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Linux for Starters: Your Guide to Linux – 8 Things to do after installing Ubuntu – Part 5

Last Updated on May 22, 2022

2. Install Drivers

What you need to do here is dependent on your hardware.

The first thing to do is to interrogate your system. It’ll give you an understanding of your hardware. You can then investigate whether there are proprietary drivers you might benefit from instead of using the open source Ubuntu drivers.

If you’re not sure the hardware you are running, we recommend installing inxi. It’s a command-line program which is launched from a terminal. You can start the Terminal program clicking the Grid (bottom left hand corner of the screen). Start typing the word terminal in the search box, and you’ll see the Terminal icon. Click the icon to launch the program.

Install inxi with the command:

$ sudo apt install inxi

Linux for Starters - inxi

To interrogate the hardware on your system, type the command:

$ inxi -Fazy

This information will give you specific model information for your hardware which will be helpful when determining what drivers you need.

Proprietary graphics card drivers are provided by graphics card manufacturers and can provide improved performance and additional features when compared with open source Ubuntu drivers. To enable proprietary drivers for your machine, do the following:

  1. Open Additional Drivers from the grid (Show Applications) found at the bottom of the Dash.
  2. Let the system analyse your hardware.
  3. Enable the recommended proprietary drivers.
  4. Click the Apply Changes button.

Next Page: Page 3 – Enable Backups


Pages in this article:
Page 1 – Initial Update
Page 2 – Install Drivers
Page 3 – Enable Backups
Page 4 – Video/Audio Codecs and TrueType Fonts
Page 5 – GNOME Tweaks
Page 6 – GNOME Extensions
Page 7 – Install BleachBit
Page 8 – Night Light and Summary


All articles in this series:

Linux For Starters: Your Guide to Linux
1What is Linux? Why use Linux? What do I need?
2Choose a Linux distribution meeting your specific needs and requirements.
3Make a bootable Ubuntu USB stick in Windows.
4We show you how to install Ubuntu 21.04 on your hard disk.
5Things to do after installing Ubuntu.
6Navigating your way around the Desktop.
7Updating the system, install new software.
8Open source replacements for proprietary Windows desktop software.
9Get started with the power and flexibility of the terminal.
10We cover the basics of files and permissions.
11Getting help from your system.
12Learn all about the file system.
13Manipulating files from the shell.
14Maintain your system with these simple tips.
15Managing users on your system.
16Explore different desktops to GNOME 3.
17Gaming on Linux.
18Protect your privacy with this guide.
19Access the Windows desktop from Linux using a remote desktop client.
20Set up a virtual machine running Ubuntu as the host and openSUSE as the guest.
21Wine lets you run Windows programs on Linux without emulation.
22Extend your GNOME desktop with extensions and themes.
XUseful Linux commands.
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Gremlin
Gremlin
3 years ago

Why only cover Ubuntu?

Jon
Jon
3 years ago
Reply to  Gremlin

From independent surveys Ubuntu is the most popular Linux distro. Ignore the charts you see on some web sites that often have fairly obscure distros top. Their fanboys just vote them up using bots, partly because they are very passionate about them.

Interestingly, Linus Torvalds (the creator of the Linux kernel) has never even tried Ubuntu.

Craig
Craig
3 years ago

What about the command line? Newcomers shouldn’t only use GUIs in my opinion.

Nico
Nico
3 years ago

How about what to do when app doesnt have a package?

James
James
3 years ago

How about as a Linux user you whine, cry and criticize ever tutorial and article ever printed? It really gets old. I use Linux, I use Ubuntu, I use other OS’s. I appreciate people with the skill and knowledge to write tutorials and articles that can help others. No article can cover ‘everything Linux”. Thank you Steve.