Some of my Kubuntu-Hoary tweaks

[Abdullah Ramazanoglu]

Hi,

I hope this proves useful to others as well, and I hope the
positive/negative community response to this and other user preferences
(please post yours too) becomes a useful feedback to Kubuntu devs as to
what defaults/settings to adopt in future releases.

1. Good old "ll":
sudo echo "alias ll='ls -l'" >> /etc/bash.bashrc

2. Statically (non-DDC) setting for small or big fonts.
Why you might want to do it? Explained at
http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=113874&postcount=8
Here is a summary:
    - If your monitor is non-DDC, then X defaults to 75 dpi, which
sometimes proves to be too small.
    - If your monitor's DDC reading occasionally fails, then with auto DPI
setting you get normal fonts most of the time, but tiny or huge fonts
other times.
    - 75 and 100 dpi fonts are already provided along with X, hence they
don't need on the fly scaling (CPU friendly), look better when not scaled,
and either 75 or 100 dpi is quite satisfactory for almost everyone.

How to do it? There's a newbie friendly (albeit CLI) script at
http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=114143&postcount=11
Or manually as follows:

sudo kwrite /etc/kde3/kdm/kdmrc
    Find the line that says...
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
ServerArgsLocal=-nolisten tcp
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
    ...and change it to either (for big fonts),
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
ServerArgsLocal=-nolisten tcp -dpi 100
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
    Or, (for small fonts)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
ServerArgsLocal=-nolisten tcp -dpi 75
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

3. Disable Konqueror (file manager) preview: It is bogging down Konqueror's
snappiness. Also, "one at a time" (on mouse over) preview is already
satisfying most needs, and "all at once" preview can be enabled anytime in
exceptional conditions, anyway.

How to enable/disable it:
Konq/FM -> View -> Previews : Set Show Previews (the topmost button) off.
(Note: Menu entry names are approximate translations)

4. Konqueror: "New Tab" (maybe also "Clone Tab") button at main toolbar:
Konqueror -> Settings -> Configure toolbar : Select main toolbar and carry
New Tab icon from availables (left) frame into actives (right) frame.

5. Use kprinter (KDE's regular print dialog) for OpenOffice:
sudo /usr/lib/openoffice/spadmin
    Generic Printer -> Features
        Command = lpr   --- CHANGE TO ---> Command = kprinter

6. A new "root" command (instead of "sudo -i") to switch to a permanent
root session:
echo "alias root='sudo -i'" >> ~/.bashrc

7. Boost Konqueror web browsing speed:
sudo echo "KDE_NO_IPV6=true" >> /etc/environment

8. Tune /etc/apt/sources.list into what a casual user would be interested
in:
i) deb-src causes extra traffic while package list updates, and it's not
used by most users. The ones who have an interest in deb-src would already
know how to handle it. The ones who don't know (neither need) what a
deb-src is, probably wouldn't be aware of it in the first place (let alone
how to disable it). So, IMHO it should be commented out by default.
ii) Almost everyone[*] enables universe and multiverse (if not also
marillat or backports) the first thing after installation.
[*] I have yet to see a high-one who has not enabled universe &
multiverse. ;)

How to:
sudo kwrite /etc/apt/sources.list
    Comment out all lines that start with "deb-src" via inserting a "#"
character to the start of each such line.
    Find the line...
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
# deb http://xy.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu hoary universe
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
   ...and change it to
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
deb http://xy.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu hoary universe multiverse
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
    (both remove the "#" comment character at the start of line and add
"multiverse" to the end)

9. FWIW: Just tested libflash-mozplugin on Kubuntu-Hoary (it was flakey on
PV & RC) and it works very good as a flash plugin for Konq. It also works
on amd64 and -probably- ppc arch too. Instead of using the closed source
one, I suggest installing libflash-mozplugin and then:
Konqueror -> Settings -> Configure Konqueror -> Plugins : Press the "Scan
New Plugins" button.

Best regards,
-- 
Abdullah Ramazanoglu
aramazan ÄT myrealbox D0T cöm