Things to do after a fresh installation of openSUSE 11.4

This guide is a summary of the steps I take to customize a default installation of openSUSE.

This particular guide was rewritten for openSUSE 11.2, but most stuff should be applicable to other versions as well.

first: repos

first, type

# zypper lr -d
# | Alias        | Name                  | Enabled | Refresh | Priority | Type | URI                                                             |  Service
 -+--------------+-----------------------+---------+---------+----------+------+-----------------------------------------------------------------+--------
1 | repo-debug   | openSUSE-11.3-Debug   | No      | Yes     |   99     | NONE | http://download.opensuse.org/debug/distribution/11.3/repo/oss/  |
2 | repo-non-oss | openSUSE-11.3-Non-Oss | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | NONE | http://download.opensuse.org/distribution/11.3/repo/non-oss/    |
3 | repo-oss     | openSUSE-11.3-Oss     | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | NONE | http://download.opensuse.org/distribution/11.3/repo/oss/        |
4 | repo-source  | openSUSE-11.3-Source  | No      | Yes     |   99     | NONE | http://download.opensuse.org/source/distribution/11.3/repo/oss/ |
5 | repo-update  | openSUSE-11.3-Update  | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | NONE | http://download.opensuse.org/update/11.3/                       |

delete source and debug repos and installation dvd repo

zypper rr < number of repo | name of repo | alias of repo>

add community repos: Packman, VLC etc.

zypper ar -f http://download.videolan.org/pub/videolan/vlc/SuSE/11.2/ vlc
zypper ar -f http://ftp.skynet.be/pub/packman/suse/11.2/ packman

add KDE 4.3 repos (for updates KDE)

zypper ar -f http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/KDE:/43/openSUSE_11.2/ kde43
zypper ar -f http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/KDE:/KDE4:/Community/openSUSE_11.2_KDE_43/ kde43community

or better still, the updated KDE4.4 repos:

zypper ar -f http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/KDE:/KDE4:/Factory:/Desktop/openSUSE_11.2/ kde44
zypper ar -f http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/KDE:/KDE4:/Community/openSUSE_11.2/ kde44comm
zypper ar -f http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/KDE:/KDE4:/Playground/openSUSE_11.2/ kde44play

In the end you should have the following repos:

oss
non-oss
update
kde43 or kde44
kde43community or kde44comm
packman
vlc
nvidia/ATI

Kernel stuff

Install this stuff now, because sooner or later you will need them. And sometimes the install/compile of a kernel module will fail without these

zypper in -y kernel-source linux-kernel-headers kernel-syms make gcc

utils

zypper in -y mc findutils-locate nmap

For multimedia stuff:

# zypper in -y flash-player mplayer ffmpeg a52dec mencoder x264 faac w32codec-all vlc

optional:

# zypper in -y gstreamer-0_10-plugins-good xine-browser-plugin swfdec-browser-plugin gxine-browser-plugin gstreamer-0_10-plugins-bad mplayerplug-in libxine1-codecs

Language:

zypper in -y ispell-dutch myspell-dutch

If you have installed from liveCD, localization may be missing:

zypper in -y kde4-l10n-nl kde4-l10n-nl-data kde4-l10n-nl-doc

firefox:

install add-ons: adblock, xmarks
add 'new tab' button in buttonbar
configuration:
- download location always ask, close when ready etc
- start with blank page
- do not remember history, suggest from bookmarks
- search for text when I start typing
- no check my spelling as I type
- no check to see if FF is default browser
install silverlight plugin http://go-mono.com/moonlight-beta/
type about:config in addressbar and change:
- network.dns.disableIPv6 -> true
- create this one: content.notify.backoffcount -> 5
- also create nglayout.initialpaint.delay -> 0
- network.http.pipelining true
- network.http.proxy.pipelining true
- network.http.pipelining.maxrequests 8

KDE:

edit /etc/sysconfig/windowmanager and change this option to 'no'

KDE_USE_IPV6="no"

taskbar:
- add system monitor CPU usage widget
- digital clock: add day of week
add yast2 and configure desktop to quick start area (next to suse-icon)
configure desktop - personal settings:
- region and language: region: dutch. add dutch to languages
- advanced -> session manager: start KDE with empty session
- autostart: yakuake
- desktop screensaver: random
desktop: add analogue clock widget
for extra KWIN themes:

# zypper in kde4-windeco-aurorae kde4-windeco-chromi kde4-windeco-crystal kde4-windeco-dekorator kde4-windeco-nitrogen

and go to System Settings / Appearance / Windows / choose for example the aurorae theme engine with the example theme

Yast2:

configure NTP settings 194.109.22.18 (XS4All time server) or choose from pool.ntp.org