Notes for Ubuntu 9.10 on Dell Vostro 1500

15 November 2009

The following is my steps for setting up the desktop and development environment on my Dell Vostro 1500 laptop running Ubuntu 9.10. However, most of it also applies to other versions of Ubuntu and variations of hardware.

• Install and set zsh as default shell
  $ sudo apt-get install zsh; chsh -s /bin/zsh
• Go over : http://blog.thesilentnumber.me/2009/09/top-things-to-do-after-installing.html
• Install vim and gvim
  $ sudo apt-get install vim-gnome
• Install git
  $ sudo apt-get install git-core
• Install dot files and configs
  $ cd /tmp && git clone git://github.com/himanshuc/mydotfiles.git
  $ cd mydotfiles && chmod +x install && ./install
• Solve overheating problems for Dell laptops
  $ sudo apt-get install gkrellm-i8k gkrellm
  $ sudo modprobe i8k force=1
  $ sudo echo “i8k force=1” >> /etc/modules
• Ruby Version Manager
  Use RVM to install multiple versions of Ruby and the ability to switch easily.
  $ git clone git://github.com/wayneeseguin/rvm.git && cd rvm && ./install
  Fixing RVM issue
• Forcing Tweetdeck to open links in Chromium