Debian applications installation¶

Introduction ¶

This page describes most of the installations I do on my Debian GNU/Linux machines just after the base installation and in my first Openbox session.

The first section is about Debian GNU/Linux packages installations, the second one is about third party applications installations.

Some of the applications I install have a dedicated page on this site (please see the home page) and are not mentionned here.

Debian GNU/Linux packages installation ¶

Installation command ¶

The command to be run (as root) to perform the Debian GNU/Linux packages installation is:

apt-get install \
    rsyslog \
    apt-rdepends \
    curl \
    firefox-esr \
    webext-ublock-origin-firefox webext-ublock-origin-chromium \
    w3m \
    chromium \
    smartmontools \
    fonts-inconsolata \
    ccrypt \
    rsync \
    zip unzip \
    vorbis-tools \
    alsa-utils \
    moc \
    cdtool \
    cdparanoia \
    cdrskin \
    wodim \
    genisoimage \
    vlc \
    ffmpeg \
    sox \
    wkhtmltopdf \
    default-jre default-jdk \
    taskwarrior \
    gcal \
    gftp \
    xpdf \
    evince \
    catdoc \
    octave \
    gnat gprbuild libaunit22-dev \
    ada-reference-manual-2012 \
    libxmlada-dom12-dev libxmlada-input12-dev libxmlada-sax12-dev \
    libxmlada-schema12-dev libxmlada-unicode12-dev \
    libgtkada-bin libgtkada-doc libgtkada22 libgtkada22-dev \
    gdb gdb-doc gdbserver \
    valgrind \
    lcov \
    libncurses5 \
    libb-lint-perl \
    gimp jhead imagemagick \
    libimage-exiftool-perl \
    xsane \
    xzgv \
    rawtherapee \
    irssi \
    pan \
    claws-mail \
    claws-mail-themes \
    vim \
    unaccent \
    psmisc \
    sudo \
    pwgen \
    time \
    tree \
    mmv \
    bc \
    network-manager \
    openconnect \
    freerdp2-x11 \
    whois \
    wireshark \
    tcpdump \
    ncat \
    nmap \
    openssh-server \
    colortest \
    mesa-utils \
    lm-sensors \
    hwloc \
    zbar-tools \
    meld \
    hexedit \
    python3-sphinx \
    ruby-nokogiri \
    sakura # As root.

Short description ¶

Here’s a short description of the packages:

rsyslog	System and kernel logging daemon
apt-rdepends	Package dependencies listing tool
curl	Data transfer tool
firefox-esr	Graphical Web browser
webext-ublock-origin-firefox, webext-ublock-origin-chromium	Ads, malware, trackers blocker
w3m	Text-based Web browser
chromium	Graphical Web browser
smartmontools	Storage systems control and monitoring tools using S.M.A.R.T. (see this good smartmontools tutorial by Random Bits)
fonts-inconsolata	Monospace font
ccrypt	Encryption and decryption tool
rsync	File-copying tool
zip, unzip	Archiver and de-archiver for .zip files
vorbis-tools	ogg123, vorbiscomment, …
alsa-utils	amixer, alsamixer, …
moc	Music On Console
cdtool	Includes cdown (CD tracks info extraction)
cdparanoia	CD ripper
cdrskin, wodim	CD writing tools
genisoimage	ISO-9660 CD-ROM filesystem images creation
vlc	Multimedia player
ffmpeg	Multimedia files transcoding, playing, …
sox	Audio files manipulation programs
wkhtmltopdf	HTML to PDF conversion tool
default-jre, default-jdk	Java runtime, Java development kit
taskwarrior	Console based todo list manager
gcal	Calendar program
gftp	FTP client
xpdf	PDF reader
evince	Document viewer (can fill in forms in PDF files)
catdoc	Text extractor for MS-Office files
octave	GNU Octave language (similar to Matlab)
gnat, gprbuild, libaunit22-dev	Ada programming tools
ada-reference-manual-2012	Ada 2012 reference manual
libxmlada-dom12-dev, libxmlada-input12-dev, libxmlada-sax12-dev, libxmlada-schema12-dev, libxmlada-unicode12-dev, libgtkada-bin libgtkada-doc, libgtkada22, libgtkada22-dev	Ada libraries (XML/Ada and GtkAda)
gdb, gdb-doc, gdbserver	GNU debugger (including remote server)
valgrind	Program profiling tools
lcov	Test coverage report generation tools
libncurses5	Libraries for terminal handling (legacy version), needed to run GNAT Programming Studio as provided with GNAT Community 2018 and 2019.
libb-lint-perl	Perl code checker
gimp, jhead, imagemagick	Image manipulation programs
libimage-exiftool-perl	Includes exiftool (image metadata extraction)
xsane	Frontend for SANE (Scanner Access Now Easy), includes Gimp plugin (the Gimp plugin may not work, on Debian Bookworm at least, but there is a fix)
xzgv	Image viewer
rawtherapee	Raw image converter
irssi	IRC client
pan	Usenet newsreader
claws-mail	Mail client (MH mailbox format)
claws-mail-themes	Claws Mail themes
vim	Vim text editor
unaccent	Tool to replace accented letters by unaccented equivalent
psmisc	killall, …
sudo	Privilege escalation
pwgen	Password generator
time	CPU resource usage measurement
tree	Indented directory listing tool
mmv	Tool to move/copy/append/link multiple files by wildcard patterns
bc	Calculator language, to be used in scripts or interactively
network-manager	Network management framework
openconnect	Client for GlobalProtect VPN (among others)
freerdp2-x11	X11 based Remote Desktop Protocol client (On Debian Buster, I have to append options `/relax-order-checks` and `+glyph-cache` to the `xfreerdp` command line. See https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=954203#10. My command line is like: `xfreerdp +glyph-cache /relax-order-checks /u:my_user_name /v:my.server /kbd:0x40c /f`)
whois	Command-line WHOIS client
wireshark	Graphical network traffic analyzer
tcpdump	Command-line network traffic analyzer
ncat	Utility to read / write data across networks from the command line
nmap	Network mapper
openssh-server	Secure shell (SSH) server
colortest	Terminal color test graphs
mesa-utils	glxgears and other programs
lm-sensors	Utilities to read temperature/voltage/fan sensors (Run `sensors-detect` as root to configure and `sensors` to view a readout of the sensors.)
hwloc	Hardware Locality tool suite
zbar-tools	Bar code / QR-code related utilities
meld	Graphical tool to show differences between text files
hexedit	Hexadecimal editor
python3-sphinx	Documentation generator
ruby-nokogiri	HTML, XML, SAX, and Reader parser for Ruby
sakura	Terminal emulator

Configuration, preferences ¶

Firefox ESR ¶

At about:config, set the following options to true:

browser.quitShortcut.disabled
browser.tabs.warnOnClose
browser.tabs.warnOnCloseOtherTabs
browser.warnOnQuit

At about:preferences#search, set DuckDuckGo as default search engine.

At about:preferences#privacy, uncheck “Ask to save logins and passwords for websites”.

Chromium ¶

In Settings | Search engines, set DuckDuckGo as the search engine used in the adress bar.

In Settings | Autofill | Passwords, disable “Offer to save passwords” and “Auto sign-in”.

Irssi ¶

Set personal information (real name, user name, nickname) in ~/.irssi/config.

Many Irssi themes are available. I chose the rolle theme.

To install and use the theme, just copy the theme file to ~/.irssi and issue a /SET theme <theme_name> command in Irssi.

When starting Claws Mail for the first time, you’re welcomed with the setup wizard which helps you setting up an E-Mail account asks you in which folder the messages should be stored. This is the “Mailbox name” which defaults to “Mail” which means that the messages are stored in directory ~/Mail.

The “Mailbox name” ends up in configuration file ~/.claws-mail/folderlist.xml.

The E-Mail account parameters ends up in configuration file ~/.claws-mail/accountrc.

Claws Mail stores the address book related files in directory ~/.claws-mail/addrbook.

I keep my signature in ~/.signature. (You can provide the signature file in the “Compose” tab of the “Account preferences” dialog box.)

Other settings:

In Preferences, Themes: orbit-claws.
In Preferences, Other, Miscellaneous: Confirm on exit.
In Preferences, Message View, External Programs: Uncheck “Use system defaults when possible”. Enter external programs as follows:
- Web browser: firefox ‘%s’
- Text editor: gvim ‘%s’
- Command for ‘Display as text’: gvim ‘%s’

Pan ¶

In Edit News Servers, add a news server. I use news.free.fr, with my Free E-Mail login. This works even when connecting through an ISP other than Free.

In Edit Preferences, Applications: * Web browser: Custom Command: firefox * Text editor: gvim

The two settings are saved in ~/.pan2/servers.xml and ~/.pan2/preferences.xml respectively.

GIMP ¶

In Preferences, Interface, Theme: System.

In Preferences, Interface, Icon Theme: Color.

In Keyboard Shortcuts, View: Set Zoom in shortcut to ‘=’.

Music On Console ¶

I use Music On Console in shuffle mode. I’ve set the shuffle mode in the ~/.moc/config file.

Note also in the same file the ShowTime setting. It avoids a huge delay when quitting mocp (due to the program reading the tags in the files).

Taskwarrior ¶

By default, Taskwarrior stores the data in ~/.task, but it is possible to set another directory. See my ~/.taskrc file.

xzgv ¶

Such a ~/.xzgvrc file ensures that the program starts in “fit to window” mode for high resolution images or in 100% mode for images smaller than the window. For high resolution images, switching between “fit to window” mode and 100% mode is possible with the Z key.

Vim ¶

Check that /usr/bin/vim.gtk3 is the selected editor in the Debian alternatives system with update-alternatives --display editor (as root). If not, use update-alternatives --config editor (as root).

Restore file ~/.vimrc.

my ~/.vimrc file is heavily commented. The most “interesting” thing may be the affectation of the backupdir and directory options (the directories where the backup files and the swap files are written respectively). They are affected to ~/.vim/backup and ~/.vim/swap respectively (assuming ~/.vim is the first entry of the runtimepath option and ~/.vim/backup and ~/.vim/swap are writable directories or can be created as writable directories).

The point of this is to avoid having backup and swap files in the working directories and having them in dedicated directories ~/.vim/backup and ~/.vim/swap instead. You may be interested by this page by Xilin Sun (which also covers the undo files).

Here is the code (with comments removed) of my ~/.vimrc that makes the affectation of the backupdir and directory options:

function s:CanWriteToDir(path_to_dir)

    if !isdirectory(a:path_to_dir) && exists("*mkdir")
        silent! call mkdir(a:path_to_dir, "p", 0700)
    endif
    return (filewritable(a:path_to_dir) == 2)

endfunction

let s:DotVimPath = split(&runtimepath,",")[0]

let s:BackupDir = s:DotVimPath . "/backup"
if s:CanWriteToDir(s:BackupDir)
    set backup
    let &backupdir = s:BackupDir . "," . &backupdir
endif

let s:SwapDir = s:DotVimPath . "/swap"
if s:CanWriteToDir(s:SwapDir)
    let &directory = s:SwapDir . "//" . "," . &directory
endif

You may also be interested in using the Base16 color schemes.

Sakura ¶

Set font to Inconsolata Medium 12.

Wireshark ¶

When installing Wireshark (Debian package wireshark), you’re prompted to choose whether non-superusers should be able to capture packets. I answer “Yes”. It causes the wireshark group to be created. Then you just have to add a user to the wireshark group to grant this user the right to capture packets with Wireshark. Use a command like the one below (as root) to add a user a user to the wireshark group:

usermod -aG wireshark user_name # As root.

If you have answered “No” and have changed your mind, run dpkg-reconfigure wireshark-common.

Third party applications installation ¶

Google Chrome installation ¶

I downloaded the 64 bit .deb Debian package from https://www.google.com/chrome and installed it as root with:

dpkg -i google-chrome-stable_current_amd64.deb # As root.

The installation was not successful. I had to issue the following command to fix the system:

apt install -f # As root.

I didn’t want Google Chrome to be the default browser, so I reselected Firefox ESR in the Debian alternatives system with update-alternatives --config x-www-browser (as root).

I then tweaked Google Chrome’s settings as for Chromium.

GNAT Community Edition 2021 ¶

GNAT Community Edition is available on Adacore’s download page. Download the binary executable archive gnat-2021-20210519-x86_64-linux-bin and execute it as root to perform the installation. Before that, you probably have to make sure that the executable can connect to the X server using the following commands:

xhost +local: # As "normal" user.

and:

export DISPLAY=:0.0 # As root.

Alire (Ada LIbrary REpository) installation ¶

The Alire distribution is available as a Zip archive on Github. I download it using wget (example for version 1.2.1):

cd Downloads
wget https://github.com/alire-project/alire/releases/download/v1.2.1/alr-1.2.1-bin-x86_64-linux.zip

Then I extract it using unzip as root:

cd <directory_containing_the_archive> # As root.
mkdir -p /opt/alire # As root.
unzip alr-1.2.1-bin-x86_64-linux.zip -d /opt/alire # As root.

Finally I add /opt/alire/bin to my path, via a line in my ~/.profile file:

PATH=”$PATH”:/opt/alire/bin

signal-desktop installation and linking to a “dumb phone”¶

Here are the commands I issued (as root) to install signal-desktop (you may want to check the Signal official site):

wget https://updates.signal.org/desktop/apt/keys.asc -O - | apt-key add
echo "deb [arch=amd64] https://updates.signal.org/desktop/apt xenial main" \
    > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/signal-xenial.list
apt-get update
apt-get install signal-desktop
chmod 4755 /opt/Signal/chrome-sandbox

The rest of this section is largely taken from the “How to install and use Signal messenger without a smartphone” ctrl.alt.coop page.

If your phone is not able to read QR codes (like my “dumb phone”), you can link it using signal-cli. You will also need a QR code decoder program. zbarimg (provided by Debian package zbar-tools) is an example of such a program.

First, download signal-cli (as a normal user, and check the latest version number on https://github.com/AsamK/signal-cli/releases):

cd ~/Downloads
wget https://github.com/AsamK/signal-cli/releases/download/v0.7.4/signal-cli-0.7.4.tar.gz

Then install it as root:

cd /opt
tar -xvf /home/<username>/Downloads/signal-cli-0.7.4.tar.gz

Then, as a normal user (substitute +336xxxxxxxx with your real phone number):

# Request a verification code (you'll receive it in an SMS).
/opt/signal-cli-0.7.4/bin/signal-cli -u +336xxxxxxxx register

# Verify your account.
/opt/signal-cli-0.7.4/bin/signal-cli \
    -u +336xxxxxxxx verify <verification_code_received_by_sms>

# Launch signal-desktop.
signal-desktop &

You’re presented with a QR code. You need to save the QR code image to a file (say, ~/qr.png):

Open developer tools (menu View | Toggle Developer Tools).
Go to Network tab.
Click All.
Type data:image/png in the filter text box.
Hit Ctrl-R if you don’t see any data:image/png entry appear.
Click the data:image/png entry.
Save the image (right click on it, save to ~/qr.png).

Finally, use zbarimg to extract the tsdevice link and link your computer with your phone:

zbarimg ~/qr.png 2>/dev/null|head -1|sed "s/^[^:]\+://"

/opt/signal-cli-0.7.4/bin/signal-cli -u +336xxxxxxxx \
  addDevice --uri "<tsdevice_link>"

Session for desktop installation ¶

Here is how I currently install and use Session for desktop. I download the Appimage file for Linux from https://www.getsession.org/linux and place it in my home directory. Then I give the file executable permission with a command like:

chmod +x session-desktop-linux-x86_64-1.5.2.AppImage

I launch Session for desktop with a command like:

session-desktop-linux-x86_64-1.5.2.AppImage --no-sandbox &

(See https://github.com/oxen-io/session-desktop/issues/1418 for a discussion about the use of the --no-sandbox flag).