Debian 10 Buster is the latest LTS version of the Debian operating system. In one of the previous articles, I told you how to install Debian 10 using a new installer. Although after installation, the system is ready for use, so that everything is as convenient as possible, you still need to configure many important and not so important parameters.
In this article we will look at how Debian 10 is configured after installation. There are so many things to do, we will focus only on the most important ones.
Configuring Debian 10 Buster after installation
Step 1. Install sudo
If you used the new installer to install the operating system, then you have already installed and configured the sudo utility. You can skip this step. But when using the old installer, the system will be without sudo and for comfortable work this utility should be installed:
Go to the superuser console with the command:
su -
Then install the utility:
apt install sudo
Next, add your current user to the sudo group:
usermod -aG sudo
id
For the changes to take effect, you need to log in, then you can use sudo.
Step 2. Upgrading the system
The sudo utility is, the next step that should be done is to upgrade the system to get all the fixes for bugs and security problems. To do this, update the list of packages and download updates:
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade
After the upgrade, restart the computer.
Step 3. Installing vim
In all instructions, I recommend using the vim editor. It is convenient and allows you to edit files very quickly when you get used to it. By default, Debian ships with vi, you need to install vim:
sudo apt install vim
Step 4. Gnome tweak tool
To be able to fine-tune the Gnome environment, you need to install the Gnome Tweak Tool utility:
sudo apt install gnome-tweak-tool
Step 5. Desktop Background
You can change the desktop background by right-clicking on an arbitrary area of the desktop and selecting Change background:
In the window that opens, select Backgroundand then find your favorite picture from the standard one or upload your own to the tab Images.
Step 6. Theme
Then we can change the theme. First you need to install the theme itself, for example Numix:
sudo apt install numix-gtk-theme
And if you want, a set of icons from Numix:
sudo apt install numix-icon-theme-circle
Then open the Gnome Tweak Tool from the main menu and go to the tab Appearance and select in the section Topics -> Applications desired theme, for example, just installed:
To change not only the application theme, but also the shell theme, you must first open the item Extensions and activate the extension User themes:
After restarting the program, you can select a shell theme, but you also need to install it.
Step 7. Font size
The font size in Debian can also be configured via the Gnome Tweak Tool. To do this, go to the tab Fonts:
Then select the desired scaling factor, for example 1.2. Changes are immediately applied, you can experiment with the coefficient to find a convenient size. Here you can change the font family for the system.
Step 8. Keyboard layout
If during the installation you chose the English layout, now you will only have it in the system. To add Russian open Options and go to tab Region and language:
Here in the section Input sources press the button + and select Russian:
Next you need to configure the key to change the layout. Default is used Win + spacebut many are used to Alt + Shift. Open up Gnome tweak tool, go to tab Keyboard and mousepush the button Advanced Layout Options and open the menu Switch to another layout:
Here select the desired switch key.
Step 9. Additional repositories
Debian repositories are divided into two parts – these are free – free and proprietary – nonfree. By default, the second repositories are disabled, although they are added to the system. There is a lot of useful software there, including the driver. To enable this repository open Software & updates From the main menu and on the first tab, tick off DFSG compatible software and Not DFSG compatible software.
Then the system will request a password to save the changes.
Step 10. Install programs
In the final step, the instructions for configuring Debian 10 after installation will be a look at the list of programs you should install. Most of them are very popular and are used by many users in everyday life. Some of the programs are in the official repositories, while others can be found in third-party:
- vlc – the best media player;
- gimp – The best graphics editor for Linux;
- openshot-qt – video editor;
- avidemux-qt – video converter;
- synaptic – powerful package manager with a graphical interface;
- chromium – Free version of the popular browser Google Chrome;
- filezilla – FTP client;
- timeshift – A program to back up the system;
- keepassxc – password manager;
- remmina – client remote desktop;
- htop – Task Manager in the terminal;
- stacer – utility to clean the system;
- shutter – a utility for creating screen shots;
- wine – Interlayer for running Windows programs.
If you still need the Debian Flash Player, you can install it by running the following commands:
echo "deb http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian buster main contrib" | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list
deb http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian buster main contrib
sudo apt update
sudo apt install pepperflashplugin-nonfree
findings
Embracing all of the Debian configuration options is difficult, as there are a lot of them. I deliberately missed the description of the installation of the drivers, although this is one of the most important points, because there will be separate and more detailed articles about this. We solved almost all the problems with the system interface and layout, and also installed a basic set of programs that will be useful to you in your work. What Debian optimizations do you do after installation? Write in the comments!
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