MRC/Tutorials/Customizing Ubuntu

GNOME Classic

Ubuntu 12.04 is shipped with Unity as default desktop environment. The ribbon menu with large icons on the left is a typical Unity feature, as is the way applications are started full screen and always have the menu bar at the top of your screen. Although Unity has supporters, some people don't like the way it works. For example, if multiple applications of the same type are opened (e.g., multiple terminals), their activation buttons are all stacked within the same icon on the left.

Fortunately, you can try and use other desktop environments within Ubuntu. GNOME Classic is such an alternative desktop environment. It was shipped with Ubuntu 10.04 by default, but got replaced by the Unity interface. However, there is a way to get it back in Ubuntu 12.04:

• Open a terminal (ctrl-alt-t)
• Run:

  sudo apt-get install gnome-panel

• Log-out of your current Ubuntu session
• On the log-in screen, click the little icon located top-right of your name and select Gnome Classic, and log back in

You will see that the menu on the left is replaced by a menu bar at the top and a bar at the bottom. Try opening multiple terminal. Notice how each terminal can directly be accessed using the bar at the bottom of your screen.

Feel free to play around with both environments to see which one you like best. You can always switch between the two by logging out and selecting a different desktop environment.

Additional Drivers

By default Ubuntu uses non-proprietary drivers for your hardware. This means example that the current installed driver for your graphics card is an open-source version, and not the driver created by the vendor (e.g., NVidia or AMD). Although the default drivers are often quite good, you may find out that some visualization tools, such as ROS' RViz, won't work well, or slow. To install proprietary drivers:

1. Open a terminal (ctrl-alt-t)
2. Run the command:

   jockey-gtk

   The system will start searching for available drivers, which may take some time. Then a new window will pop up with a list of available drivers.
3. Select one of the drives that is available (if there are multiple, often one of them is Recommended).
4. Click the Activate button, and close.

The change will start having effect once you reboot the system.

Terminal Colors

By default, the terminal in Ubuntu only uses white letters on a dark background. However, it can be quite convenient to allow the use of multiple text colors. For example, folders, files and executables are then displayed in different colors when using the command ls.

To enable text color in a terminal:

1. Open the file .bashrc in your homefolder, for example using:

   gedit ~/.bashrc

2. Uncomment the following line:

   #force_color_prompt=yes

   by removing the #
3. save and exit. Now if you start a new terminal, you will have a colored prompt.

Terminator

You will soon find out that you will have to work in multiple terminals in parallel. A convenient tool to avoid having a large amount of terminals is Terminator, a program that allows you to have multiple terminals in one window. You can install it via the Ubuntu software center, or from the terminal:

sudo apt-get install terminator

To make Terminator start up with some screen setup:

1. Open “Terminator”
2. Make the set-up to be saved: some split ups
   1. Right click
   2. Choose “split horizontally” or “split vertically”
3. Continue the previous step, until you are happy
4. Right click
5. Choose “preferences”
6. Pick tab “layout”
7. Click "add"
8. Enter a name (= <your chosen name>)
9. Press "enter"
10. Click "close"
11. Right click the button to open “Terminator”
12. Choose “properties”
13. Enter in “command” : “terminator -ml <your chosen name>”
14. Click close
15. To test: open “Terminator”