Disable or throttle back Tracker indexing
Installed
and running by default on Ubuntu desktops, Tracker is an actually handy
search tool that’s placed, Spotlight-style, in the upper-right taskbar,
giving you quick access to files and folders. The only catch is that
Tracker eats up a good bit of processor power to keep itself current,
and, depending on how you use your system, might not be necessary at
all. The How-To Geek walks through the process of scaling back or disabling Tracker entirely. Looking for a low-power, high-functioning alternative? Try learning the magic of find.
Disable atime to speed up your hard drive
Some older Ubuntu distributions, and other Linux systems, mount hard drives using an atime option. The problem, as noted by Linus Torvalds himself, is that atime writes to the hard disk every time a file is accessed to keep up its indexing records. We’ve detailed how to turn off atime for faster hard drive access, and newer Ubuntu users can go a bit further in disabling the replacement relatime as well—but be sure to back up your original /etc/fstab file, as some applications and services might get cranky without it.
Switch to mirror servers for updates
Every six months or so, a new version of Ubuntu drops. And every six
months, without fail, users looking to download a new CD or upgrade
their systems slam the Ubuntu.com servers, leaving many with huge
download waits, and users just trying to grab the latest updates in the
lurch. Save yourself the cyclical grief, and save Ubuntu’s developers
some hosting costs, by switching to mirror servers for updates.
Universities and Linux groups around the world are happy to dish out
the latest system updates, which are mirrored hastily from Ubuntu’s
servers, and you’ll probably get better speeds finding a nearby host.
Upgrade to OpenOffice.org 3
Ubuntu sticks to a rigid release schedules, so the latest version, 8.10, had to wrap up its software picks before the OpenOffice
project could finalize its 3.0 version. Luckily, it’s not too hard to
put the latest open-source office suite on your desktop, either as a
replacement for the 2.x default or next to it. The Tombuntu blog details the steps, which require only a minimal bit of command line work.
Back up your home folder
The “home” folder in Linux, found at /home/yourusername,
is more than just a stash for MP3s and cat pictures. In hidden files
(named with a . at the start) and specific folders, it’s where most
applications keep your preferences, data files, and other
customizations. Having a backup of your home folder is pretty crucial
to reinstalling a system that went bad, making painless upgrades, and
generally feeling better about your stability. You can kick it
old-school with rsync or hook up an external hard drive, but the recently-opened Dropbox makes it seriously easy and automatic to back up the home folder with a native client application.
Filed under: Ubuntu
