1. How to Speed Up Flash in Ubuntu!
As many of you Ubuntu users know, Flash can sometimes be slow and annoying on Ubuntu. UbuntuForums.org has some great suggested tweaks that can improve your flash speeds including removing of all flash plug-ins and re-install the latest version of flash and tweaking the about:config settings in Firefox.
2. How to Install OpenOffice 3.2!
OpenOffice has been slowly making great progress over the years, it’s probably one of the best open-source document software out there. If you haven’t upgraded to the latest OpenOffice 3.2, try this guide that shows you how.
3. How to Install Pretty Permalinks for WordPress running on Ubuntu!
If you are hosting a WordPress blog on a Ubuntu as a web server and you are using standard permalinks instead of pretty permalinks, you might want to read up on this great article that shows you how to convert to pretty permalinks in Ubuntu.
4. How to install VMWare in Ubuntu!
I used to run 100% Linux computers and would run bunch of VMware Windows OS inside it. This was actually like 5 years ago but I stopped doing it because when you run an operating system virtually, it’s never going to run as fast as by itself, that’s just the simple truth. But for those of you hardcore linux wannabes who want to keep using your Windows programs, the best way to do that is to use VMWare. (or Wine although compatibility issues are harder there) There’s a great guide out there on how to install VMWare Server over at HowToForge. It should be similar for all the rest versions of VMWare.
5. How to Make your Linux Box Energy Efficient! #GREEN
For Windows, there’s NHC, which can automatically adjust your CPU to save power plus your CPU will last much longer, especially on laptops. (You can read about that on my post about controlling your CPU speed) For linux, you can use PowerTop, which is a similar program to help you cut down on idle CPU usage by throttling down your CPU speeds. For DIY howto guide for that, looky here.
6. How to Install DNS Caching on Ubuntu!
This is a must for all Ubuntu users. Install DNS caching so your browsing will be faster and even for web servers that do a lot of external queries, this can be power consumption/time saver. I have it installed on ALL my linux boxes. See my howto on this here.
7. How to Permanently Delete Important Files!
Did you know all computers, including Ubuntu, Windows, and Mac, still store your files on the filesystem after deletion? The only true way to delete your important files permanently is to overwrite the exact sectors your files lie in with garbage or another data. For Ubuntu, you can use Shred to delete files permanently, see this great howto guide here.
8. How to Install Bind DNS Server!
If you are setting up a domain name and you need your own DNS server to resolve your domain names, you can refer to this great guide on how to install Bind DNS server. Personally I use Plesk because I like the graphical interface and DNS settings in command line can get very hairy but for those of you studying linux, this is a must-skill to learn for sheezy.
9. How to Make Ubuntu File Server for Macs!
Regardless of what operating system you use, Ubuntu (or any other Linux distro) are the perfect file servers. Personally I use a Ubuntu box for backing up all my data, simply because there’s many programs on Linux to help me get things done faster like SSH. Here’s a great guide on how to make your Ubuntu box into a File Server/Time Machine for Macs. I won’t get into more details on this post but watch out for a collection of great HOWTOs for turning Ubuntu/Linux into a file server soon. (working on that next)
10. How to Install Ubuntu without a CD!
If you have a bunch of machines laying around and you want to install Ubuntu via a CD, that can be time-consuming and painstakingly a pain in the ass. Instead, you can re-partition your hard drive and install GRUB to install Ubuntu without a CD, also much faster installation times. See this guide here for that.
There you have it, I just covered some of the most basic grounds for Ubuntu. Whether you are seasoned veteran or just starting out with Ubuntu, make sure you know how to do these as they will help you do get things done faster on Ubuntu.
And remember, most of these tips can apply to any kind of Linux, you might have to get around it by using a different command such as using yum instead of apt-get. Don’t get frustrated, it’s all part of learning process. As I myself learn more about Ubuntu and other Linux distros such as Fedora or CentOS, I am beginning to appreciate the greater power of open-sourced operating systems. Even this website is running on CentOS with Nginx web server and Fedora as MySQL server. Cheers linux-addicts out there! #LinuxRocks!
3 Responses to Ubuntu Hacks – Top 10 Ubuntu HOWTOs for Faster/Better Ubuntu(or Linux)!
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Thanks for the list. I don’t want to mean any disrespect, but point #4 “How to install VMWare in Ubuntu!”. I think it would be rather replaced by Virtualbox 3.14. It’s free, there is even an Open Source version, and there is even an PPA for automatic update. Better yet, you won’t believe it: Virtualbox 3.14 performs as well as the latest version of VMWare Workstation 7 which costs $200. VB is comparable in every respect to VMWare (actually, I find it even better).
Oh yeah, totally forgot that, I was actually going to put Virtualbox as better option. Thanks, your comment will lead people to find it!
This is a great list. I used most of these guides on my laptop that I recently installed Kubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Linux) onto.