This is part of my series installing Ubuntu 20.04 of my laptop. These are my notes for the different tweaks and utilities that didn’t really fit in any other category.
Utilities
Here are just a couple of utilities that are nice to have on the laptop:
sudo apt install menulibre \
p7zip-full p7zip-rar \
synaptic \
gnome-tweak-toolMany of these I’ll use later. For example, menulibre allows me to easily add programs to the Gnome menu that I had to install manually. 7zip is good for compressing things. Synaptic makes it easier to install some things. The Gnome Tweak Tool options up additional options that I’ll set below.
Settings Tweaks
Opening up the Gnome Tweak Tool, “Tweaks”:
- Top Bar > Clock — checked “Weekday”
- Top Bar > checked “Battery Percentage”
- Windows > unchecked “Attach Modal Dialogs”
In the regular settings app:
- Date & Time > Time Format — changed to AM/PM
Gnome Extensions
First you have to install the package that connects the Chrome Browser to the extensions and allows it to manage them:
sudo apt install chrome-gnome-shellThese are the extensions that I installed:
- Keep Awake: easy way to pause the screen lock
- Bing Wallpaper: switches the desktop background to the Bing picture of the day
- Clipboard Indicator: allows accessing previous things copied to the clipboard
- Do No Disturb Button: stops notifications from popping up during meetings/screenshares
- GSConnect: Interface to Android phone
- Notifications Alert: Flashes to make sure notifications are noticed
- Sound Input & Output Device Chooser: This is a new one that I’m trying out to let me more easily switch between headset and regular speakers
- Update 7/18: Compiz alike windows effect: I used to like the Wobbly Windows, and thanks to omgubuntu, I’ve got it back
These are easy to install from the web page. You can just switch the slider to “On”:
