Ubuntu nala gnome tweaks install

Overview

This guide covers the installation and configuration of essential tools for Ubuntu systems, including:

• Nala: A modern frontend for APT with improved user experience, parallel downloads, and better formatted output
• GNOME Tweaks: Advanced customization tool for GNOME desktop environment
• Flatpak: Universal package management system for Linux applications
• Development Tools: Compilers, libraries, and utilities for software development

What is Nala?

Nala is a frontend for the APT package manager that provides several advantages over traditional apt:

• Parallel Downloads: Downloads packages concurrently, significantly speeding up installations
• Better UI: Clean, formatted output with progress bars and color-coded information
• Transaction History: Easy rollback of package installations
• Mirror Selection: Automatic selection of fastest mirrors with nala fetch
• Improved Error Messages: More readable and actionable error reporting

Performance Comparison

Nala typically achieves 2-3x faster package downloads compared to apt due to parallel downloading (default: 3 concurrent connections).

System Setup and Package Installation

1sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade
2sudo apt install nala
3sudo nala fetch
4sudo ubuntu-drivers devices
5sudo nala install gnome-tweaks
6sudo nala install gnome-shell-extension-manager
7sudo nala install flatpak
8
9flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://dl.flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
10
11sudo nala install htop neofetch bpytop clang cargo libc6-i386 libc6-x32 libu2f-udev samba-common-bin exfat-fuse default-jdk curl wget unrar linux-headers-$(uname -r) git gstreamer1.0-vaapi unzip ntfs-3g p7zip htop neofetch bpytop git
12
13sudo apt install ubuntu-restricted-extras

Detailed Component Breakdown

1. Nala Configuration

After installing Nala, the fetch command tests mirrors and selects the fastest ones:

1sudo nala fetch

This command:

• Tests latency to multiple Ubuntu mirrors
• Ranks mirrors by speed
• Allows you to select top N mirrors (typically 3-5)
• Updates /etc/apt/sources.list.d/nala-sources.list

Advanced Nala Usage:

1# View transaction history
2nala history
3
4# Rollback last transaction
5sudo nala history undo
6
7# Show detailed package information
8nala show <package-name>
9
10# Search with better formatting
11nala search <keyword>

2. Graphics Drivers

1sudo ubuntu-drivers devices

This command detects your hardware and recommends appropriate proprietary drivers. Output example:

To install recommended drivers:

1sudo ubuntu-drivers autoinstall

3. GNOME Customization Tools

GNOME Tweaks provides access to:

• Appearance customization (themes, icons, cursors)
• Font configuration
• Top bar settings
• Window management behavior
• Startup applications
• Extensions management

GNOME Shell Extension Manager offers:

• Browse and install extensions from extensions.gnome.org
• Enable/disable extensions
• Configure extension settings
• Update extensions

Useful GNOME Extensions:

1# After installing extension-manager, install popular extensions:
2# - Dash to Dock/Panel
3# - AppIndicator and KStatusNotifierItem Support
4# - Blur my Shell
5# - Clipboard Indicator
6# - Vitals (system monitor)

4. Flatpak Setup

Flatpak enables containerized application distribution with:

• Sandboxing: Enhanced security through isolation
• Universal Compatibility: Works across distributions
• Multiple Versions: Run different versions simultaneously
• Automatic Updates: Managed through flatpak update

Common Flatpak Commands:

1# List installed flatpaks
2flatpak list
3
4# Search for applications
5flatpak search <app-name>
6
7# Install application
8flatpak install flathub <app-id>
9
10# Update all flatpaks
11flatpak update
12
13# Remove unused runtimes
14flatpak uninstall --unused
15
16# View app permissions
17flatpak info --show-permissions <app-id>

5. Development Tools Explained

The bulk installation includes essential development packages:

System Monitoring

• htop: Interactive process viewer with CPU, memory, and swap usage
• bpytop: Resource monitor with network and disk I/O statistics
• neofetch: System information tool displaying OS, kernel, CPU, GPU, and memory

Compilers and Build Tools

• clang: C/C++/Objective-C compiler from LLVM project
• cargo: Rust package manager and build system
• default-jdk: Java Development Kit (OpenJDK)

System Libraries

• libc6-i386: 32-bit GNU C Library for running 32-bit applications on 64-bit systems
• libc6-x32: x32 ABI GNU C Library (64-bit CPU with 32-bit pointers)
• linux-headers-$(uname -r): Kernel headers for building kernel modules

File System Support

• exfat-fuse: ExFAT file system support (common for SD cards and USB drives)
• ntfs-3g: Read/write support for NTFS file systems (Windows partitions)
• samba-common-bin: SMB/CIFS file system tools for Windows network shares

Security and Hardware

• libu2f-udev: Universal 2nd Factor (U2F) USB device support for hardware security keys

Compression and Archive Tools

• unrar: RAR archive extraction
• unzip: ZIP archive extraction
• p7zip: 7-Zip archive support (7z, XZ, BZIP2, GZIP, TAR, ZIP, WIM)

Media and Codecs

• gstreamer1.0-vaapi: Hardware-accelerated video decoding using VA-API

Network and Download Tools

• curl: Command-line tool for transferring data with URL syntax
• wget: Non-interactive network downloader

Version Control

• git: Distributed version control system

6. Ubuntu Restricted Extras

This meta-package includes:

• Microsoft TrueType Core Fonts: Arial, Times New Roman, Comic Sans, etc.
• Media Codecs: MP3, AAC, H.264, H.265 playback support
• Flash Player: Legacy web content support
• Unrar: Proprietary RAR extraction

Note: During installation, you'll need to accept the Microsoft EULA for fonts.

Post-Installation Verification

Check Nala installation:

1nala --version

Verify Flatpak:

1flatpak --version
2flatpak remotes

Check installed development tools:

1gcc --version
2clang --version
3cargo --version
4java --version
5git --version

Launch GNOME Tweaks:

1gnome-tweaks

System Resource Monitoring

After installing monitoring tools, you can check system resources:

1# Interactive process viewer
2htop
3
4# Python-based resource monitor
5bpytop
6
7# System information
8neofetch

Performance Optimization Tips

1. Enable Parallel Downloads in Nala: Already enabled by default (3 connections)

2. Configure Swap (for systems with limited RAM):

1# Check current swap
2swapon --show
3
4# Create 4GB swap file (if needed)
5sudo fallocate -l 4G /swapfile
6sudo chmod 600 /swapfile
7sudo mkswap /swapfile
8sudo swapon /swapfile
9
10# Make permanent
11echo '/swapfile none swap sw 0 0' | sudo tee -a /etc/fstab

1. Optimize Flatpak:

1# Remove unused runtimes and reduce disk usage
2flatpak uninstall --unused -y

1. Clean Package Cache:

1# With Nala
2sudo nala clean
3
4# With APT
5sudo apt autoremove
6sudo apt autoclean

Troubleshooting

Nala Fetch Issues

If nala fetch fails or times out:

1# Manually edit sources
2sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list
3
4# Or reset to original APT sources
5sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/nala-sources.list

GNOME Extensions Not Working

1# Restart GNOME Shell (X11)
2Alt + F2, type 'r', press Enter
3
4# On Wayland, log out and back in

Flatpak Permission Issues

1# Install Flatseal for GUI permission management
2flatpak install flathub com.github.tchx84.Flatseal

Driver Conflicts

1# Check loaded modules
2lsmod | grep -E 'nvidia|nouveau'
3
4# If conflicts exist, blacklist nouveau
5sudo bash -c "echo blacklist nouveau > /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-nvidia-nouveau.conf"
6sudo update-initramfs -u

Additional Resources

• Nala GitHub: https://github.com/volitank/nala
• GNOME Tweaks: https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnome-tweaks
• Flatpak Documentation: https://docs.flatpak.org/
• Ubuntu Driver Management: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BinaryDriverHowto/