10 Things To Do First in Xubuntu 16.04

8/9/2016
10 things to do rst in Xubuntu 16.04.x LTS Xenial Xerus - Easy Linux tips project
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Mostpopular
10thingstodofirstin
LinuxMint18Cinnamon
10thingstodofirstin
Ubuntu16.04.xLTS
LinuxMint:whatitisand
howtoselecttheright
flavourforyou
LinuxMintXfce:afine
replacementforWindows
XPandVista
Wirelesssecurity(forwifi):
fourpopularmythsand12
tips
Avoid10fatalmistakesin
LinuxMintandUbuntu
Sitemap
Thisistheground
squirrel(xerus),after
whichUbuntu16.04
XenialXerushasbeen
named....
Ihavedividedtheactionsintothree
categories:
theabsolutelyessentialones(part
1)
therecommendedones(not
essential,part2)
andthemaybeuseful(part3).
Installanextrawebbrowser
2.6.It'susefultohaveanextraweb
browseravailable.Firefoxisafine
application,butnowandthen
(especiallywhenyou'veinstalledtoo
manyextensionsoraddonsin
Firefox),itdoesn'tfunctionentirely
well.
It'squitealist,butit'llgiveyoua
polished,nearlymaintenancefree
operatingsystemthatyou'llbeable
AnexcellentalternativetoFirefox,is
toenjoyforyearstocome!Plusit's
webbrowserGoogleChrome.
alsoacrashcourseintheuseof
Unfortunatelyit'snotinthesoftware
Xubuntu.
sourcesofUbuntu,butyoucan
downloadits64bitinstallerfromthe
Note:you'llfindonlyrelativelysafe
downloadpageofChrome.
tipsandtweakshere,becauseI
thinkthatthestabilityandreliability
Thatwebpageshouldautomatically
ofyouroperatingsystemshould
recognizethatyou'rerunning
neverbeendangered.Thiswebsite
Xubuntu:itshouldofferyoua
isseriousaboutXubuntu,somy
preselectedinstallerfor
approachisconservative.
Debian/Ubuntu.
Itrytomentionitwheneversome
Doubleclicktheinstaller,whichhas
riskisunavoidable,sothatyoucan
theextension.deb,asifitwerea
alwaysmakeabalanceddecision.
.exeinstallerinWindows.Thenit'll
installitselfautomatically.
Note:thislistisonlymeantfor
Xubuntuthecorrespondinglist
Furthermore,it'lladdthesoftware
forUbuntuishereandthelistfor
sourceforChrometoyoursoftware
Lubuntuishere.
sourceslist,sothatUpdateManager
willautomaticallyofferyouupdates
Dothefollowingthings,inthis
forGoogleChromeassoonasthey
order:
becomeavailable.
https://sites.google.com/site/easylinuxtipsproject/rst-xubuntu
1/14
8/9/2016
Contents
1TENESSENTIALACTIONS:
1.1Applyallavailableupdates
1.2Installmissingdrivers
1.3OptimizeyourSolidStateDrive(SSD)
1.4Installsomeusefultools
1.5Decreasetheswapuse(important!)
1.6Installfullmultimediasupport
1.7Turnonthefirewall
1.8Disabletheupgradebutton
Foryourownfree
copy,clickhere!
1.9Avoid10fatalmistakes!
1.10Solvesomeknownbugs
2TENRECOMMENDEDACTIONS(NOT
ESSENTIAL):
AstaroftheUbuntu
family:Xubuntu!
2.1Improvethesettingsoftheupdates
2.2Cleanupyourdesktop
2.3OptimizeFirefox
2.4TuneLibreOffice
2.5Tameyourtouchpad:improveits
usability
2.6Installanextrawebbrowser
2.7Enablethekeycombination
Inforapleasant
surprise?Experiencethe
elegantsimplicityof
Xubuntu!
Youcangetyourown
freecopyhere.
19
dayssince
Ubuntu16.04.1LTS
(firstpointrelease)
Releasescheduleof
Ubuntu16.04Xenial
Xerus
Ctrl+Alt+Backspace
2.8SpeedupyourXubuntu
2.9Considertopinthekernelversion
2.10Multipleaccounts:preventotherusers
fromaccessingthefilesinyouraccount
3TENNEUTRALACTIONS(MAYBE
USEFUL):
3.1Repairadisplayerror(windowborders
thatdisappear)
3.2Lightenupyourwallpaper
3.3Movethewindowbuttonstotheleft
3.4Addaweatherreporttotheupperpanel
3.5Lockthepanels
3.6Removetheoption'savesession'from
thelogoutwindow
3.7ForlittleRAM:enablezRam
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/XenialXerus/ReleaseSchedule
3.8AccessyournetworkdiskwithGigolo
3.9MigrateyouremailfromOutlook
Afinereplacementfor
WindowsXPand
Vista
(Express)inWindows,toXubuntu
3.10Trickforshortcutsonthedesktop
4Wantmoretips?
Note:doyouhavea32bitoperating
system?Thenyoucan'tinstall
GoogleChrome.Inthatcaseselect
Chromium,whichcanbeinstalledby
meansoftheapplicationSoftware.
Mostpluginsthatyou'veinstalledfor
Firefox(nottheaddonsand
extensions,butthingslikeJava)work
automaticallyinChromeaswell.No
needforfurtheractionforthat.Not
evenforAdobeFlashPlayer,
becauseChromealreadycontainsit
bydefault.
Youcanfindtipsandtweaksfor
ChromeandChromiumhere.
Enablethekeycombination
Ctrl+Alt+Backspace
2.7.Xubuntualmostneverfreezes.
Butwhenitdoeshappen,it'soften
enoughtoperforma"partialreboot"
(onlythegraphicalenvironment).
That'stechnicallybetterthanahard
rebootbythephysicalpowerbutton.
Forapartialrebootyoucanenable
thekeycombination
Ctrl+Alt+Backspace.Thatusedtobe
enabledbydefault,butsometime
agothewiseLinuxgurushave
unfortunatelydeemeditbetterthat
youhavetoenableitfirst.
InXubuntuyoucanenableitas
follows:
a.Firstmakesurethatyouhave
installedtheapplicationsgksuand
leafpad.
5FindhelpontheUbuntuforums
LinuxMintXfceisa
finereplacementfor
WindowsXPandVista!
Readherewhy.
b.Nowtypeintheterminal(use
copy/pastetoavoiderrors):
Tip:youcandownloadachecklist gksudo leafpad
here,whichyoucanprintonpaper. /etc/default/keyboard
Thenyoucanstriketheitemsthat
you'vedone.
PressEnter.Yourpasswordwill
remainentirelyinvisible,noteven
AreyouunsurewhatXubuntu
dotswillshow,thisisnormal.
versionyouhave?Youcancheck
thatasfollows:
Findtheline:
XKBOPTIONS=""
Launchaterminalwindow:
MenubuttonAccessories
2/14
8/9/2016
TerminalEmulator
Type(usecopy/pasteinorderto
avoidtypingerrors):
lsb_release -a
PressEnter.
Note:intheoutputyouseethen,
Xubuntuiswronglybeingidentified
asUbuntu,butthat'snotimportant:
it'stheversionnumberthatcounts.
Part1
TENESSENTIALACTIONS:
Applyallavailableupdates
1.1.Firsttheupdates,thenthe
rest...
Clickonthemenubutton(mouse
icon)ontheleftintheupperpanel
SettingsSoftwareUpdater
LetSoftwareUpdatercheckfor
availableupdatesandapplythem
all.
Note:whenyouinstallupdatesby
meansoftheredororange
notificationiconinthesystemtray,
thenit'sbestnottochoosedirectly
forInstallallupdates.Because
whatfollowsisoftenconfusing(the
processmayseemtostall,
especiallywhenlargeamountsof
updatesareinvolved),which
regularlycauses
misunderstandings.
Replaceitbythisline(use
copy/paste):
="terminate:ctrl_alt_bks
XKBOPTIONS
c.Savethemodifiedfileandcloseit.
d.Rebootyourcomputer.
e.Afterlogginginagain,youcantest
it:Ctrl+Alt+Backspaceshouldreboot
onlythedesktopandthrowyouback
intotheloginwindow.
Note:whenyouloginagainafterthis
"partialreboot",youmightbe
confrontedwithoneormoreerror
reports.Strictlyspeaking,youcould
safelyignorethiserrorreport,
becauseitwastriggeredbythe
irregularpartialreboot.
Butinordertopreventitfrom
returningagainandagain,gopartly
alongwiththereport:enteryour
passwordandthenremovethetick
forsendingintheerrorreport.
SpeedupyourXubuntu
2.8.Youcanprobablyspeedupyour
Xubuntunoticeably,byapplying
thesesafespeedtweaks(writtenfor
Ubuntu,butmostlyusefulfor
Xubuntuaswell).
Considertopinthekernelversion
2.9.YoucanpinXubuntutoacertain
kernelversion.Thatmaybeuseful,
e.g.whenyou'vemanuallyinstalleda
driverwhichwouldbecomeunusable
inanewerkernel.
It'sthereforebettertochooseShow
updatesfirst,andinstallthe
updatesfromthewindowthatyou
getthen.
Itcanalsobeusefultoprevent"disk
pollution"becauseofolderkernels,
becauseinthecourseoftime,you
getalotofkernelupdates....
Afterwardsrebootyourcomputer
(notalwaysnecessary,butinthis
case,doitjusttomakesure).
Theriskofsuchapinningofthe
kernelislimited,especiallyfor
desktopusers(serversareanother
matter).Becausealthoughkernel
updatesmaycontainsecurityfixes,
thosearealmostneverrelevantfor
desktopusers.LinuxMintdoesn'tget
Installmissingdrivers
3/14
8/9/2016
1.2.Installingdriversisusuallynot
necessary,becausetheyare
alreadypresentintheLinuxkernel.
Exceptionsareproprietary
restricteddriversfor(amongothers)
Nvidiagraphicscards,some
printersandBroadcomwireless
chipsets.
kernelupdatesbydefault,bythe
way.
Ifyouwanttopinthekernel,thisis
howtodoit.
Multipleaccounts:preventother
usersfromaccessingthefilesin
a.Installyourprinterandscannerin youraccount
thisway(*Click*).
2.10.Doesyourcomputerhave
multipleuseraccounts?Thenyou
b.Foroptimalperformanceofyour caneasilypreventotherusersfrom
Nvidiagraphicscard,oryour
accessingandseeingthefilesinyour
Broadcomwirelesscard,you'llwant account,withouttakingradical
toinstalltheclosedsource
measureslikeencryption.Inthe
restricteddriver(theproprietary
followingway:
nonfreedriver).Likethis:
Launchaterminalwindow.
(Youcanlaunchaterminalwindow
icon)ontheleftintheupperpanel likethis:*Click*)
SettingsSoftware&Updatestab Type(copy/paste):
AdditionalDrivers.
chmod -v 700 $HOME
Whenavailableforyoursystem,
you'llbeshownoneormore
PressEnter.
installable(usuallynonfree)
drivers.Selectthem.
Repeatthisineachuseraccountthat
needsthesameprotection.
Therequireddriversarethen
automaticallydownloadedfromthe Note:thisdoesn'tprotectyoufrom
internet,fromthesoftware
someonewithrootpermissions!It
repositoriesofXubuntu,and(also
won'tstopadeterminedand
automatically)installed.Afterwards experiencedsnooper,butit'san
youwillhavetodoafullrebootof
effectivemeasureto"keepthe
yourcomputer.
honestpeopleout".Ifthat'snot
enoughforyou:encryptionoffilesor
Note:Sometimesyou'rebeing
evenofyourentirehomefolder,is
offeredseveralversionsofthe
muchmoresecure....
restricteddriverforyourvideocard.
Theorderofpreferenceisas
Shouldyoueverwishtoundothis
follows:
(butwhy?),that'seasyaswell.For
undoingyoucanusethiscommand:
NVIDIA:
chmod -v 755 $HOME
1.nvidia(fromhighestnumberto
lowestnumber)
2.nvidia(fromhighestnumberto
Part3
lowestnumber)updates
3.nvidiaexperimental
TENNEUTRALACTIONS
Onlychoosefromtheversionsthat (MAYBEUSEFUL):
you'rebeingoffered,becauseonly
thosesupportyourvideocard!Start
withthepreferrednumberone,and
Repairadisplayerror(window
onlyworkyourwaydownwhenit
bordersthatdisappear)
doesn'tperformwell.
4/14
8/9/2016
3.1.Insomerarecases,oncertain
Doyouhaveabrandnewgraphics hardwarecombinations,youmight
cardfromNvidia?Thenitmightbe encounteranannoyingbugfromtime
toonewfortheversionofthe
totime:thewindowborders
proprietaryrestricteddriverinthe
disappear,leavingyouwith
softwarerepositoriesofXubuntu.In applicationwindowswithoutwindow
thatcaseyouwon'tbeofferedany buttons.
proprietarydriverbySoftware&
Updates.
Wheneverthishappens,youcan
restorenormalityasfollows:
Ifthishappens,thenyoucanlook
foranothersolutionforyourNvidia MenubuttonAccessoriesTerminal
cardonthispage.ForanAMD/ATI Emulator
card,it'sbettertostickwiththe
defaultopensourcedriver,because Type(usecopy/paste):
that'sofhigherqualitythanthe
xfwm4 --replace
restrictedproprietarydriver.
PressEnter.
OptimizeyourSolidStateDrive
(SSD)
1.3.DoyouhaveaSolidState
Drive(SSD)insteadofa
conventionalharddisk?Then
optimizeitforXubuntu.
Installsomeusefultools
1.4.Therearesomeuseful
applicationsformanagingyour
system,thataren'tinstalledby
default:Leafpad,Pavucontrol,
gksu,GDebiandSynaptic.
SynapticandGDebiareuseful
installationtools,whichsometimes
aremoreusefulthanthedefault
applicationSoftware.
Withthat,yourestartthewindow
manager,andtheneverythingis
normalagain(forthetimebeing).
Note:doNOTusesudointhis
particularcommandline!Becausein
thiscaseyoumessupthe
permissionswhenyouusesudo,
whichcausesallkindsofmysterious
malfunctions.
Lightenupyourwallpaper
3.2.Thedefaultwallpaperisrather
darkandgloomy.Lightenitupwitha
pictureofyourown,orselectoneof
thedefaultsetofalternative
wallpapers:rightclickwiththemouse
onyourdesktopDesktopSettings...
andthereyouseethemunderthe
tab"Background".
Leafpadisafinetexteditorfor
editingconfigurationfiles.
Pavucontrolisafinetoolfor
managingsound.
gksuenablesyoutouseLeafpad
andothergraphicaltoolssafelyas
root.
Installthembymeansofthe
applicationSoftware.Orbythe
terminal,whichismuchquicker:
TerminalEmulator
Movethewindowbuttonstothe
left
3.3.Bydefault,thewindowbuttonsof
Xubuntuareplacedontheright.Like
inWindows.Butontheleftisfar
moreconvenient:likeinUbuntuand
AppleMacOS.
Youcanmovethemlikethis:
SettingsWindowManager(not
5/14
8/9/2016
Type(usecopy/pastetotransport
thismagicalincantationtothe
terminal):
sudo apt-get install gksu

leafpad synaptic gdebi
pavucontrol
PressEnter.Whenprompted,type
yourpassword.Yourpasswordwill
PressEnteragain.
"WindowManagerTweaks"!)
TabStyle:
ButtonLayout:draganddropthe
buttonswhereyouwantthem.
ForexamplethedefaultsinUbuntu:
CloseHideMaximizeTitle
Seethescreenshotbelow(clickonit
toenlargeit):
Decreasetheswapuse
(important!)
1.5.Thisisespeciallynoticeableon
computerswithrelativelylowRAM
memory(2GBorless):theytendto
befartooslowinXubuntu,and
Xubuntuaccessestheharddisktoo
much.Luckily,thiscanbehelped.
Note:doesyourcomputerhave4
GBRAMormore?Thenyoucan
skipthisitem,becausewithso
muchRAMyouprobablywon't
noticeanybenefitsfromapplyingit.
Ontheharddiskthere'saseparate
partitionforvirtualmemory,called
theswap.WhenXubuntuusesthe Addaweatherreporttotheupper
swaptoomuch,thecomputerslows panel
downalot.
3.4.Alwayshandy:aniceweather
Xubuntu'sinclinationtousethe
reportintheupperpanelofyour
swap,isdeterminedbyasetting.
desktop.
Thelowerthesettingnumber,the
longerittakesbeforeXubuntu
Seethescreenshotbelow(clickonit
startsusingtheswap.Onascaleof toenlargeit):
0100,thedefaultsettingis60.
Whichismuchtoohighfornormal
desktopuse,andonlyfitfor
servers.
Adetailedexplanationcanbefound
here(linkdead?Thendownload
thispdffilewiththesamecontent).
Nowthehowto:
a.Firstmakesurethatyouhave
leafpad:
Youcanaddtheweatherreportto
yourpanellikethis:
RightclickonthepanelPanelAdd
6/14
8/9/2016
TerminalEmulator
Type(usecopy/paste):
ll gksu
sudo apt-get insta
leafpad
PressEnterandsubmityour
password.Pleasenotethatthe
passwordwillremaininvisible,not
evenasteriskswillshow,whichis
normal.
b.Nowcheckyourcurrent
swappinesssetting.Typeinthe
terminal(usecopy/paste):
cat
/proc/sys/vm/swappiness
PressEnter.
Theresultwillprobablybe60.
c.Tochangetheswappinessintoa
moresensiblesetting,typeinthe
terminal(usecopy/paste):
gksudo leafpad
/etc/sysctl.conf
PressEnter.
Scrolltothebottomofthetextfile
andaddyourswappiness
parametertooverridethedefault.
Copy/pastethefollowingtwogreen
lines:
# Decrease swap usage to a

more reasonable level
vm.swappiness=10
d.Closethetextfileandreboot
yourcomputer.
e.Afterthereboot,checkthenew
swappinesssetting:
TerminalEmulator
cat
/proc/sys/vm/swappiness
PressEnter.
NewItems...clickWeatherUpdate
clicktheAddbutton.ClickClose.
Nowconfigurethenewitem:
RightclickNoData(inthefarrightin
thepanel)PropertiesTabLocation
Locationname:clickthebutton
Change...andfilloutthenameof
yourcity,orofacitynearyou.
Nowremoveanirritatinganimation:
clickonthetabScrollboxandremove
theentriesWinddirection(WD)and
Windspeed(WS).ClickClose.
Whenyouclicktheitemnormally(a
leftclickalso),aforecastpopsupof
thenextfourdays.
Lockthepanels
3.5.Itmaycomeinhandytolockthe
panelsofXubuntu,toprotectclumsy
usersagainstthemselves....
Removetheoption'savesession'
fromthelogoutwindow
3.6.Inthelogoutdialog,youcan
enablesavingthesession.Butthat's
generallyanuisance,especiallyfor
beginnerswithXubuntu.Soit'sbest
nottoenablethis.
a.Youcanremoveoldsessionslike
this:
MenubuttonAccessoriesTerminal
Emulator
rm -r -v
~/.cache/sessions/*
PressEnter.
Note:usersetting,sorepeatthisin
eachuseraccount.
Inordertopreventmistakes,youcan
removethisoptionfromthelogout
windowforalluserslikethis:
b.Firstmakesurethatyouhave
7/14
8/9/2016
Nowitshouldbe10.
Note:ifyourharddiskisanSSD,
yourmachinewillbenefitfroman
evenbiggerdecreasein
swappiness.That'sbecausetoo
manywriteactions,likefrequent
swapping,reducethelifespanofan
SSD.ForanSSDIadvisea
swappinessof1.Alsocheckthese
tipsforoptimizinganSSDforyour
Linux.
leafpad:
Emulator
ll gksu
sudo apt-get insta
leafpad
PressEnterandsubmityour
password.Pleasenotethatthe
passwordwillremaininvisible,not
evenasteriskswillshow,whichis
normal.
Installfullmultimediasupport
c.Nowtypeintheterminal(use
1.6.Completingmultimediasupport copy/pastetoavoiderrors):
inXubuntuiseasy.
sudo mkdir -v
/etc/xdg/xfce4/kiosk
a.Establishinternetconnection.
PressEnter.Typeyourpassword
b.Nowyou'regoingtoinstall
whenpromptedthisremainsentirely
"Xubunturestrictedextras".This
invisible,notevendotswillshow,this
containsalotofvarioussoftware,
isnormal.PressEnteragain.
amongwhichMicrosoftfonts,
AdobeFlashPlayerandmp3
d.Thencopy/pastethiscommand
playbacksupport.Alsoitcontainsa intotheterminal:
d
seriesofgstreamerplugins,which gksudo leafpa
aresupportingfilesfor
/etc/xdg/xfce4/kiosk/kioskrc
mediaplayers.
PressEnter.
Openaterminalwindow:
Inthatemptytextdocument,
TerminalEmulator
copy/pastethefollowingtext:
Avoiderrors:useyourmouseto
[xfce4-session]
"copyandpaste"thisgreentext
SaveSession=NONE
intotheterminal:
e.Savethemodifiedfileandcloseit.
sudo apt-get install
xubuntu-restricted-extras f.Rebootyourcomputer.Theoption
forsavingthesessionshouldhave
PressEnter.Whenasked,type
disappearedfromthelogoutscreen.
yourpasswordandpressEnter
again.Yourpasswordwillremain
entirelyinvisible,notevendotswill ForlittleRAM:enablezRam
show,thisisnormal.
3.7.Whenyourcomputerhasvery
Nowyou'llbepresentedwitha
littleRAM(768MBorless),thenthe
dialogintheterminalfrom
lackofmemorywillremaina
Microsoft(!),requiringyoutoaccept problem,whichwillcauseyour
thelicenseagreementforthe
systemtoslowdownfromtimeto
Microsoftfonts.
time.Evenwhentheswappinesshas
beendecreasedto5(seeitem1.5on
ActivatetheOKbuttonwiththeTab thispage).
key,pressEnterandusetheTab
keyagaintoactivatetheYesbutton Inthatcase,youmightachievebetter
8/14
8/9/2016
inthenextdialog.PressEnter
again.
Whentheinstallationisfinished,
youcanclosetheterminalwindow.
c.Ifyouwanttobeabletoplay
encryptedDVD's,you'llhaveto
installsupportforit.Copyand
pastethisgreentextintothe
terminal:
sudo apt-get install

libdvd-pkg
entirelyinvisible,notevendotswill
show,thisisnormal.
Nowyou'llbepresentedacoupleof
timeswithconfirmationrequests.
Acceptallrequests.
d.Thencopyandpastethisgreen
textintotheterminal:
sudo dpkg-reconfigure
libdvd-pkg
entirelyinvisible,notevendotswill
show,thisisnormal.
Again,you'llbepresentedacouple
oftimeswithconfirmationrequests.
Acceptthemall.Note:thismay
takeawhile,especiallyonweak
hardware.Waitpatientlyuntilit
hasfinished.
resultsbyenablingtheexperimental
kernelmodulezRam.zRamcreates
acompressedswapfileinyourRAM.
Thecompressionfactoristhegain:
withthat,you"increase"yourRAM.
Note:thishackmightmakeyour
systemunstable!Sodonotapply
itonimportantcomputers.
Thepriceyoupayforthis,is
threefold:
Yourprocessor(CPU)isbeing
taxedmoreheavily,becauseit'llhave
tocompressanddecompressallthe
time
Whenthesystemhasfilledthe
RAMswap,it'llstartswappingonthe
harddriveaswell.Withaheavy
burden:thechunkofmemorythat
hasbeensacrificedfortheRAM
swap.
Forthetimebeingit'sstillan
experimentalmodule,sothisextra
layerofcomplexitymightcause
instability.
That'swhy,forthetimebeing,I
advisezRamonlyforcomputerswith
verylittleRAM,andeventhenonly
incombinationwithaswappiness
thathasbeendecreasedto5.
Furthermore,zRamisn'tsuitableyet
forproductioncomputers,butonlyfor
testmachinesandother,non
essentialcomputers.
Youcaninstallitasfollows:
Emulator
Turnonthefirewall
all zramsudo apt-get inst
config
1.7.Thefirewallisdisabledby
default,butinmanycasesit'sbetter
toturniton.Thehowtoandthe
whenpromptedyourpasswordwill
explanationcanbefoundhere.
Disabletheupgradebutton
Rebootyourcomputer.
1.8.Somemonthsafteranew
XubuntuLTSversionhasarrived,
Check
9/14
8/9/2016
you'llreceiveanotificationofthatin
thewindowoftheSoftware
Updater.Thatwindowthencontains
abuttonthatyoucanuseto
upgradeyourcurrentXubuntuLTS
version(e.g.16.04)toanewerLTS
version(e.g.18.04).
Thatlookseasy,butIadvise
againstusingthisbutton.Soit's
bettertodisablethisnotification
entirely.Youcandisableitas
follows:
SettingsSoftware&Updates
ClickonthetabUpdates
NotifymeofanewUbuntuversion:
setitto:Never
Note:onthetabDeveloper
Options,donotenable"xenial
proposed"!Becausethatwould
makeyoursystemunstableand
buggy.
Avoid10fatalmistakes!
1.9.Thereare10mistakesthatyou
definitelywanttoavoid,forthesake
ofthehealthofyoursystem.
Solvesomeknownbugs
1.10.Ifyouhaveaproblem:lookat
thesolutionsfor17bugsinUbuntu.
Don'tskipthis!There'sa90%
chancethatyou'llbenefitfromat
leastoneoftheworkarounds
presentedatthatpage.....
Part2
TENRECOMMENDED
ACTIONS(NOTESSENTIAL):
Improvethesettingsofthe
updates
Check
Nowcheckwhetheritworks,likethis:
Emulator
Copy/pastethefollowingterminal
command:
cat /proc/swaps
PressEnter.
Ifallhasgonewell,youshould
receiveareportaboutoneormore
/dev/zram"partitions".zRamisactive
thennoneedforfurtheraction.
Removal
WhenyouwanttoremovezRam,it
can'tbedonebythesimpleterminal
command"aptgetremove".So:
a.MenubuttonAccessories
TerminalEmulator
command:
sudo apt-get purge zramconfig
whenpromptedyourpasswordwill
b.Rebootyourcomputer.
c.Nowcheckwhethertheremoval
hassucceeded,likethis:
Emulator
command:
cat /proc/swaps
PressEnter.
Ifallhasgonewell,youshould
receivenoreportanymoreaboutone
ormore/dev/zram"partitions".
10/14
8/9/2016
2.1.Youcanimprovethe
configurationoftheupdatesas
follows.
ormore/dev/zram"partitions".
Accessyournetworkdiskwith
Gigolo
SettingsSoftware&Updates
3.8.YoucanuseGigolotoaccess
yournetworkdisk(NAS).
ClickonthetabUpdates
Whentherearesecurityupdates: MigrateyouremailfromOutlook
changeitinto:Displayimmediately (Express)inWindows,toXubuntu
Reason:it'salwaysbetterwhen
updatesdon'tgetinstalled
automatically.Evenwhenthey're
securityupdates.Becausethere's
alwaystheriskthatanupdate
mightcauseaproblem
(regression).
Ifyoualwaysinstallupdates
consciously,thenyou'llknow
immediatelywhenaregressionhits
yoursystem.Soyoucanact
rightawaytofixthatproblem.
Note:onthetabDeveloper
Options,donotenable"xenial
proposed"!Becausethatwould
makeyoursystemunstableand
buggy.
Cleanupyourdesktop
3.9.It'seasytomigrateyouremails
andemailsettingsfromOutlook
(Express)inWindows,to
ThunderbirdinXubuntu.Simply
applythishowto.
Trickforshortcutsonthedesktop
3.10.InXubuntu,there'sanannoying
anduseless"protectionoftheuser
againsthimself":wheneveryouwant
tolaunchanewlymadeapplication
shortcutonthedesktop,Xubuntu
issuesawarningforthat,because....
thefileissupposedlyinaninsecure
location!
That'snonsense,ofcourse.Soyou
cansimplyclick"MarkExecutable",
asshowninthescreenshotbelow:
2.2.Bydefault,thereareiconson
yourdesktopforeverypartitionon
yourharddisk.Longagothiswas
thesameinUbuntu,butifyou've
gotmanypartitions,it'samessy
sight.
Cleanuptheiconmessonyour
desktop:
Rightclickonyourdesktop
DesktopSettings...tabIcons:
uncheckeverythingexceptthe
Trash.
Note:forthistohavefulleffect,you
mayhavetorebootyourcomputer
(orlogoffandonagain).
Thereishoweverasmall
disadvantagetothis:nowyouhave
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8/9/2016
tomountotherharddrivepartitions
byclickingonthemintheside
panelofthefilemanager.
OptimizeFirefox
Wantmoretips?
4.Doyouwantmoretipsandtweaks
forXubuntu?There'salotmoreof
themonthiswebsite!Likethese:
SecurityinUbuntuandXubuntu
2.3.Withacoupleofchangesinthe
settings,youcanimprovethe
Fourpopularmythsand11tipsabout
performanceofFirefoxinXubuntu. wirelesssecurity(forwifi)
Thesetweakswillmakethisfine
webbrowserleanerandcleaner.
HowtocleanUbuntuandXubuntu
TuneLibreOffice
Howtocreateastrongpassword
that'seasytoremember(theanswer
mightsurpriseyou!)
2.4.YoucantweakLibreOfficelike
this.
FindhelpontheUbuntuforums
Tameyourtouchpad:improveits
5.Xubuntuisanofficiallyrecognised
usability
derivativeofmainversionUbuntu.
2.5.Youcanmakethetouchpad
(trackpad)ofyourlaptopbehave
betterwithafewsimpletweaks.
It'sprettyusefultobeabletoscroll
byswipingonefingeralongthe
edgeofthetouchpad.It'salso
convenienttodisablethetouchpad
(trackpad)ofyourlaptopduring
typing,andtweakthedelay.
Especiallyonsmalllaptops.
InXubuntu,that'seasytoconfigure:
SettingsMouseandTouchpad
That'swhytheregularUbuntu
forumsarealsoavailableforyour
helprequestsconcerningXubuntu.
It'sconvenientthough,whenyou
writeinyourhelprequestthatyou
areusingXubuntu.
Tothecontentofthiswebsiteappliesa
CreativeCommonslicense.
Backtothehomepage
Disclaimer
ClickonthetabTouchpad
Scrollingmode:changeitinto
Edgescrolling
General:thefollowingoptioncan
beticked:
Disabletouchpadwhiletyping
InXubuntu,thisdisablesboththe
touchpadfunctionsoftappingand
scrollingaswellasmousepointer
movements.
Nowthedelay.Whenthetouchpad
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8/9/2016
hasbeenconfiguredlikethis,the
defaultdelayistwowholeseconds.
That'stoolongandinterfereswith
productivity.Furthermore,it's
unnecessarytodisablemouse
pointermovements.
Whenyouwishtoshortenthedelay
toonesecondandrestrictthedelay
totappingandscrolling,youcando
this:
Firstentirelyundothecurrent
disabling:removethetickfor
Disabletouchpadwhiletyping.
Closethemouseandtouchpad
settingswindow.
Nowcreateamodifiedstartup
application:
SettingsSessionandStartup
ClickthetabApplicationAutostart
clickAdd
Filloutthefieldsasfollows(use
copy/paste,that'seasiest):
Name:
Syndaemon
Description:
Disabletouchpadwhiletyping,with
areasonabledelayandonlyfor
tappingandscrolling
Command:
-i 1.0 -K -R -t
syndaemon
ClickOK.
Rebootyourcomputer.
Finally,checkwhetherit'sworking,
withthehelpofthefollowing
terminalcommand(copy/pastethe
linebelowinaterminalandpress
Enter):
ps aux|grep syndaemon
Note:thisisauserpreference,so
repeatthisineveryuseraccount.
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(continuedinthecolumnonthe
right)
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10 Things To Do First in Xubuntu 16.04

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8/9/2016

sudo apt-get install gksu

# Decrease swap usage to a

sudo apt-get install

sudo apt-get purge zramconfig

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