My current "What to do after installing Ubuntu?" script

I am sure any Linux user with a minimum of experience has gone through a number of "What to do after installing distro X?" articles. In my case, I have learnt a lot from those, both in terms of understanding certain customization features available, as well as the software that most people prefer.

Inevitably, I think all of us get to a point where we know which of those customizations are interesting/useful to us and which ones we can just pass on. When a user settles down on a number of updates/changes that will remain more or less the same for a given distro, that's when automation of such customization task makes sense and comes in handy.

THE SCRIPT

WARNING: I created this script to make my life easier. Although I have not seen any during my testing, it may contain bugs, so use it at your own risk!

My goal was to put together a simple script that allowed me to easily get any new Ubuntu installation up to speed, installing the applications I like and removing those I don't really care about. Another concept I was interested in was to create a script that felt more like an application with a (somewhat) proper GUI interface. The idea was to create something that would not scare unexperienced users away.

The way I see it, the easiest and most convenient approach would be to create a launcher under Main menu > System > Administration, as shown below.


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To achieve this, simply go to Main Menu > System > Preferences and open the Main Menu editor. Once the application is open, add a new item to the Administration menu, as shown below:


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Once run, the script starts with a welcome message, indicating that admin privileges are required and that the list of applications to be installed/uninstalled should be modified before moving forward.


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The script will first update sources, just to be sure all repositories and software available are taken into account.


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The flow of the script completes the uninstallation tasks first, then proceeds to installation.

CHANGE WHAT TO INSTALL / UNINSTALL

In order to modify the script so it installs/uninstalls the applications that suit your needs, simply open the CustUbuntu.sh file and access the section displayed below:

# Customize the script to your liking
#************************************

########################################################
#        ENTER PACKAGES TO BE UNINSTALLED BELOW        # 
########################################################

# IMPORTANT!: Package names must be correct and separated by a blank space
Uninstall=(tomboy shotwell empathy gwibber pitivi rhythmbox f-spot mplayer gnome-mplayer evolution)

########################################################
#         ENTER PACKAGES TO BE INSTALLED BELOW         #
########################################################

# IMPORTANT!: Package name must be available in the current repositories.  Package names must be separated by a blank space
Install=(gimp gimp-plugin-registry chromium-browser vlc audacious pidgin geany gtk-recordMyDesktop unrar thunderbird)

You probably noticed there are two (array) variables, named Uninstall and Install. Each of them is assigned a number of package names to uninstall and install respectively. The ones in there right now are obviously my choices, so if you want to add yours, simply enter the correct package name and separate it with a blank space.

As a quick example for installation, say you want to add AMSN to the list of applications that should be installed. The resulting Install variable would then look like this:

Install=(gimp gimp-plugin-registry chromium-browser vlc audacious pidgin geany gtk-recordMyDesktop unrar thunderbird amsn)

Because apt-get will take care of all dependencies, you don't need to manually add them (unless you want to, of course).

The same logic would apply in the case of an uninstallation. Should you not want any of the packages listed to either be installed or uninstalled, simply remove them from the list.

INSTALLATION

...Of sorts, of course. Downloading the script and providing it with the correct privileges is all that is required. After that, we can enable a launcher from the main menu to ease things up a bit further.

1.- Download the script from HERE.

2.- Grant execute privileges from the GUI or from the CLI:

chmod +x CustUbuntu.sh

3.- The script can now be run, either from the CLI or from the GUI.

FEEDBACK AND/OR MODIFICATIONS WELCOME!

This script is obviously a work in progress. I already have some ideas to enhance it, but since it has already saved me significant hassle (and typing!) when installing new Ubuntu instances, I thought I'd share it.

If you'd like to see some other features or have spotted a bug, please let me know. Alternatively, if you want to modify it so it suits your own wicked ends, please feel free to do so.