The Perfect Desktop - Linux Mint 13 KDE - Page 2

3 Update The System

Now it's time to check for updates and install them. This is done using the Update Manager. Start it from Menu > Applications > System > Update Manager:

Type in your password to gain authorization:

The Update Manager tells you which updates are available (you can click on the Refresh button to refresh the list). Click on Install Updates to install them. On the first run, the update manager updates itself to be able to show you all other packages' updates:

Install all the other ones afterwards:

Click OK if additional changes have to be made:

When the update is complete, click on Close (if a new kernel was amongst the updates, a system restart is required to make the changes effective).

The system is now up-to-date.

4 Flash Player And Java

Flash Player and Java should already be installed on the system.

To check this, open Firefox and type about:plugins in the address bar. Firefox will then list all installed plugins, and it should list the Flash Player (version 11.0 r1) plugins among them. This is not the newest version, that's why we will update it in a few steps.

5 Inventory Of What We Have So Far

Now let's browse all menus to see which of our needed applications are already installed:

You should find the following situation ([x] marks an application that is already installed, whereas [ ] is an application that is missing):

Graphics:
[x] The GIMP
[ ] Shotwell Photo Manager
[ ] Pinta

Internet:
[x] Firefox
[ ] FileZilla
[x] Thunderbird
[ ] Deluge
[ ] Skype
[ ] Marble
[x] Pidgin
[ ] Dropbox
[ ] Gwibber Social Client

Office:
[x] LibreOffice Writer
[x] LibreOffice Calc
[ ] Adobe Reader
[ ] GnuCash
[ ] Scribus

Sound & Video:
[ ] Audacity
[x] Banshee
[ ] dvd::rip
[ ] Kino
[x] VLC Media Player
[ ] K3B
[ ] Multimedia-Codecs
[ ] Winff

Programming:
[ ] KompoZer
[ ] Eclipse

Other:
[ ] VirtualBox
[ ] TrueType fonts
[x] Java
[x] Read/Write support for NTFS partitions
[x] gdebi
[x] Synaptic Package Manager
[x] gedit

So some applications are already on the system. NTFS read-/write support is enabled by default on Mint 13.

6 Install Additional Software

To install additional applications, open the Synaptic Package Manager (Menu > Applications > System > Synaptic Package Manager):

Type in your password:

In Synaptic Package Manager we can install additional software. You can use the Quick filter field to find packages.

To select a package for installation, click on the checkbox in front of it and select Mark for Installation from the menu that comes up:

If a package has a dependency that needs to be satisfied, a window will pop up. Accept the dependencies by clicking on Mark:

The following packages need to be installed if you want the applications of the above primary choice (* is a wildcard; e.g. openjdk-6* means all packages that start with openjdk-6):

flashplugin-installer
audacity
dvdrip
filezilla
ttf-mscorefonts-installer
gnucash
k3b
kino
eclipse
kompozer
scribus
mozilla-plugin-vlc
acroread
non-free-codecs
ubuntu-restricted-extras
virtualbox-ose
skype (32 bit version only, leave it out for 64 bit)
shotwell
pinta
deluge
dropbox
marble
libreoffice
winff
openjdk-6*

These are the packages for all the other possible alternative applications (you don't need to install them if you are happy with the above selection):

chromium-browser
opera
amarok
vuze
bluefish
gtkpod
mplayer
smplayer
xmms2*
sound-juicer
rhythmbox
xine-plugin
evolution
googleearth
soundconverter
soundkonverter
kolourpaint4
mypaint
qbittorrent
okular
xcfa
clementine
exaile

After you've selected the desired packages, click on the Apply button.

Confirm your selection by again clicking on Apply:

The packages are now being downloaded from the repositories and installed. This can take a few minutes, so please be patient:

While installing, drop the Details menu so that you see the terminal view. This is important since the installer won't show any windows if it needs query but will use the terminal output: