15 Things To Do After Installing Elementary OS 6 Odin

Elementary is a Ubuntu LTS based Linux distribution. It's well known for its privacy settings and elegant custom software. Elementary OS out of the box is fast, pretty looking, and solid.

In this tutorial, we learn 15 things to do after installing elementary OS 6 Odin.

1. Check for updates

Make sure your operating system and packages are updated. To update all packages go to Applications -> System Settings -> System - Click on Check for Updates.

Kali Linux What is It? Things You S...

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video

Kali Linux What is It? Things You Should Know. An Introduction to Kali Linux OS Check Updates

This opens the AppCenter - in the installed tab click the Update All button to install all available Operation system and package updates.

AppCenter - Update All

When there is an update available, the AppCenter icon in the Desktop will indicate the number of updates.

AppCenter - update notification

Alternatively, you can install it from the terminal.

Go to Applications -> Terminal and run the following commands

$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt upgrade

2. Firmware Updates

Firmware updates are provided by device manufactures to improve performance and fix security issues.

Go to Applications - System Settings - System - Firmware - this page helps to download and install the available hardware supporting firmware from Linux Vendor Firmware Service (LVFS).

Firmware update
3. Install Multimedia codec and plugins

Multimedia is supported by default. However, some audio media files and flash players require additional packages to be installed.

The following packages have required codec and plugins to play multimedia files.

$ sudo apt install ubuntu-restricted-extras libavcodec-extra libdvd-pkg

4. Install Your Favourite Apps

Elementary OS has AppCenter to install free and paid apps. All apps in AppCenter are now Flatpak packages.

Other third-party apps can be easily downloaded from Flathub. Download popular apps such as Skype, VLC, GIMP, LibreOffice, FileZilla, Steam, Spotify, Firefox, and double click .flatpakref or .flatpak file to install it. You can still use the command line to access the Ubuntu repo.

5. Install Gdebi

Gdebi is a lightweight app to install .deb files. This may be used as the default application to install deb packages.

To install Gdebi from the terminal, type:

$ sudo apt install gdebi

6. Install Your Favourite Browser

Elementary has a browser named Web previously know as Epiphany. If it's not your favorite you can install it from Flathub or directly downloading the package from the respective browser website.

For example to install Google Chrome visit https://www.google.com/chrome/ using the Elementary Web browser. Then click the Download Chrome button which browses to the next page where you can click Accept and Install to download the 64-bit version of the deb file.

Download google chrome

Navigate to your Downloads directory, then double click on the downloaded file which will open the previously install Gdebi, and then click Install Package.

Install google chrome

Alternatively can install from the terminal using the following commands

$ wget https://dl.google.com/linux/direct/google-chrome-stable_current_amd64.deb
$ sudo apt install ./google-chrome-stable_current_amd64.deb

7. Applications Settings

In applications settings, set your defaults applications, Startup applications, and permissions for specific applications.

Go to Applications Menu -> System Settings -> click Applications.

Applications Settings 8. Enable Dark Mode

Elementary now allows setting system-wide dark mode. Also allows 10+ accent colors and dark mode scheduling.

To enable dark mode go to Application Menu -> System Settings -> Desktop > choose Appearance tab and then enable Dark mode.

enable dark mode 9. Do Not Disturb Mode

The Do Not Disturb mode will hide the alerts and notifications and sound will be silenced.

On the System indicator at the right of the Panel display, click on the notification bell. This will open a drop-down menu that contains a side button to enable the Do Not Disturb feature.

Do Not Disturb mode 10. Night Light

Night Light makes the colors of your display warmer at night to help prevent eye strain and sleepness.

Applications Menu -> System Settings -> Displays - > choose Night Light tab and side the button to enable Night Light.

Enable Night Light 11. Housekeeping

Housekeeping allows to automatically delete old temporary and trashed files. This helps to save space and help protect your privacy.

Applications Menu -> Security & Privacy -> choose Housekeeping.

Delete Trashed and temporary files 12. Screen Time

This is a parental control feature that sets a certain period of screen time after that the system will automatically log out.

Applications Menu -> System Settings -> Screen Time & Limits

screen time settings 13. Install Pantheon (Elementary) Tweaks

Pantheon Tweak is a setting panel to easily customize the desktop. In the previous versions of elementary OS, it was named Elementary tweaks. Tweaks come with many functionalities such as theme change, window controls such as minimize buttons, change fonts, and adjust animations.

To install Pantheon tweak install the following commands:

$ sudo apt install software-properties-common
$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:philip.scott/pantheon-tweaks
$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt install pantheon-tweaks

After running the above command, perform a system reboot.

Application Menu -> System Settings -> click open Tweaks.

tweaks 14. Firewall

Elementary comes with a GUI interface to enable Firewall, which also allows setting rules. Enabling the firewall by default will deny all incoming connections and allow all outgoing connections.

Applications Menu -> Systems Settings -> Security & Privacy -> choose Firewall and enable it.

Enable Firewall 15. Optimize Battery Life

TLP is a free and open-source command-line utility to save laptop battery power. By default, TLP settings are optimized for battery life, just simply install it.

$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:linrunner/tlp
$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt install tlp tlp-rdw

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we learned things to do after installing elementary OS with a focus on Odin.

Thanks for reading, please lets us know your suggestions in the below comment section.