Elementary OS is a popular distribution for many people, especially due to its well-crafted design, however, it is a lean system and comes with few applications by default, which requires some adjustments so that it is ready for whatever it takes and come.
I have separated some information here that will help you have a smoother use with elementary OS Loki, so this will be practically a post installation guide, if you want to take a look at our system review to know what are the main features of the new version just click here.
As you may have seen in the review, elementary has cut some features that may be useful by default, like adding Ubuntu PPA repositories or installing natively .deb packages, so in addition to fixing this “problem” we will show you how to install the most popular applications on the system.
Let’s go to the 7 steps to make the elementary perfect for your use.
1 – Update the system
Although it has been released recently, like any other distribution, updates are constant and they usually happen soon after launch, where specific bugs are discovered, so update your system.
To make the update you can open the control panel by the icon in the Dock and look for the option «About» or «About» in Portuguese, there you will find the option of «Check for Updates» or simply «Check for updates», at this moment the new elementary App Center will open in the updates section.
Tip: You can also find the “About” option by searching the system menu.
You can also update via the terminal:
sudo apt update
sudo apt dist-upgrade
2 – Leaving elementary OS in Portuguese
Despite having selected the Brazilian Portuguese language at the time of installation you may have noticed that the system is still in English, well, this is not really a big problem and there is a very simple way to correct this.
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| Click on the image to enlarge |
As you can see from the image above, the process is very simple.
1º – Access the system control panel;
2nd – Click on the option “Language & Region”;
3rd – Observe the arrows in the image and leave exactly as it is there;
4th – Just click on “Set Language” and wait for the process.
It may be necessary to log out of the system and log in again to see the changes, it is possible that «on the way back» when you log in to the system again, elementary informs you of the possibility of updating the system folder name from «Documents» to “Documents” for example, just click on update and the names will also be in Portuguese.
Ready! System translated successfully! ?
3 – Installing Codecs on elementay OS 0.4 Loki
To be able to run all video and audio formats on your elementary OS we will need to install the Ubuntu package: ubuntu-restricted-extras.
Unfortunately elementary’s Apps Center can’t find this package because it doesn’t have an icon, similar to what happens in the Ubuntu Program Center, an alternative would be to use the Software Boutique, which is found even in the elementary OS Program Center , but in my tests, it didn’t work, so we’ll have to go to the terminal anyway, but don’t worry, just copy and put the command, hit “enter”, type your password and wait for completion.
sudo apt install ubuntu-restricted-extras -y
Tips:
At any given time, it will be necessary to accept the license terms to install Microsoft fonts. To do this, simply press the “arrow to the right” or the “Tab” and press “Enter”:
Right after use the arrows to select the option «Yes» and press «Enter» again.
Wait for the process to finish and you will already have the Codecs installed.
4 – Installing PPAs and .deb packages on elementary OS 0.4 Loki
As I had commented before (and also in the review), this new version does not support PPAs and .deb packages natively, however, you can solve this problem easily by installing two packages, we will need the terminal again:
sudo apt install software-properties-common gdebi -y
This command installs a package that will allow you to use PPAs normally and will also install GDebi, which you can use to install .deb packages with two clicks as in Ubuntu and Linux Mint.
5 – Installing additional drivers on elementary OS 0.4 Loki
This is a feature where the distribution ended up wanting, before there was a graphic driver manager, like Ubuntu’s (his actually) that doesn’t exist now, because the idea is that when checking the option to install the features additional system installation drivers are already installed by default, however, a driver manager is always welcome.
When you installed the package in step 4 of our tutorial you already installed the base for this application, just install the interface with the command:
sudo apt install software-properties-gtk
With that, when you open the menu and type «Programs and updates» you will reach the screen above, where you have all the management of repositories and drivers, exactly as in Ubuntu.
6 – Firewall and privacy preferences
Elementary OS comes with a simple option for you to configure the Firewall on the system and your privacy, go to the system control panel and access the option «Security and privacy».
In this option you will find 3 sessions segmenting the privacy and security options of the system, you can check and uncheck everything you don’t want to be registered through the elementary search menu, there is also the Firewall option, where you can enable it in system easily.7
7 – Install complementary programs
As was said at the beginning of the post, elementary does not bring many applications by default, so it is possible, and even necessary, to install several applications. As each user has a different profile, I will leave some common suggestions here.
– Firefox: You can install through the Application Center, just search for the name of the browser.
– Google Chrome: You can download the .deb package and install it through Gdebi directly from the official website.
– LibreOffice: You can also install the application through the Application Center, or you can also add the PPA to always have the latest version.
– WPS Office: It is a good option for those who want a suite with great compatibility with MS Office and a similar look, see here how to install.
– Netflix: To watch Netflix on elementary you will need Google Chrome, temos a tip here for Ubuntu that serves for the elementary as well.
– Spotify: There are currently several ways to use Spotify on Linux, but if you want to see the official client check it out here.
– VLC: For a more complete video player, it is a good option, you can also find it in the Program Center.
– Steam: You can install Steam also by downloading the .deb package that you download directly from the Valve website.
I believe these are the most common for home users, but each one has their preferences as I said, so feel free to explore the elementary OS Program Center, as the system is based on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, so the programs that work it should also work on elementary, as well as its installation methods.
With that we end this small guide with some tips for you to have a comfortable use of elementary OS 0.4 Loki, until next time!
