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Congratulations, you have installed a brand new Linux Mint 22 (code name: Wilma), with the Cinnamon desktop! What's best for you to do, first of all?
I've made a list of the things to do, which I've divided into three categories:
- 10 absolutely essential ones (part 1);
- the recommended ones (not essential, part 2);
- the maybe useful (part 3).
It's quite a list, but it'll give you a polished, nearly maintenance-free operating system that you'll be able to enjoy for years to come! Plus it's also a crash course in the use of Linux Mint.
Note: You'll find only relatively safe tips and tweaks here, because I think that the stability and reliability of your operating system should never be endangered. This website is serious about Linux Mint, so my approach is conservative.
I try to mention it whenever some risk is unavoidable, so that you can always make a balanced decision.
Note: This web page is only meant for Linux Mint 22 with the Cinnamon desktop environment; the page for the MATE desktop is here and the page for the Xfce desktop is here.
Contents of this page:
- 1. TEN ESSENTIAL ACTIONS:
- 2. FOURTEEN RECOMMENDED ACTIONS (NOT ESSENTIAL):
- 3. ELEVEN NEUTRAL TWEAKS (MAYBE USEFUL):
- 4. Want more tips?
- 5. Get help
Tip: you can download a checklist here, which you can print on paper. Then you can strike the items that you've done, with an old-fashioned but effective pencil.
Are you unsure what Linux Mint version you have? You can check that as follows:
Launch a terminal window:
Menu - Administration - Terminal
Type (use copy/paste in order to avoid typing errors):
inxi -S
(Note that the letter S is capitalized)
Press Enter.
Part 1
TEN ESSENTIAL ACTIONS
Always do these things:
Apply all available updates and set up Timeshift
1.1. a. First the updates, then the rest...Click on Menu - Administration - Update Manager
Apply all updates.
Note: During the updates you might be asked whether you want to replace one or more configuration files. Don't replace them: although replacing is generally safe, it's usually unnecessary.
b. Then launch Timeshift, which is useful to get your system up and running again quickly in case of emergency:
Menu button - Administration - Timeshift
c. Click the button Settings - Schedule. Preferably configure Timeshift to put its snapshots on a separate dedicated hard disk partition (40 GB is a workable and reasonable minimum size for that partition), so it won't eat disk space needed by your system.
It's better not to set a schedule at all. But if you want one anyway, click the Settings button and set the schedule to monthly, with a retention of just two snapshots. No more, because otherwise, under certain circumstances, Timeshift can start gobbling up disk space like crazy.
Barring the rare exception, nobody will ever need more than two snapshots.... Even if the snapshot you restore is quite old: simply run Update Manager after the restoration and your system will be fully up to date in almost no time at all.
Want to know more about dealing with Timeshift snapshots? Then read about it here (*click*).
d. Reboot your computer (usually not necessary after updating your system, but do it this time just to make sure).
Improve Update Manager
1.2. Update Manager is a very important tool. That's why it's important that its settings are optimal.For that purpose, I've published a how-to for tweaking and optimizing Update Manager here (*Click*).
Drivers and full multimedia support
1.3. For installing missing drivers and full multimedia support, proceed as follows (you need internet connection for this!):Install missing drivers
1.3.1. Installing drivers is usually not necessary, because they are already present in the Linux kernel. Exceptions are some printer drivers and proprietary restricted drivers for (among others) Nvidia graphics cards.a. Install your printer and scanner in this way (*Click*).
b. For optimal performance of your Nvidia video card, or your Broadcom wireless chipset, you'll want to install the closed source restricted driver (the proprietary driver). Get it like this:
Menu - Administration - Driver Manager
When available for your system, this tool will present you with one or more installable non-free drivers. Select them all, but only after creating a snapshot with Timeshift first.
The required drivers are then automatically downloaded from the internet, from the software repositories of Mint, and (also automatically) installed. Afterwards you'll have to do a full reboot of your computer.
Note: Sometimes you're being offered several versions of the restricted driver. The recommended one should work best for most hardware combinations.
Only choose from the versions that you're being offered, because only those support your device! Start with the recommended one, and only work your way down when it doesn't perform well.
Do you have a brand-new graphics card from Nvidia? Then it might be too new for the version of the proprietary restricted driver in the software repositories of Mint. In that case you won't be offered any proprietary driver at all by Driver Manager.
If this happens, then you can look for another solution for your Nvidia card on this page.
For an AMD/ATI video card you have to stick to the default open source driver. Because the closed AMD Catalyst (fglrx) drivers are not compatible with Linux Mint.
These closed fglrx drivers are proprietary and so their code is not available. AMD indicated they no longer wanted to support them and urged their customers to use open-source drivers instead.
If you're using an AMD or ATI GPU in Linux Mint, the operating system will automatically select either the radeon or the amdgpu driver for you, and both of these open-source drivers are installed by default.
Install full multimedia support
1.3.2. You've probably installed full multimedia support during the installation of Linux Mint, by ticking the checkbox for Install multimedia codecs. But if you didn't, you can do it now:Menu button - Sound & Video - Install Multimedia Codecs
Note: This menu entry is only present when you haven't installed full multimedia support (mint-meta-codecs) yet. After installing it, this menu entry will disappear.
Optimize your Solid State Drive (SSD)
1.4. Do you have a Solid State Drive (SSD) instead of a conventional hard disk? Then optimize it for Linux Mint.Install some useful tools and an extra media player
1.5. For file management it can sometimes be handy to use a simple stand-alone file manager like Double Commander.Furthermore, for optimal control of the sound settings, there's a useful application called pavucontrol.
rar and 7zip-rar provide support for certain types of archives.
For finding files, the simple, user-friendly application Catfish is a superb tool.
Finally, I advise to install the well-known VLC as extra media player.
Install them all in one stroke, like this:
Menu - Administration - Terminal
Use copy/paste to transport this magical incantation to the terminal (this is one line!):
sudo apt-get install doublecmd-gtk pavucontrol rar 7zip-rar catfish vlc
Press Enter. Type your password when prompted. In Ubuntu this remains entirely invisible, not even dots will show when you type it, that's normal. In Mint this has changed: you'll see asterisks when you type. Press Enter again.
Optimize memory usage (important)
1.6. Especially noticeable on computers with relatively low RAM memory: they tend to be far too slow in Linux Mint. Luckily, this can be helped: see these tips for optimizing memory usage.Turn on the firewall
1.7. The default security of Linux Mint can and should be improved a bit. The firewall is namely disabled by default, but usually it's better to turn it on. Especially on mobile devices like laptops, which sometimes connect to other networks than your own.But also when you're always behind the firewall of your own router, because who knows if the firewall in your router is still working correctly? The router firmware is often never updated, so many (if not most) routers have multiple unfixed security flaws. These may affect the firewall of your router as well.
The firewall in Linux Mint is called Uncomplicated Firewall (ufw), and can be operated from the terminal. Like this:
a. Menu - Administration - Terminal
b. Copy/paste the following command line into the terminal:
sudo ufw enable
Press Enter. Type your password when prompted. In Ubuntu this remains entirely invisible, not even dots will show when you type it, that's normal. In Mint this has changed: you'll see asterisks when you type. Press Enter again.
Uncomplicated Firewall (ufw) has a sensible set of default settings (profile), which are fine for the vast majority of home users. So unless you have special wishes: you're done!
c. With this command line you can check the current status of the firewall:
sudo ufw status verbose
Press Enter.
When it's enabled, the output should resemble this:
pjotr@netbook:~$ sudo ufw status verbose
[sudo] password for pjotr:
Status: active
Logging: on (low)
Default: deny (incoming), allow (outgoing) disabled (routed)
New profiles: skip
pjotr@netbook:~$
I've printed the most important message in red: this output basically means that all incoming traffic is denied and all outgoing traffic allowed.
There are sensible exceptions in the default firewall settings (rules), which should ensure that the firewall is never in the way of normal average use. For example, with the default profile the use of Samba should be no problem. Also downloading torrents (fetch) should be possible; but seeding torrents (serve), might require a temporal disabling of ufw.
d. You'll probably never look at its logs, so it won't hurt to turn off all logging by the firewall. Especially because it can be rather spammy sometimes. Turning off its log can be done with this terminal command:
sudo ufw logging off
Regrets? Turning firewall logging on again with the default amount of activity (low), can be done with the following terminal command:
sudo ufw logging low
e. It's easy to disable the firewall (should you wish to do so) with this terminal command:
sudo ufw disable
Press Enter.
f. A further explanation about the firewall and security in general, can be found here.
Install some useful extra fonts
1.8. Install some useful extra fonts, in order to improve the compatibility with documents from Microsoft Office. Namely a package containing some old Microsoft fonts, two modern Google-made free replacement fonts and the modern Aptos fonts from Microsoft. Like this:Install some old Microsoft fonts
1.8.1. This is how to install a package with old Microsoft fonts:a. Launch a terminal window (this is how to launch a terminal window).
b. Use copy/paste to transfer this line into the terminal (it's one single huge line!):
wget http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/pool/contrib/m/msttcorefonts/ttf-mscorefonts-installer_3.8.1_all.deb -P ~/Downloads
Press Enter. With this command you download the installer package from Debian. Because installing the Debian package is cleaner, as it doesn't pull some extra software that's useless and even troublesome in Linux Mint.
c. For the actual installation, use copy/paste to transfer this line into the terminal (it's again one single line!):
sudo apt-get install --no-install-recommends ~/Downloads/ttf-mscorefonts-installer_3.8.1_all.deb
Press Enter. Type your password when prompted. In Ubuntu this remains entirely invisible, not even dots will show when you type it, that's normal. In Linux Mint this has changed: you'll see asterisks when you type your password. Press Enter again.
d. Wait until the installation has finished. Then, copy/paste this command into the terminal, in order to copy the downloaded fonts into another new folder (it's one single line!):
sudo cp -v -r /usr/share/fonts/truetype/msttcorefonts /usr/local/share/fonts/msttcorefonts2
Press Enter.
e. Now remove the Debian installer, which will take the downloaded fonts in the original folder with it (but no worries, as you've copied them!), with this command (use copy/paste again):
sudo apt-get purge ttf-mscorefonts-installer
Press Enter.
f. Inform the system about the presence of the newly copied fonts, with the following command (use copy/paste again):
sudo dpkg-reconfigure fontconfig
Press Enter.
Install the fonts Carlito and Caladea from Google
1.8.2. You can install the Google-made free fonts Carlito (replacement for Microsoft's modern proprietary Calibri) and Caladea (replacement for Microsoft's modern proprietary Cambria). Like this:a. Launch a terminal window (this is how to launch a terminal window).
Use copy/paste to transfer this line into the terminal (it's one line!):
sudo apt-get install fonts-crosextra-carlito fonts-crosextra-caladea
Press Enter. Type your password when prompted. In Ubuntu this remains entirely invisible, not even dots will show when you type it, that's normal. In Linux Mint this has changed: you'll see asterisks when you type your password. Press Enter again.
b. Now you're going to configure Libre Office to use them as replacement for the Calibri en Cambria fonts from Microsoft:
Panel of LibreOffice Writer: Tools - Options... - section LibreOffice: Fonts
Tick: Apply replacement table
c. Type in for Font (it's not in the dropdown list, you have to type it): Calibri
Replace by: Carlito (it's in the dropdown list)
Press the button with the green tick.
Tick: Always and Screen only
d. Now type in for Font (it's not in the dropdown list, you have to type it): Cambria
Replace by: Caladea (it's in the dropdown list)
Press the button with the green tick.
Tick: Always and Screen only
Click the OK button.
Install the modern Aptos fonts from Microsoft
1.8.3. You can also install the modern Microsoft Aptos Fonts. Like this:a. First download the Aptos fonts package from the Microsoft website.
b. Then unpack (unzip) it in the Downloads folder, simply by double-clicking it and extracting its contents.
c. Then, launch a terminal window (this is how to launch a terminal window).
d. Use copy/paste to transfer this line into the terminal (it's one line!), in order to create a system folder for the new fonts:
sudo mkdir -p -v /usr/local/share/fonts/truetype/aptos-fonts
Press Enter. Type your password when prompted. In Ubuntu this remains entirely invisible, not even dots will show when you type it, that's normal. In Linux Mint this has changed: you'll see asterisks when you type your password. Press Enter again.
e. Now execute this terminal command, in order to move the downloaded fonts into that newly created system folder (use copy/paste again):
sudo mv -v ~/Downloads/Apto*.ttf /usr/local/share/fonts/truetype/aptos-fonts
f. Inform the system about the presence of the new fonts, with this command (use copy/paste again):
sudo fc-cache -fv
g. You're done! Enjoy the new Aptos fonts.
Avoid 10 fatal mistakes!
1.9. There are 10 mistakes that you'll definitely want to avoid, for the sake of the health of your system.Solve some known bugs
1.10. If you have a problem: have a look at the solutions for several bugs. Don't skip this, when you have some problem! There's a big chance that you'll benefit from at least one of the workarounds presented at that page....Also relevant: the release notes of Linux Mint 22.
Part 2
FOURTEEN RECOMMENDED ACTIONS (NOT ESSENTIAL)
Do these things if and when you have the time:
Increase the size of fonts, panel, icons and mouse pointer
2.1. If you have a display with a big resolution, sometimes the fonts, panel, icons and mouse pointer are annoyingly small. This is how to increase their sizes:a. Menu button - Preferences - Font Selection
Section Font Settings: Text scaling factor: set it to 1.5 (or thereabouts).
Then close Font Selection.
Note that the size of the text below the desktop shortcuts will only get their new size after you've rebooted. But before you do that, first finish the rest of the size adjustments!
b. After that, increase the size of the desktop items like this:
Right-click on an empty part of your desktop - Customize - Icon Size: set it to Large.
c. Then do this for the cursor size: Menu - Preferences - Mouse and Touchpad
Section Pointer size and speed: Size: increase it.
d. Now the panel. Right-click on an empty part of the panel - Panel settings:
Section Customize:
Set the Panel height to 45.
Section Panel appearance:
Left Zone: set the Symbolic icon size (px) to 28.
Center Zone: do likewise there.
Right Zone: set the Colored icon size to 32px and set the Symbolic icon size (px) to 28.
Close the panel editor.
e. You can also increase the text size in the menu of bootloader Grub, simply by installing a dedicated magnifying package for it. The mere installation itself is enough; no further action required. Proceed like this:
Menu - Administration - Terminal
Copy/paste the following command line into the terminal:
sudo apt-get install grub2-theme-mint-2k
Press Enter. Type your password when prompted. In Ubuntu this remains entirely invisible, not even dots will show when you type it, that's normal. In Mint this has changed: you'll see asterisks when you type. Press Enter again.
f. Reboot your computer.
Make the fonts thicker and better readable
2.1.1. Mint uses Ubuntu fonts. Ubuntu has seen fit to make its fonts thinner (why?). This unfortunate design decision now plagues the eyes of Mint users as well. Thankfully, you can restore old-fashioned sanity like this:Note: Applying this hack will temporarily create unreadable fonts all over the place, but a simple reboot will fix that.
a. Menu - Administration - Terminal
b. Copy/paste the following command line into the terminal:
sudo apt-get install fonts-ubuntu-classic
Press Enter. Type your password when prompted. In Ubuntu this remains entirely invisible, not even dots will show when you type it, that's normal. In Mint this has changed: you'll see asterisks when you type. Press Enter again.
c. Don't be scared by unreadable fonts popping up everywhere, because that's only a temporary side effect. Simply reboot your computer to fix that. Enjoy the improved readability after the reboot!
Optimize Firefox
2.2. With a couple of changes in the settings, you can improve the performance of Firefox in Linux Mint. These tweaks will make this fine web browser leaner and cleaner.Tweak Libre Office
2.3. The default office suite is the fine Libre Office. In order to improve it, you can tweak the settings of Libre Office.Install and configure Redshift (blue light filter)
2.4. You can install and configure a nifty blue light filter called Redshift, for making those late night screens less harsh on the eyes. Like this:a. Launch a terminal window.
(You can launch a terminal window like this: *Click*)
b. Copy/paste the following command line into the terminal:
sudo apt-get install redshift-gtk
Press Enter. Type your password when prompted. In Ubuntu this remains entirely invisible, not even dots will show when you type it, that's normal. In Mint this has changed: you'll see asterisks when you type. Press Enter again.
The automatic location service of Redshift will probably not work. So set a location manually, like this:
c. Copy/paste the following command line into the terminal in order to create a new empty text file (and to open it for editing at the same time):
xed ~/.config/redshift.conf
Press Enter.
d. Now you need to put some text into that file. An example for the city of Johannesburg (South Africa) makes it easy:
Copy/paste the following blue text block into that newly created empty text file:
[redshift]
location-provider=manual
[manual]
lat=-26.20
lon=28.04
Adapt the latitude (lat) and longitude (lon) figures to the ones of your location; more precision than two figures after the dot isn't necessary. Then save the modified text file.
e. Close any running instance of Redshift and launch it again. It should work now.
Install an extra web browser
2.5. It's useful to have an extra web browser available. Firefox is a fine application, but now and then (especially when you've installed too many extensions or add-ons in Firefox), it doesn't function entirely well.An excellent alternative to Firefox, is web browser Google Chrome. Unfortunately it's not in the software sources of Linux Mint, but you can download its 64-bit installer from the download page of Chrome.
That web page should automatically recognize that you're running Linux Mint: it should offer you a preselected installer for Debian/Ubuntu, because that's what you need in Mint.
Double-click the installer, which has the extension .deb, as if it were a .exe installer in Windows. Then it'll install itself automatically.
Furthermore, it'll add the software source for Chrome to your software sources list, so that Update Manager will automatically offer you updates for Google Chrome as soon as they become available.
You can find tips and tweaks for Chrome here.
Speed up your Linux Mint
2.6. You can probably speed up your Linux Mint noticeably, by applying these safe speed tweaks.I advise to pay special attention to turning off the visual effects, as described in item 5 on the speed tweaks page. Visual effects are nice, but they can slow down your system and can occasionally even cause stability problems.
That's why there are only a few visual effects enabled by default. You can gain some speed and stability when you turn off those as well.
Improve Power Manager for a laptop
2.7. The default settings of Power Manager for a laptop, can be improved.a. By default, the icon of Power Manager in the system tray of the panel, doesn't show the remaining percentage of battery charge. That's not handy. Fix it like this:
Right-click mouse on the Power Manager icon in the system tray - Configure... - Display: change that to: Show percentage
b. Furthermore, it's useful to set "shutdown immediately" for closing the laptop lid. You can enable that option as follows:
Click on the icon of Power Manager in the system tray (an ordinary left-click) - Power Settings - section Power Options: When the lid is closed: set it to Shut down immediately. Both for "On A/C power" and for "On battery power".
Multiple accounts: improve snooping prevention for your account
2.8. Does your computer have multiple user accounts? Then you can easily improve its prevention against other users snooping in your account, without taking drastic measures like encryption. In the following way:Launch a terminal window.
(You can launch a terminal window like this: *Click*)
Type (copy/paste):
chmod -v 700 $HOME
Press Enter.
Repeat this in each user account that needs the same protection.
Note (1): don't apply this recursively, on all files and folders within your home folder. That's quite unnecessary, and might even have negative side effects.
Note (2): this doesn't protect you from someone with root permissions! It won't stop a determined and experienced snooper, but it's an effective measure to "keep the honest people out". If that's not enough for you: encryption of files or even of your entire home folder, is much more secure....
Should you ever wish to undo this (but why?), that's easy as well. For undoing you can use this command:
chmod -v 750 $HOME
Disable the touchpad while typing
2.9. When you have a laptop, it's advisable to disable the touchpad while typing. In the graphical tool Mouse and Touchpad you can activate a setting for that, but this doesn't work sometimes. Only when that method doesn't work: disabling the touchpad while typing should always succeed when you do it like this:a. First deselect the option in Mouse and Touchpad:
Menu - Preferences - Mouse and Touchpad - tab Touchpad
Section General - Disable touchpad while typing: set the slider to OFF.
Close Mouse and Touchpad.
b. Then install a supporting package:
Menu button - Administration - Terminal
Copy/paste the following line into the terminal:
sudo apt-get install xserver-xorg-input-synaptics
Press Enter. Type your password when prompted. In Ubuntu this remains entirely invisible, not even dots will show when you type it, that's normal. In Mint this has changed: you'll see asterisks when you type. Press Enter again.
c. Now create a new directory:
Copy/paste the following line into the terminal:
sudo mkdir -v /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d
Press Enter.
d. Then copy a file into that new directory:
Copy/paste the following line into the terminal (this is one line!):
sudo cp -v /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/70-synaptics.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/70-synaptics.conf
Press Enter.
e. Menu - Preferences - Startup Applications
Click Add - Custom command
Fill out the fields as follows (use copy/paste, that's easiest):
Name:
Syndaemon
Command:
syndaemon -i 1.0 -K -R -t
Comment:
Disable the touchpad while typing, with a reasonable delay of one second and only for tapping and scrolling
Startup delay: set it at 10 seconds.
Click Add.
This will disable your touchpad while typing, 10 seconds after login. Those 10 seconds are just a precaution for potential conflicts. Only tapping and scrolling are being disabled, which is usually what people want.
f. Reboot your computer (or log out and log in again).
g. Finally, check whether it's working, with the help of the following terminal command (copy/paste the blue line below in a terminal and press Enter):
ps aux|grep syndaemon
Note: This is a user preference, so repeat this in each user account.
Disable the Switch User option
2.10. In the logout window, you can select the option Switch User. Don't use it, because this option sometimes works badly. Besides, switching users like that eats system power: the first user session remains namely in the system memory...So it's better not to use this option at all. Preferably select Log Out. Only with that, you log out entirely from user account A, before you log in as user B. So that user B has the full system power at his disposal.
You can disable the Switch User option completely, in the following way:
a. Menu - Administration - Terminal
Use copy/paste to transport this magical incantation into the terminal, in order to install the editor you need for this job:
sudo apt-get install dconf-editor
Press Enter. Type your password when prompted. In Ubuntu this remains entirely invisible, not even dots will show when you type it, that's normal. In Mint this has changed: you'll see asterisks when you type. Press Enter again.
b. Then in the terminal:
dconf-editor
Press Enter.
c. In that application, for expanding the subitems you have to click on the little triangle before an item. Click your way to:
org - cinnamon - desktop - lockdown
Turn on: disable-user-switching
Close dconf-editor.
Note: This is a user preference, so repeat step b and c in each user account.
Turn Num Lock on automatically
2.11. Does your keyboard (laptop?) have a separate numeric keypad on the right? Then it's useful for Num Lock to be switched on automatically, when you start Linux Mint.Note: This instruction is only meant for desktops and laptops that have a separate numeric keypad! It's definitely not desirable to have the Num Lock on by default on a laptop that has no such separate keypad.
You can achieve that as follows:
a. Menu - Administration - Terminal
Copy/paste the following command into the terminal:
sudo apt-get install numlockx
Now do this: Menu - Administration - Login Window.
Tab Settings: enable Activate numlock.
Reboot your computer. The numeric keypad should turn on automatically after you log into your user account.
Note: It's possible that during login, Mint will turn Num Lock off again (sigh). If that happens, you can counteract that irritating behaviour as follows:
Menu - Preferences - Startup Applications
Click the + button (Add) - Custom command
Give the new addition the name Numlockx and the command:
numlockx
Startup delay: set it at 20 seconds.
Click Add.
This will turn Num Lock on, 20 seconds after login. The delay is necessary, because you have to make sure it happens after Mint has turned Num Lock off.
Note: User preference, so repeat this in each user account.
Think about removing Java (openJDK)
2.12. Linux Mint does not contain Java (openJDK) by default. Which is good, because it has some negative security implications. So if you have installed it yourself, I advise to consider to remove it (item 9).Improve a terminal setting
2.13. You're probably going to use the terminal from time to time, because it's the mighty "Swiss Army knife" of Linux. But the default appearance of the terminal window can be made more practical. You can do that as follows.The terminal window is potentially semi-transparent (dependent on theme selection). Beautiful, but impractical. Improve it like this:
Menu bar of the terminal: Edit - Preferences (or: right-click with the mouse in the black space of the terminal - Preferences).
Tab Colors: remove the tick for: Use transparency from system theme.
Remove Orca and speech-dispatcher
2.14. Your Linux Mint probably contains screen reader Orca and a package called speech-dispatcher, which ensures that text-to-speech output becomes actual speech hearable in the speakers.Nifty, when you're visually handicapped. But useless when you're not. And it's rather disconcerting when, after pressing the wrong key combination, your computer suddenly starts addressing you with a heavy bass voice....
Furthermore, speech-dispatcher is known to cause sound problems in some cases. Which is reason enough to remove it as a matter of course.
You can get rid of these annoyances as follows:
Menu - Administration - Terminal
Use copy/paste to transport this magical incantation into the terminal (it's one line):
sudo apt-get remove orca speech-dispatcher
Press Enter. Type your password when prompted. In Ubuntu this remains entirely invisible, not even dots will show when you type it, that's normal. In Mint this has changed: you'll see asterisks when you type. Press Enter again.
Part 3
ELEVEN NEUTRAL TWEAKS (MAYBE USEFUL)
Only do these things if you like them:
Stop the window grouping in the panel
3.1. You can stop the window grouping in the Cinnamon panel in the following way:Right-click on an empty spot on the panel - Applets - Grouped window list: click on its little gear wheels button (Configure) - tab General: disable Group windows by application
Add a weather report to the panel
3.2. Always nice: a weather report in the panel. You can have that in Mint Cinnamon, but it's a ...*cough*... rather cumbersome job to get it. This is how to do it:a. Right-click mouse on an empty space on the panel - Applets
Tab Download
(don't forget to refresh the list)
Click Weather
Click on the button Install
b. Click on the tab Manage
Click Weather
Click on the + button (Add)
c. Now you see a curved arrow appear in the panel, which should shortly change into a labeled icon that shows the weather where you live (or thereabouts).
d. Improve some default settings: right-click on the weather icon - Configure...
Data service: change that from the inaccurate OpenWeatherMap into the better MET Norway.
Forecast length (days): set that to a higher number.
e. Close the configuration window.
f. When you click on the Weather panel icon now, you'll see a window with extensive meteorological data, plus a multiple-day forecast.
Change the wallpaper
3.3. Mint looks nice out of the box, but maybe you want to change its wallpaper anyway....You can change your wallpaper in almost the same way as in Windows, but there's one important difference.
So: select a picture that you want for wallpaper. Double-click the picture file.
Now the picture is being shown in the image viewer Xviewer. Then, in the panel of that application: click File - Set as Wallpaper. You're done.
However, the important difference with Windows is this: Mint only creates a link to the picture that you've set as wallpaper. When you move or delete the picture afterwards, then your wallpaper disappears also, because the link is dead!
So don't throw away the picture, but put it permanently in your home folder. For example in the folder Images. And only then set it as wallpaper.
Tip: I've made copies of wallpapers from older Mint versions available on my Google Drive (only the ones I liked best, due to space constraints on my Google Drive).
Migrate your e-mail from Outlook (Express) in Windows, to Linux Mint
3.4. It's easy to migrate your e-mails and e-mail settings from Outlook (Express) in Windows, to Thunderbird in Linux Mint Cinnamon. Simply apply this how-to.Install some simple games
3.5. Always fun: install some simple games.Menu - Administration - Terminal
Copy/paste the following terminal command (this is one line):
sudo apt-get install aisleriot gnome-cards-data gnome-mines quadrapassel gnome-sudoku
Press Enter. Type your password when prompted. In Ubuntu this remains entirely invisible, not even dots will show when you type it, that's normal. In Mint this has changed: you'll see asterisks when you type. Press Enter again.
After the installation you can find them like this: Menu - Games
Make available updates more prominent
3.6. Some people have difficulty noticing the dotted icon in the system tray, that signifies that new updates are available.... In that case you can make available updates more prominent like this:Menu - Preferences - Startup Applications
Click the + button (Add) - Custom command
Name: Update Window
Command: mintupdate
Startup delay: set it at 99. Because otherwise it may conflict with the existing startup application mintupdate-launcher, which launches after 20 seconds.
Click Save.
Now you should be presented with the window of Update Manager, 99 seconds after you log in. You can't overlook it: it's "in your face".
The disadvantage is, that you also get to see it when there are no updates at all. But that's better than overlooking updates that need to be installed....
Disable window tiling and the HUD
3.7. Maybe you find window tiling and the HUD (Heads Up Display) an annoying feature (just drag an application window to the top of your display to see what I mean). If so, you can easily disable it like this:Menu button - Preferences - Window Tiling
Enable Window Tiling and Snapping: switch it off.
Disable window thumbnails on hover
3.8. When hovering with the mouse pointer above a minimalized application in the desktop bar, a window thumbnail pops up. Neat, but especially on smaller displays this can be highly annoying.You can disable it like this:
Menu button - Preferences - Applets
Click on Grouped window list
Click on its little gears button (Configure) - tab Thumbnails - Show thumbnails: switch it off.
Make sure that the trash bin isn't bypassed when removing files
3.9. By default, you have two file deletion options in your file manager: throwing a file into the trash bin or deleting it irrevocably right away. Sometimes this irrevocable deletion is being used by accident, which can lead to bitter tears: there's no undoing such a deletion....So you might want to disable that irrevocable deletion, which can be done like this:
Launch your file manager - panel: Edit - Preferences - tab Behavior
Section Trash: deselect Include a Delete command that bypasses Trash
Install a good DVD burning application
3.10. The best DVD burning application is currently Xfburn, because the other commonly used burning app Brasero, is rather unreliable and regularly spoils your DVDs. Xfburn on the other hand, is reliable, simple and easy.It has just one disadvantage: Xfburn can't burn multisession DVDs. So it can't add to a DVD that already has some content.
Install Xfburn like this:
Menu - Administration - Terminal
Type (use copy/paste to transport this magical incantation into the terminal):
sudo apt-get install xfburn
Press Enter. Type your password when prompted. In Ubuntu this remains entirely invisible, not even dots will show when you type it, that's normal. In Mint this has changed: you'll see asterisks when you type. Press Enter again.
Now you can launch Xfburn like this:
Menu button - Sound & Video - Xfburn
Create a manual snapshot with Timeshift to backup your modifications and tweaks
3.11. You've modified and tweaked your system quite a lot, by applying this list. That has cost you a lot of time, so it's useful to create a manual snapshot of your neatly tuned system. Including all of the settings changes which reside in your personal folder only (more about that later).You can do that as follows:
a. Launch Timeshift:
Menu button - Administration - Timeshift
b. Click the button Settings - Users
By default all user folders, including the hidden settings files they contain, aren't part of the snapshot. For a good reason, because you don't want that recently modified important document of yours, to be reverted to its version of three weeks ago.... Or that your Thunderbird email boxes suddenly are being reverted to their past content.
But you're still at the beginning now, and there are no documents or e-mails in your personal folder yet (at least when you've done a clean installation). So temporarily include the hidden items (settings files) of each user account (with the exception of the root user account), for this snapshot only.
c. Create the one-time snapshot.
d. Click the button Settings - Users again, and fully exclude all user accounts again for future snapshots. This is very important!
Want more tips?
4. Do you want more tips and tweaks for Linux Mint? There's a lot more of them on this website! Like these:Security in Linux Mint
Four popular myths and 12 tips about wireless security (for wifi)
How to clean Linux Mint
How to create a strong password that's easy to remember (the answer might surprise you!)
Get help
5. You can get quick and friendly help on the official Linux Mint forum.To the content of this website applies a Creative Commons license.
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