Tips for Ubuntu
Having recently switched over to Ubuntu, here are some tips that might come in useful.
Personal Package Archives
Due to the way that the Ubuntu release process works, some software might be out-of-date in the official repositories. In these cases it isn’t uncommon to find a PPA or another third-party repository that can provide more up to date packages.
Here are some examples of third party repositories that I use:
It should go without saying that using any of these is at your own risk.
apt-key
You can use the apt-key tool to easily install the proper keys for PPAs.
e.g For the VLC repository, you can use:
sudo apt-key adv --recv-keys --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com 7613768D |
Where that hex code is the code you see when aptitude complains about a missing key, or in the title of the key file on launchpad.
Firefox 3.5
Firefox 3.5 is available in the official repositories, but has to be explicitly installed.
sudo aptitude install firefox-3.5 |
After installing Firefox 3.5, you can remove the old Firefox 3.0 install and add a link to 3.5:
1 2 |
sudo aptitude remove firefox-3.0 sudo ln -s /usr/bin/firefox-3.5 /usr/bin/firefox |
NB. Firefox 3.5 does NOT come with the official Firefox branding.
Native 64-bit Flash
It’s well worth removing the “official” Flash plugin and manually installing the experimental native 64-bit version. The native plugin has much better performance than the normal 32-bit plugin with nswrapper.
I find that the easiest way to remove the old Flash plugin, and install the alpha 64-bit plugin is to use the script I found on the Reformed Musings blog.
PlayOnLinux
PlayOnLinux is the open source equivalent of CrossOver Linux and CrossOver Games. They make it much easier to install Windows games and programs using Wine. I myself have successfully installed Fallout 3 and Office 2007 with it.
The included application/game support is a bit limited at the moment, but hopefully that will improve over time.
And you?
What are your favourite Ubuntu/Linux tips? Let me know (via the contact form or otherwise), and I’ll be sure to include them in this article.