Ubuntu 8.04 LTS as Desktop: Installation Notes

Intro
It has been almost a year since Ubuntu's long term release (LTS). I have done several installations since then both related to my work and personal use. Also proud to confirm that I helped "save" several PCs and extend their life by switching them to (not Geico), but Linux.
These are my "quick notes" for installing Ubuntu 8.04. Main purpose is to remind me what could be a typical desktop setup. Please note that Ubuntu and Medibuntu repositories contain several other packages and tons of useful software. Strongly recommend exploring what is available.

Backup

• Make sure you saved all your personal data (files, email, photos, music, specific settings, etc.)

Perform Live CD setup

• Boot Live CD. If running as Live CD goes very slow, select Install directly at the boot time.
  
• Perform "regular" setup.
• Pay attention on the hard disk partitioning.

Adjust time + NTP

• After first boot, adjust time and date, select appropriate time zone
  
• set to synchronize with time servers, this installs NTP support

System update

• Very important to done here.
• Reboot after finished.
  

Additional repositories

• In Synaptic select "partner" options in Third-Party
  
• add Medibuntu
  
• add OpenOffice.org3
• add Remastersys (not needed for most people)
  

Medibuntu
Issue the following in the terminal:
sudo wget http://www.medibuntu.org/sources.list.d/hardy.list --output-document=/etc/apt/sources.list.d/medibuntu.list

then the following command to import key:
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install medibuntu-keyring && sudo apt-get update

OpenOffice.org3
Add the following repositories in Synaptic (in Third-Party tab):
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/openoffice-pkgs/ubuntu hardy main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/openoffice-pkgs/ubuntu hardy main

Remastersys (Optional)
This is only needed if you plan on making your own installation CD.
Add the following repositories in Synaptic (Third-Party tab):
deb http://www.remastersys.klikit-linux.com/repository remastersys/

Install additional software (repositories)
Install the following packages from Synaptic. Accept additional dependencies

• acroread
• apcupsd (from repositories, check conf files)
• avidemux
• audacity
• amsn
• bluefish
• cheese
• compizconfig-setting-manager
• cups-pdf (Ubuntu 8.10)
  
• dia
• envyng-gtk (of interest when configuring ATI or nVidia cards)
  
• filezilla
• gftp
• ghex
• grsync
• gufw (www.getdeb.net) ***
• googleearth
• gtkpod
• htop
• inkscape
• jscalibrator
• libdvdcss2
• mc
• nautilus-open-terminal
  
• ntfs-config (only if you need it)
• non-free-codecs
• planner
• prism
• prism-google-mail
• prism-google-docs
  
• prism-google-calendar
  
• remastersys (only if you really need this)
  
• sbackup
• scribus
• skype
• startupmanager
• ubuntu-restricted-extras
  
• vlc
• w32codecs
• wine
• xchat

Other software (not in repositories)
Additional software I usually install on my desktop. Opera and RealPlayer are probably of interest for general use.

• Netbeans 6.5 (www.netbeans.org)
• Opera 9.6 (www.opera.com)
• RealPlayer 11 (www.real.com)
• Scilab 5 (www.scilab.org)
• xVM Virtualbox (www.sun.com)

Some games
There is large selection of free games under Linux nowadays. These are some:

• chromium
• fretsonfire
• monkey-bubble
  
• neverball
  
• openarena
• scorch3d
• torcs
• wormux
• xmoto

These are not in repositories, but could be of interest for "drivers":

• maniadrive
• racer

Firefox add-ons

• Foxmarks (backup your bookmarks and synchronize them across different computers)
  
• FireFTP (nice FTP client)
  

Add to panel
Right click on the bottom panel and click on "Add to panel...". Following are some I like:

• Weather
• Keyboard indicator
• Sticky notes

VMware Server 2
If you need virtual machines. Quick notes are bellow:

• add package build-essentials
• download server version 2 from VMware website
  
• unpack and run install
• make sure main user is added as admin to vmware during the installation

Tuning
This is my personal preference. You can play with yours.

• turn off desktop effects
• in appearance set icons only, for LCD screen smooth fonts
• Firefox about:config (cache to 10000, disable ip6, pipelining to yes, 8)
• terminal turn off menus

References
http://www.ubuntu.com
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Medibuntu
http://www.openoffice.org
http://www.scilab.org
http://www.opera.com
http://www.real.com
http://www.sun.com
http://www.netbeans.org
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/VMware/Server