Linux Desktop setup

Notes for GNU/Linux desktop machine setup 🐧

Preparing installation media of Pop!_OS

• Images and checksums: https://pop.system76.com/
• ISO signing key fingerprint: https://github.com/pop-os/iso#requirements

mkdir pop-os_22.04_amd64_intel_21 && cd "$_"

wget https://iso.pop-os.org/22.04/amd64/intel/21/pop-os_22.04_amd64_intel_21.iso
wget https://iso.pop-os.org/22.04/amd64/intel/21/SHA256SUMS
wget https://iso.pop-os.org/22.04/amd64/intel/21/SHA256SUMS.gpg

gpg --keyserver hkps://keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 63C46DF0140D738961429F4E204DD8AEC33A7AFF
gpg --verify SHA256SUMS.gpg SHA256SUMS

sha256sum --check SHA256SUMS

sudo dd if=pop-os_22.04_amd64_intel_21.iso of=<device> bs=4M; sync

Calculating checksum of already created media:

sudo /sbin/isosize -x <device>
sudo dd if=<device> count=<sector count> bs=<sector size> | sha256sum

Before connecting to the network

Firewall

sudo ufw default deny incoming
sudo ufw enable

sudo ufw status verbose

DNS

Cloudflare’s public DNS resolver that blocks malicious content: https://developers.cloudflare.com/1.1.1.1/setup/linux/

• IPv4: 1.1.1.2, 1.0.0.2
• IPv6: 2606:4700:4700::1112, 2606:4700:4700::1002

After connecting to the network

Web browser: Brave

Install according to the instruction on https://brave.com/linux/.

Extensions worth installing:

All profiles:

• Privacy Badger
• Decentraleyes
• Cookie AutoDelete
• Bitwarden

Developer's profile:

• React Developer Tools
• Redux DevTools

Zsh

• Install Zsh and set it as a default shell:

  sudo apt install zsh
  chsh -s $(which zsh)

  ⚠️ You may need to logout and login again to load Zsh shell.

• Install Oh My Zsh:

  sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ohmyzsh/ohmyzsh/master/tools/install.sh)"

• Install Powerline Fonts:

  sudo apt install fonts-powerline

• Edit ~/.zshrc file and update ZSH_THEME= to:

  ZSH_THEME="agnoster"

• Edit ~/.zshrc file and the following lines at the end:

  export EDITOR='vim'
  
  DEFAULT_USER=`whoami`
  
  HISTFILE=$HOME/.zsh_history
  HISTSIZE=10000
  SAVEHIST=10000
  
  setopt APPEND_HISTORY           # append rather than overwrite history file.
  setopt EXTENDED_HISTORY         # save timestamp and runtime information
  setopt HIST_EXPIRE_DUPS_FIRST   # allow dups, but expire old ones when I hit HISTSIZE
  setopt HIST_FIND_NO_DUPS        # don't find duplicates in history
  setopt HIST_IGNORE_ALL_DUPS     # ignore duplicate commands regardless of commands in between
  setopt HIST_IGNORE_DUPS         # ignore duplicate commands
  setopt HIST_REDUCE_BLANKS       # leave blanks out
  setopt HIST_SAVE_NO_DUPS        # don't save duplicates
  setopt INC_APPEND_HISTORY       # write after each command
  setopt SHARE_HISTORY            # share history between sessions

fzf

• Install fzf:

  sudo apt install fzf

• Edit ~/.zshrc file and the following lines at the end:

  # fzf (based on the instruction in /usr/share/doc/fzf/README.Debian)
  source /usr/share/doc/fzf/examples/key-bindings.zsh
  source /usr/share/doc/fzf/examples/completion.zsh

Git

Set you username, email and specify signing key in Git:

git config --global user.name "Orrin the Knight"
git config --global user.email "email@example.com"
git config --global user.signingkey $KEYID

⚠️ Don't forget to replace "Orrin the Knight", "email@example.com" and $KEYID with your own data.

GitHub

• Assign a specific key for authentication in ~/.ssh/config:

  Host github.com
    IdentitiesOnly yes
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa_yubikey.pub
  

• Verify and pin the GitHub's public SSH key:

  ssh git@github.com -vvv

  If you are doing this for the first time, you should be asked for the server public key fingerprint.

  You can find it on the official GitHub page: https://docs.github.com/en/authentication/keeping-your-account-and-data-secure/githubs-ssh-key-fingerprints:

  SHA256:nThbg6kXUpJWGl7E1IGOCspRomTxdCARLviKw6E5SY8 (RSA)
  SHA256:br9IjFspm1vxR3iA35FWE+4VTyz1hYVLIE2t1/CeyWQ (DSA - deprecated)
  SHA256:p2QAMXNIC1TJYWeIOttrVc98/R1BUFWu3/LiyKgUfQM (ECDSA)
  SHA256:+DiY3wvvV6TuJJhbpZisF/zLDA0zPMSvHdkr4UvCOqU (Ed25519)
  

  Copy-paste the relevant fingerprint and press Enter.

Exa

• Install exa:

  sudo apt install exa

• Edit ~/.zshrc file and the following lines at the end:

  # exa
  alias l="exa -a -l -H -S --time-style long-iso -m -g --color-scale --group-directories-first"
  alias lt="exa -a -l -H -S --time-style long-iso -m -g --color-scale --group-directories-first -T"

asdf

• Install asdf:

  git clone https://github.com/asdf-vm/asdf.git ~/.asdf --branch v0.11.2

• Add the following to ~/.zshrc:

  # asdf
  . "$HOME/.asdf/asdf.sh"
  # append completions to fpath
  fpath=(${ASDF_DIR}/completions $fpath)
  # initialise completions with ZSH's compinit
  autoload -Uz compinit && compinit

• Install plugins:

  # necessary if you have already installed asdf plugins some time ago
  asdf plugin-update --all
  
  # install the latest version of Erlang (required for Elixir)
  sudo apt install libwxgtk-webview3.0-gtk3-dev libssh-dev build-essential autoconf libncurses5-dev xsltproc fop libxml2-utils
  asdf plugin add erlang https://github.com/asdf-vm/asdf-erlang.git
  asdf install erlang latest
  asdf global erlang latest
  
  # install the latest version of Elixir
  asdf plugin-add elixir https://github.com/asdf-vm/asdf-elixir.git
  asdf install elixir latest
  asdf global elixir latest
  
  # install the latest version of Rust
  asdf plugin-add rust https://github.com/asdf-community/asdf-rust.git
  asdf install rust latest
  asdf global rust latest
  
  # install the latest LTS version of Node.js
  asdf plugin add nodejs https://github.com/asdf-vm/asdf-nodejs.git
  open https://nodejs.org/en # check the latest LTS version
  asdf install nodejs latest:20
  asdf global nodejs latest:20
  npm install -g npm

Other

• Show weekday and seconds in GNOME top panel

  gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface clock-show-weekday true
  gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface clock-show-seconds true

VS Code

• Install VS Code: https://code.visualstudio.com/#alt-downloads.

• Press Cmd + p, type > Preferences: Open User Settings (JSON), press Enter, and paste the following settings to settings.json:

  {
      "workbench.startupEditor": "none",
      "telemetry.telemetryLevel": "off",
      "settingsSync.keybindingsPerPlatform": false,
      "json.schemaDownload.enable": false,
      "update.showReleaseNotes": false,
      "workbench.settings.enableNaturalLanguageSearch": false,
      "workbench.enableExperiments": false,
      "workbench.cloudChanges.continueOn": "off",
      "workbench.cloudChanges.autoResume": "off",
      "editor.tabSize": 2,
      "editor.autoClosingBrackets": "never",
      "editor.rulers": [
          120
      ],
      "explorer.confirmDragAndDrop": false,
      "explorer.confirmDelete": false,
      "files.insertFinalNewline": true,
      "files.trimTrailingWhitespace": true,
      "files.trimFinalNewlines": true,
      "editor.autoClosingOvertype": "never",
      "editor.autoClosingQuotes": "never",
      "editor.minimap.enabled": false
  }