10 Or 20 Things To Do After Installing Ubuntu 14.

04 Trusty Tahr
Posted by Greg Laden on Aril 24! 2014
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ubuntu&trusty&tahr
Ubuntu 14.04 Trusty Tahr has 'ust been released! and I() sure you are about to install it. I(*e ut together a fe+
ideas for +hat to do after installation in order to )a,e it +or, better for you. -ou(ll find that belo+. .irst! a bit of
ranty ba/,ground.
0ant
Originally! Ubuntu +as a great thing. -ears ago I used a Uni1 li,e syste) for *arious things and got /o)fortable
+ith +hat +e no+ /all the 2/o))and line.3 Then I used DO4! and that +as still a /o))and line oerating syste)
"but +ith different /o))ands# and that +as retty good for the late 20th /entury. Then 5indo+s /a)e out and I
s+it/hed to that! and later used both 5indo+s and $a/ oerating syste)s to do )y +or,. 6*entually! I +anted to
get a+ay fro) those rorietary oerating syste)s and try out Linu1! +hi/h by then +as a Uni1 li,e syste) that
had +indo+ing /aabilities but also a o+erful /o))and line interfa/e.
4o! I got a sare /o)uter and installed .edora. 7ouldn(t get it to +or,. I tried 4U46 and a /oule of other
syste)s! but there +as a roble) +ith ea/h one of the). In order to get ast the installation and /onfiguration 8
to the e1tent that the /o)uter +ould do silly things li,e rint! or hoo, u to a net+or, 8 I needed to already
,no+ all the stuff that I +as /onfident I +ould e*entually learn! on/e I got the syste) set u. It +as a 7at/h 22
situation.
At one oint I /a)e a/ross a ne+ *ersion of Linu1 /alled Ubuntu! and the fa/t that it +as fro) 4outh Afri/a
interested )e be/ause I +as at the ti)e doing 9uit a bit of +or, in 4outh Afri/a! so that +as /ool. :ut the Ubuntu
ser*ers +ere al+ays o*erloaded and I /ould ne*er do+nload it. I thin, I tried one other *ersion of Linu1 after that!
and then de/ided to gi*e u on Linu1 be/ause that didn(t +or, for )e either.
:ut 'ust before I ga*e u! I tried do+nloading Ubuntu one )ore ti)e. And it do+nloaded. And I installed it and the
installation +as sea)less! and e*erything +or,ed. And I sa+ it. And it +as good.
Although I )essed around +ith a fe+ other *ersions of Linu1! 'ust for fun! I )ainly ,et installing *arious
*ersions of Ubuntu! laying around +ith all of the ,no+ des,tos but al+ays /o)ing ba/, to gno)e. I be/a)e
reasonably good "but not high le*el# at +or,ing +ith Linu1 on the des,to! sent so)e effort ro)oting the
oerating syste)! and in short order I stoed using 5indo+s "unless for/ed to do so# but still using a $a/ no+
and then. I /urrently use a )a/ des,to for )ost things! a Linu1 lato as )y lato! and a Linu1 ser*er for
se/iali;ed tas,s. 6*ery no+ and then <u1ley as,s )e 2Daddy! +hy do you ha*e nine /o)uters=3 and I say
2<u1ley! I only ha*e si1 /o)uters! those e1tra )onitors are hoo,ed )ore than one to a /o)uter in so)e /ases.3
And he resonds 2-ou don(t need nine /o)uters! daddy.3 >ids these days?
Any+ay! then Unity /a)e along and for this reason and other reasons Ubuntu be/a)e )ore annoying rather than
less annoying +ith ea/h release. .or e1a)le! there are ali/ations that no+ only +or, +ith Unity. This )ay be
less true no+ than it +as t+o )onths ago! last ti)e I /he/,ed! but the 6*ernote /lone for Linu1! 6*erad! +ould
not gi*e )e )enus in a non&Unity en*iron)ent be/ause it +as designed to be bro,en +hen run in anything other
than Ubuntu +ith Unity. That sort of thing is *ery annoying. If you +ant to ha*e so)e alternati*e non Ubuntu&
aro*ed des,tos A@D Unity +or,ing on one /o)uter! you ha*e to /heat and )ess around and tri/, the
/o)uter in to letting you do it. It is no longer safe to install Ubuntu as your basi/ oerating syste) then /onfigure
the /o)uter 2e1a/tly ho+ you +ant it3 "a )antra for Linu1 users# by s+aing around des,tos and other
fun/tionality. Also! Ubuntu too, @autilus! +hi/h had e*ol*ed to be one of the best file )anagers around! and
re)o*ed so)e of its great features and )ade it one of the du)best file )anagers around. And! the Unity
Dashboard e*entually be/a)e li,e that big gift sho at )ost )useu)s these days ? all e1its lead through the gift
sho.
One of the )ost annoying things about Unity is the disaearing )enus that are no longer lo/ated on the
ali/ation title bar. :oth being not +here I +ant the) and in*isible is in/redibly annoying. All disaearing
)enus are stuid and anti&rodu/ti*e and anyone +ho does not reali;e that is a shee. :aa..
And another thing. The si)le a/t of /reating an ali/ation laun/her for your laun/hing barAthingie be/a)e
diffi/ult +ith Ubuntu. This )eant that t+o or three of )y )ost /o))only used ali/ations /ould not be laun/hed
the +ay I +anted the) to be laun/hed by using a si)le t+ea,. It turns out that getting des,to laun/hers to +or,
isn(t that hard! but da))it! +hy did I ha*e to learn a +hole ne+ ro/edure that is fi*e ti)es )ore /o)li/ated
than the old ro/edure! gi*ing )e nothing ne+! 'ust be/ause $ar, 4hutle+orth ne*er thought of laun/hing e)a/s
+ith a standard blan, file to )a,e his life easier= 5<-===
:ut then Ubuntu Long Ter) 0elease 14.04. If you read about this release on the Internet! you(ll noti/e that eole
often say 2nothing big in this ne+ release! retty )u/h the sa)e as the old release3 but that is not true. One of the
big differen/es is that you /an no+ /onfigure Unity to use nor)al )enus. That is big. Also! so)e+here along the
+ay Ubuntu One /a)e "I ne*er got it to +or, for )e either fun/tionally or adati*ely# so I /ouldn(t /are less! but it
is no+ gone so that is one annoying thing that has disaeared. Plus! by no+! )ethods of re)o*ing other annoying
features of Unity ha*e de*eloed ni/ely.
The irony of all this is that +hen you install Ubuntu 14.04 +ith Unity and you +ant it to be a sane oerating
syste)! there is a long list of things you )ay +ant to do to. I(*e /ulled suggestions fro) a nu)ber of helful +eb
sites "all listed belo+# and ut the) in a reasonable order. If you +ant to do these things! you )ight /onsider
running through the list and adding all the reositories at on/e! then doing a sudo at&get install udate /o))and!
rather than doing the latter after e*ery one of the for)er! to sa*e ti)e. I(*e not fully tested e*erything here. I.e.!
I(*e installed 4,ye but I(*e not tested it. Also! I did these things on a syste) that +as already t+ea,ed so se*eral
of these things +ere already done! but I did the) again any+ay. That )ostly resulted in 2you(*e already installed
that soft+are! du))y3 noti/es! but at least nothing bro,e.
I oted or /o))and line suggestions for )ost of these ite)s! though a fe+ send you to the syste) referen/es! et/.
4o here(s +hat I did! and +hat you )ay +ant to do. I guarantee nothing. Good lu/,.
$a,e a*ailable so)e i)ortant reositories that are robably turned off
Use the dash to oen 4oft+are and Udates
Go to other soft+are and /he/, /annoni/al arters and robably e*erything else that loo,s i)ortant! unless it is
so)ething Ubuntu turned off that you had re*iously in/luded. I don(t ,no+ +hat to do about those reositories.
-ou )ay be as,ed to aro*e reloading the /ash! or you /an do this! or bothB
sudo at&get udate
5hile you are in 4oft+are and Udates! /he/, for additional dri*ers
7he/, in soft+are and udates for additional dri*ers! under the 2additional dri*ers3 tab. Do so)ething s)art +ith
+hat you find there. I did nothing but you )ay +ant to. :e /areful.
sudo at&get udate CC sudo at&get ugrade
Install )ulti)edia /ode/s
sudo at&get install ubuntu&restri/ted&e1tras
Install se*eral useful soft+are ite)sB
DL7 )edia layerB
sudo at&get install *l/
Install rar. I don(t ,no+ +hat this is but a lot of eole see) to re/o))end it
sudo at&get install rar
gi) i)age )aniulation rogra)
sudo at&get install gi)
gno)e t+ea, tool and unity t+ee, tool
sudo at&get install gno)e&t+ea,&tool
sudo at&get install unity&t+ea,&tool
Install idgin if you +ant.
I didn(t but a lot of eole li,e it.
sudo at&get install idgin
Install s,ye
Install 4,ye if you +ant. This is a huge installation and +ill ta,e a fe+ )inutes.
sudo sh &/ Ee/ho 2deb httBAAar/hi*e./anoni/al./o)A 9uantal artner3 FF Aet/AatAsour/es.list(
sudo at&get udate
sudo at&get install s,ye
Install Ga*a
sudo at&get install i/edteaHI&lugin oen'd,HI&'re
Install e1tra alets
I(*e not entirely figured out the alets yet. They go on the )enu bar! /alled the anel! along the to of Unity(s
s/reen. There are fe+ re/o))ended t+ea,s and so far I(*e li,ed the). .or so)e of these! you run it fro)
/o))and line and it be/o)es art of the anel. .or others! you ha*e to run it fro) the Dash. .or so)e! +hen you
run the a fro) the /o))and line the rogra) that uts it on the anel ,ees running! so +hen you e1it the
ter)inal or ter)inate the rogra)! the alet disaears. .or so)e the alet ends u on the anel! for so)e there
is an oening ali/ation that sho+s u and re9uires /onfiguration then the alet goes in the anel! for others the
alet is ready to go ne1t ti)e you log in but +on(t sho+ u until then. In other +ords! there is no standard for
ho+ alets are /reated or installed. I refer to the rant at the to of the age. Ubuntu. A 24outh Afri/an Language
5ord for E5T.(3
sudo at&get install diodon diodon&lugins
7alendar indi/ator
This is a/tually one of the /oolest alets. $y o+n /alendar is relati*ely sarseJ for )any days there is nothing at
all! but e*erything on )y /alendar is *ery i)ortant! of /ourse. The best +ay to *ie+ a sarse /alendar is using the
2agenda3 )ethod! +here days that ha*e nothing on the) don(t e*en sho+ u and e*erything is a list. This /alendar
indi/ator does that. The roble) is! it does not sti/, itself to the anel unless you sele/t 2autostart3 in the
referen/es after you(*e started it u fro) DA4<.
sudo add&at&reository aBatareaoAatareao
sudo at&get udate
sudo at&get install /alendar&indi/ator
Install a +eather indi/ator
This is an e1/ellent indi/ator for +eather.
sudo add&at&reository aBatareaoAatareao
sudo at&get udate
sudo at&get install )y&+eather&indi/ator
Install 7oy "instead of Drobo1#
7oy is a less e1ensi*e alternati*e to Drobo1. -ou should gi*e it a try.
Install drobo1 and the a indi/ator
I(*e not gotten the a indi/ator to +or,! but this is the re/o))ended ro/edure. I() robably )issing so)ething.
Truth be told! I() not sure if drobo1 is +or,ing on )y lato at all at the )o)ent. Let )e ,no+ ho+ it goes +ith
you.
sudo at&get install drobo1
then you )ight ha*e to do this to get an indi/atorJ
sudo at&get install libaindi/ator1
:ut if you are li,e )e that +on(t +or,. In fa/t! +hile Drobo1 see)s to +or, on Ububuntu 14.04 unity! autostart
does not +or,J I() ro)ted for )y syste) ass+ord to start Drobo1 on login. .or no+ I thin, I(ll +ait to try to
figure out ho+ to get the i/on going until this all gets resol*ed! resu)ably in one fell s+oo. :ut! again! see rant
abo*eB ho+ does Ubuntu fell about itself! ,illing off Ubuntu One at the sa)e ti)e it )a,es Drobo1 harder to use.
Do +e users not /ount= Geesh.
Any+ay! if you +ant to *erify that Drobo1 is +or,ing! go to the /o))and line and tye in
drobo1 &h
and you(ll get a list of /o))ands that +ill allo+ you to lay around +ith it! in/luding
drobo1 status
+hi/h +ill tell you if it is running.
Install /lassi/ )enu indi/ator
This is a retty i)ortant alet. 5ith this alet in la/e you )ight e*en /onsider setting the Unity laun/her bar
on autohideK It is the standard debian style )enu. I re/o))end going into referen/es and /hanging the i/on to the
standard "Ubuntu# i/on so you ,no+ +hat the he/, it is a fe+ days after installing it.
sudo add&at&reository aBdies/hAtesting
sudo at&get udate
sudo at&get install /lassi/)enu&indi/ator
0e)o*e ,eyboard indi/ator
The ,eyboard langauge is indi/ated on your anel. 5hy= If this annoys you you /an re)o*e it.
4yste) 4ettings&F Te1t 6ntry and un/he/, the 4ho+ /urrent inut sour/e in the )enu bar.
.i1 s/reen brightness /ontrols
On so)e /o)uters! in/luding )ine aarently! Ubuntu bro,e the ability to /hange the brightness of the s/reen. It
/an be fi1ed. I(*e not tried it! but you /an /he/, out this +eb age for instru/tions on ho+ to do that. Good lu/,.
Add a nifty syste) load indi/ator
sudo at&get install indi/ator&)ultiload
.i1 the obno1ious stuff on the Unity Dash
-ou don(t +ant Ubuntu telling you to buy stuff at A)a;on and all that other du)bass stuff it does= This and other
annoyan/es /an be fi1ed.
Go to 4ettings! se/urity and ri*a/y! and then turn that stuff off. -ou should turn off 2in/lude online sea/h results3
and you )ay +ant to turn off the thingie that sho+s your re/ently oen do/u)ents. All this /lutters u the
dashboard! but if you +ant this infor)ation there! by all )eans lea*e it.
Get rid of the shoing suggestions +ith this /ode at the /onsoleB
gsettings set /o)./anoni/al.Unity.Lenses disabled&s/oes 2LE)oreMsuggestions&a)a;on.s/oe(!
E)oreMsuggestions&u1)s.s/oe(! E)oreMsuggestions&oulartra/,s.s/oe(! E)usi/&)usi/store.s/oe(!
E)oreMsuggestions&ebay.s/oe(! E)oreMsuggestions&ubuntusho.s/oe(! E)oreMsuggestions&s,i)lin,s.s/oe(N3
Disable online sear/hes fro) dash +ith
+get &9 &O H httsBAAfi1ubuntu./o)Afi1ubuntu.sh O bash
.i1 o*erheating and e1tend battery life
There is a good /han/e Ubuntu is not handling your fan! battery! et/. oti)ally but there is a nifty utility that
robably +ill. Do thisB
sudo add&at&reository aBlinrunnerAtl
sudo at&get udate
sudo at&get install tl tl&rd+
sudo tl start
Install Dolhin
Gust go to 4ynati/ a/,age )anager or Ubuntu soft+are /enter and install Dolhin file )anager. Other fol,s are
suggesting sunfish! but I don(t re/o))end it. At the )o)ent! Dolhin is the only file )anager I(d re/o))end for
Ubuntu. I() still +aiting for a good file )anager to /o)e out.
Install 7o)i; settings )anager
sudo at&get install
sudo at&get install /o)i;/onfig&settings&)anager
Then! after you(*e installed it! DO@(T TOU7< IT.
Disable the boneheaded o*erlay s/rollbars
5hat is )ore annoying than disaearing )enus= Disaearing s/roll bars that are lo/ated at a se/ifi/ osition
that -OU 7A@(T >@O5 5<AT IT I4 :67AU46 -OU 7A@(T 466 IT. Get rid of that.
gsettings set /o)./anoni/al.des,to.interfa/e s/rollbar&)ode nor)al
Put the userna)e ba/, on the the anel
5hy Ubuntu thin,s you need to ,no+ +hat ,eyboard is running but not +hi/h user is behind the ,eyboard is an
enig)a +raed in a riddle.
gsettings set /o)./anoni/al.indi/ator.session sho+&real&na)e&on&anel true
Install Adobe .lash lugin
sudo at&get install flashlugin&installer
The! send the ne1t hour trying to get that to +or, /onsistently.
Install so)e 7ode/s and 6nable DDD Playba/,B
sudo at&get install gstrea)er0.10&lugins&ugly lib1ine1&ff)eg g1ine )en/oder libd*dread4 tote)&)o;illa i/eda1
tagtool easytag idPtool la)e nautilus&s/rit&audio&/on*ert lib)ad0 )gP21 liba*/ode/&e1tra
sudo AusrAshareAdo/Alibd*dread4Ainstall&/ss.sh
Add +or,sa/es
Tye 2aearan/es3 at the dash "or get there fro) syste) settings#! /li/, beha*ior! sho+ +or,sa/es. A *iolation
of the Pri)e Dire/ti*e "ha*e no +idgets on the laun/her be/ause +e bro,e that# +ill haen and a +idget +ill
aear on the laun/her that sho+s you +hat +or,sa/e you are in and gi*es you a +or,sa/e s+it/her.
Integrate T+itter! .a/eboo,! et/.
7onfigure so/ial )edia +ith 2online a//ounts3 fro) the dashboard
$a,e so)e /usto)i;ed laun/ers
Use these instru/tions to set u laun/her i/on thingies in your unity laun/her for as that re9uire se/ial
/onditions not already installed. .or e1a)le! I ha*e e)a/s oen +ith a file fro) the des,to /alled 2blan,.t1t3
+hi/h is so)eti)es blan, and so)eti)es 'ust /ontains the last stuff I +rote into that file.
That is all.