I have been asked to give a tour / demonstration on how I have set up my laptop. I use it for everyday use... web devolpment, social networking, security... it's not powerful enough for gaming but will do pretty much everything else I want. I guess firstly the hardware:
The laptop is a Sony VAIO model VGN-TZ31VN (specs)
I brought it a few years ago, mostly for it's small form, but also because it has all the extras I wanted: webcam, wireless card that can go into monitor mode, bluetooth, 3G, DVD player... it's a nice little travel accessory, god to know can have internet wherever you are and get on with work etc.
It came with wondows vista, I quickly moved to ubuntu, and very recently a pure Debian OS... this gives pretty much full control of the laptop and is quick, small space... I highly recommend it. Heres a quick overview / tour before I get into the details on how you can have the same setup:
After installing debian, I put on openbox, A tiny lightweight, highly customizable window manager. I wanted some kind of login screen so installed GDM with the Dusty v0.1 theme.
Then changed the openbox theme to TropicBomb (I think this is a default one)
Next, Tint2 and conky. Both are available in the debian repositorys. My configs are as follows:
# Tint2 config file# Generated by tintwizard (http://code.google.com/p/tintwizard/)# For information on manually configuring tint2 see http://code.google.com/p/tint2/wiki/Configure# Background definitions# ID 1rounded = 7border_width = 2background_color = #000000 60border_color = #FFFFFF 16# ID 2rounded = 5border_width = 0background_color = #FFFFFF 40border_color = #FFFFFF 48# ID 3rounded = 5border_width = 0background_color = #FFFFFF 16border_color = #FFFFFF 68# Panelpanel_monitor = allpanel_position = bottom center horizontalpanel_size = 94% 30panel_margin = 0 0panel_padding = 7 0 7panel_dock = 0wm_menu = 0panel_layer = toppanel_background_id = 1# Panel Autohideautohide = 0autohide_show_timeout = 0.3autohide_hide_timeout = 2autohide_height = 2strut_policy = follow_size# Taskbartaskbar_mode = single_desktoptaskbar_padding = 2 3 2taskbar_background_id = 0taskbar_active_background_id = 0# Tasksurgent_nb_of_blink = 8task_icon = 1task_text = 1task_centered = 1task_maximum_size = 140 35task_padding = 6 2task_background_id = 3task_active_background_id = 2task_urgent_background_id = 2task_iconified_background_id = 3task_tooltip = 0# Task Iconstask_icon_asb = 70 0 0task_active_icon_asb = 100 0 0task_urgent_icon_asb = 100 0 0task_iconified_icon_asb = 70 0 0# Fontstask_font = sans 7task_font_color = #FFFFFF 68task_active_font_color = #FFFFFF 83task_urgent_font_color = #FFFFFF 83task_iconified_font_color = #FFFFFF 68font_shadow = 0# System Traysystray = 1systray_padding = 0 4 5systray_sort = ascendingsystray_background_id = 0systray_icon_size = 16systray_icon_asb = 70 0 0# Clocktime1_format = %H:%Mtime1_font = sans 8time2_format = %A %d %Btime2_font = sans 6clock_font_color = #FFFFFF 74clock_padding = 1 0clock_background_id = 0clock_rclick_command = orage# Tooltipstooltip_padding = 2 2tooltip_show_timeout = 0.7tooltip_hide_timeout = 0.3tooltip_background_id = 1tooltip_font = sans 10tooltip_font_color = #000000 80# Mousemouse_middle = nonemouse_right = closemouse_scroll_up = togglemouse_scroll_down = iconify# Batterybattery = 0battery_low_status = 10battery_low_cmd = notify-send "battery low"battery_hide = 98bat1_font = sans 8bat2_font = sans 6battery_font_color = #FFFFFF 74battery_padding = 1 0battery_background_id = 0# End of config |
(/etc/xdg/tint2/tint2rc)
# Use Xft?use_xft yesxftfont mono:size=9xftalpha 0.8text_buffer_size 2048# Update interval in secondsupdate_interval 1# This is the number of times Conky will update before quitting.# Set to zero to run forever.total_run_times 0# Create own window instead of using desktop (required in nautilus)own_window yesown_window_transparent yesown_window_type desktopown_window_hints undecorated,sticky,skip_taskbar,skip_pagerbackground yes# Use double buffering (reduces flicker, may not work for everyone)double_buffer yes# Minimum size of text areaminimum_size 1000 0# Draw shades?draw_shades yes# Draw outlines?draw_outline no# Draw borders around textdraw_borders no# Draw borders around graphsdraw_graph_borders yes# Stippled borders?stippled_borders 0# border marginsborder_margin 0# border widthborder_width 0# Default colors and also border colorsdefault_color blackcolor2 1994D1#default_shade_color black#default_outline_color 3c3c3c#own_window_colour 3c3c3cown_window_colour 082103own_window_argb_visual no# Text alignment, other possible values are commented#alignment top_left#alignment top_right#alignment bottom_left#alignment bottom_rightalignment top_middle# Gap between borders of screen and text# same thing as passing -x at command linegap_x -85gap_y 0# Subtract file system buffers from used memory?no_buffers yes# set to yes if you want all text to be in uppercaseuppercase no# number of cpu samples to average# set to 1 to disable averagingcpu_avg_samples 2# number of net samples to average# set to 1 to disable averagingnet_avg_samples 2# Force UTF8? note that UTF8 support required XFToverride_utf8_locale yes# Add spaces to keep things from moving about? This only affects certain objects.#use_spacer rightTEXT${offset 5}${color2}CPU1${color} ${cpu cpu1}% ${goto 80}${cpubar cpu1 9,30} ${color2}CPU2${color} ${cpu cpu2}% ${goto 188}${cpubar cpu2 9,30} ${color2} MEM${color} ${mem}/${memmax} ${membar 9,30} ${color2} HDD${color} ${fs_used /}/${fs_size /} ${fs_bar 9,30 /} ${if_existing /media/Linux/Downloads}${color2}SDB1${color} ${fs_used /media/Linux}/${fs_size /media/Linux} ${fs_bar 9,30 /media/Linux}${endif} ${color2}DOWN${color} ${downspeedf eth0} KB/s ${downspeedgraph eth0 9,30} ${color2}UP${color} ${upspeedf eth0} KB/s ${upspeedgraph eth0 9,30} |
(/etc/conky/conky.conf)
I know it's a bad way of doing it but I auto start things through /etc/xdg/openbox/autostart. The file contains:
xcompmgr -fF -I-0.028 -O-0.003 -D3 -cC -t-5 -l-6 -r5 &nitrogen --restore &xfce4-power-manager &volti &checkgmail &(sleep 5s && neap) &update-notifier --force &tint2 &conky &(sleep 2s && tilda) & |
Lastly the start menu... this will also hopefully give you an idea of the programs I have installed.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?><openbox_menu> <menu id="None-65332" label="New Menu"> <item label="New Item"> <action name="Execute"> <execute>command</execute> </action> </item> </menu> <menu id="root-menu" label="OpenBox 3"> <menu id="root-menu-903643" label="Development"> <item label="Firefox"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> firefox </execute> </action> </item> <item label="Epiphany"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> epiphany-browser </execute> </action> </item> <item label="Filezilla"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> filezilla </execute> </action> </item> <item label="Notepad++"> <action name="Execute"> <execute>wine C:\\Program\ Files\\Notepad++\\notepad++.exe</execute> </action> </item> <item label="Gedit"> <action name="Execute"> <execute>gedit</execute> </action> </item> <item label="Xchat"> <action name="Execute"> <execute>xchat</execute> </action> </item> </menu> <menu id="18" label="Games"> <item label="Steam"> <action name="Execute"> <execute>/root/scripts/debian_steam.sh</execute> </action> </item> <item label="Minecraft"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> minecraft </execute> </action> </item> <item label="Tileracer"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> TileRacer </execute> </action> </item> </menu> <menu id="6" label="Graphics"> <item label="Photoshop CS5"> <action name="Execute"> <execute>wine C:\\Program\ Files\\PhotoshopPortable\\PhotoshopCS4Portable.exe</execute> </action> </item> <item label="Gimp"> <action name="Execute"> <execute>gimp</execute> </action> </item> <item label="Gpicview"> <action name="Execute"> <execute>gpicview</execute> </action> </item> </menu> <menu id="root-menu-913938" label="Security"> <item label="EDB"> <action name="Execute"> <execute>edb</execute> </action> </item> <item label="PuTTY"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> putty </execute> </action> </item> <item label="VNC"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> gtkvncviewer </execute> </action> </item> <item label="Nmap"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> zenmap </execute> </action> </item> <item label="NetworkMiner"> <action name="Execute"> <execute>/opt/networkminer/networkminer</execute> </action> </item> <item label="Wireshark"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> wireshark </execute> </action> </item> <item label="Ettercap"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> ettercap -G </execute> </action> </item> <item label="Wifite"> <action name="Execute"> <execute>gnome-terminal -e wifite</execute> </action> </item> <item label="Paros"> <action name="Execute"> <execute>paros</execute> </action> </item> <item label="Burp suite"> <action name="Execute"> <execute>java -jar /opt/burpsuite_free_v1.5.jar</execute> </action> </item> <item label="Vidalia"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> vidalia </execute> </action> </item> <menu id="root-menu-913938-811730" label="Metasploit"> <item label="Armitage"> <action name="Execute"> <execute>armitage</execute> </action> </item> <item label="MSF-GUI"> <action name="Execute"> <execute>msfgui</execute> </action> </item> <item label="MSF-CLI"> <action name="Execute"> <execute>gnome-terminal -e msfconsole</execute> </action> </item> <item label="MSF-update"> <action name="Execute"> <execute>xterm -e "msfupdate; read -p 'press any key to exit'"</execute> </action> </item> <separator/> <item label="Start backend"> <action name="Execute"> <execute>xterm -e "/opt/metasploit-4.4.0/ctlscript.sh start"</execute> </action> </item> <item label="Stop backend"> <action name="Execute"> <execute>xterm -e "/opt/metasploit-4.4.0/ctlscript.sh stop"</execute> </action> </item> <item label="Check backend"> <action name="Execute"> <execute>xterm -e "/opt/metasploit-4.4.0/ctlscript.sh status; read -p 'press any key to exit'"</execute> </action> </item> </menu> </menu> <menu id="7" label="Multimedia"> <item label="VLC"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> vlc </execute> </action> </item> <item label="Smplayer"> <action name="Execute"> <execute>smplayer</execute> </action> </item> <item label="ALSA mixer"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> xterm -e alsamixer </execute> </action> </item> <item label="Brasero"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> brasero </execute> </action> </item> <item label="Skype"> <action name="Execute"> <execute>skype</execute> </action> </item> <item label="Cheese"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> cheese </execute> </action> </item> <item label="Ventrilo"> <action name="Execute"> <execute>mangler</execute> </action> </item> <item label="Record webcam"> <action name="Execute"> <execute>guvcview --verbose</execute> </action> </item> <item label="Record desktop"> <action name="Execute"> <execute>gtk-recordmydesktop</execute> </action> </item> <item label="Sound recorder"> <action name="Execute"> <execute>gnome-sound-recorder</execute> </action> </item> <item label="Video converter"> <action name="Execute"> <execute>winff</execute> </action> </item> <item label="Video editor"> <action name="Execute"> <execute>openshot</execute> </action> </item> </menu> <menu id="3" label="Office"> <item label="Calc"> <action name="Execute"> <execute>galculator</execute> </action> </item> <item label="Evince"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> evince </execute> </action> </item> <item label="Evolution"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> evolution </execute> </action> </item> <item label="Bittorrent"> <action name="Execute"> <execute>qbittorrent</execute> </action> </item> <item label="Nixnote"> <action name="Execute"> <execute>nixnote</execute> </action> </item> <item label="Twitter client"> <action name="Execute"> <execute>hotot</execute> </action> </item> <item label="RSS reader"> <action name="Execute"> <execute>liferea</execute> </action> </item> <menu id="3-25820" label="Libre office"> <item label="Main"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> libreoffice3.6 </execute> </action> </item> <item label="Writer"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> /opt/libreoffice3.6/program/swriter </execute> </action> </item> <item label="Presentation"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> /opt/libreoffice3.6/program/simpress </execute> </action> </item> <item label="Spreadsheet"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> /opt/libreoffice3.6/program/scalc </execute> </action> </item> <item label="Database"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> /opt/libreoffice3.6/program/sbase </execute> </action> </item> <item label="Draw"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> /opt/libreoffice3.6/program/sdraw </execute> </action> </item> <item label="Math"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> /opt/libreoffice3.6/program/smath </execute> </action> </item> </menu> </menu> <menu id="root-menu-423426" label="Cleaning"> <item label="Disk space use"> <action name="Execute"> <execute>baobab</execute> </action> </item> <item label="Back in time"> <action name="Execute"> <execute>backintime-gnome</execute> </action> </item> <item label="BleachBit"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> bleachbit </execute> </action> </item> <item label="Orphan"> <action name="Execute"> <execute>gtkorphan</execute> </action> </item> <item label="Update manager"> <action name="Execute"> <execute>update-manager</execute> </action> </item> <separator/> <item label="Update"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> xterm -e "apt-get update; apt-get upgrade; apt-get dist-upgrade; read -p 'press any key to exit'" </execute> </action> </item> <item label="Clean"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> xterm -e "localepurge; apt-get autoremove; apt-get clean; read -p 'press any key to exit'" </execute> </action> </item> <item label="Rootkits"> <action name="Execute"> <execute>xterm -e "rkhunter --update; rkhunter --skip-keypress -c; chkrootkit; read -p 'press any key to exit'"</execute> </action> </item> </menu> <menu id="19" label="Shells"> <item label="Terminal"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> gnome-terminal </execute> </action> </item> <item label="Bash"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> xterm -e bash --login </execute> </action> </item> <item label="Dash"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> xterm -e dash -i </execute> </action> </item> <item label="GIT"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> xterm -e git </execute> </action> </item> <item label="Python (v2.5)"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> xterm -e python2.5 </execute> </action> </item> <item label="Root Terminal"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> gksu /usr/bin/x-terminal-emulator </execute> </action> </item> <item label="Sh"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> xterm -e sh --login </execute> </action> </item> <item label="Xterm"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> xterm </execute> </action> </item> </menu> <menu id="37" label="System"> <menu id="36" label="Settings"> <menu id="21" label="GNOME"> <item label="Bluetooth"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> bluetooth-properties </execute> </action> </item> <item label="Email Settings"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> evolution-settings </execute> </action> </item> <item label="File Management"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> nautilus-file-management-properties </execute> </action> </item> <item label="Network Connections"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> nm-connection-editor </execute> </action> </item> <item label="Sound"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> gnome-volume-control </execute> </action> </item> </menu> <menu id="35" label="Xfce"> <item label="Screensaver"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> xscreensaver-demo </execute> </action> </item> </menu> <item label="Openbox Configuration Manager"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> obconf </execute> </action> </item> <item label="Software Sources"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> su-to-root -X -c /usr/bin/software-properties-gtk </execute> </action> </item> <item label="Synaptic Package Manager"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> su-to-root -X -c /usr/sbin/synaptic </execute> </action> </item> <item label="Xfontsel"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> xfontsel </execute> </action> </item> <item label="Xvidtune"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> xvidtune </execute> </action> </item> <item label="Touchpad config"> <action name="Execute"> <execute>gpointing-device-settings</execute> </action> </item> <item label="Hardware info"> <action name="Execute"> <execute>hardinfo</execute> </action> </item> </menu> <item label="File Browser"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> nautilus --no-desktop </execute> </action> </item> <item label="Task manager"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> lxtask </execute> </action> </item> <item label="Wicd Network Manager"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> wicd-gtk --no-tray </execute> </action> </item> <item label="Nitrogen"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> nitrogen </execute> </action> </item> <item label="Aptitude (terminal)"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> xterm -e aptitude-curses </execute> </action> </item> <item label="Configuration Editor"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> gconf-editor </execute> </action> </item> <item label="Notification settings"> <action name="Execute"> <execute>xfce4-notifyd-config</execute> </action> </item> <item label="Truecrypt"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> truecrypt </execute> </action> </item> <item label="GDM Setup"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> su-to-root -X -p root -c /usr/sbin/gdmsetup </execute> </action> </item> <item label="Screensaver preferences"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> xscreensaver-command -prefs </execute> </action> </item> <item label="Openbox Menu Editor"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> obmenu </execute> </action> </item> <item label="Synaptic Package Manager"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> synaptic </execute> </action> </item> </menu> <separator/> <menu id="40" label="OpenBox"> <menu id="client-list-menu"/> <item label="Reconfigure"> <action name="Reconfigure"/> </item> <separator/> <item label="Shutdown"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> shutdown -h now </execute> </action> </item> <item label="Restart"> <action name="Execute"> <execute> shutdown -r now </execute> </action> </item> <item label="Logout"> <action name="Exit"/> </item> <item label="Lock"> <action name="Execute"> <execute>xtrlock</execute> </action> </item> </menu> </menu></openbox_menu> |
The wall paper I use is here
Well That is the basic overview... here is some screenshots:
As always, I hope this post has helped in some way. Likes and shares are much appreciated. If you have any questions or advice then feel free to leave a comment.
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how did you make the function keys work?
there is a file that has all the keybinds, if I remember rightly it’s a file thats a part of openbox, simply add the missing ones in there