A personal repository with notes about installing, configuring, and using Linux applications. This is all part of the learning and documenting process!
tags: #distributions, #debian-based
This is a quick guide on programs to install on a fresh install of Pop_OS! At the time of writing, Pop_OS! is currently on version 22.04.
In some cases, I will share some links to the installation instructions. In other cased, I will simply paste the command to input in the CLI, for simplicity. I will also try my best to divide the instructions in categories, in a logical order so you’re not missing a dependency when you reach that step.
Pop_OS! 22.04 uses GNOME version 42 as its default. It comes with many features, but we install some more to make it more personal.
Open Settings (Use the Super Key, and type settings in the box).
Pop_OS installs quite a few extensions by default. Here are some of my personal favourites that I can’t go without.
For some reason, the GNOME desktop doesn’t include these settings out of the box. However, some of the configuration I like to have in GNOME would be impossible without gnome-tweaks. To get it, run the command below:
sudo apt install gnome-tweaks
Hit the super key, and type in Tweaks to open the extension settings.
Moves your top bar to the bottom of the screen and acts like a traditional Windows taskbar. It’s really fantastic.
Sound Input & Output Device Chooser Extension
Adds the ability to select your audio device from the taskbar. You can hide any devices you don´t want displayed to clean up the selector.
If you have any additional drives to add, you can do so from the Disks utility. To do so, Hit Super, and type Disks.
Ext4 if needed./home/<username>/extradriveIf you have multiple partitions to add, change extradrive to another name.
Whenever you want to install updates, run the following commands in a terminal:
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade
You should perform these regularly whenever you want to install software to ensure everything is up to date.
In Pop_OS!, the NVIDIA driver is installed by default. However, you can install a newer version by visiting the Pop!_Shop. Simply hit Super, and type Pop!_Shop. Then, go to Installed. Once loaded, the first section should be Drivers. Install the latest one (or the one you prefer). Once installed, reboot your PC.
Once rebooted, hit Super, and type NVIDIA X server settings. On the first tab, you can find the driver version. If it’s the same as the one you last installed, the driver installed properly.
Tolga9009 created the Sidewinder daemon to support certain keyboards, notably the G103 / G105 / G710 keyboards which have G-keys for easy macros. Personally, I use these keys for streaming hotkeys. To install this daemon, follow the instructions for the Ubuntu Installation.
Personally, I install the application through the .deb file. However, you cannot receive automatic updates via the .deb file. Hence, it may be preferable to install as an .AppImage, or through Snap. Once installed, sign in, as you’re going to need your passwords for many of the other applications and configurations.
Despite Firefox being the default and privacy-focused browser, I really like Brave for the Brave Rewards and for being privacy focused.
Follow the preferences found in my Terminal Documentation.
As of 22.04, PipeWire is now the default sound driver. We’ll use PulseAudio modules to route our sound device connections in PipeWire to provide us the flexibility that JACK would have provided in the past.
Additionally to the Sound Input Output Device Chooser, PulseAudio Volume Control (PAVUControl) is a great tool which allows you to select which device is used for each application (Just not two at the same time). You can also disable some unused devices in this application, such as Digital Cables or unused HDMI sound cables. PAVUControl is a great tool to change the default audio device for some applications which don’t allow you to pick your device within the application itself (such as Firefox or Spotify). To install, simply type the following in a terminal:
sudo apt install pavucontrol
PipeWire Website TODO: Create Pipewire.md
As of Pop_OS 22.04, PipeWire is now the default audio driver for the distribution. PipeWire is a happy middle between the simplicity of PulseAudio and the complexity of JACK, built for the average user.
The best way I’ve found to configure PipeWire is to set it up similarly to JACK, minus some of the extra fluff required by JACK to function properly. As such, the only tools I use for my audio is QJackCTL and PAVUControl.
In order to set up PipeWire for my needs, we need to create a script to add new virtual cables each time we boot our PC (they don’t persist on reboot). Create a new script file called pipepulse.sh, and paste the following inside:
pactl load-module module-null-sink media.class=Audio/Sink sink_name=pipe_sink
pactl load-module module-null-sink media.class=Audio/Sink sink_name=WebMusic_OUT channel_map=stereo
pactl load-module module-null-sink media.class=Audio/Sink sink_name=Discord_OUT channel_map=stereo
pactl set-default-sink pipe_sink
Notice how we use pactl as a command instead of pacmd, and the slightly different syntax for loading PulseAudio modules. All these commands will load Sinks. If we wanted to load a Source, we’d change the media.class to Audio/Sink/Source. You can also set it as a Sink/Source by changing the media.class to Audio/Duplex, if needed.
Have your new script launch on startup through Startup Applications. Afterwards, follow the instructions for QJackCTL on how to make persistant connections through the Patchbay. You’ll notice that with the removal of Jack_Mixer, it’s much simpler.
PipeWire creates new audio devices whenever a new application launches and requires audio. For example, Discord will use the WebRTC (which you can set up in the Patchbay to connect to the Discord_OUT and your speakers), and Spotify / Brave will also have new devices created when they’re playing sound (Simply connect these to the WebMusic_OUT Sink).
Click on Install Steam, place the .deb file your downloads folder, then install. As I have an additional HDD, I like to install my games in that disk drive. Once installed and logged in:
By default, Steam should detect when you plug in a USB controller. This is true for Xbox and PS4 controllers by default. However, if you’re like me and have an obscure USB controller like a Pokken DX Hori controller for the Switch but use it for Retro gaming, then you may need to add it to the list of controllers for Steam.
Plug in your USB gamepad and run the following command: lsusb -v. Find your gamepad, and pay close attention to the idVendor and the idProduct. Note down the 4 digits after the 0x.
Navigate to /lib/udev/rules.d/60-steam-input.rules and add the following to the file (You will need to run as root):
KERNEL=="hidraw*", ATTRS{idVendor}=="0f0d", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0092", MODE="0660", TAG+="uaccess"
In my case, the idVendor and idProduct correspond to the PokkenDX Hori Controller. If your digits vary, then adjust as necessary. Save and close the file. Now we need to reload the udev rules. In terminal, run the following commands:
sudo udevadm control --reload-rules
sudo udevadm trigger
If everything worked as planned, Steam should display a quick toast saying it’s adding your gamepad.
Click on Download for Linux, select .deb and place in your downloads folder. Then install.
You’ll want to configure the Audio for Discord. If you followed the documentation I provided in the PipeWire section, you can set the Input Device to pip_sink, and Output Device Discord_OUT. I also recommend disabling automatic input sensitivity and increasing the threshold to ~45dB, unless your microphone already has good sound suppression.
Under Linux Settings, toggle Open Discord on system startup and Minimize to tray to ON.
Discord runs as a Chromium browser, and just like Brave, you can disable Hardware Acceleration if necessary under the Advanced tab.
Signal is an end-to-end encrypted messaging app for mobile devices. However, it also comes with a desktop app for Linux. To install, simply click on Download for Linux and follow the instructions there.
Follow the instructions for installing Spotify in the website above. I prefer installing it through the .deb package at the bottom of the page. At the moment, the Startup behaviour for Spotify doesn´t work on Linux. In the off-chance it works however, you can toggle Spotify to start Minimized and to minimize when you click the close button.
VLC is probably THE best media player to play local videos and music on Linux. It supports multiple codecs that the default video and music player on Linux doesn’t. Just get it. Click on the website above, and install it through the CLI.
OBS is a powerful streaming and recording application available on Windows, MacOS and Linux. The configuration and setup vary depending on your OS. For a full breakdown of my personal installation process and configuration, feel free to follow the documentation found here.
Obsidian Website | Documentation
A phenomenal Text Editor which allows you to write notes in Markdown. You can link different markdown files together with ease and even create “Zettelkasten” notes. It is downloadable as an AppImage, Flatpak, Snap and .deb file.
For a price, you can pay for their Sync option which allows you to sync your vault across multiple devices. If you don’t feel like paying for this service, you can accomplish this with other Cloud Drives such as Dropbox, Google Drive or OneDrive (although it’s not officially supported).
You can also pay to allow publishing these notes to a website. I figure it’s like Github pages, but I haven’t looked too much into it.
VS Code Website TODO: Create VSCODE.md for installation and configuration
VS Code is an IDE for Software Development. As it’s owned by Microsoft, you can link directly to a MS account or to Github, and download a plethora of extensions. Available as a .deb file.