Things to do after switching from Ubuntu to Debian

Recently I have switched from Ubuntu MATE 18.04 to Debian 9.6. Whole process went smoothly as both distributions are very similar. But there are few tricks that Ubuntu does automatically for you and Debian doesn’t.

https://wiki.debian.org/DebianArt/Themes/softWaves

WiFi drivers

Official Debian images doesn’t include any non-free drivers, so chances are that WiFi won’t work out of the box.

First step is to add non-free component to /etc/apt/sources.list:

deb http://ftp.agh.edu.pl/debian/ stretch main contrib non-free

Then install driver:

# apt-get update && apt-get install firmware-iwlwifi

iwlwifi stands for Intel WiFi driver, so change it accordingly. https://wiki.debian.org/iwlwifi#Installation

Disable MAC address randomization

By default Debian randomize MAC addresses, which is causing that WiFi isn’t auto connected on start up. To disable this feature you need to edit /etc/NetworkManager/NetworkManager.conf file:

[device]
wifi.scan-rand-mac-address=no

https://wiki.debian.org/WiFi/HowToUse#WiFi_can_scan.2C_but_not_connect_using_NetworkManager_.28Debian_9_Stretch.29

Source ~/.profile on login

~/.profile file is very convenient place for setting any environment values. In contrast to ~/.bashrc, environment values from ~/.profile are accessible not only to text terminals but also for GUI applications, like IDEs. By default Ubuntu source ~/.profile file on login, but Debian doesn’t.

To enable parsing ~/.profile file create ~/.xsessionrc file with following content:

if [ -r ~/.profile ]; then . ~/.profile; fi

Be aware that any mistake in ~/.xsessionrc probably make login using graphical interface impossible, in that case use text terminal Ctrl+Alt+F1 to remove/repair this file.

There is a lot more to learn why ~/.profile isn’t sourced by default: https://wiki.debian.org/Xsession

Enable taping on touchpad

I’m used to use whole touchpad area for clicking, unfortunately in current Debian version with MATE environment it can only be enabled by creating configuration file:

# mkdir -p /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d
# echo 'Section "InputClass"
        Identifier "libinput touchpad catchall"
        MatchIsTouchpad "on"
        MatchDevicePath "/dev/input/event*"
        Driver "libinput"
        Option "Tapping" "on"
EndSection' > /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/40-libinput.conf

Both commands needs to be executed as root. https://wiki.debian.org/SynapticsTouchpad#Enable_tapping_on_touchpad

Printing

During installation process, by default Debian installs Print server. But I opt out from it, because I though that I won’t be needing it. Of course I was wrong :P

# apt install task-print-server system-config-printer

https://wiki.debian.org/SystemPrinting

Setup MariaDB admin account with password

Debian comes with MariaDB instead of MySQL. By default you can connect to database using unix socket authentication instead of old password method. But some legacy application may require password authentication, easiest way to set it up is to connect to the database as root using socket:

$ sudo mysql

or

# mysql

and create new account:

GRANT ALL ON *.* TO 'admin'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'password' WITH GRANT OPTION;

https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-install-mariadb-on-debian-9

Hiding MATE icons

If you want to remove Computer, Home directory and Trash from the desktop there is great tutorial here: https://mydayswithlinux.wordpress.com/2015/08/12/how-to-hide-desktop-icons-in-mate/

However, in my Debian installation dconf-editor was missing, so I needed to install it first:

$ sudo apt install dconf-editor

Adding entries to MATE menu

Sometimes I need to add shortcut to MATE menu, in Ubuntu I could easily right click on menu icon and edit menu. Unfortunately that’s not possible in Debian. But there is quick fix for that, you just need to install mozo:

$ sudo apt install mozo

and run it:

$ mozo

https://github.com/mate-desktop/mozo

Open “Applications” menu using Windows key

By default, in order to open Applications menu you need to use Alt + F1 combination, which is not ideal for me. I prefer to use Windows key for that, it can be easily set up:

gsettings set org.mate.Marco.global-keybindings panel-main-menu 'Super_L'

Missing applications

There are few applications that Ubuntu MATE has installed by default that I miss in Debian:

# apt install redshift-gtk vlc transmission simple-scan gnome-disk-utility gnome-system-tools

vlc and transmission are obvious, redshift-gtk is blue light filter. http://jonls.dk/redshift/

Enable `ll` alias

Ubuntu has very convenient shortcut ll which alias ls -la. Debian also has this alias, but is commented out in .bashrc, also on Debian is only ls -l, without -a switch.

To enable alias add:

alias ll='ls -la'

to ~/.bashrc file.

That’s it :)

Hope that this post may help you get you through transition process with less headache.