Customizing ubuntu is soo much fun!

So, I should be doing homework, but I'm not. I am instead going to show you how I have customized my computer to be awesome, if you don't care then pass this post by.

Fresh install
So Ubuntu 8.10 "Intrepid Ibex" came out at the end of October and so instead of just upgrading, I decided to do a completely fresh install. That means backing up any important documents and formatting the Ubuntu partition. This is so easy to do in Ubuntu, it's awesome. Instead of having to reinstall windows and ubuntu studio, I just clear the one part ion that ubuntu lives on. So I started out clean with a blank slate to go from. It was such a great feeling, I recommend it to everyone (I also recommend trying ubuntu).

Starting out, the basics:
So for a new install to be fully functional, there are some basic things that you need to do which are not that hard to do. It basically involves installing all the things Ubuntu can't guarantee, like flash, java, and MP3 codecs. All stuff I like to have. So you just follow this guide. It's not that hard to do if you haven't worked with the terminal and it is probably a good starting tool for that. Then I did have to wait a few days before the latest nVidia drivers were released, but after that I got to start with the compiz settings, yummy.

Compiz:
So I figure that most people reading this don't use Ubuntu (save for Colin, Vinny, and Jake before he went back to Mac), so I'll be giving brief explanations for things that aren't common talk. Compiz is a background program that handles how you view your desktop. It is the eye candy of Ubuntu. If you've seen me turn my desktop into a 3-D cube, that's compiz. It lets you choose what animation plays when you close a window or if your windows are stiff or wobbly when you shake them. For a video of what compiz is capable of look here. I used to use it to make things look really cool, but now with my new Ubuntu, I'm all about functionality and being productive in a creative way. This started with getting rid of the cube and using 4 desktops in a line. To explain, each desktop can hold it's own windows and so instead of alt-tabbing through a bunch of programs to find my e-mail, I switch to the first desktop. Internet is on the second and music is on the third and the fourth is usually for the terminal. This saves me a load of time in finding what I'm looking for and it still looks pretty cool, in my opinion.
Compiz also runs the window manager, or the program that makes your windows have title bars and determines their color. I am still using the default theme for this because I haven't found what I'm looking for yet.

Conky:
Conky is an awesome program that will display basically anything you want. If there is a command for it or a way to use python to get information, conly can output it in anyway you want. I only got this running last week, so it isn't finished, but I still love it. Right now I have weather and system information to show up. In the future I will have it show what music I'm playing and other things that I want to be able to check whenever and feel too lazy to type a command.

Devilspie:
This is something I just found two days ago and am starting to use more. It's a program that recognizes applications that are running and can change their appearance when they are loaded. So right now I have my e-mail move to the first desktop when it is started and the same for firefox and my music player, rhythmbox. I can start them all from buttons on my keyboard and the go where I want without moving them.

My desktop terminal:
So I use the terminal a lot. I like it a lot more than running graphical things like update manager and finding files through the file browser. So I have it hot keyed to Alt+F1. But I found I was always opening terminals, which got annoying. So I followed this guide. And now I have a terminal window embedded into my background. It is so great. I have also been finding more and more uses for the terminal and the easiest way to learn new things is to use it a lot. Like updating twitter through the terminal. It isn't necessary, but it is a lot of fun and why not? I'll probably write a blog about twitter and try and get people to use it more. Jake couldn't completely explain why I should use it, but I figure if enough of my friends use it, it would turn worthwhile.

Future projects:
Get a better dock than the default one. I like the way macs have docks and not a large task bar like windows, but it has disadvantages and with ubuntu I can get my own dock and make it what I want. Also, I am planning on making a sweet wallpaper that uses the multiple desktops to make things pretty, it's hard to explain.

Back to "doing" homework.