories:
In order for the system to scan and install additional hardware proprietary drivers, open Software and Updates utility from System Settings, go to Additional Drivers tab and wait for the utility to scan for drivers.
If some drivers matching your hardware are found, check the drivers you want to install and hit the Apply Changes button to install it. In case the proprietary drivers are not working as expected, uninstall them using the Revert button or check Do not use the device and Apply Changes.
Install Drivers
### 3. Install Synaptic and Gdebi Package Tools ###
Besides Ubuntu Software Center, Synaptic is a Graphical utility for apt command line through which you can manage repositories or install, remove, search, upgrade and configure software packages. Similar way, Gdebi has the same functionality for local .deb packages. To install this two package managers on your system issue the following command on Terminal:
$ sudo apt-get install synaptic gdebi
If you want to change Desktop Background or Launcher Icon Size, open System Settings –> Appearance –> Look and personalize the desktop. To move the menu to window title bar, enable workspaces and desktop icons or auto-hide the Launcher visit Behavior tab.
To improve system login speed, reveal hidden Startup Applications by issuing the below command on Terminal, open Startup Applications utility by searching it in Dash and uncheck the unneeded applications during login process.
$ sudo sed -i ‘s/NoDisplay=true/NoDisplay=false/g’ /etc/xdg/autostart/*.desktop
By default, Ubuntu comes with a minimal support for media files. In order to play various media formats or manipulate video files, install the following multimedia applications:
- VLC
- Smplayer
- Audacious
- QMMP
- Mixxx
- XBMC
- Handbrake
- Openshot
Use the following command line to install all with one shot:
Install Media Players
Media Player Playlist
Besides this multimedia players also install ubuntu-restricted-extras and Java support packages in order to decode and support other restricted media formats.
Enable Video Codes
### 7. Install Image Applications ###
If you are a photography enthusiast and you want to handle and manipulate images on Ubuntu, probably you want to install the following imaging programs:
- GIMP (alternative for Adobe Photoshop)
- Darktable
- Rawtherapee
- Pinta
- Shotwell
- Inkscape (alternative for Adobe Illustrator)
- Digikam
- Cheese
This applications can be installed from Ubuntu Software Center or all at once by using the following command line on Terminal:
To install Viber application on Ubuntu visit [Viber official webpage][1], download the Debian package locally and install the viber.deb application using Gdebi package manager (left click – > Open with -> GDebi Package Installer).
Install Viber
### 11. Install Torrent Software ###
The most popular torrent applications and peer-to-peer file sharing programs for Ubuntu are:
- Deluge
- Transmission
- Qbittorrent
- LinuxDC++
To install your favorite peer-to-peer file sharing application on Ubuntu issue the following command on Terminal.
### 12. Install Windows Emulator -Wine and Gaming Support – Steam ###
Wine emulator allows you to install and run Windows applications on Linux. On the other hand, Steam is a popular gaming platform for Linux based systems developed by Valve. To install both of them on your machine issue the following command on Terminal or use Ubuntu Software Center.
### 13. Install Cairo-Dock and Enable Desktop Visual Effects ###
Cairo-Dock is a beautiful and flexible launcher bar for Linux desktops similar to the Mac OS X dock. To install it on Ubuntu, run the following command on Terminal.
To activate the Desktop Cube effect, search for ccsm on Dash, open CompizConfig Settings Manager, go to General Options – > Desktop Size and set Horizontal Virtual Size value to 4 and Vertical Virtual Size to 1. Then go back and check Desktop Cube (Disable Desktop Wall) and Rotate Cube boxes (Resolve Conflicts ->Disable Switch to Viewport 1) and press Ctrl+Alt+Left Mouse Click to view the cube effect.
Ubuntu 15.04 comes by default with Mozilla Firefox Web Browser. To install other browsers such as Google Chrome or Opera, visit their official web pages, download the provided .deb packages and install them on your system using the Gdebi Package Installer.
Another interesting tweak tool is represented by the Ubuntu Tweak package which can be obtained and installed by visiting the webpage: [http://ubuntu-tweak.com/][2].
Tweak Tool: System Information
After you have installed all this bunch of software, you might want to clean your system in order to free some space on the hard drive, by issuing the following commands:
$ sudo apt-get -y autoremove
$ sudo apt-get -y autoclean
$ sudo apt-get -y clean
This are just a few tweaks and programs that an average user might install and use on Ubuntu 15.04 Desktop for daily basic utilization. For more advanced programs, features and utilities use Ubuntu Software Center or consult Ubuntu Wiki webpage.
