2. Post-Install Tasks

The actions performed by the installer are listed in the following sections.

2.1. GNOME Shell

  • Install GNOME Extension Manager, GNOME Tweaks, and some popular extensions.

  • Install gnome-shell-extension-installer

  • Enable Hot-corners:

    • Top-Left - Show Activities overview

    • Bottom-left - Show Application grid

    • Bottom-right - Show Desktop

    • Top-right - Toggle drop-down terminal

2.2. Package Managers

2.2.1. Snap

  • Remove snap packages

  • Keep snap support enabled

2.2.2. Flatpak

  • Enable Flatpak support

  • Add the FlatHub repository

2.2.3. Apt

  • Enable the universe and multiverse repositories

  • Turn off the news snippet shown after running apt commands

  • Remove Ubuntu Software Center

  • Install Synaptic

  • Install Nala as an alternative for apt and apt-get commands

2.2.4. AppImage

AppImage Integration

Executing a downloaded AppImage file will show an option to either “Run” or “Integrate” the AppImage. If you choose to integrate, the downloaded file will be moved to the directory ~/Applications and a launcher will be added to the application menu. You can delete the AppImage file from the directory to remove it from your system.

2.2.5. Deb-Get

  • Install Deb-Get for installing additional third-party software (Zoom, Discord, etc).

Deb-Get

Type deb-get list in a terminal for the list of apps that can be installed using deb-get

2.2.6. GNOME Shell Extensions

  • Updates for GNOME extensions can be installed with the command:

gnome-shell-extension-installer --update

2.3. Software

2.3.1. Web Browser

  • Install Google Chrome browser or choose between Chrome, Firefox, LibreWolf, Brave, Opera, Vivaldi, or Edge

choose-browser

2.3.2. Default Applications

  • Remove some less-used applications:

    • Thunderbird

    • Deja-Dup

    • Simple Scan

    • Remmina

    • Rhythmbox

    • Games

2.3.3. Text Editor

  • Replace GNOME Text Editor with GEdit. Enable some useful plugins.

2.3.4. Media Player

  • Replace Totem with VLC Media Player

2.3.6. LibreOffice

  • Install the latest version of LibreOffice (v7.4.2) from the LibreOffice Fresh branch

2.3.7. Network

  • Install network tools:

    • mosh

    • arp-scan

2.3.8. Compression

  • Install compression tools:

    • zstd

    • p7zip

    • pigz

    • pbzip2

    • unrar

    • unzip

    • mscompress

    • cabextract

2.3.9. File system

  • Install file system tools:

    • gparted

    • lvm2

    • btrfs-progs

    • btrfs-compsize

    • cryptsetup

2.3.10. Image formats

  • Add support to view/open more image formats:

    • WebP

    • HEIC/HEIF

2.4. System Configuration

2.4.1. ZRAM

  • Install zram-tools to enable ZRAM support. This creates a compressed swap space in RAM that will be used when system is low on memory.

2.4.2. Bash

  • Update the bash prompt to a 2-line format with the current time, current directory, user name, and hostname.

bash-prompt

  • Increase bash command history to 1000

  • Don’t keep duplicates in bash command history

  • Add some bash aliases for common commands. See the ~/.bashrc file for the full list.

alias ni='sudo nala install'
alias nr='sudo nala purge'
alias nu='sudo nala upgrade'
alias ns='sudo nala search'
alias nf='sudo nala fetch'

alias ai='sudo apt install'
alias ar='sudo apt autoremove --purge'
alias aup='sudo apt update'
alias au='sudo apt upgrade'
alias asu='sudo aptitude safe-upgrade'
alias add-ppa='sudo add-apt-repository -y'
alias ll='ls -la'

Command Shortcuts

You can update the system using the command nu to run sudo nala upgrade or install a new package using the command ai <packagename> to run sudo apt install <packagename>

2.4.3. SSH

  • Enable SSH multiplexing for faster connections

2.4.4. Scripts

  • Install the ‘arch-chroot’ command to chroot into other systems

Chroot

If you have another Linux system installed on partition ‘/dev/sdb1’ (for example), you can mount it with the command sudo mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt and chroot into the system with the command sudo arch-chroot /mnt

2.5. Layouts

Layouts

Layouts can be changed by running the installer again after the setup is complete

home-screen choose-layout

  • Layout: Left Taskbar, Theme: Dark

left-dark

  • Layout: Left Panel with Top Bar, Theme: Light

ubuntu-light

  • Layout: Left Taskbar, Theme: Light

windows-light

  • Layout: Default Ubuntu Desktop, Theme: Light

default