1. Update your system
This is the first thing you need to do
after a fresh install in any Linux distributions. If you won’t do this,
you’ll not find any application to install in your newly installed OS.
Open a terminal and use the following command:
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade
You may need to reboot your system in order to see applications in App Center.
2. Install Gdebi in order to install .deb executable files
elementary OS Loki is very strict on
what kind of programs you install and from where you install it. This
might provide an extra bit of security but it’s an annoyance because you
cannot even install programs using .deb executable files with the
default App Center.
In case you didn’t know, .deb files are
packages (like .exe in Windows) that you double click and install
programs with. Many Linux software are packaged in such way for easily
installation.
Don’t worry, if the default App Center doesn’t install it, you can use a separate tool to install programs using .deb files.
My favorite is GDebi package installer. This tiny tool even handles the dependencies. You can look for it in the App Center or install it using the command line:
sudo apt install gdebi
If you are comfortable with command
line, you can also install the downloaded .deb files using the command
line in the following manner:
sudo apt install <path to deb package>
3. Enable PPA in elementary OS Loki
Another extra layer of security and another level of annoyance. You cannot add PPA by default in Loki.
Now,
this makes me sad as I prefer to try out the latest software and
programs which are mostly available via PPA or source code.
No worries, enabling PPA in Loki is not that difficult. Just use the command below:
sudo apt-get install software-properties-common
4. Install elementary Tweaks in order to install themes and icons in Loki
Installing themes in elementary OS is a
much easier task thanks to elementary Tweaks tool. Until recently,
elementary Tweaks was no longer maintained and hence elementary OS team advised not to use it.
But it seems like someone has taken it up to him to maintain it. This means that now you can install elementary Tweaks in Loki easily using this PPA:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:philip.scott/elementary-tweaks
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install elementary-tweaks
5. Install TLP to save battery and prevent overheating
TLP is a godsend when it comes to overheating in Linux laptops. No need to configure or any such tweaks. Just install and forget it. This tiny daemon keeps the CPU temperature under control and also help prolong the battery life of your laptop.
You can install TLP using the command below:
sudo apt install tlp tlp-rdw
Reboot or just use “tlp start” command to start the tlp daemon.
6. Use night shift to save your eyes
Ever since I discovered nightshift
feature, I have been sleeping better. If you use computers after sunset,
you may have experienced strain on the eyes. It’s because of the blue light.
Blue light filtering has gotten quite
popular after Apple released Night Shift feature in iPhone (it was
existing way before that though). You can use night shift feature in Linux easily with a tiny tool called Redshift.
Use the command below:
sudo apt install redshift
7. Handle “samba” taking 100% of CPU usage
This was a bug introduced in Ubuntu 16.04 and since elementary Loki is based on Ubuntu 16.04, it has proudly inherited the same bug.
If you are using Loki for some time now,
you might have noticed that sometimes your system just goes crazy, fan
running at full speed and processor almost screaming.
If you use the top command in the terminal, you can see the culprit here:
It’s Samba
that is consuming all the CPU. Now, if you are not using network
sharing or not mounting additional, external hard disk or Windows
partition, you can use a workaround for this problem.
Change the permission on this process so that it won’t start on its own:
sudo chmod 744 /usr/lib/gvfs/gvfsd-smb-browse
8. Enable tap to click (for laptop users)
I don’t know why some Linux
distributions disable tap to click by default. I mean, it’s a touchpad.
You don’t go on clicking the left click button all the time. Tapping is
the standard.
To enable tap to click, Go to
Applications (top left corner) and search for ‘mouse and touchpad’.
Click on it to access touchpad settings and enable tap to click there:
9. Install another web browser
Loki comes with Epiphany
as the default web browser. It might be a good browser but it just
doesn’t cut for me. I use two browsers as my main tools: Firefox and
Google Chrome.
You can download the .deb installer for Google Chrome from its website. For Firefox, use the command below to install it:
sudo apt install firefox
10. Install office suite
An operating system without an office
suite is impossible. Considering that Apache OpenOffice is going to shut
down soon, your best bet for a free and open source office suite is LibreOffice.
Use the command below to install complete LibreOffice suite:
sudo apt install libreoffice
11. Install various multimedia and imaging applications
Honestly, this is really up to you to
decide what software do you need. I’ll list some of the multimedia and
imaging tools I install all the time.
VLC is the best out there:
sudo apt install vlc
sudo apt install gimp inkscape shutter