pterosky
May 22nd, 2008, 05:44 PM
Here is my checklist for setting up a new Ubuntu installation, I thought it might be of use to other Ubuntu beginners. If you decide to use this list after installing Ubuntu, please take care which commands you run and settings you change -- for example, don't disable the Printer Service if you plan on connecting a printer to your computer 8o)
For the more complicated stuff, like mounting a storage partition or defining keyboard shortcuts, I have linked to more information after the description, instead of explaining it here -- this post is already long enough as it is :)
Three excellent guides for beginners on getting started with Ubuntu:
HowTo: Partitioning Basics (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=282018)
Getting started with Ubuntu Newbie (n00b) 101 (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=790485)
The Perfect Desktop - Ubuntu 8.04 (http://www.howtoforge.com/the-perfect-desktop-ubuntu-8.04-lts-hardy-heron)
My hardware: ATI graphics card, Samsung 19" LCD monitor.
My partition setup for Ubuntu installation:
/dev/sda3 - as / (root)
/dev/sda5 - as /home
/dev/sda6 - storage partition for backups, not touched during installation
/dev/sda7 - as swap
-----------------------------------------
Setting up Ubuntu 8.04 after the installation
Apply automatic updates through Update Manager and enable the proprietary ATI driver.
Uninstall Firefox 3 and install Firefox 2 (edit: I am using Firefox 3 now)
Open Synaptic Package Manager (System > Administration > Synaptic Package Manager)
Right click on all Firefox 3 items, select "Mark for Complete Removal" and click Apply. Navigate to /home/"Your Username", press Ctrl+H to show hidden files and folders and delete .Mozilla folder to start fresh. Restart and install Firefox 2 (firefox-2 and firefox-2-gnome-support). Correct Preferred Applications (System > Preferences > Preferred Applications), under Web browser enter "firefox-2" in the Command box.
Firefox: Fix backspace key, single close tab button and click to select URL
Access Firefox preferences by entering "about:config" in the Firefox address bar:
Make Backspace Key Work Correctly: browser.backspace_action = 0
Have a single close tab button on the right side of the tab bar: browser.tabs.closebuttons = 3
Fix Ctrl+(Shift)+Arrow key behavior in address bar: layout.word_select.stop_at_punctuation = true
Click to select URL in address bar: browser.urlbar.clickSelectsAll = true
Disable Automatic Image Resizing: browser.enable_automatic_image_resizing = false
Stop Firefox 3 from displaying bookmarks automagically in the address bar: browser.urlbar.maxRichResults = -1
Prevent Firefox from stealing focus when clicking on links in Thunderbird: browser.tabs.loadDivertedInBackground = true
Larger, more readable fonts in Firefox
Set Default Font under Content to Bitstream Vera Sans, click Advanced and set Minimum font size to 18 and Monospace to Bitstream Vera Sans. Uncheck "Allow pages to choose their own fonts, instead of my selection above".
Add-ons for Firefox
Instead of installing Adblock press ESC to stop annoying animated/flashing advertisement. Right-click on image ads and select "Block images from ..." to prevent images from that domain showing up in the future.
Flashblock
Firebug
UnPlug
Remove "List All Tabs Button" on the right side of Firefox and remove items from the Firefox menus
Make a file called userChrome.css in /home/"Your Username"/.Mozilla/Firefox/Profiles/"Profile string".default/chrome with this content:
/* Disable Container box for "List all Tabs" Button */
.tabs-alltabs-stack {
display: none !important;
}
/* Remove Options from FireFox Drop-Down Menus */
menuitem[label="Web Search"],
menuitem[label="Web Search"] + menuseparator,
menuitem[label="Work Offline"],
menuitem[label="Bookmark All Tabs..."],
menuitem[label="Stop"],
menuitem[label="Subscribe to This Page..."],
menuitem[label="Subscribe to This Page"],
menuitem[label="Reload"],
menuitem[label="Bookmarks Toolbar Folder"],
menuitem[label="For Internet Explorer Users"],
menuitem[label="Send Link..."],
menuitem[label="Reload"] + menuseparator {
display: none !important;
}
Enlarge the focus indicator in Firefox, to better highlight the cursor when navigating using the TAB-key
Make a file called userContent.css in /home/"Your Username"/.Mozilla/Firefox/Profiles/"Profile string".default/chrome with this content:
*:focus { outline: 3px solid #708090 /* #10d0f0 */; outline-offset: 1px;
outline-radius: 5px; }
button:focus::-moz-focus-inner { border-color: transparent; }
button::-moz-focus-inner,
input[type="reset"]::-moz-focus-inner,
input[type="button"]::-moz-focus-inner,
input[type="submit"]::-moz-focus-inner,
input[type="file"] > input[type="button"]::-moz-focus-inner {
border: 1px dotted transparent;
}
textarea:focus, button:focus, select:focus, input:focus {
outline-offset: -1px; }
input[type="radio"]:focus {outline-radius: 12px; outline-offset: 0px; }
a:focus { outline-offset: 0px; outline: }
This also works with Thunderbird: Create a folder called chrome in .mozilla-thunderbird/"Profile string".default/ and copy userContent.css to this location.
More information: [gui-talk] Fwd: Mozilla Firefox accessibility and usability enhancement (http://www.nfbnet.org/pipermail/gui-talk/2006-May/017563.html)
Remove Evolution and install Thunderbird
In a terminal window enter sudo apt-get remove evolution or do it through Synaptic Package Manager. Install Thunderbird (Thunderbird and Thunderbird-gnome-support) through Synaptic Package Manager. If you have a backed up Thunderbird email folder from either an old Windows or Linux installation, then copy .thunderbird folder (I keep it in my Storage partition) to /home/"Username" This should import account settings, emails and folder set up.
Fix links not working from within Thunderbird
Firefox starts up, but the link doesn't open up, instead it shows the home page. Edit the .mozilla-thunderbird/"Profile string".default/prefs.js file and add (or change) the following:
user_pref("network.protocol-handler.app.http", "/usr/bin/firefox-2");
user_pref("network.protocol-handler.app.https", "/usr/bin/firefox-2");
More information: Clicking on links in Thunderbird and having them open in Firefox [Resolved] (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=60427)
Make Hotmail WebMail Add-on work
In Tools > Add-ons > WebMail > Preferences > Servers, change POP value from 110 to 1025 and SMTP value to 1026. In Thunderbird: Edit > Account Settings > Server Settings > Port and enter 1025
Change the default sort order in Thunderbird folders and Fix Ctrl+(Shift)+Arrow key behavior in email addresses
Open Edit > Preferences > Advanced > Config Editor, locate and change the following:
mailnews.default_news_sort_order 2
mailnews.default_news_sort_type 22
mailnews.default_sort_order 2
mailnews.default_sort_type 18
Double click to change status to "user set":
layout.word_select.stop_at_punctuation
More information: Change the default sort for all Thunderbird folders, inc RSS (http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?p=3075712)
Enable Uncomplicated Firewall, open ports for Amule
In a terminal window enter
sudo ufw enable
sudo ufw allow 5588/tcp
sudo ufw allow 5598/udp
Change assigned IP address automatically, by changing mac address on boot
In a terminal window enter
sudo apt-get install macchanger
Then open this file
sudo gedit /etc/rc.local
and add the following after "# By default this script does nothing."
ifconfig eth0 down # hw ether <new_mac_addr>
macchanger --another eth0
sleep 3
ifconfig eth0 up
More information: Change mac address on boot? (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=451764)
Use tor to surf anonymously
HOW TO surf anonymous (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=95527)
Remap ;/:, '/", [/{ keys to æ/Æ, ø/Ø, å/Å and disable Caps Lock
I am using a Generic 105-key US keyboard layout. For typing the danish letters æ/Æ, ø/Ø, å/Å I press ;/:, '/", [/{ by remapping these keys with xmodmap commands. To access the original keys I press Caps Lock, which has been transformed into a switch key.
Create a file called .Xmodmap in /home/"Your Username"/ and put the xmodmap commands in there. They will be run automatically on start up:
keycode 34 = aring Aring bracketleft braceleft
keycode 47 = ae AE semicolon colon
keycode 48 = oslash Ooblique quoteright quotedbl
keycode 66 = Mode_switch
More information: HOWTO: Multimedia keys (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=261714)
Define Keyboard Shortcuts
You can define keyboard shortcuts in System > Preferences > Keyboard Shortcuts, but I couldn't make Ubuntu recognise the Windows key, known as Super in Ubuntu, so I defined them manually, to edit them type gconf-editor in a terminal window and navigate to these places:
/apps/gnome_settings_daemon/keybindings/
volume_up <Control>Page_Up - Turns the Master Volume up
volume_down <Control>Page_Down - Turns the Master Volume down
/apps/metacity/global_keybindings
panel_main_menu <Super>P - Show the panel menu
run_command_terminal F12 - <Super>T is taken by Thunderbird 8o)
run_command_1 <Super>F - Firefox
run_command_2 <Super>T - Thunderbird
run_command_3 <Super>A - Audacious
run_command_4 <Super>E - Nautilus - As in Windows Key+E
run_command_5 <Super>I - FileZilla
run_command_6 <Super>B - Baobab Disk Usage Analyzer
run_command_7 <Super>X - gedit
run_command_8 <Super>O - Opera
run_command_9 <Super>S - Gnome System Monitor
run_command_10 <Super>U - Update Manager
run_command_11 <Super>C - Calculator
run_command_12 <Super>R - Transmission
show_desktop <Super>M - Hide all windows and focus on desktop
/apps/metacity/keybinding_commands
command_1 - firefox (edit: I am using Firefox 3 now, to start Firefox 2: "firefox-2")
command_2 - thunderbird
command_3 - audacious
command_4 - nautilus /storage
command_5 - filezilla
command_6 - baobab
command_7 - gedit
command_8 - opera
command_9 - gnome-system-monitor
command_10 - update-manager
command_11 - gcalctool
command_12 - transmission
/apps/metacity/window_keybindings
close <Control>Q - Closes a program, since Ctrl+W closes tabs in for example Firefox and Gedit(the Text file editor). I always found Alt+F4 awkward.
toggle_maximized F11 - Like in Firefox
The settings are saved in the files /home/"Your Username"/.gconf/apps/metacity/global_keybindings/%gconf.xml and
/home/"Your Username"/.gconf/apps/metacity/keybinding_commands/%gconf.xml -- you can find the files at the bottom of this post.
Just paste them into the correct folders, rename the existing %gconf.xml to OLD%gconf.xml and delete [global_keybindings] or [keybinding_commands] from the filename.
More information: Defining Keyboard Shortcuts in Gnome (Metacity) (http://justanothertechblog.blogspot.com/2006/12/defining-keyboard-shortcuts-in-gnome.html)
Edit Panel Menus, order of menu items and renaming them
Under System > Preferences > Main Menu.
Back up or restore Panels
Panel settings are saved in the /home/"Your Username"/.gconf/apps/panel directory, deleting it and restarting resets the panels to default.
Change to Single Click Mouse, List View and Display
Open the File Browser Nautilus (Places > Home Folder > Edit > Preferences)
Views: Under Views, set View new folders using to "List View"
Single Click Mouse: Under Behavior, set Behavior to "Single click to open items"
Display: Under Display, set Format to "2008-05-22 3:03:01"
Remove Ctrl+T "move to trash" shortcut in Nautilus
Open System > Preferences > Appearance > Interface, select Editable menu shortcut keys. Click on Edit in Nautilus and highlight the Empty Trash item, with the focus on that menu item, press the Delete key to remove the shortcut.
Ubuntu can't seem to remember this though... when I restart my computer it is back:
More information: Re: Change Nautilus CTRL + T "move to trash" keyboard shortcut? (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=4985567)
Change Theme, Desktop Wallpaper, Login Screen and Font Sizes
Right click on Desktop > Change Desktop Background
Theme: Under Theme tab Select "Custom", click Customize > Pointer and set Pointer to "DMZ-White", increase Size
Desktop Wallpaper: Under Background tab click Add and set a new Wallpaper. Click Colors and select a colour that matches the new wallpaper and copy the hexadecimal value from Color Name
Login Screen: Open System > Administration > Login Window, it might take a few minutes to appear. Under Local select a new theme, click Background Color and paste the hexadecimal value in Color Name
Fonts: Under Fonts select Subpixel smoothing(LCDs), click Details and set Resolution to 130 DPI
Mount storage partition
In a terminal window enter the following commands:
Create the directory:
sudo mkdir /storage
Back up fstab file:
sudo cp /etc/fstab /etc/fstab_backup
Determine UUID for the relevant partition:
ls -l /dev/disk/by-uuid
Result: sda6 - ae51ac8f-6204-4d81-8187-98ue2f26b2c0)
To be inserted into /etc/fstab:
# /dev/sda6
UUID=ae51ac8f-6204-4d81-8187-98ue2f26b2c0 /storage ext3 defaults 0 0
sudo gedit /etc/fstab
sudo mount -a
sudo chown -R "Your Username":"Your Username" /storage
For example: sudo chown -R marie:marie /storage
sudo chmod -R 755 /storage
More information: Mounting Linux Partitions in Ubuntu (http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/mountlinux)
Get the codecs for AVI, MP4 and other formats, DVD playback, install Java
Follow the instructions in this excellent guide: [all variants] Comprehensive Multimedia & Video How-to (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=766683)
Register Java plug-in in Firefox
To register the plug-in with Firefox-2 on 8.04 (Hardy)and get java runtime env, in terminal type:
cd /usr/lib/firefox/plugins
sudo ln -s /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-sun-1.6.0.06/jre/plugin/i386/ns7/libjavaplugin_oji.so
More information: [ubuntu] hardy firefox2 java problems solved (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=782167)
Fix Real Player plug-in in Firefox -- sound but no picture
Right-click in the Firefox window > Preferences and set video output to GL.
Get Fullscreen option in Mplayer working
Set Preferences > video to gl X11(OpenGL) or gl2 to be able to view movies fullscreen. If not the image remains the same size and the border around the image goes black when Fullscreen is chosen.
Set deinterlacing for movies to "blend" in VLC
Install VLC and open Settings > Preferences > Video > Filters
Enable checkbox for deinterlacing, make sure "deinterlace" appear in the textbox below all the checkboxes. Open Settings > Preferences > Video > Filters > Deinterlace and select "Blend" for the deinterlace mode.
Add a dictionary to Open Office Writer
If the window is too small when using the File > Wizards > Install new dictionaries turn off visual effects by going to System > Preferences > Appearances > Visual Effects and select "None".
Filezilla
Install, then restore sitemanager.xml from back up in .filezilla folder
Disable unneeded Services (System > Preferences > Preferred Applications)
Enable Audio Settings Management
Disable Bluetooth
Disable Printer service
Install XAMPP, start, stop, create public_html and link it to /opt/lampp/htdocs
Download XAMPP from http://www.apachefriends.org, then type in terminal:
Install:
sudo tar xvfz xampp-linux-1.6.6.tar.gz -C /opt
Start:
/opt/lampp/lampp start
Set up security:
/opt/lampp/lampp security
Make public_html directory in home directory:
mkdir ~/public_html
Link to /opt/lampp/htdocs:
sudo ln -s ~/public_html /opt/lampp/htdocs/$USER
More information: HOWTO: Setup easy web development environment (XAMPP) (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=223410)
dvd::rip -- settings for ripping
Select which Audio track to scan for volume in Rip Title
Video codec: xvid4
Deinterlace Mode: Smart deinterlacing
MP3 bitrate: 192
Audio track: ac3 6Ch
More information: Backing up DVDs (http://www.wombatnation.com/2005/01/backing-up-dvds)
Thunar
Installed for batch/bulk renaming files
For the more complicated stuff, like mounting a storage partition or defining keyboard shortcuts, I have linked to more information after the description, instead of explaining it here -- this post is already long enough as it is :)
Three excellent guides for beginners on getting started with Ubuntu:
HowTo: Partitioning Basics (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=282018)
Getting started with Ubuntu Newbie (n00b) 101 (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=790485)
The Perfect Desktop - Ubuntu 8.04 (http://www.howtoforge.com/the-perfect-desktop-ubuntu-8.04-lts-hardy-heron)
My hardware: ATI graphics card, Samsung 19" LCD monitor.
My partition setup for Ubuntu installation:
/dev/sda3 - as / (root)
/dev/sda5 - as /home
/dev/sda6 - storage partition for backups, not touched during installation
/dev/sda7 - as swap
-----------------------------------------
Setting up Ubuntu 8.04 after the installation
Apply automatic updates through Update Manager and enable the proprietary ATI driver.
Uninstall Firefox 3 and install Firefox 2 (edit: I am using Firefox 3 now)
Open Synaptic Package Manager (System > Administration > Synaptic Package Manager)
Right click on all Firefox 3 items, select "Mark for Complete Removal" and click Apply. Navigate to /home/"Your Username", press Ctrl+H to show hidden files and folders and delete .Mozilla folder to start fresh. Restart and install Firefox 2 (firefox-2 and firefox-2-gnome-support). Correct Preferred Applications (System > Preferences > Preferred Applications), under Web browser enter "firefox-2" in the Command box.
Firefox: Fix backspace key, single close tab button and click to select URL
Access Firefox preferences by entering "about:config" in the Firefox address bar:
Make Backspace Key Work Correctly: browser.backspace_action = 0
Have a single close tab button on the right side of the tab bar: browser.tabs.closebuttons = 3
Fix Ctrl+(Shift)+Arrow key behavior in address bar: layout.word_select.stop_at_punctuation = true
Click to select URL in address bar: browser.urlbar.clickSelectsAll = true
Disable Automatic Image Resizing: browser.enable_automatic_image_resizing = false
Stop Firefox 3 from displaying bookmarks automagically in the address bar: browser.urlbar.maxRichResults = -1
Prevent Firefox from stealing focus when clicking on links in Thunderbird: browser.tabs.loadDivertedInBackground = true
Larger, more readable fonts in Firefox
Set Default Font under Content to Bitstream Vera Sans, click Advanced and set Minimum font size to 18 and Monospace to Bitstream Vera Sans. Uncheck "Allow pages to choose their own fonts, instead of my selection above".
Add-ons for Firefox
Instead of installing Adblock press ESC to stop annoying animated/flashing advertisement. Right-click on image ads and select "Block images from ..." to prevent images from that domain showing up in the future.
Flashblock
Firebug
UnPlug
Remove "List All Tabs Button" on the right side of Firefox and remove items from the Firefox menus
Make a file called userChrome.css in /home/"Your Username"/.Mozilla/Firefox/Profiles/"Profile string".default/chrome with this content:
/* Disable Container box for "List all Tabs" Button */
.tabs-alltabs-stack {
display: none !important;
}
/* Remove Options from FireFox Drop-Down Menus */
menuitem[label="Web Search"],
menuitem[label="Web Search"] + menuseparator,
menuitem[label="Work Offline"],
menuitem[label="Bookmark All Tabs..."],
menuitem[label="Stop"],
menuitem[label="Subscribe to This Page..."],
menuitem[label="Subscribe to This Page"],
menuitem[label="Reload"],
menuitem[label="Bookmarks Toolbar Folder"],
menuitem[label="For Internet Explorer Users"],
menuitem[label="Send Link..."],
menuitem[label="Reload"] + menuseparator {
display: none !important;
}
Enlarge the focus indicator in Firefox, to better highlight the cursor when navigating using the TAB-key
Make a file called userContent.css in /home/"Your Username"/.Mozilla/Firefox/Profiles/"Profile string".default/chrome with this content:
*:focus { outline: 3px solid #708090 /* #10d0f0 */; outline-offset: 1px;
outline-radius: 5px; }
button:focus::-moz-focus-inner { border-color: transparent; }
button::-moz-focus-inner,
input[type="reset"]::-moz-focus-inner,
input[type="button"]::-moz-focus-inner,
input[type="submit"]::-moz-focus-inner,
input[type="file"] > input[type="button"]::-moz-focus-inner {
border: 1px dotted transparent;
}
textarea:focus, button:focus, select:focus, input:focus {
outline-offset: -1px; }
input[type="radio"]:focus {outline-radius: 12px; outline-offset: 0px; }
a:focus { outline-offset: 0px; outline: }
This also works with Thunderbird: Create a folder called chrome in .mozilla-thunderbird/"Profile string".default/ and copy userContent.css to this location.
More information: [gui-talk] Fwd: Mozilla Firefox accessibility and usability enhancement (http://www.nfbnet.org/pipermail/gui-talk/2006-May/017563.html)
Remove Evolution and install Thunderbird
In a terminal window enter sudo apt-get remove evolution or do it through Synaptic Package Manager. Install Thunderbird (Thunderbird and Thunderbird-gnome-support) through Synaptic Package Manager. If you have a backed up Thunderbird email folder from either an old Windows or Linux installation, then copy .thunderbird folder (I keep it in my Storage partition) to /home/"Username" This should import account settings, emails and folder set up.
Fix links not working from within Thunderbird
Firefox starts up, but the link doesn't open up, instead it shows the home page. Edit the .mozilla-thunderbird/"Profile string".default/prefs.js file and add (or change) the following:
user_pref("network.protocol-handler.app.http", "/usr/bin/firefox-2");
user_pref("network.protocol-handler.app.https", "/usr/bin/firefox-2");
More information: Clicking on links in Thunderbird and having them open in Firefox [Resolved] (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=60427)
Make Hotmail WebMail Add-on work
In Tools > Add-ons > WebMail > Preferences > Servers, change POP value from 110 to 1025 and SMTP value to 1026. In Thunderbird: Edit > Account Settings > Server Settings > Port and enter 1025
Change the default sort order in Thunderbird folders and Fix Ctrl+(Shift)+Arrow key behavior in email addresses
Open Edit > Preferences > Advanced > Config Editor, locate and change the following:
mailnews.default_news_sort_order 2
mailnews.default_news_sort_type 22
mailnews.default_sort_order 2
mailnews.default_sort_type 18
Double click to change status to "user set":
layout.word_select.stop_at_punctuation
More information: Change the default sort for all Thunderbird folders, inc RSS (http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?p=3075712)
Enable Uncomplicated Firewall, open ports for Amule
In a terminal window enter
sudo ufw enable
sudo ufw allow 5588/tcp
sudo ufw allow 5598/udp
Change assigned IP address automatically, by changing mac address on boot
In a terminal window enter
sudo apt-get install macchanger
Then open this file
sudo gedit /etc/rc.local
and add the following after "# By default this script does nothing."
ifconfig eth0 down # hw ether <new_mac_addr>
macchanger --another eth0
sleep 3
ifconfig eth0 up
More information: Change mac address on boot? (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=451764)
Use tor to surf anonymously
HOW TO surf anonymous (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=95527)
Remap ;/:, '/", [/{ keys to æ/Æ, ø/Ø, å/Å and disable Caps Lock
I am using a Generic 105-key US keyboard layout. For typing the danish letters æ/Æ, ø/Ø, å/Å I press ;/:, '/", [/{ by remapping these keys with xmodmap commands. To access the original keys I press Caps Lock, which has been transformed into a switch key.
Create a file called .Xmodmap in /home/"Your Username"/ and put the xmodmap commands in there. They will be run automatically on start up:
keycode 34 = aring Aring bracketleft braceleft
keycode 47 = ae AE semicolon colon
keycode 48 = oslash Ooblique quoteright quotedbl
keycode 66 = Mode_switch
More information: HOWTO: Multimedia keys (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=261714)
Define Keyboard Shortcuts
You can define keyboard shortcuts in System > Preferences > Keyboard Shortcuts, but I couldn't make Ubuntu recognise the Windows key, known as Super in Ubuntu, so I defined them manually, to edit them type gconf-editor in a terminal window and navigate to these places:
/apps/gnome_settings_daemon/keybindings/
volume_up <Control>Page_Up - Turns the Master Volume up
volume_down <Control>Page_Down - Turns the Master Volume down
/apps/metacity/global_keybindings
panel_main_menu <Super>P - Show the panel menu
run_command_terminal F12 - <Super>T is taken by Thunderbird 8o)
run_command_1 <Super>F - Firefox
run_command_2 <Super>T - Thunderbird
run_command_3 <Super>A - Audacious
run_command_4 <Super>E - Nautilus - As in Windows Key+E
run_command_5 <Super>I - FileZilla
run_command_6 <Super>B - Baobab Disk Usage Analyzer
run_command_7 <Super>X - gedit
run_command_8 <Super>O - Opera
run_command_9 <Super>S - Gnome System Monitor
run_command_10 <Super>U - Update Manager
run_command_11 <Super>C - Calculator
run_command_12 <Super>R - Transmission
show_desktop <Super>M - Hide all windows and focus on desktop
/apps/metacity/keybinding_commands
command_1 - firefox (edit: I am using Firefox 3 now, to start Firefox 2: "firefox-2")
command_2 - thunderbird
command_3 - audacious
command_4 - nautilus /storage
command_5 - filezilla
command_6 - baobab
command_7 - gedit
command_8 - opera
command_9 - gnome-system-monitor
command_10 - update-manager
command_11 - gcalctool
command_12 - transmission
/apps/metacity/window_keybindings
close <Control>Q - Closes a program, since Ctrl+W closes tabs in for example Firefox and Gedit(the Text file editor). I always found Alt+F4 awkward.
toggle_maximized F11 - Like in Firefox
The settings are saved in the files /home/"Your Username"/.gconf/apps/metacity/global_keybindings/%gconf.xml and
/home/"Your Username"/.gconf/apps/metacity/keybinding_commands/%gconf.xml -- you can find the files at the bottom of this post.
Just paste them into the correct folders, rename the existing %gconf.xml to OLD%gconf.xml and delete [global_keybindings] or [keybinding_commands] from the filename.
More information: Defining Keyboard Shortcuts in Gnome (Metacity) (http://justanothertechblog.blogspot.com/2006/12/defining-keyboard-shortcuts-in-gnome.html)
Edit Panel Menus, order of menu items and renaming them
Under System > Preferences > Main Menu.
Back up or restore Panels
Panel settings are saved in the /home/"Your Username"/.gconf/apps/panel directory, deleting it and restarting resets the panels to default.
Change to Single Click Mouse, List View and Display
Open the File Browser Nautilus (Places > Home Folder > Edit > Preferences)
Views: Under Views, set View new folders using to "List View"
Single Click Mouse: Under Behavior, set Behavior to "Single click to open items"
Display: Under Display, set Format to "2008-05-22 3:03:01"
Remove Ctrl+T "move to trash" shortcut in Nautilus
Open System > Preferences > Appearance > Interface, select Editable menu shortcut keys. Click on Edit in Nautilus and highlight the Empty Trash item, with the focus on that menu item, press the Delete key to remove the shortcut.
Ubuntu can't seem to remember this though... when I restart my computer it is back:
More information: Re: Change Nautilus CTRL + T "move to trash" keyboard shortcut? (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=4985567)
Change Theme, Desktop Wallpaper, Login Screen and Font Sizes
Right click on Desktop > Change Desktop Background
Theme: Under Theme tab Select "Custom", click Customize > Pointer and set Pointer to "DMZ-White", increase Size
Desktop Wallpaper: Under Background tab click Add and set a new Wallpaper. Click Colors and select a colour that matches the new wallpaper and copy the hexadecimal value from Color Name
Login Screen: Open System > Administration > Login Window, it might take a few minutes to appear. Under Local select a new theme, click Background Color and paste the hexadecimal value in Color Name
Fonts: Under Fonts select Subpixel smoothing(LCDs), click Details and set Resolution to 130 DPI
Mount storage partition
In a terminal window enter the following commands:
Create the directory:
sudo mkdir /storage
Back up fstab file:
sudo cp /etc/fstab /etc/fstab_backup
Determine UUID for the relevant partition:
ls -l /dev/disk/by-uuid
Result: sda6 - ae51ac8f-6204-4d81-8187-98ue2f26b2c0)
To be inserted into /etc/fstab:
# /dev/sda6
UUID=ae51ac8f-6204-4d81-8187-98ue2f26b2c0 /storage ext3 defaults 0 0
sudo gedit /etc/fstab
sudo mount -a
sudo chown -R "Your Username":"Your Username" /storage
For example: sudo chown -R marie:marie /storage
sudo chmod -R 755 /storage
More information: Mounting Linux Partitions in Ubuntu (http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/mountlinux)
Get the codecs for AVI, MP4 and other formats, DVD playback, install Java
Follow the instructions in this excellent guide: [all variants] Comprehensive Multimedia & Video How-to (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=766683)
Register Java plug-in in Firefox
To register the plug-in with Firefox-2 on 8.04 (Hardy)and get java runtime env, in terminal type:
cd /usr/lib/firefox/plugins
sudo ln -s /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-sun-1.6.0.06/jre/plugin/i386/ns7/libjavaplugin_oji.so
More information: [ubuntu] hardy firefox2 java problems solved (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=782167)
Fix Real Player plug-in in Firefox -- sound but no picture
Right-click in the Firefox window > Preferences and set video output to GL.
Get Fullscreen option in Mplayer working
Set Preferences > video to gl X11(OpenGL) or gl2 to be able to view movies fullscreen. If not the image remains the same size and the border around the image goes black when Fullscreen is chosen.
Set deinterlacing for movies to "blend" in VLC
Install VLC and open Settings > Preferences > Video > Filters
Enable checkbox for deinterlacing, make sure "deinterlace" appear in the textbox below all the checkboxes. Open Settings > Preferences > Video > Filters > Deinterlace and select "Blend" for the deinterlace mode.
Add a dictionary to Open Office Writer
If the window is too small when using the File > Wizards > Install new dictionaries turn off visual effects by going to System > Preferences > Appearances > Visual Effects and select "None".
Filezilla
Install, then restore sitemanager.xml from back up in .filezilla folder
Disable unneeded Services (System > Preferences > Preferred Applications)
Enable Audio Settings Management
Disable Bluetooth
Disable Printer service
Install XAMPP, start, stop, create public_html and link it to /opt/lampp/htdocs
Download XAMPP from http://www.apachefriends.org, then type in terminal:
Install:
sudo tar xvfz xampp-linux-1.6.6.tar.gz -C /opt
Start:
/opt/lampp/lampp start
Set up security:
/opt/lampp/lampp security
Make public_html directory in home directory:
mkdir ~/public_html
Link to /opt/lampp/htdocs:
sudo ln -s ~/public_html /opt/lampp/htdocs/$USER
More information: HOWTO: Setup easy web development environment (XAMPP) (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=223410)
dvd::rip -- settings for ripping
Select which Audio track to scan for volume in Rip Title
Video codec: xvid4
Deinterlace Mode: Smart deinterlacing
MP3 bitrate: 192
Audio track: ac3 6Ch
More information: Backing up DVDs (http://www.wombatnation.com/2005/01/backing-up-dvds)
Thunar
Installed for batch/bulk renaming files