After reading this site I did partly something else:
Things to do After Installing Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal
You can download this script to do it all in one except the things I noted below.
Many things about this post will be similar to our previous write up on things you need to do after installing Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat. But not everything. Ubuntu with classic GNOME desktop is now defunct and Ubuntu Unity has come to replace it. Unity is the new face of Ubuntu and there will be no more special desktop and netbook editions of Ubuntu. Instead, Ubuntu Unity will simply took its place. Now, let's take a look into the things you need to do after installing Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal.
Installing Restricted Extras and Updating Repositories During Ubuntu Installation
You can now install restricted codecs package(which include Adobe Flash, MP3 codecs and such) during installation of Ubuntu OS itself.
Notice the arrows pointing to the boxes in the screenshot above. If you tick both of them during the Ubuntu installation process(make sure you are connected to the internet before doing so), restricted extras package will be installed automatically and you will be able to play mp3's and watch flash videos(YouTube videos for example) out of the box.
But there is a catch. If you have a slow internet connection(which is very rare these days), ticking the boxes shown in the screenshot above will unnecessarily lengthen the installation process. I for one prefer to do all that after installing Ubuntu. If you are like me, the next two steps are for you.
Update Repositories
After you install brand new Ubuntu 11.04, the first thing you need to do is to update repositories and make sure you have the latest updates installed(Like I said before, you need to do this only if you haven't ticked the boxes shown in the above screenshot).
Open Terminal(Ubuntu 11.04 Keyboard Shortcut: Ctrl + Alt + T) and copy-paste the following command into Terminal.
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade
Done. Ubuntu repositories have been successfully updated.
Install Ubuntu Restricted Extras
Install the "ubuntu-restricted-extras" package. This will enable your Ubuntu to play popular file formats like mp3, avi, Flash videos etc. Click Here OR simply copy-paste the command below into Terminal to install the package(You need not do this also if you have ticked the 'right' boxes).
sudo apt-get install ubuntu-restricted-extras
Done
Enable Full DVD Playback(Dual Layer DVD Support)
Though installing the restricted extras package will solve most of your problems, you may not be able to play dual layer dvds yet in your Ubuntu.
For that, you need to install libdvdcss2 package from medibuntu repositories. Simply do the following in Terminal.
Check For Availability of Proprietary Hardware Drivers
In my case, the hardware drivers except graphics, sound and wireless drivers were enabled automatically. I had to install the Nvidia drivers by hand.
If you are among the not-so-lucky, open Applications dash from Unity dock (Ubuntu 11.04 Keyboard Shortcut: Super + a) and select 'Additional Drivers' application(see the highlighted app in the screenshot).
Check for additional drivers available and activate the ones you want. In 90% of the cases, this will do the trick. Those who were not able to get their hardware drivers enabled yet will have to do fair amount of digging through ubuntuforums.
Install Compiz Config Settings Manager
Compiz desktop effects are available in your Ubuntu by default and if you have any kind of 3D acceleration available(graphics driver ie), you are good to go with Compiz.
Now to tweak Compiz desktop effects in Ubuntu, you need to install "compizconfig-settings-manager" package. Click Here OR simply copy paste the following command into Terminal to install "compizconfig-settings-manager".
After launching CCSM, select Ubuntu Unity Plugin from 'Desktop' category. Now choose the Experimental tab from above.
There you will see the 'Panel Opacity' option. Change it to the value you like.
Increase/Decrease the Launcher Icon Size
Just as before, Launch CCSM(Super + a and search for CCSM) and then browse to Ubuntu Unity Plugin. Choose 'Experimental' tab.
Adjust the value of 'Launcher Icon Size' by simple scrolling. The default value of 'Launcher Icon Size' is 48, but I like it around 40.
Change Desktop Size
By default, Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal gives you four workspaces to play around. Keyboard shortcut for activating the four workspaces isSuper + s.Now, if you want to increase/decrease that number do the following.
Launch CCSM yet again, and select General Options from the category 'General'. Select the tab 'Desktop Size' and choose the values you want. Simple as that.
Install Nautilus-Elementary in Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal
I can't use Nautilus these days without implementing the improvements brought about by the Nautilus-Elementary hack. So here is how you install Nautilus-Elementary in Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal. Also read our Nautilus-Elementary in Ubuntu 11.04 review.
Copy paste the following commands into Terminal to install Nautilus Elementary in Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal.
Done. If sudo apt-get upgrade doesn't work, try sudo apt-get dist-upgrade instead of it.
Install Some Incredible Themes in Ubuntu 11.04
For me, nothing beats Equinox Evolution themes + Faenza icon theme combination. As an added advantage, both are available from the same PPA as well. Latest Equinox Evolution themes update brings with 3 new themes taking the total count to 5.
To install Equinox GTK theme collection and Faenza icon theme in Ubuntu 11.04, you need to do the following in Terminal.
You can update your system with unsupported packages from this untrusted PPA by adding ppa:stellarium/stellarium-releases to your system's Software Sources.
If you're using the most recent version of Ubuntu (or any version from Ubuntu 9.10 onwards), you can add a PPA to your system with a single line in your terminal:
Some of the applications that I regularly use in Ubuntu are not available by default. And all of them are available in the default Ubuntu 10.10 repo.
xsane (easier scanner GUI) GFTP (Easy file transfer) Samba (to share folders on your local network) Eye of Gnome plugins, (to make EoG better) Exaile music player, (An easy to use music player) Sound Juicer (cd rip tool) VLC DVD player (A very versatile media player. It plays anything) Audacity (The best audio editor) The GIMP (The GNU Image Manipulation Program) Keepassx (Manage your passwords crossplatform) Chromium web Browser (The open source version of Chrome, the Firefox alternative) Stellarium (Your own planetarium allready installed if you did anbove) Kompozer (To make HTML pages with wysiwig) Mozilla Thunderbird (Read and write email) Grsync (Sync directories in your system) Klibido (Read usenet binaries) Gwenview a kde viewer Geeqie another versalite viewer Thunar the XCFE filebrowswer with an awesome batch rename function PDFshuffler split and merge pdf files fcrackzip to crack ZIP passwords k9copy copy DVD's and reduce them to max 4.5 Gb k3b a versatile CD and DVD burning tool. Celestia A multi view planetarium Phatch A batch renamer and photo resize. manual UMplayerA versatile media player, including youtube recording.
Install DockBarX 0.43 in Ubuntu from the WebUpd8 PPA
DockBarX 0.43 is not yet available in the official DockBar PPA, but as usual we've uploaded the latest version to the WebUpd8 PPA (for Ubuntu Karmic, Lucid, Maverick and Natty). Add the WebUpd8 PPA and install DockBarX 0.43 using the following commands:
And finally, if you want to use DockBarX in Avant Window Navigator, you need to install the AWN DockBarX applet:
sudo apt-get install awn-applet-dockbarx
Tip: to be able to use the Window Previews feature, firstly enable it from DockBarX (Applications > Accessories > DockBarX Preference, on the Window List tab enable "Show previews") and then in CompizConfig Settings Manager make sure the "KDE Compatibility" plugin is enabled and that both options for this plugin (Support Plasma Thumbnails and Support Present Windows) are enabled.
As soon al DockbarX wil be implemented in de dockbar ppa use these commands instead:
To install Dockbarx to implement taskbar buttons like Win7 has
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:dockbar-main/ppa sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install dockbarx
Now add the dockbarX to your Gnome panel by right clicking on it an select it. After that remove the windowlist applet by right clicking right to the left of it and select the remove option. You may resize the Gnome panel by right clicking on it, select the properties and resize the panel.
Furtherone you may need a PDF stitcher if pdfshuffler doesn't suit your needs: Couturier
You can download the .deb file and install this program. It offers the option of stitching PDF files into one larger file. Direct link Second direct link
A nice wallpaper called Xplanet
The DEB Packet is available via repository. Please keep in mind to never trust external repositories! Even though I will never upload any shit to this repo I recomment the old scool way regardless: add the RSS to your favorite feed reader and fetch the package from the header of this website. The repository is signed (same goes for the packages, too) so you can be kind of “shure†that the stuff is what it is expected to be.
Early Feb 2011 there was a new release with many improvements. Some of these include: -
Consistency between tabs, padding and buttons used throughout
‘Display’ now gives a more accurate preview of changes
‘View’ Position widget has colour, a new grid, more
The application has a new Splash screen and application icon
Amongst those changes come a few new features, notably: -
Ability to change corona blur
Star field can be zoomed
More shadow options
Faster rendering time
Download
The latest release of XPlanetFX, provided pre-packaged as a .deb, can be downloaded @ mein-neues-blog.de/files/xplanetFX/xplanetFX-latest_deb
Once installed the application can be launched the from the ‘Applications > Accessories’ sub-menu.
PPAmanager
This is a simple tool that allows you to search for PPAs and install them without hitting the terminal. It also allows you to manage (add/remove/purge) your existing PPAs with a few clicks.
Usage
Open a terminal (hopefully this will be the last time you install PPA via the terminal) and type:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/y-ppa-manager sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install y-ppa-managerOnce installed, go to “Applications -> System Tools -> Y PPA Manager“.
To use it, you have to right click on the panel and select “Add to Panel†From the window that pop up, select “Recent Notificationâ€.
You should now see a new applet in your Gnome panel.
Simply click the applet and it will show a window with all your past notification
THIS IS THE END OF WHAT MY SCRIPT OFFERS
VirtualBox
if you need the Closed source virtualbox read this and use this:
Debian-based Linux distributions
Note: VirtualBox has been moved from non-free to contrib with 4.0, so please adjust your repository settings.
Add one of the following lines according to your distribution to your /etc/apt/sources.list:
type: sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list
and add one of these lines to your file and save it.
Note: Ubuntu/Debian users might want to install the dkms package to ensure that the VirtualBox host kernel modules (vboxdrv, vboxnetflt and vboxnetadp) are properly updated if the linux kernel version changes during the next apt-get upgrade. For Debian it is available in Lenny backports and in the normal repository for Squeeze and later. The dkms package can be installed through the Synaptic Package manager or through the following command:
sudo apt-get install dkms
What to do when experiencing The following signatures were invalid: BADSIG ... when refreshing the packages from the repository?
# sudo -s -H # apt-get clean # rm /var/lib/apt/lists/* # rm /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/* # apt-get clean # apt-get update Indicator-Virtualbox offers a quick way to launch virtual machines via the desktop panel.
The applet, created by astrapi, sits in your panel and, on opening, lists all the virtual machines configured in Virtualbox. Selecting an entry launches the machine without the need to call the main virtualbox window.
The Indicator can be installed from astrapi‘s PPA
To install OpenShot 1.3.0 in Ubuntu 9.10 or higher add the following PPA to your software sources: -
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:jonoomph/openshot-edge
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install openshot
Top Additional Applications to Install After Installing Ubuntu 11.04
Top additional applications I install after installing Ubuntu hasn't changed much from last time. But this list is subjective and depends largely on personal preferences. Anyways, here is mine.
We have already featured a post dedicated to things you should do after installing Ubuntu, now lets take a look at the applications/softwares to install after installing Ubuntu. Please bear in mind that this is a post meant for newbie Ubuntu users primarily. Top 18 applications to install after installing Ubuntu.
VLC Media Player
VLC media player is arguably the most comprehensive multimedia application available for Ubuntu. It is fast and has support for almost all multimedia formats.
If you want to Install the bleeding edge version of VLC instead, check this post for details regarding installing latest VLC in Ubuntu.
SMPlayer - Incredible MPlayer Frontend
SMplyer is another awesome media player application for Ubuntu which is basically a nice and simple frontend for award winning MPlayer multimedia player for Ubuntu/Linux.
Banshee Music Player - The Default Music Player for Ubuntu from Next Release
Most of you will be aware of this already, Banshee will most probably become the default music player for Ubuntu from the next major release, Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal ie. Banshee is already the default choice for many among Ubuntu users and and you might also want to give it a try.
If you want to install the latest version of Banshee instead, instructions here.
DeadBeef - An Extremely Lightweight Music Player Alternative
I was deeply impressed by this nice little music player which is extremely good at syncing *very* large music collections quickly and without any stability issues. DeadBeef is what you need if you are looking for something basic and simple.
Boxee - Incredible Open Source Multimedia Center
Boxee is one of the most popular open source projects and it is also probably the best media center application for Ubuntu.
Boxee is based on yet another awesome media center application called XBMC. And if you might want to learn more about XBMC, read our XBMC review and installation instructions.
To install Boxee, you need to download latest DEB package for Boxee from here and then simply double click to install Boxee in your Ubuntu.
Minitube - Youtube Desktop Client for Ubuntu
Minitube is a flash free YouTube desktop application for Linux and Mac OSX. Minitube is perhaps one of the cleanest looking YouTube desktop client I have ever used in Ubuntu.
Chromium Web Browser
Chromium is the Open Source web browser project from where Google Chrome is derived from. To put it straight, Google Chrome is a rebranded version of Chromium. You might want to learn more about the difference between Google Chrome and Chromium.
Other web browser alternatives you could install in your Ubuntu include Opera, Midori, Google Chrome and even the latest under development version of Firefox 4.0.
Deluge Bit Torrent Client
Default bit torrent client for Ubuntu is Transmission and it is more than enough for your day to day use. Deluge is a very good alternative bit torrent client for Ubuntu though.
JDownloader - The Best Download Manager Available
JDownloader is a simple cross platform download manager which probably is also one among the most popular download manager for Linux platform. JDownloader is Open Source and written entirely in Java.
Pidgin IM Client
Pidgin was the default IM client for Ubuntu until last release, which was then replaced by Empathy IM client. Pidgin still is a power packed IM client and have support for almost all IM platforms.
If you want to install latest Pidgin build instead, instructions here.
Hotot - My Favorite Twitter Client for Ubuntu
There are plenty of twitter clients for Ubuntu available for free download. I have tried a lot of them, but nothing comes close to the functionality and ease of use aspects of Hotot IMO.
Dropbox - Online File Syncing Application
Dropbox is probably one among the best online file syncing/sharing tool available for Ubuntu. And unlike Ubuntu One, the default online file syncing app for Ubuntu, Dropbox is cross platform as well and a lot less buggier.
Top Themes to Install in Ubuntu
This is something every newbie Ubuntu user should be looking for, a more eyecandy desktop. Well, I got to tell you there are plenty of desktop configuration options available. But here we are going to discuss about themes alone.
Equinox GTK Theme + Faenza Icon Theme
If you are a regular reader of this blog, you must probably knew about my addiction for this particular theme combination already.
Orta GTK Theme is as Good or Even Better
Equinox is not the only theme that can be used with Faenza icon theme, Orta GTK theme is my other favorite theme for Ubuntu and its absolutely superb.
And if you are interested in more desktop eyecandy, you should check out our collection of most amazing GNOME GTK Themes and Icon Themes for Ubuntu.
Miscellaneous Applications
Here are a bunch of applications for Ubuntu which belong to the 'others' category,
Cheese - Take Photos and Record Videos Using Webcam
Cheese is a must install especially if you are a laptop user, since most laptops/netbooks have a webcam these days. Cheese is a simple application that lets you take photos and record videos using your webcam. Cheese have some even cheesier effects also to make your photos and videos look, well, different.
Avant Window Navigator(AWN)
Avant Window Navigator is an awesome dock application for your Ubuntu desktop. AWN is simple and it was one of the first dock application for Ubuntu which featured easy drag and drop functionality of different AWN apps.
Docky - Yet Another Dock Application
Docky is another really good and simple dock application Ubuntu and it is well integrated into the GNOME Desktop as well. Docky provides an application launcher, running application management, and various "docklets" including a CPU monitor, weather report, clock etc.
Or you might want to install bleeding edge version. Instructions here.
Synapse - One of Its Kind Launcher Application for Ubuntu
I was never a fan of third party launcher applications since I was quite satisfied with the default ALT + F2 functionality of Ubuntu. But everything changed once Synapse happened.
