Features

The customizations made to bleUX are abstracted as features, which can be independently enabled/disabled at users' need. The bleux-features package contains all scripts to enable/disable them. At install, the system comes with a set of features enabled by default, and the rest are disabled by default.

The main command to manage features is:

feature <subcommand> <feature>

Added

System snapshots

Feature	Subcommand to enable	Subcommand to disable
timeshift	add	remove

Firewall

Feature	Subcommand to enable	Subcommand to disable
gufw	add	remove
ufw	enable	disable

Application caching

Feature	Subcommand to enable	Subcommand to disable
preload	add	remove

Replaced

Core technologies

Package manager frontend

The standard libapt-pkg frontend experience provided by apt can be too low-level and hard to understand. nala provides a more user-friendly alternative, as well as more advanced features that make package managing both powerful and easy.

Feature	Enabled by default	Subcommand to enable	Subcommand to disable
apt		enable	disable
nala		add	remove

Extra subcommands for nala

Subcommand	Description
fetch	Fetches 3 fast mirrors to improve download speed.

Sandboxed package format

As much as snap works really well in embedded environments, its support in desktop environments is average at best. flatpak, on the other hand, is focused on providing the best experience in desktop environments, being supported by the Freedesktop project.

Feature	Enabled by default	Subcommand to enable	Subcommand to disable
flatpak		add	remove
snap		add	remove

Extra subcommands for flatpak

Subcommand	Description
update	Updates applications or runtimes, including related extensions.
remove-unused	Uninstalls unused applications or runtimes on the system.

Audio/media server

pulseaudio is the general purpose audio server developed by the Freedesktop project. Even though, its support is limited in more demanding use cases, such as professional sound producing, where a real-time, low-latency system is required. pipewire not only provides better support for those use cases, but it also handles other types of media streams and aims at being more compatible with flatpak and wayland.

Feature	Enabled by default	Subcommand to enable	Subcommand to disable
pipewire		add	remove
pulseaudio		add	remove

Windowing system / display server

Feature	Enabled by default	Subcommand to enable	Subcommand to disable
wayland		enable	disable
xorg		enable	disable

Extra subcommands for xorg

Subcommand	Description
init	Initializes the GDM configuration of X.org.

Old GNOME apps with new ones

Music player

Feature	Enabled by default	Subcommand to enable	Subcommand to disable
gnome-music		add	remove
rhythmbox		add	remove

Terminal emulator

Feature	Enabled by default	Subcommand to enable	Subcommand to disable
gnome-console		add	remove
gnome-terminal		add	remove

Text editor

Feature	Enabled by default	Subcommand to enable	Subcommand to disable
gedit		add	remove
gnome-text-editor		add	remove

Image viewer

Feature	Enabled by default	Subcommand to enable	Subcommand to disable
eog		add	remove
flatpak loupe		add	remove

Camera

Feature	Enabled by default	Subcommand to enable	Subcommand to disable
cheese		add	remove
flatpak snapshot		add	remove

Non-GNOME apps with GNOME ones

Wallpapers

Feature	Enabled by default	Subcommand to enable	Subcommand to disable
gnome-backgrounds		add	remove
ubuntu-wallpapers		add	remove

Remote desktop viewer

Feature	Enabled by default	Subcommand to enable	Subcommand to disable
gnome-connections		add	remove
remmina		add	remove

Software store

Feature	Enabled by default	Subcommand to enable	Subcommand to disable
gnome-software		add	remove
snap snap-store		add	remove

Non-GNOME apps with flatpaks

Firefox

Feature	Enabled by default	Subcommand to enable	Subcommand to disable
flatpak firefox		add	remove
snap firefox		add	remove

LibreOffice

Feature	Enabled by default	Subcommand to enable	Subcommand to disable
flatpak libreoffice		add	remove
libreoffice		add	remove

Thunderbird

Feature	Enabled by default	Subcommand to enable	Subcommand to disable
flatpak thunderbird		add	remove
thunderbird		add	remove

Transmission

Feature	Enabled by default	Subcommand to enable	Subcommand to disable
flatpak transmission		add	remove
transmission		add	remove

Removed

GNOME Shell extensions

Feature	Subcommand to enable	Subcommand to disable
desktop-icons	add	remove
ubuntu-dock	add	remove

GNOME recommended apps

Feature	Subcommand to enable	Subcommand to disable
gnome-power-manager	add	remove
seahorse	add	remove

GNOME suggested apps

Feature	Subcommand to enable	Subcommand to disable
aisleriot	add	remove
branding-ubuntu	add	remove
gnome-mahjongg	add	remove
gnome-mines	add	remove
gnome-sudoku	add	remove
gnome-todo	add	remove
shotwell	add	remove

Adding a new feature

To add a new feature, copy the template file and change it as needed:

cd packages/bleux-features/features/
cp feature-template.sh <feature>.sh

Check the packages/bleux-features/utils.sh library script out for functions to modularize, simplify and automate feature scripts.