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Do this first in Linux Mint Mate - Easy Linux tips project

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UbuntuandLinuxMint, theeasiestkindsof Linux. 1

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DothisfirstinUbuntu LinuxMint13Xfce:the idealreplacementfor WindowsXP Xubuntu:aclassicbeauty Wirelesssecurity(wifi): fourmythsand11tips Avoid10fatalmistakesin Ubuntu Sitemap

Congratulations,youhave installedabrandnewLinuxMint 13or16,withMate!What'sbest foryoutodo,firstofall? I'vemadealistofthethingsto do,whichI'vedividedintothree categories: theabsolutelyessentialones (part1) therecommendedones(not essential,part2) themaybeuseful(part3). Note:thiswebpageisonly meantforLinuxMintwiththe Matedesktopenvironmentthe pagefortheCinnamondesktop ishereandthepagefortheXfce desktopishere.
Contents 1NINEESSENTIALACTIONS: 1.1Applyallavailableupdates 1.2Installmissingdrivers 1.3OptimizeyourSolidStateDrive (SSD) 1.4InstallLeafpadandgksu 1.5Decreasetheswapuse(important) 1.6Solvesomeknownbugs 1.7Improvemultimediasupport (urgent)

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1.8Avoid10fatalmistakes! 1.9Turnonthefirewall 2SIXRECOMMENDEDACTIONS(NOT ESSENTIAL): 2.1ImproveUpdateManager 2.2Checkwhetherthescreensaveris configuredcorrectly 2.3OptimizeFirefox 2.4TweakLibreOffice 2.5Installanextrawebbrowser 2.6Speedupyourwirelessinternet 3NEUTRALTWEAKS(MAYBE USEFUL): 3.1Addaweatherreporttothepanel 3.2ChangethewallpaperofMint 4Gethelp 5Wantmore?

Thanksinadvance.... Avoid10fatalmistakes! 1.8.Thereare10mistakesthat youdefinitelywanttoavoid,for thesakeofthehealthofyour system.WrittenforUbuntu,but applicableinMintaswell. Turnonthefirewall 1.9.Thefirewallisdisabledby default,butusuallyit'sbetterto turniton. Thefirewalliscalled UncomplicatedFirewall(ufw),and canbeoperatedfromtheterminal. Butitalsohasaneasytouse graphicaluserinterface,called Gufw.Youcanoperatethatas follows: MenuAdministrationFirewall Configuration ClickUnlock

Tip:youcandownloada checklisthere,whichyoucan printonpaper.Thenyoucan striketheitemsthatyou'vedone. Part1 NINEESSENTIALACTIONS:

Applyallavailableupdates 1.1.Firsttheupdates,thenthe rest... ClickonMenuAdministration UpdateManager LetUpdateManagercheckfor availableupdatesandapply themall. Note:duringtheupdatesyou mightbeasked,possiblymore thanonce,whetheryouwantto replaceaconfigurationfile. Replacingisalwaysthebest option,sosimplyclick "Replace". Afterwardsrebootyourcomputer

Status:switchittoON. Afurtherexplanationaboutthe firewallandsecurityingeneral, canbefoundhere. Part2 SIXRECOMMENDEDACTIONS (NOTESSENTIAL):

Ubuntu13.10Saucy Salamanderhasbeen released!

ImproveUpdateManager 2.1.ThesettingsofUpdate Managercanbeimprovedhugely. Youcandothatwithtwodifferent

....andit'sabeauty.Click hereforyourownfree copy!

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AstaroftheUbuntu family:Xubuntu!

a.Inthefirstplace,thedefault settingforcheckingfornew updates,isfartoofrequent.Not onlybecauseit'stootaxingfor Installmissingdrivers olderandweakercomputers: checkingevery15minutes(!)just 1.2.Installingdriversisusually notnecessary,becausetheyare doesn'tmakeanysense.Improve Inforapleasant thatsettingasfollows: alreadypresentintheLinux surprise?Experiencethe kernel.Exceptionsarethe elegantsimplicityof Xubuntu! proprietaryrestricteddriversfor MenuAdministrationUpdate Manager NvidiaandATIgraphicscards. Youcangetyourown panel:EditPreferencestab Foroptimalperformanceofyour freecopyhere. AutoRefresh NvidiaorATIgraphicscard, Refreshthelistofupdatesevery: you'llwanttoinstalltheclosed 1days sourcerestricteddriver(the LinuxMint proprietarydriver). LinuxSystem ClickApply. Whenapplicable,you'llgetan FileDriver b.Inthesecondplace,you'llwant automaticalertaboutthe toenablesomeextrasoftware availabilityofrestricteddrivers repositories. foryourgraphicscard,bya notificationinthesystemtrayin panel:EditPreferencestab Levels daysuntil theupperpanelofyourscreen Ubuntu14.04LTS (ontheright).Clickonthe TrustyTahr Enableboth"Unsafepackages" notificationiconandfollowthe (level4)and"Dangerous steps. Releasescheduleof packages"(level5).Bothfor Ubuntu14.04LTS TrustyTahr "Safe"andfor"Visible". Ifthereisnoautomaticalert, Reason:otherwiseyou'llmiss performamanualcheck: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/TrustyTahr/ReleaseSchedule kernelupdates,whichisasecurity MenuPreferencesDriver risk... Manager.

(notalwaysnecessaryafter updates,butinthiscase,doit justtomakesure).

actions.

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daysuntil endoflifeforWindows XP:switchtoLinuxon time!

Sometimesyou'rebeingoffered severalversionsoftherestricted driverforyourvideocard.The orderofpreferenceisasfollows: NVIDIA: 1.nvidiacurrent 2.nvidiacurrentupdates 3.(nvidia173) 4.(nvidia173updates) 5.nvidiaexperimental ATI: 1.fglrx 2.fglrxupdates 3.fglrxexperimental Onlychoosefromtheversions

Theidealreplacement forWindowsXP

Bothcategoriesofsocalled "risky"updatesarequitesafe,in myexperience.Theseupdates comefromtheUbuntu repositories,andUbuntudoesn't evenmakethisdistinction:it alwaysissuesthemtogetherwith theotherupdates.Without problems,becausetheyaretested thoroughlybeforerelease. ClickApply. Nowyou'llgetawholebunchof newupdates.It'sbesttoinstall themrightaway. Note:duringtheseupdatesyou mightbeasked,possiblymore

LinuxMint13Xfceisthe idealreplacementfor WindowsXP!Readhere why.

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thatyou'rebeingoffered, becauseonlythosesupportyour videocard!Startwiththe preferrednumberone,andonly workyourwaydownwhenit doesn'tperformwell. Therequireddriveristhen automaticallydownloadedfrom theinternet,fromthesoftware repositoriesofMint,and(also automatically)installed. Afterwardsyouwillhavetodoa fullrebootofyourcomputer.Mint willissueanalertforthat. Doyouhaveagraphicscardof thebrandATIorNvidia,whichis sonewthattheproprietary restricteddriverversioninthe softwarerepositoriesofMintis tooold?Thenit'sbettertostick withthedefaultopensource driver,andwaituntilthenext Mintrelease,whichwillprovide anewerproprietarydriver. OptimizeyourSolidState Drive(SSD) 1.3.DoyouhaveaSolidState Drive(SSD)insteadofa conventionalharddisk?Then optimizeitforLinuxMint. InstallLeafpadandgksu 1.4.Foreditingsystemwide configurationfiles,installthe applicationsgksuandleafpad: MenuTerminal Type(usecopy/pasteto transportthismagicalincantation totheterminal): sudoaptgetinstallgksuleafpad PressEnter.Whenprompted, typeyourpassword.Your passwordwillremainentirely

thanonce,whetheryouwantto replaceaconfigurationfile. Replacingisalwaysthebest option,sosimplyclick"Replace". c.Rebootyourcomputer. Checkwhetherthescreen saverisconfiguredcorrectly 2.2.Thescreensaverisenabled bydefault.Butthere'ssome resourcehoggingstuffamongthe screensavers,thatmayfreeze yourcomputer. Setthescreensaverthereforeat "blankscreen": MenuPreferences Screensaver:chooseBlank screen. OptimizeFirefox 2.3.Withacoupleofchangesin thesettings,youcanimprovethe performanceofFirefoxinLinux MintXfce.Thesetweakswill makethisfinewebbrowserleaner andcleaner. TweakLibreOffice 2.4.Thedefaultofficesuiteisthe fineLibreOffice.Inorderto improveit,youcantweakthe settingsofLibreOffice. Installanextrawebbrowser 2.5.It'susefultohaveanextra webbrowseravailable.Firefoxis afineapplication,butnowand then(especiallywhenyou've installedtoomanyextensionsor addonsinFirefox),itdoesn't functionentirelywell.
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invisible,notevendotswill show,thisisnormal. PressEnteragain. Decreasetheswapuse (important) 1.5.Thisisespeciallynoticeable oncomputerswithrelativelylow RAMmemory(1GBorless): theytendtobefartooslowin LinuxMint,andLinuxMint accessestheharddisktoo much.Luckily,thiscanbe helped. Ontheharddiskthere'sa separatepartitionforvirtual memory,calledtheswap.When Mintusestheswaptoomuch, thecomputerslowsdownalot.

AnexcellentalternativetoFirefox, iswebbrowserChromium.You caninstallitasfollows: MenuSoftwareManager query:chromium Click:ChromiumWebBrowser andclickInstall. Note:allpluginsthatyou've installedforFirefox(nottheadd onsandextensions,butthings likeAdobeFlashPlayerand Java)workautomaticallyin Chromiumaswell.Noneedfor furtheractionforthat.

Chromiumistheopensource "rawmaterial"forGoogleChrome (GoogleChrome=Chromiumwith someadaptations).Youcanfind Mint'sinclinationtousethe swap,isdeterminedbyasetting. tipsandtweaksforChromium here. Thelowerthesettingnumber, thelongerittakesbeforeMint startsusingtheswap.Onascale of0100,thedefaultsettingis60. Speedupyourwirelessinternet Whichismuchtoohighfor normaldesktopuse,andonlyfit 2.6.Youcanprobablyspeedup forservers. yourwirelessinternet,by disablingthepowermanagement a.Checkyourcurrent forthewirelesschipset(item8, swappinesssetting: rightcolumn). MenuTerminal Type(usecopy/pastetoavoid errors): cat/proc/sys/vm/swappiness PressEnter. Theresultwillprobablybe60. b.Makesurethatyouhave installedtheapplicationsgksu andleafpad: MenuTerminal Type(usecopy/pasteto Part3 NEUTRALTWEAKS(MAYBE USEFUL): Thepriceyoupayforthatisa slightincreaseinpower consumption,whichwillreduce yourbatterytimesomewhat.But that'sasmallpricetopayfora fasterandmoreresponsive connection....

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transportthismagicalincantation Addaweatherreporttothe totheterminal): panel sudoaptgetinstallgksuleafpad 3.1.Alwaysnice:aweatherreport PressEnter.Whenprompted, inthepanel. typeyourpassword.Your passwordwillremainentirely Additlikethis: invisible,notevendotswill Rightclickmouseonanempty show,thisisnormal. spaceonthepanelAddto PressEnteragain. Panel...clickWeatherReport clickAdd c.Tochangetheswappiness intoamoresensiblesettingand ClickClose. improvethecachemanagement aswell,typeintheterminal(use Then:rightclickmouseon0F copy/paste): PreferencestabLocation:click gksudoleafpad/etc/sysctl.conf yourcountryfromthelist,pick thetownnearesttoyourown. PressEnter. Alternatively,youmighttrya searchontownname,butthat Scrolltothebottomofthetextfile mightbelesssuccessful. andaddyourswappinessand cacheparameterstooverridethe Clickclose. defaults.Copy/pastethe followinglines: ChangethewallpaperofMint #Decreaseswapusagetoa reasonablelevel 3.2.Mintlooksniceoutofthebox, vm.swappiness=10 butmaybeyouwanttochangethe #Improvecachemanagement wallpaperanyway.... vm.vfs_cache_pressure=50 Youcanchangeyourwallpaperin d.Saveandclosethetextfile. almostthesamewayasin Thenrebootyourcomputer. Windows,butthere'sone importantdifference. e.Afterthereboot,checkthe newswappinessvalue: So:chooseapicturethatyouwant MenuTerminal forwallpaper.Doubleclickthe Type(usecopy/paste): picturefile. cat/proc/sys/vm/swappiness Nowthepictureisbeingshownin PressEnter. theimageviewerEyeofMate (formerlyEyeofGnome).Then,in Nowitshouldbe10. thepanelofthatapplication:click ImageSetasDesktop Note:yourmachinemight background.You'redone. benefitfromanevenbigger decreaseinswappiness.A Theimportantdifferencewith usefulruleofthumbmightbe Windowsisthis:Mintonlycreates this: ashortcuttothepicturethat 1GBRAMormore:set you'vesetaswallpaper.When swappinessto10 youmoveordeletethepicture

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Lessthan1GBRAM:set swappinessto5 Solvesomeknownbugs 1.6.Lookatthesolutionsfor14 bugs.Don'tskipthis!There'sa 90%chancethatyou'llbenefit fromatleastoneofthe workaroundspresentedatthat page.....WrittenforUbuntu,but applicableinMintaswell. Improvemultimediasupport (urgent) 1.7.Themultimediasupport urgentlyneedssome improvements. a.TheMintsoftwarepackage thatcontainsAdobeFlash Player,isbadlymaintained(ifat all)andoftenlacksvitalsecurity updates.Thisisagraveneglect, becauseFlashPlayerisoneof themosttargetedapplicationsin theworld,bywidespread malware. SoreplacetheMintpackagefor FlashPlayerbytheUbuntu package,whichisbeing maintainedproperlyandtimely. Youcandothatasfollows: MenuTerminal Copyandpastethefollowing commandlineintotheterminal: sudoaptgetremovemint flashpluginmintflashplugin11 &&sudoaptgetinstalladobe flashplugin PressEnter.Typeyour passwordwhenpromptedthis remainsentirelyinvisible,not evendotswillshow,thisis normal.PressEnteragain.

afterwards,thenyourwallpaper disappearsalso! Sodon'tthrowawaythepicture, butputitpermanentlyinyour homefolder.Forexampleinthe folderImages.Andonlythensetit aswallpaper. Gethelp 4.Youcangetquickandfriendly helpontheofficialLinuxMint forum. Wantmore? Doyouwantmoretipsand tweaks?There'salotmoreof themonthiswebsite!

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Withthisyoualsoremovethe packagemintmetacodecs,but that'snotimportant.Because that'smerelyanemptymeta package,whichwasonly importantduringtheinstallation ofMintonyourharddrive.

Download Software
www.mobogenie.com/

DownloadFreePC ManagerSoftwarefor b.onlynecessaryinMint13: nowinstallanewerJavaversion AndroidDevices, DownloadNow! insteadoftheoutdatedversion

6: MenuTerminal Copy/pastethefollowing magicalincantationintothe terminal: sudoaptgetremoveicedtea6 plugin&&sudoaptgetinstall icedtea7plugin PressEnter.Whenprompted, typeyourpassword.Your passwordwillremainentirely invisible,notevendotswill show,thisisnormal. PressEnteragain. Note:youmaywanttoinstall Oracle(Sun)Javainstead(ifyou needit,whichisrarenowadays). c.NowuseSynapticPackage Managerforinstallingsome Tothecontentofthiswebsiteappliesa extrafonts.Note:don'tuse CreativeCommonslicense. SoftwareManagerforthis particularoperation,because Backtothehomepage thenyouwon'tbeabletoaccept acertainlicenseagreement! Disclaimer MenuAdministrationSynaptic PackageManager Query:microsofttruetype Markttfmscorefontsinstaller forinstallationandpressthe Applybutton. Funnydetail:duringthe

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installationoftheMicrosoftfonts, whichyou'lldefinitelywantto have,you'llbeaskedtochecka boxstatingthatyouaccepta licenseagreementof.... Microsoft. Note:sometimesitmaylooklike theinstallationhasstalled.This isonlyseeminglyso:simply wait.Afterawhile(several minutes!)theinstallationwill finishneatly. (continuedinthecolumnonthe right)

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