Ubuntu 26.04 - Resolute Raccoon post install

Quick snippets and utils that I use to get going once OS install is complete. My laptop is a dual-boot with Windows 11.

Basics


# install pending updates
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

sudo apt install \
  curl \
  git \
  fish \
  neovim \
  libreoffice \
  lazygit \
  bat \
  btop \
  tig \
  ripgrep \
  fzf \
  sqlite3 \
  fastfetch \
  yt-dlp \
  emacs

# set fish as my login shell
chsh -s $(which fish)

# start a new terminal
mkdir -p ~/.local/bin
fish_add_path ~/.local/bin

I use Syncthing to sync my folders across other machines in my local network. Since the version in official repos is quite old, download from the site and extract only syncthing binary to ~/.local/bin/.

Firewall

By default, block all incoming.

sudo ufw deny default incoming
sudo ufw allow syncthing
sudo ufw enable
sudo ufw status verbose

Copy bluetooth devices from Windows 11 partition

sudo apt install chntpw
cd /tmp
wget https://gist.githubusercontent.com/Mygod/f390aabf53cf1406fc71166a47236ebf/raw/8514b2bd949c1f56a8d922ac284345b489dee871/export-ble-infos.py
# mount Windows partition - check the location and adjust path below
python3 export-ble-infos.py -s /run/media/$USER/Windows/Windows/System32/config/SYSTEM
sudo bash -c 'cp -r ./bluetooth /var/lib && service bluetooth force-reload'

Linux Brew

Homebrew has a good collection of software and is usually updated faster. Install following instructions on the site.

brew doctor
brew install    \
    bat         \ # much better cat
    tree-sitter \
    tree-sitter-cli \ # for neovim
    uv          \ # cannot do python dev without this now!
    xsv         \ # deprecated now, but still very useful to manipulate csv files
    zola          # static site generator

Other .deb packages

Download the following as .deb packages. Mine are all amd64 versions.

sudo dpkg -i downloaded_file.deb
# install missing dependencies 
sudo apt -f install

Ubuntu 26.04 does not have a GUI for managing software sources. Install one though it is not as good as one provided by Linux Mint. After installation, you can find it by searching for Software & Updates.

sudo apt install software-properties-gtk

Fix GRUB boot menu

Edit /etc/defaults/grub to have following lines. This will automatically boot in last selected boot option in 3 seconds.

GRUB_DEFAULT=saved
GRUB_SAVEDEFAULT=true
GRUB_TIMEOUT_STYLE=hidden
GRUB_TIMEOUT=3

Once edited and saved, run the folling to take effect.

sudo update-grub

# these below will clean out cached old packages
sudo apt autoclean 
sudo apt autoremove

Editors

  • Doom Emacs is my preferred emacs environment. Follow instructions on the site to install.

After installation, start emacs and install nerd fonts using this editor command.

M-x nerd-icons-install-fonts
  • Zed is my preferred GUI editor. The install.sh command given on their site works.

Other notable things

  • Ubuntu’s new terminal seems to be good, so trying out that for some time. I don’t like Ctrl+Alt+T for that, so changed it to Super+Return. May be will go back to Wezterm later.
  • Super+1/2/3 etc maps to apps on the dock instead of switching to numbered workspaces. Since I use only 2-3 workspaces, it isn’t hard to use ctrl+alt+-> to move around workspaces.
  • Installed Iosevka and ComicShannsMono Nerdfonts. Download and extract to ~/.local/share/fonts and then run fc-cache -f -v.