Linux Tweaks

Optimizing Ubuntu, Mint, and other Debian-based systems.

Introduction

The tweaks optimize disk access, networking, memory swapping, video playback, usability, and more for Ubuntu, Mint, or other Debian-based systems.

The fixes are particularly beneficial for older and slower systems with limited memory.

Installation

Quick setup

To install all automated tweaks, run from a terminal prompt:

$  chmod u+x INSTALL.sh
$  ./INSTALL.sh

Then, go to the Manual Settings to apply all manual settings.

Warning. INSTALL.sh removes several services and programs that are typically preinstalled in a new system installation.

Custom setup

To selectively apply specific tweaks, run the specific scripts or copy the configuration files included to the location indicated near the top of each file. All scripts, except for INSTALL.sh, must be run as root (e.g. with sudo).

Requirements

• Debian-based desktop/laptop system, including Ubuntu and Mint.
• Apply immediately after a fresh install, or prior configuration may be lost.
• For RHEL-based desktop/laptop systems, the customizations require manual adjustments.

Features

1. Sudo without password

Prevents sudo from asking for passwords from users belonging to the sudo group.

Configured in nopasswd-sudo.

2. Faster disk access for ext3 and ext4

Eliminates tracking of file and directory access time, since it's rarely used and can provide a noticeable speed gain especially in older hardware (ext2 and ext4).

Changes ext4 data mode to writeback, which is thought to accelerate disk access.

Updates udev with larger buffering, cfq scheduler, and no contribution to random.

Implemented as a root script in speed-disk.sh and 99-speed-disk.rules.

3. Reduced memory swapping

Eliminates excessive memory swapping to disk.

Configured in 80-minswp-sysctl.conf. After installing, run sudo sysctl --system to apply the settings immediately.

4. No IPv6

Disables the IPv6 stack, since my ISP does not (yet) offer IPv6. This provides a negligeable speed up for networking programs, and frees up a few extra bytes of memory.

Many programs, including web browsers, attempt first to establish IPv6 connections if the stack is enabled. Since the ISP modem is only IPv4, this initial attempt always fails, and the program falls back to IPv4. Without the IPv6 stack, this initial attempt is eliminated.

Implemented as a root script in no-ipv6.sh.

5. Faster DNS and networking

Changes default DNS servers, enables DNS caching, and adds domain filters.

You have to time different DNS providers and adjust accordingly the settings in network.conf to select the most appropriate DNS service. To time a service, use:

$  time nslookup <domain> <dns-server-ip>

I ran empirical tests to select the DNS servers in the configuration file, but the right settings depend on the location of the computer and the specific ISP. So, you want to time different DNS providers. My ISP DNS was significantly slow, even when compared to DNS services across the Pacific ocean.

Configured in network.conf and nxdomains, and implemented in speed-net.sh.

Important. /etc/hosts is not used to keep the system consistent with the default installation of NetworkManager. Would a different behavior be desired, the hosts lookup can be enabled in network.conf.

6. Decluttering

Uninstalls unnecessary services and fonts. These include bluetooth, cups (printing), sane (scanners), avahi (certain network services), and thunderbird (desktop email).

Implemented as root scripts in purge-services.sh and 'purge-packages.sh`.

7. Additional packages

Adds software and fonts, including traceroute, whois, and font-manager.

Implemented as a root script in add-extra-packages.sh

6. Nano

Fixes mouse, smooth scrolling, line number in status bar, no help line, and no syntax highlinghting for all users.

INSTALL.sh installs the new nano configuration for all users, instead of locally for the current user alone. This approach makes nano behave consistently for both my unprivileged user and the root user (including under sudo). Would a single user configuration be preferred, manually copy the configuration file to ~/.nanorc instead.

Configured in nanorc.

7. Bash

Simplifies the terminal prompt, eliminates colors, and tweaks aliases.

Configured in bashrc.

8. Firewall

Enables the firewall with default rules.

Implemented in INSTALL.sh.

9. Time

Minimizes kernel context switches and disk access for calls to time and localtime.

Implemented in rc.local.

Manual Settings

1. Sudo without password

Add the current user to the sudo group.

2. Fewer fonts

Run font-manager to disable unwanted fonts that could not be removed.

3. Firefox

Apply the optimizations from Firefox Optimized

4. Google Chrome web browser

Install the Google Chrome browser from https://www.google.com/chrome/browser/

5. Google Talk plugin

Install the google-talk plugin by visiting gmail or g+.

6. Auto-save the session on exit

Run gconf-editor from the menu Accessories, and change the desktop session to auto-save on exit.

7. Accelerate Adobe Flash Video

Adobe disabled GPU access in Flash for certain video cards to protect against potential security vulnerabilities. This script reenables access to the GPU.

To enable for a single user, run:

$  echo OverrideGPUValidation=true >> ~/.adobe/mms.cfg

To enable globally for all users, run as root:

$  mkdir -p /etc/adobe
$  cat >> /etc/adobe/mms.cfg <<< OverrideGPUValidation=true

Warning: This may introduce a security vulnerability when running Adobe Flash.

8. Fix Locale

If the system warns about a missing en.US_UTF-8 locale during updates, rebuild the locale environment as root:

$   locale-gen --purge --no-archive

Recurring Tasks

Update domain filters

1. Add domains to nxdomains
2. Run as root: speed-net.sh

MIT License

Linux Tweaks is open-source software released under the MIT license. See the license file.