Kubuntu Post Installation Recommendations

This section is part of Kubuntu and Ubuntu Linux Distribution Reference.

Install rar and unrar utilities

File compression often used by newsgroups and torrents

sudo apt-get install rar unrar

Quick Access Plasma widget

sudo apt-get install plasma-widget-quickaccess

Other package managers

gdebi is a simple tool to install deb files. apt does the same, but only for remote (http, ftp) located package repositories. It has a graphical user interface but can also be used in your terminal. TO install it there will be some dependencies needed. See below:

apt-get install gdebi

The following extra packages will be installed: gdebi-core gir1.2-atk-1.0 gir1.2-freedesktop gir1.2-gdkpixbuf-2.0, gir1.2-gtk-3.0 gir1.2-pango-1.0 gir1.2-vte-2.90 gksu gnome-icon-theme, humanity-icon-theme libcairo-perl libgksu2-0 libglib-perl, libgnome-keyring-common, libgnome-keyring0 libgtk2-perl libgtop2-7, libgtop2-common libpango-perl libvte-2.90-9 libvte-2.90-common

The following NEW packages will be installed: gdebi gdebi-core gir1.2-atk-1.0 gir1.2-freedesktop gir1.2-gdkpixbuf-2.0, gir1.2-gtk-3.0 gir1.2-pango-1.0 gir1.2-vte-2.90 gksu gnome-icon-theme, humanity-icon-theme libcairo-perl libgksu2-0 libglib-perl, libgnome-keyring-common libgnome-keyring0 libgtk2-perl libgtop2-7, libgtop2-common libpango-perl libvte-2.90-9 libvte-2.90-common

Basically, using apt-get allows you to pull down packages from a server and install. gdebi allows you to install packages that you have manually or previously downloaded and put on your system.

File Managers

Nautilus is Gnome’s default file manager and Dolphin is KDE’s default file manager. Nautilus File Manager and Dolphin File Manager both have their positives and negatives. It is personal preference. You can easily download and install Nautilus on KDE by looking for a "nautilus" package in the package manager. It is GTK+ based so there will be dependencies needed.

Dolphin is already part of Kubuntu KDE desktop and has more customization options than Nautilus, for example, Dolphin includes "Split" and "Preview" buttons that Nautilus lacks. Dolphin has many configurable settings into one drop-down menu button called "Control". Dolphin is Qt-based so if you try to install on Gnome Ubuntu there will be dependencies needed.

Dolphin has been included with KDE since KDE Software Compilation 4. Dolphin replaces Konqueror. Konqueror was a file manager and web browser (reminds MSIE.) Now it is a web browser only. To install konqueror see below under web browsers.

A quick way to open a folder having sudo. (open folder as root)

• Go to "Configure Dolphin" > Services tab and click Download New Services. Search for root and find the service named Root Actions. Click Install.

Other web browsers

Firefox is considered a superior web browser when coupled with the NoScript and Ghostery plugins. Some web sites are not Firefox friendly. There are other web browsers that run under KDE Linux including: Chromium and Google Chrome.

Install Chromium, the open source version of Google Chrome.

sudo apt-get install chromium-browser

I don't think Chromium has Adoble Flash built-in like Google Chrome does. This would be due to the licensing. You can install the full version of Google Chrome which has closed source components such as Flash. To install the commercial version "Google Chrome" for Debian Linux do the following:

Google Chrome for 64bit Linux

wget https://dl.google.com/linux/direct/google-chrome-stable_current_amd64.deb
sudo gdebi google-chrome-stable_current_amd64.deb

Google Chrome for 32bit Linux

wget https://dl.google.com/linux/direct/google-chrome-stable_current_i386.deb
sudo gdebi google-chrome-stable_current_i386.deb

Google Chrome will have some dependencies: Requires the installation of the following packages: indicator-application libappindicator1 libappindicator3-1 libdbusmenu-gtk3-4 libindicator3-7 libindicator7

Konqueror is a pretty good lightweight and reasonably capable web browser. It used to be a familiar part of KDE. Now it is not included by default, but you can still get it easy enough. To install Konqueror on KDE:

sudo apt-get install konqueror

Now konqueror is not a file manager, it is a web browser. It will show up in K menu Applications -> Internet as a web browser.

Adobe Flash is built in the Google Chrome web browser. For other browsers you can install Flash Player, see: Install Update Flash Plugin Ubuntu.

Java is infrequently needed. If you feel you must have it:

sudo apt-get install icedtea-plugin

The Ubuntu Synaptic package manager

Synaptic comes with Ubuntu and Muon package manager comes with Kubuntu because it is for KDE. If you prefer Synaptic you can install it too. You can have them both.

sudo apt-get install aptitude synaptic gdebi-core software-properties-gtk

Those pesky encrypted DVDs

DVD encryption is lame. It is easy to crack and only holds up the end user experience when wanting to watch a movie!

sudo apt-get install kubuntu-restricted-extras libavcodec-extra
sudo apt-get install libdvdread4
sudo /usr/share/doc/libdvdread4/install-css.sh

Backgrounds, Screensavers, and other frivolous stuff

Fun fun fun!

sudo apt-get install kscreensaver
sudo apt-get install kde-wallpapers
sudo apt-get install vlc