[UPDATED 05.11.17] Post Install Guide Zorin 12 - bit by bit

1. Menu | System Tools | Software Updater - then after entering your login password, wait for process to finish, click on Settings, go to first tab and change location of updates from your country to 'Main Server'.

2. Install Synaptics Package Manager.

Go to Software (Menu | Software on right side of menu):





Then in the search bar at the top, enter Synaptic:



In this instance I already have it installed using the Software Centre - that is why it is asking if I want to remove it - "No way José!"

Next up - install 'GDebi Package Manager' - this is probably the best way to install .deb files, particularly useful when installing from a package not from an 'authorised canonical partner'. These should always be inspected before 'extracting' as whilst not a virus, malicious code could be lurking there:

"I always open the debs and check for suspicious post-install scripts

This is how to do that. ...

Listing the files from a debian package using dpkg -c

dpkg is the package manager for debian. So using dpkg command you can list and extract the packages, as shown below.

To view the content of *.deb file:

Code:

:
$ dpkg -c ovpc_1.06.94-3_i386.deb
dr-xr-xr-x root/root         0 2010-02-25 10:54 ./
dr-xr-xr-x root/root         0 2010-02-25 10:54 ./ovpc/
dr-xr-xr-x root/root         0 2010-02-25 10:54 ./ovpc/pkg/
dr-xr-xr-x root/root         0 2010-02-25 10:54 ./ovpc/pkg/lib/
dr-xr-xr-x root/root         0 2010-02-25 10:48 ./ovpc/pkg/lib/header/
-r-xr-xr-x root/root       130 2009-10-29 17:06 ./ovpc/pkg/lib/header/libov.so
.
.
.

-r-xr-xr-x root/root       131 2009-10-29 17:06 ./ovpc/pkg/etc/conf
dr-xr-xr-x root/root         0 2010-02-25 10:54 ./ovpc/pkg/etc/conf/log.conf

Extracting the files from a debian package using dpkg -x

Use dpkg -x to extract the files from a deb package as shown below.

Code:

:
$ dpkg -x  ovpc_1.06.94-3_i386.deb /tmp/ov
$ ls /tmp/ov
ovpc

DEB files are ar archives, which always contains the three files — debian-binary, control.tar.gz, and data.tar.gz. We can use ar command and tar command to extract and view the files from the deb package, as shown below.

First, extract the content of *.deb archive file using ar command.

Code:

:
$ ar -vx ovpc_1.06.94-3_i386.deb
x - debian-binary
x - control.tar.gz
x - data.tar.gz
$

Next, extract the content of data.tar.gz file as shown below.

Code:

:
$ tar -xvzf data.tar.gz
./
./ovpc/
./ovpc/pkg/
./ovpc/pkg/lib/
./ovpc/pkg/lib/header/
./ovpc/pkg/lib/header/libov.so
.
.
./ovpc/pkg/etc/conf
./ovpc/pkg/etc/conf/log.con

"

With acknowledgement to Blackwolf on ultimateeditionoz.com forum.

There was an instance of a GNU/Linux theme uploaded to gnome-look.org called Ubundows that had not been checked by Admin for that site; the file once extracted executed 'Unix' commands to wipe the hard drive clean of all content - YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

My method for installing 'GDebi Package Manager' is through the command line in a Terminal (Ctrl+ Alt+ T) by entering:

Code:

sudo apt install gdebi

After installation, it places the Package Manager under System Tools and when opened looks something like this:



It is particularly useful when installing third party .deb packages as it will report back if there are any dependencies that are missing.

Next up install 'gnome-tweak-tool'. You enter this in 'Software' and it will find it - a pity that Zorin did not include this by default as it is extremely useful. Once installed you will find it under 'Utilities' in the Menu, and it also shows up under 'System Tools' - hopefully in future releases this duplicity will be removed from the system.

Upon opening 'Tweak Tool' you will see a similar window to this, depending on your themes and font choices etc:



Once you have it opened it is a good idea to add it to your favourites (the panel) so you don't have to search for it all the time:



This is where bookmarking the following page comes in very handy - https://extensions.gnome.org/

https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/ ... indicator/



Notice that you can integrate this web page to extensions in your Tweak Tool so you can install directly from the website - cool feature!

One last thing to add; open a Terminal window (Ctrl+ Alt+ T or Menu | Utilities | Terminal) and enter:

Code:

gnome-shell-extension-prefs

Once this opens, worthwhile adding to your favourites!

Notice that where there are 'cogs' this means you click on them and alter different settings that apply to that specific extension.



Now you will notice that there are 23 pages of extensions - but if you go beyond 6 you will just get a blank page because the other pages are for earlier versions of the Gnome Shell so you can't install something that is incompatible. Do be aware however that some extensions may interfere with your setup such as MMOD Panel which is for the traditional panel of Gnome etc. From Memory, 'Applications' and 'Places' are present in Tweak Tool | Extensions so if you prefer that to using the Zorin Menu you can remove that and use 'Applications' which is what it is, and 'Places' that lists your home folders and links to other parts of your computer:

Applications:


Notice how 'Favourites' are added to the right side of the menu - this means you can remove 'Favourites' from the Panel to clean it up if you wish.

Places:


Hope you are finding this piecemeal Post Install guide useful!

[UPDATED: 14.1.2017: If when you visit https://extensions.gnome.org/extension in Chromium and you get the message 'gnome extension integrated not detected you will need to go into Settings | Advanced Settings | Privacy (Settings is in the drop-down menu of the three horizontal bars to the far right of the address bar) select 'Manage exceptions' button on 'unsandboxed plug-in extensions' and enter the url of: http://extensions.gnome.org.

a.


b.


You should then get integration but things won't be yet fully working:



So you need to go to here:

https://wiki.gnome.org/Projects/GnomeSh ... untu_Linux

and follow the instructions:

Ubuntu Linux
Package is available in Yakkety's and Zesty's Universe repositories and in ne0sight/chrome-gnome-shell PPA. To add PPA type:

[Note: I can't copy across the hyperlink to Yakkety's etc and PPA so go to the site given above.]

Code:

$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ne0sight/chrome-gnome-shell
$ sudo apt-get update

To install package type:

Code:

$ sudo apt-get install chrome-gnome-shell

[FOOTNOTE: If you try to launch, install new extenstion from tweak tool it launches firefox!]

This is tremendous!
Exactly what I was looking for, but didn't know what to look for on line.
The Gnome Tweak Tool is a big help in organizing.
I suppose Zorin doesn't include them because finding all these useful tools is half the fun.
Thanks.

No its half the pain! A good system should have all of this at the get-go!

OK, decided to install Icecat browser and wanted to add it to my Zorin Menu - you will need to install Alacarte in order to do this - the other great thing about it is that you can remove duplicate entries completely. For example, I had to entries for clam-tk in accessories in respect of clam-av - but that could be down to me installing to elements for differing DE's!

Ope a terminal and enter:

Code:

sudo apt install alacarte

- It adds 'Main Menu' under Menu | Accessories