Tips from web?

[Aviators]

Hello everyone, I have recently installed kubuntu 2104, should I follow these tips found on the web?
https://fossbytes.com/things-to-do-a...alling-ubuntu/
https://linuxhint.com/40_things_afte...alling_ubuntu/

[TWPonKubuntu]

Both links make recommendations for installing A LOT of software. Don't do it all at once and MAKE A BACKUP OF YOUR SYSTEM FIRST.

I'll offer a warning against some of the software which those links recommend. I, personally, DO NOT install anything from Google and do not run Skype on any of my systems. It's up to you, but I don't choose to be used as the Product of businesses such as Google. It's up to you.

My advice and opinion is to start by picking your browser and then pick a NON-Google search engine for use with that browser. I use Startpage as my search engine and Pale Moon as my browser (a fork of Firefox). My primary intent is to protect my online privacy, hence my advice to avoid all things Google... You can also expect to hear from both sides in this viewpoint. Depending on where you live, it is still a mostly free country. Mostly.

Beyond those very specific warnings, please do your own due diligence research on each piece of software before you install them. You may not even have any use for some of them, so don't clutter up your hard-drive space with things you don't need or want. Also note the advisory about installing to Kubuntu/Lubuntu. I use Kubuntu and DID NOT start from a pure Ubuntu base install. YMMV

The Desktop Environment (DE) which you pick will influence your opinion on which software tools you like to use. Since this forum (KFN) is mostly about Kubuntu, which uses the KDE/Plasma desktop, you'll find plenty of information on using that particular DE. But KFN does not limit their users to only Kubuntu. Feel free to ask lots of questions on the forum, we have some very knowledgeable people here.

As always, here be dragons, so spend some time researching on the net before you install your tools. If you're unsure about some tool, DO ask about it here.

[Aviators]

Thanks for the explanation. Unfortunately for work I use a fixed pc with windows 10. while on the laptop I use kubuntu.
I use as an alternative to google Pronton services (mail, vpn, calendar), I use a smartphone with custom rom CRDroid. I use firefox instead of chrome. in short i point to FOSS software and E2E services.
I also moved away from google.

Obviously I don't install all that junk. I couldn't tell if it was reliable throughout or not. For example, enable firewall, enable synaptics etc..

[claydoh]

Sure, it is up to you
These are not at all necessary, with many that are specific to Ubuntu/Gnome, so are not really relevant to Plasma/KDE


tbh, those articles, as well as dozens more that are nearly identical, are mainly regurgitated every six months when a new release comes out. Revenue/traffic generating.

The best recommendation is to simply use what is installed, and try software as you need or want to, or discover a problem of some sort, like hardware support.

I don't think people really have to install multimedia stuff very often these days, and fonts are personal preference, there are plenty to start with.

Gnome extensions are 100% useless in KDE

Synaptic is a fine tool, but is it useful if you already have a nearly exact copy of it already (Muon Package Manager, assuming this is installed already)

[TWPonKubuntu]

...for work I use a fixed pc with windows 10.

This reminds me of one of the other meanings for 'fixed' = castrated/neutered...
Welcome to Kubuntu and Linux!

RE the firewall, I DO recommend installing and configuring the GUFW, which you can find in the standard repositories using Synaptic Package Manager or Muon Package Manager. It helps to keep the bad guys out of your system.

With a browser, I also recommend NoScript, a script blocker extension. There are other script blockers available. As a general rule I block almost every possible script and then, if necessary, I may temporarily relax some blocks on a site-by-site basis. I control scripts as part of my own mental firewall, in addition to the GUFW.

I find it sad that so many website designs/designers blithely use Google utilities/scripts, Google is NOT necessary, there are safer alternative utilities, and Google does carry a privacy danger to the end user. I have more to say about/against Google, and will expound on that when I'm triggered... "Pull my finger..."

[claydoh]

Really, you don't want or need the mess with the firewall if you are behind a router. The software firewall settings can conflict with the router's built in firewall, and vice-versa.

[GreyGeek]

I echo Claydoh's response. I don't usee GUFW because my WIFI has DD_WRT built in and I use its firewall.
I also removed snapd and chromium. The two are joined at the hip and if you add/remove one you have to add/remove the other. Snapd runs 24/7 as an interface to the "Store". However, you and I use the repository only on occasions, so why does snapd have to run 24/7? Why can't it simply start when you fire up Discover? Because its main purpose is "telemetry".

Flatpak? Here

I prefer AppImages. No daemon. No files added to the root directories. No uninstalls. Just delete the AppImage and its gone.

After you install Kubuntu, add the necessary drivers for your hardware, activate 3rd party software in the repository, if you want to, and do other configurations and maintenance necessary to get a basic Kubuntu install working, AND, backup your finished system, THEN I'd add other software.

[Aviators]

Thank you all for the responses. I will evaluate each and every option.

[kubicle]

The two are joined at the hip and if you add/remove one you have to add/remove the other.

This isn't the case. The dependency is one-directional. The chromium package in the official repos depends on snapd (because it's just a script that automatically installs the snap version). snapd doesn't depend on chromium, so you can have that installed without installing chromium...You can also install a non-snap chromium (that doesn't depend on snapd) from other sources.

Snapd runs 24/7 as an interface to the "Store".However, you and I use the repository only on occasions, so why does snapd have to run 24/7? Why can't it simply start when you fire up Discover?

Because it's more than an "interface to the Store" (even though it does that, too)...it's the backend service that handles the services, permissions, sandboxes etc. for all snap applications, that's why it runs even when you're not "using" to the store.

[GreyGeek]

.it's the backend service that handles the services, permissions, sandboxes etc. for all snap applications, that's why it runs even when you're not "using" to the store.

I was not aware that snapd is a "library" that store applications need, a form of "lock-in". Since Ubuntu's Chromium is a "store" application it too must depend on snapd. That explains why, when I removed snapd, chromium was removed also. But, unless memory fails me, when I experimented with removing chromium first it tried to take snapd with it.

Also, Snapd communicates with a "store" that is, in part, a closed source binaries. If one doesn't have access to the source then what snapd does on the store depends on what Canonical is willing to divulge. Everything else is just a guess.. I'll be 80 in about 3 months and the way things are sliding down hill it doesn't matter what I think about this. It will all be a moot topic.

Clem, the Mint developer, removed snapd because of his concern for its telemetry.

Metrics

As a developer, you will most likely want to know how your snap is performing over time. The metrics page lets you see the weekly active devices count for each of your snaps. You can fine-tune the graph by version, operating system and channel, and change the view from default 30 days to as far back as the past five years. You can then correlate the behavior and adoption of your snaps to different events – like major releases, promotional activities, etc.


Sometimes, we feature different applications in the Snap Store and in the Snapcraft social media. We often see a healthy intake of new users closely associated with these activities, so this could be a rather useful decision-making vector for developers, especially early on in the snap’s lifecycle, while they may be trying to build the audience. Another advantage of the metrics page is that it allows developers to see how their software is behaving on all the supported distributions (currently 40+), without having to rely on any individual Linux distribution data.

Canonical and the SDFL can do what ever they want with Ubunut, which rolls down to Kubuntu as well, but I always have the option of moving to a different base. And, the more in bed Cononical gets with Microsoft, the more uneasy I feel about it.

[kubicle]

I was not aware that snapd is a "library" that store applications need, a form of "lock-in".

One point of containerized app distribution is that you can make one package and have that work across all distributions and versions (normally you have to build binaries separately for different library versions/releases/distributions etc.)...and there is basically only two ways to do that. You can either include all the dependent libraries within the container (which is what appimage does)...or you can separate the parts that interact with the system from the apps and have the apps interact with the separated interaction part only (in which case only the "interaction part" will need to be separately built for different systems, and the apps don't need to care about the system they are running on, this is basically what snap and flatpak do...in snaps snapd is basically the "separated" part for system interactions).

That's not really lock-in (just a necessity of design), unless you consider needing a GUI desktop to run kate, for example, to be a form of lock-in (as you can't run kate without a GUI environment). There is a built-in vendor lock-in in snaps, but it isn't snapd (it's free software, and anyone can create their own version of it), it's the fact that you need the store to install/update snaps, and that isn't easy to replicate (as it isn't free software).

There are pros and cons to either containerization approach. For example the appimage approach is rather inefficient especially for larger software packages with complex dependencies (and there can be security issues because of the possibility of outdated dependency libraries within the package etc.). I use appimages myself, but only for small apps that aren't available in a repo (ones that I don't care enough to build on my own).

But, unless memory fails me, when I experimented with removing chromium first it tried to take snapd with it.

If you upgrade an earlier non-snap chromium to the snap version (happens on distribution release upgrades, for example), snapd will get installed automatically as a dependency (as the snap-chromium obviously depends on it). If you then try to remove chromium, snapd will get marked for autoremoval because nothing depends on it anymore (provided that chromium was the only snap app installed on the system).

Also, Snapd communicates with a "store" that is, in part, a closed source binaries. If one doesn't have access to the source then what snapd does on the store depends on what Canonical is willing to divulge. Everything else is just a guess.

The snapd itself is open source, so if it did send any nefarious information, we'd certainly know about it. The closed source server software obviously provides metrics to developers (and Canonical), but to me the information provided doesn't seem to be terribly sinister (after all, the server can only gather information that is provided to it). Don't get me wrong, I'm not a big fan of any kind of telemetry...but I can see how developers can appreciate some statistics of their software (like the number of installs you have).

I don't use any snap software, but I'm not against the idea, which isn't bad (app containers do have merits as a tool in the tool box). My beef with snaps is the poor technical implementation and using closed source server software (which effectively monopolizes snap distribution for Canonical, and is not in the best interest of free software in general).

[Aviators]

messagge delete

[jglen490]

I don't use snapd, period. I do use software that comes out of the box with Kubuntu, on each clean install. I then pick and choose what I want to install after that. I don't fear Google, per se, but I do watch my configs and have a minimal amount of "privacy" plug ins (like one, right now), that could get kicked to the curb at any time. I don't mind that I'm not hyper-isolated from the real world. I watch what I do, where I go, and avoid clicking for the sake of clicking. I've been through the foolishness of Linux antivirus, and don't waste my time and CPU cycles on that ridiculousness. I refuse to take on a paranoid view of the world, it distracts from real security, and from real enjoyment.

This approach has served me well for at least the past couple of decades.

[TWPonKubuntu]

FYI, the forum software reports that this thread has TWO pages, but I cannot get it to display any post from Page 2...

[EDIT] as soon as I posted this, I was shown all of Page 2...

Curiouser and curiouser...

[jglen490]

This has been going on for a while, and has been explained in excruciating detail by Snowhog - several times. It'll be fixed someday.