Debian install steps

Here is a kind of cryptic script with the steps I follow for installing Debian testing (“jessie” at this moment) on my dell 1320 laptop. I have /home in a separate partition, so all the configs and bells and whistles are already in place.

updated as of 2014-10-5

Add contrib non free, go to testing:

  • edit /etc/apt/sources.list, change to testing, testing updates and contrib non-free

sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

  • You can find a sources.list example by me here .

If you want to be in unstable:

  • first update to testing, then
  • change to unstable to /etc/apt/sources.list

sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

Edit fstab for SSDs and USBs

sudo vim etc/fstab

  • comment the line of /media/usb so it doesn’t get mounted as root

  • mount SSDs partitions with options acl,noatime,nodiratime,discard

  • You can find an fstab example by me here and info about SSDs an Linux here .

Extend laptop’s battery:

sudo apt-get install laptop-mode-tools

  • Copy my laptop-mode config from github tastiness

Add user sudoers file: (or at install, put root password blank)

su usermod -aG sudo vic

Use always sudo for admin things! do not log in as root!

Fix wifi blocked from the beginning:

  • From non-free:

sudo apt-get install firmware-realtek sudo rfkill unblock all

Deactivate internal beep sound:

sudo rmmod pcspkr sudo echo "blacklist pcspkr" > /etc/modprobe.d/nobeep.conf

  • Also, get in alsamixer and mute the beep channel

Install nvidia privative drivers:

  • Do as instructed in debian page

  • After: sudo nvidia-xconfig

Faience icons theme:

Install chromium

  • It has libcurl3 as dependency:

sudo apt-get install libcurl3

  • Install chromium:

sudo apt-get install chromium

  • Install pepperflash to be able to have flash up to date. This will download chrome and extract the flash plugin from it:

sudo apt-get install pepperflashplugin-nonfree

  • Set up the .desktop with incognito by default:

Change the exec line of the .desktop to: Exec=/usr/bin/chromium %U --incognito sudo cp ~/.local/share/applications/chromium.desktop /usr/share/applications/google-chrome.desktop

Install steam:

  • (set up multiarch for 64bits systems):

sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386 sudo apt-get install multiarch-support sudo apt-get install libgl1-nvidia-glx:i386

sudo apt-get install steam

Install add-apt-repository:

For adding ubuntu ppas. Be careful with them. Only install those that you know are not going to do any harm (as sublime-text or java7, which are only wrappers for downloading the package) . sudo apt-get install python-software-properties software-properties-common

Install spotify:

  • in /etc/apt/sources.list:

deb https://repository.spotify.com stable non-free

sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 94558F59 sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install spotify-client

Install sublime-text from ppa:

  • add ppa in /etc/apt/sources.list:
deb https://ppa.launchpad.net/webupd8team/sublime-text-2/ubuntu raring main 
deb-src https://ppa.launchpad.net/webupd8team/sublime-text-2/ubuntu raring main

sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install sublime-text and copy settings from github tastiness

Install skype. From debian page:

sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386 sudo apt-get update

Then, download the i386 package as above and install: wget -O skype-install.deb https://www.skype.com/go/getskype-linux-deb sudo dpkg -i skype-install.deb

If you have sound problems you may be missing libpulse. You can install it with: sudo apt-get install libpulse0:i386

Install java7 installer from ppa:

  • add ppa in /etc/apt/sources.list:
deb https://ppa.launchpad.net/webupd8team/java/ubuntu precise main
deb-src https://ppa.launchpad.net/webupd8team/java/ubuntu precise main

sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install oracle-java7-installer

Install intellijIdea from their page

They have no repo so far

Handful of packages:

sudo apt-get install vim git zsh tmux libnotify-bin weechat htop gparted cmus units redshift gtk-redshift ruby-dev icedove iceweasel steam nautilus-dropbox owncloud-client fritzing virtualbox gimp gpick darktable guake unetbootin xchat gtk2-engines-murrine meld pitivi vlc texlive-full inkscape ttf-mscorefonts-installer kst arduino synaptic jitsi python-dbus colordiff wine nopaste

Fetch some packages from experimental:

Fetch mozilla packages as instructed on https://mozilla.debian.net/ :

sudo apt-get install -t experimental icedove sudo apt-get install -t experimental iceweasel

Install ruby gems:

sudo gem install rake jekyll rdiscount tempdir bundler redcarpet

Gnome-Shell 3.12 extensions’ dependencies:

  • gnome weather extension: sudo apt-get install gir1.2-gweather-3.0 gettext pkg-config libglib2.0-dev zip gnome-common autoconf automake intltool

  • elegance colors: sudo apt-get install libgtk-3-dev valac libglib2.0-dev

  • system-monitor: sudo apt-get install gir1.2-gtop-2.0 gir1.2-networkmanager-1.0

Install brother HL2240D printer

  • download drivers from here

  • install the LPR and CUPSwrapper .debs.

  • fix margin bug:

    sudo lpadmin -p HL2240 -o pdftops-renderer-default=pdftops

Víctor Cuadrado Juan

I'm Víctor Cuadrado Juan, a developer and FOSS enthusiast, currently living in Germany. These days I spend most of my time as one of Kubewarden's maintainers, a CNCF project, and contributing to Sigstore Rust libraries from time to time. I started my foray in Linux with Debian, where I also maintained some packages. I'm a firm supporter of libre software; it rescued my love for computer technology as a tool for humanity. Feel free to waste your precious time around here, or to contact me.