Comfy Ubuntu

apt or apt-get?

apt, unless you have a compelling reason.

Non-packaged apps

homebrew is the goods:

apt install linuxbrew-wrapper build-essential
linuxbrew

Probably I want all the libraries which are too patent-encumbered to be bundled with my holier-than-me distribution. This means codecs and other content-related apps, e.g.

brew install libsamplerate libsndfile ffmpeg node pandoc

Linuxbrew is how you would install shiny things such as fish, which would otherwise be hopelessly outdated in a more elderly distro e.g. Ubuntu 16.04. It claims to support julia, but AFAICT that doesn’t work. node.js does, though.

Since I use fish shell as my default but ubuntu automatically executs the bash startup script .profile on login I ran into the following errors on login, when it tried to run the fish init in a bash process

bash: set: -g: invalid option
set: usage: set [-abefhkmnptuvxBCHP] [-o option-name] [--] [arg ...]
bash: set: -g: invalid option
...

This may be related to an intermittently reported bug in homebrew.

The fix is to change the automatically-added line in .profile to be

eval $(SHELL=bash /bin/brew shellenv)

and to add

eval (/bin/brew shellenv)

to ~/.config/fish/config.fish.

Note that this can cause surprising side effects; notably if I install homebrew python (and many homebrew apps need python and will install it for me) I will find my default user python is homebrew python, which breaks certain ubuntu apps that expect my default user python to be system python. I should probably file some bug reports for that for either homebrew or the affected packages; it undesirable. For now I recommend

brew unlink python

If there are problems with installing haskell packages with an error like

gcc-5: error: unrecognized command line option '-no-pie'

(e.g. pandoc) then try:

brew install gcc@6
HOMEBREW_CC=gcc-6 brew install pandoc

Packaged apps

I mean, applications packaged in one of the special pre-rolled formats like snap or flatpak or AppImage.

Running apps that don’t come through the intimate Debian packaging, but rather as sandboxed binary thingies, including all their own dependencies. Obviously there are several philosophically different approaches to this idea and they waste a bit of hard disk space and are clunky, but they do allow you access to otherwise painful apps. See packaged apps for details

add-apt-repository ppa:alexlarsson/flatpak  # before 18.10
apt install flatpak
apt install gnome-software-plugin-flatpak  # Integrates into GNOME
flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub \
   https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo

Possibly one also should limit snap’s disk usage which I usually do, although I don’t know if there are downsides.

sudo snap set system refresh.retain=2

Networking

ufw enable

Graphics etc

I suppose one should have gimp installed. May be worth installing a fancy version from PPA to ensure version 2.10 or greater which has necessities such as WebP support.

add-apt-repository ppa:otto-kesselgulasch/gimp
apt install gimp

Krita is a better image editor in general, but missing some hardcore nerd features

snap install krita

For desktop publishing install Scribus

add-apt-repository ppa:scribus/ppa
apt install scribus-ng

Acamedic necessities

apt install fonts-ebgaramond \
  fonts-cmu fonts-firacode \
  fonts-lmodern fonts-stix fonts-powerline \
  fonts-texgyre

Developer stuff

apt install r-base r-base-dev
apt install libatlas3-base libopenblas-base  # optional

bash Miniconda3-latest-Linux-x86_64.sh
# login/logout here
conda config --set auto_activate_base false # don’t be so aggressive conda
conda init fish  # fish users

conda activate base

conda install ipykernel nbstripout

conda install pytorch torchvision cudatoolkit=10.1 -c pytorch

File syncing

See also file sync/backup.

apt install rclone
brew install rclone

sudo apt install syncthing

snap install syncthing

# Add the release PGP keys:
curl -s https://syncthing.net/release-key.txt | sudo apt-key add -
# Add the "stable" channel to your APT sources:
echo "deb https://apt.syncthing.net/ syncthing stable" | \
    sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/syncthing.list
# Update and install syncthing:
sudo apt install syncthing

brew install syncthing

/snap/bin/syncthing

$ cat /proc/sys/fs/inotify/max_user_watches
8192
$ sudo sh -c 'echo 204800 > /proc/sys/fs/inotify/max_user_watches'
$ echo "fs.inotify.max_user_watches=204800" | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf
$ cat /proc/sys/fs/inotify/max_user_watches
204800

Browser

A nice browser is necessary, no?

I just use firefox. Google Chromium is also OK. Chrome seems to be getting creepy these days.

If I nonetheless want profile sync or some other features not in plain chromium, askubuntu says:

sudo bash
wget -q -O - https://dl-ssl.google.com/linux/linux_signing_key.pub | \
    apt-key add -
echo "deb [arch=amd64] http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/ stable main" >> \
    /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google.list
apt install google-chrome-stable

Standard disclaimer: the other features that are not in plain chromium may include Google spyware.

Maybe you would like to sidestep that issue with the possibly-better crypto privacy dotcom buzzword browser Brave?

curl -s https://brave-browser-apt-release.s3.brave.com/brave-core.asc | sudo apt-key add -
sudo sh -c 'echo "deb [arch=amd64] https://brave-browser-apt-release.s3.brave.com $(lsb_release -sc) main" >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/brave.list'
sudo apt update && sudo apt install brave-browser

Editors

Not all the good editors are packaged by the system. The fashionable ones are installed separately.

• vs code
• atom

Also, a passable CLI editor, neovim:

brew install neovim

Once the right editor is there, set it as default either system wide

update-alternatives –config editor

or per-user

alias editor=vim

or per-user-per-MIMETYPE:

xdg-mime default code.desktop text/plain

Password manager

Obviously password managers are essential. How painful is passwordstore? Because it looks like the best one in terms of supporting everything, albeit clunkily.

apt install pass

Clipboard

The usual clipboard stuff.

Recent ubuntu is missing the essential utility xclip:

apt install xclip

CopyQ (every desktop) seem most popular and works well.

apt install software-properties-common
add-apt-repository ppa:hluk/copyq
apt install copyq

It seems to be available as a packaged app too although it was being buggy for me; lots of errors in the notification log.

flatpak install --user --from https://flathub.org/repo/appstream/com.github.hluk.copyq.flatpakref
flatpak run com.github.hluk.copyq

The app reveal shortcuts do not work for me in recent ubuntu, but a workaround is to put the command copyq toggle into a keyboard shortcut.

Useful: CopyQ Keyboard shortcuts.

Alternatively, Zazu offers a clipboard manager.

These raise security questions, i.e. in CopyQ there is no way of marking passwords on the clipboard as secret unless they come from certain password apps, and that is quite tedious, and presumes you aren’t using a command-line password manager, or a browser plugin.

See also clipboard managers for some in-depth and cross-platform comparison.

Terminal

How best to emulate 1970s hardware on Ubuntu as modern practice dictates? Hmmm.

If you are worried that your current terminal doesn’t use enough RAM, you can use hyper which is a javascript app version of terminal. It’s not too bad for one of these web technology desktop apps It has lots of sexy features and graphics, and UX detailwork, to compensate for the hefty RAM usage.

Terminator seems to be an acceptable default option for a pure native app without many bells or whistles, or much resource usage either. That said, one really would like a couple of wind chimes and a duck call; after all it is the 21st century.

There are many more options available, but these seemed the smoothest.

Launching applications

One could use a custom launcher, e.g. Zazu or do. But the built-in launcher on Gnome at least is pretty good, so I do not bother.

Mouse

Also trackpad buttons. For my Razer Blade there were extra things to do. There are also some tips there about making settings persist.

Kai Koenig reveals that I can have the button assignments different between mouse and keyboard. This is useful for me, since I mouse left-handed and trackpad right-handed, for reasons of avoiding RSI.

This needs the xinput trick

xinput -list

to find the name of my mouse, then

xinput set-button-map "2.4G Mouse" 3 2 1 &&

Making it work generically for all peripherals and not each specific mouse requires fancier footwork.

If I just broke my right touchpad button but am too lazy/cheap/busy to fix it, I can enable simulated right clicks in the universal access menu. I always feel obscurely guilty when doing this, as if I am monopolising the accessible toilet in a shared office. Like most accessibility features, the right click simulation works a lot of the time but some apps clearly have not thought about it and the clicks go weird.

Desktop could be nicer

apt install compizconfig-settings-manager compiz-plugins

# Only if you want the very fresh version
add-apt-repository ppa:freyja-dev/unity-tweak-tool-daily
apt install unity-tweak-tool

Encryption and identity

Encrypting, signing, certifying, swapping keys etc. For when one is worried about some state apparatus or corporate snooping or just gangsters stealing your credit card.

Configure git:

git config --global user.email "github@email.possumpalace.org"
git config --global user.name "Dan MacKinlay"

Related: get a good ssh setup.

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -o -a 100
ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -o -a 100

Verify debian

apt install debian-keyring  ## keys of extra-paranoid nerds
add-apt-repository ppa:tails-team/tails-installer
apt install tails-installer  ## for installing the paranoid tails OS
apt install pius signing-party  ## citizen identity verification

add-apt-repository ppa:sebastian-stenzel/cryptomator
apt-get update
apt-get install cryptomator

apt install zulucrypt

Windows-friendly dual boot

Disable “fast startup” in Windows.

Don’t confuse Windows time/date when dual booting

Windows updates the time not the time zone to stay compatible with MS-DOS. Who knew.

Linux has to bear the compatibility burden on this bit of arse-backwardsery, but the command in that link seems to work more or less. I also needed to kick the hardware clock for consistency.

timedatectl set-local-rtc 1 --adjust-system-clock
hwclock -w --localtime

To revert to sanity:

timedatectl set-local-rtc 0 --adjust-system-clock
hwclock -w --utc

Or, life hack: tell Windows OS that the timezone is in UTC and deal with Windows thinking it is 4am when I am at work. Since I only use Windows for an hour here and there each month it’s much easier. (Not recommended: tell Windows to use UTC via advanced registry settings but still set a non-trivial time-zone.)

Fish shell

If Ubuntu 16.04, I either use linuxbrew for an updated shell or use an updated PPA. In 18.04 such is no longer needed.

The former: Add /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/bin/fish to /etc/shells. Then run

chsh -s /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/bin/fish

The latter:

apt-add-repository ppa:fish-shell/release-2
apt install fish
chsh -s /usr/bin/fish

From within fish, one should add a user script path

set -gx PATH ~/bin $PATH

Power management

TLP and its GUI TLPUI can help tweaking power management for the non-power-management-obsessive.

apt install tlp
add-apt-repository ppa:linuxuprising/apps
apt install tlpui

You can do it more manually if desired, but it gets kinda complicated.

One could put a hibernate button in the shutdown menu if that seemed exciting.

Offline documentation

Zeal is not bad.

add-apt-repository ppa:zeal-developers/ppa
apt install zeal

Razer-specific

See comfy razer.

Virtual machines

I want to run virtual machines?? Be aware Ubuntu may have special needs wrt config.

virtualbox is passable. These days I prefer libvirt, unless there is some particular machine image that I need that only runs on virtualbox for some reason. ATM there are none.

apt install virt-manager qemu-kvm

wget -q https://www.virtualbox.org/download/oracle_vbox_2016.asc -O- | \
  sudo apt-key add -
wget -q https://www.virtualbox.org/download/oracle_vbox.asc -O- | \
  sudo apt-key add -
sudo add-apt-repository 'https://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian contrib'
sudo apt install virtualbox virtualbox-ext-pack

If only I could temporarily disable lock screen

Caffeine.

apt install caffeine

Mounting that Windows partition on login

By default the various disks that I plug in to my machine are visible in the sidebar, but util I click on them they are not actually mounted so I can’t use the files. “Clicking on stuff” is not a satisfactory workflow, especially if you have other scripts which depend on data on my external drive. So fix that.

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.media-handling automount true

dconf write /org/gnome/desktop/media-handling/automount true

apt install dconf-editor
dconf-editor
# make changes by clicking on things

udisksctl mount --block-device /dev/disk/by-uuid/[uuid]

/usr/bin/udisks --mount /dev/[sdc1 or something]

sudo blkid

ls /dev/disk/by-uuid

udisksctl mount --block-device /dev/disk/by-label/[label]

Media

Oh, media.

add-apt-repository ppa:lazka/dumpingplace
apt install quodlibet

add-apt-repository ppa:stebbins/handbrake-releases
apt-get install handbrake-gtk  handbrake-cli

VPN

Fiddly on Linux. See VPN

Comms

curl -s https://updates.signal.org/desktop/apt/keys.asc | sudo apt-key add -
echo "deb [arch=amd64] https://updates.signal.org/desktop/apt xenial main" \
 | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list.d/signal-xenial.list
sudo apt install signal-desktop

snap install signal-desktop

curl --remote-name https://prerelease.keybase.io/keybase_amd64.deb
sudo apt install ./keybase_amd64.deb
run_keybase

Mounting android devices

I found that some newer/rarer MTPFS devices aren’t supported by 18.04 as filesystems. Should I try another MTPFS entirely, such as go-mtpfs?

Research ongoing for this one.

sudo apt install golang-go
sudo apt install libusb1-devel
mkdir /tmp/go
export GOPATH=/tmp/go
go get github.com/hanwen/go-mtpfs
mkdir xoom
go-mtpfs xoom &
cp -a ~/Music/Some-Album xoom/Music/
fusermount -u xoom

Additional config

SystemMaxUse=100M

sudo journalctl --rotate
sudo journalctl --vacuum-time=2d

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:danielrichter2007/grub-customizer # Optional on 19.10
sudo apt install grub-customizer

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:teejee2008/ppa
sudo apt install ukuu

Script on wake

Let’s say we want to fix the trackpad every time the laptop wakes. (**which is not needed since 19.04 AFAICT)

Answers about /usr/lib/pm-utils/sleep.d I believe are no longer current. I can supposedly create a system service or a resume hook in e.g./lib/systemd/system-sleep/fixthings.

Immediately before entering system suspend and/or hibernation systemd-suspend.service (and the other mentioned units, respectively) will run all executables in /usr/lib/systemd/system-sleep/ and pass two arguments to them. The first argument will be "pre", the second either "suspend", "hibernate", "hybrid-sleep", or "suspend-then-hibernate" depending on the chosen action. Immediately after leaving system suspend and/or hibernation the same executables are run, but the first argument is now "post". All executables in this directory are executed in parallel, and execution of the action is not continued until all executables have finished.

Note that scripts or binaries dropped in /usr/lib/systemd/system-sleep/ are intended for local use only and should be considered hacks. If applications want to react to system suspend/hibernation and resume, they should rather use the Inhibitor interface.

The latter looks simpler.

Here is the /lib/systemd/system-sleep/fixthings hook script.

#!/bin/sh

case $1/$2 in
  pre/*)
    echo "Going to $2..."
    # Place your pre suspend commands here, or `exit 0`
    # if no pre suspend action required
    exit 0
    ;;
  post/*)
    echo "Waking up from $2..."
    # Place your post suspend (resume) commands here, or `exit 0`
    # if no post suspend action required
    /home/me/bin/scrollrite.sh
    ;;
esac

It must be rendered executable:

sudo chmod +x /lib/systemd/system-sleep/resume

Misc useful infrastructure

sudo apt install synaptic  # sometime I want old school debian style package manager
sudo apt install curl  # so many things depends on this why is it not there?

Accessing foreign file systems

See Linux FS hacks, but, in brief,

sudo apt install exfat-fuse exfat-utils ntfs-3g # interoperability for external drives

mount /dev/sdXY /mnt
mount --bind /dev /mnt/dev &&
mount --bind /dev/pts /mnt/dev/pts &&
mount --bind /proc /mnt/proc &&
mount --bind /sys /mnt/sys
mount /dev/sdX2 /mnt/boot
mount /dev/sdX1 /mnt/boot/efi
chroot /mnt
grub-install /dev/sdX
grub-install --recheck /dev/sdX
update-grub