initial commit

1 files changed, 185 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/blog/2020-05-19-customizing-ubuntu.org b/blog/2020-05-19-customizing-ubuntu.org
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e70b74c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/blog/2020-05-19-customizing-ubuntu.org
@@ -0,0 +1,185 @@
+#+date: 2020-05-19
+#+title: Beginner's Guide: Customizing Ubuntu
+
+* More Information
+
+For inspiration on designing your \*nix computer, check out the [[https://libredd.it/r/unixporn][r/unixporn]]
+subreddit!
+
+* Customizing Ubuntu
+
+New to Linux and want to add a personal touch to your machine? One of the best
+perks of Linux is that it is *extremely* customizable. You can change the
+styles of the windows, shell (status bars/docks), icons, fonts, terminals, and
+more.
+
+In this post, I'm going to go through customization on Ubuntu 20.04 (GNOME)
+since most new users tend to choose Ubuntu-based distros. If you've found a way
+to install Arch with i3-gaps, I'm assuming you know how to find more advanced
+tutorials out there on customizations.
+
+** Required Tools
+
+#+CAPTION: Gnome Tweaks
+[[https://img.0x4b1d.org/blog/20200519-customizing-ubuntu/gnome-tweaks-min.png]]
+
+Ubuntu 20.04 ships with the default desktop environment [[https://www.gnome.org/][Gnome]], which includes
+the handy =gnome-tweaks= tool to quickly change designs. To install this, just
+open your terminal and enter the following command:
+
+#+BEGIN_SRC sh
+sudo apt install gnome-tweaks
+#+END_SRC
+
+After you've finished installing the tool, simply launch the Tweaks application,
+and you'll be able to access the various customization options available by
+default on Ubuntu. You might even like some of the pre-installed options.
+
+** GNOME Application Themes
+
+To change the themes applied to applications in GNOME, you will need to change
+the Applications dropdown in the Appearance section of Tweaks. To add more
+themes, you will have to find your preferred theme online and follow the steps
+below to have it show up in the Tweaks tool. While you may find themes anywhere,
+one of the most popular sites for GNOME themes is [[https://www.gnome-look.org/][gnome-look.org]]. This website
+contains themes for applications, shells, icons, and cursors.
+
+Steps to import themes into Tweaks:
+
+1. Download the theme.
+2. These files are usually compressed (.zip, .tar.gz, .tar.xz), so you will need
+   to extract the contents. This is easiest when opening the file explorer,
+   right-clicking the compressed file, and choosing "Extract here."
+3. Move the theme folder to =/usr/share/themes/=. You can do so with the
+   following command: =sudo mv theme-folder/ /usr/share/themes/=.
+   - Icons and cursors will be moved to the =/usr/share/icons/= folder.
+   - Fonts will be moved to the =/usr/share/fonts/= folder Alternatively, you
+     can move them to the =/usr/share/fonts/opentype/= or
+     =/usr/share/fonts/opentype/= folders, if you have a specific font type.
+4. Close tweaks if it is open. Re-open Tweaks and your new theme will be
+   available in the Applications dropdown in the Appearance section of Tweaks.
+
+If the theme is not showing up after you've moved it into the themes folder, you
+may have uncompressed the folder into a sub-folder. You can check this by
+entering the theme folder and listing the contents:
+
+#+BEGIN_SRC sh
+cd /usr/share/themes/Mojave-Dark && ls -la
+#+END_SRC
+
+This is an example of what the contents of your theme folder should look like.
+If you just see another folder there, you should move that folder up into the
+=/usr/share/themes/= folder.
+
+#+BEGIN_SRC sh
+cinnamon  COPYING  gnome-shell  gtk-2.0  gtk-3.0  index.theme  metacity-1  plank  xfwm4
+#+END_SRC
+
+** GNOME Shell Themes
+
+To change the appearance of the title bar, default dock, app menu, and other
+parts of the GNOME shell, you'll need to install the [[https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/19/user-themes/][user themes]] extension on
+[[https://extensions.gnome.org/][Gnome Extensions]]. To be able to install extensions, you will first need to
+install the browser extension that the website instructs you to. See this
+screenshot for the blue box with a link to the extension.
+
+#+CAPTION: Gnome Extensions
+[[https://img.0x4b1d.org/blog/20200519-customizing-ubuntu/gnome-extensions-min.png]]
+
+After the browser extension is installed, you will need to install the native
+host connector:
+
+#+BEGIN_SRC sh
+sudo apt install chrome-gnome-shell
+#+END_SRC
+
+Finally, you can go the [[https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/19/user-themes/][user themes]] extension page and click the installation
+button. This will enable the Shell option in Tweaks. Now you can move shell
+themes to the =/usr/share/themes= directory, using the same steps mentioned in
+the previous section, and enable the new theme in Tweaks.
+
+** Icons & Cursors
+
+Icons and cursors are installed exactly the same way, so I'm grouping these
+together in this post. Both of these items will need to follow the same process
+as installing themes, except you will want to move your font folders to the
+=/usr/share/icons/= directory instead.
+
+** Fonts
+
+Fonts are one of the overlooked parts of customization, but a good font can make
+the whole screen look different. For example, I have installed the [[https://github.com/IBM/plex/releases][IBM Plex]]
+fonts on my system. This follows the same process as installing themes, except
+you will want to move your font folders to the =/usr/share/fonts/= directory
+instead.
+
+** Terminal
+
+If you spend a lot of time typing commands, you know how important the style and
+functionality of the terminal is. After spending a lot of time using the default
+GNOME terminal with [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bash_(Unix_shell)][unix shell]], I decided to try some different options. I ended
+up choosing [[https://terminator-gtk3.readthedocs.io/en/latest/][Terminator]] with [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z_shell][zsh]].
+
+Terminator is great if you need to open multiple terminals at one time by simply
+right-clicking and splitting the screen into as many terminals as you want.
+While this project hasn't been updated in a while, [[https://github.com/gnome-terminator/terminator/issues/1][it is coming under new
+development]].  However, this terminal is great and I haven't experienced any
+errors yet.
+
+For the shell choice, I decided to choose zsh after trying it out on a fresh
+Manjaro installation. Zsh is great if you like to change the themes of your
+terminal, include icons, or add plugins.
+
+The desktop uses the [[https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh-autosuggestions][zsh-autosuggestions]] to suggest past commands as you
+type. In addition, it suggests corrections if you misspell a command. Lastly, it
+uses the =af-magic= theme, which adds dashed lines between commands, moving the
+user@host tag to the right side of the terminal, and changes the colors. There
+are plenty of plugins and themes to choose from.  Just figure out what you like
+and add it to your =~/.zshrc= file!
+
+*** Steps to Replicate My Terminal
+
+To install zsh on Ubuntu, enter the following command into a terminal:
+
+#+BEGIN_SRC sh
+sudo apt install zsh
+#+END_SRC
+
+Then, enter the next command to activate zsh:
+
+#+BEGIN_SRC sh
+sudo chsh -s $(which zsh) $(whoami)
+#+END_SRC
+
+To install Terminator on Ubuntu:
+
+#+BEGIN_SRC sh
+sudo apt install terminator
+#+END_SRC
+
+To install Oh My Zsh on Ubuntu:
+
+#+BEGIN_SRC sh
+sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.github.com/ohmyzsh/ohmyzsh/master/tools/install.sh)"
+#+END_SRC
+
+To install zsh-autosuggestions via Oh My Zsh:
+
+#+BEGIN_SRC sh
+git clone https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh-autosuggestions ${ZSH_CUSTOM:-~/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/plugins/zsh-autosuggestions
+#+END_SRC
+
+Then, add the following plugin wording to your =~/.zshrc= file (the default
+config usually has the =git= plugin activated, so just add any other plugins to
+the parentheses separated by a space):
+
+#+BEGIN_SRC sh
+nano ~/.zshrc
+#+END_SRC
+
+#+BEGIN_SRC sh
+plugins=(git zsh-autosuggestions)
+#+END_SRC
+
+Finally, you need to log out of your computer and log back in so your user shell
+can refresh.