Configuration

Root

Hide GRUB menu

/etc/default/grub

GRUB_TIMEOUT_STYLE=hidden
GRUB_TIMEOUT=0
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet loglevel=0"

$ update-grub

Improve agetty legibility

/etc/default/console-setup

# Change the console font settings
FONTFACE="Terminus"
FONTSIZE="32x16"

Install the essentials

$ apt-get update
$ apt-get upgrade

$ apt-get install sudo zsh vim ipython3 \
zsh-syntax-highlighting cmus tmux mpv \
alsa-tools alsa-utils i3 i3blocks rofi xinit \
xorg curl git thunar sshfs terminator starship \
xbindkeys unclutter feh killall ncdu btop \
zsh-syntax-highlighting gtk-theme-switch \
taskwarrior vit jackd2 qjackctl pulseaudio \
pulseaudio-module-jack pavucontrol pulsemixer \
a2jmidid python3-venv python3-pip pipx \
xclip tig id3v2 libglib2.0-bin xdotool lmms arduino \
jq python3-ipdb python3-pudb nodejs npm

$ usermod -aG sudo <username>
$ chsh <username> -s /bin/zsh
$ chsh -s /bin/zsh

User

System Maintenance

# Refresh package index
sudo apt update

# Upgrade installed packages (safe)
sudo apt upgrade

# List packages that can be upgraded
apt list --upgradable

# Full upgrade (allow deps to change, occasionally useful)
sudo apt full-upgrade

# Install a package
sudo apt install <package>

# Remove unneeded packages
sudo apt autoremove

# Clean cached .deb files
sudo apt clean

Fetch the dotfiles and assets

mkdir ~/System
cd ~/System
git clone https://github.com/hugligit/dotfiles.git
git clone https://github.com/hugligit/assets.git
sh ~/System/dotfiles/stow_all.sh
sh ~/System/assets/stow_all.sh
fc-cache -f -v

# The documentation can only be built after
# python venv is set up correctly
git clone https://github.com/hugligit/configure-debian-docs.git install-info

zsh

sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ohmyzsh/ohmyzsh/master/tools/install.sh)"

vim

mkdir - .vim/pack/minpac/opt
cd .vim/pack/minpac/opt
git clone https://github.com/k-takata/minpac.git
# vim: PackUpdate

tmux

git clone https://github.com/tmux-plugins/tpm ~/.tmux/plugins/tpm
# tmux update plugins: leader I

sound

Setup

Find the right card and set it in ~/.asoundrc

aplay -l

~/.asoundrc

defaults.pcm.card 2
defaults.ctl.card 2

jackd

Start jack server, jack sink for pulseaudio and midi bridge between jack and alsa.

# TEST: jackd -d alsa -d hw:2,0 -p 128 -n 3 -r 48000
pactl load-module module-jack-sink
pactl load-module module-jack-source
# send PA to Jack sink in pavucontrol
a2jmidid -e

# I line-in must be heard on speakers
pactl load-module module-loopback latency_msec=1

Restart pulseadio

Sometimes the audio can be hijacked by fluidsynth on my system

# systemctl --user stop fluidsynth.service
systemctl --user restart pipewire
systemctl --user restart wireplumber

Connect line-in

pactl load-module module-loopback

pactl unload-module module-loopback

Record sound output

pactl list short sources

parec -d alsa_output* --file-format=wav out.wav

bluetooth

# sudo apt install –no-install-recommends bluez bluez-tools blueman

Taking Screenshots

# add delay
sleep 0.2 && maim  ~/Pictures/region.png# add delay# add delay

# select region
m -s ~/Pictures/region.png

# screenshot to clipboard
maim -s | xclip -selection clipboard -t image/png

Configuring Touchpads

# list devices, look to names including "Touchpad"
xinput list

# Enable left/right/middle click with 1,2,3 finger tap
xinput set-prop "Telink Wireless PTP Receiver Touchpad" "libinput Tapping Enabled" 1

# set speed -1 .. 1
xinput set-prop "Telink Wireless PTP Receiver Touchpad" "libinput Accel Speed" 0.3


# list properties available to the device
xinput list-props "Telink Wireless PTP Receiver Touchpad"

eza completion

curl -L https://raw.githubusercontent.com/eza-community/eza/main/completions/zsh/_eza \
-o ~/.oh-my-zsh/completions/_eza

Workflows

All of these are a bit chaotic at the moment. I will have to restructure most of the entries, but the priority is to capture and document what I’ve learnt before I forget.

npm

Initiate Project

mkdir project_name
cd $_
npm init -y
npm install p5 # install specific modules
npm install # install modules from package.json

Configure Bundler

./package.json

// ...
"scripts": {
    "test": "echo \"Error: no test specified\" && exit 1",
    "dev": "vite",
    "build": "vite build",
    "build-local": "vite build --config vite.config.local.js"
// ...

./index.html

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8" />
    <title>My Presentation</title>
    <script type="module" src="/main.js"></script>
  </head>
  <body></body>
</html>

./main.js

import p5 from "p5";

new p5((s) => {
  s.setup = () => {
    s.createCanvas(400, 200);
  };
  s.draw = () => {
    s.background(200);
    s.ellipse(200, 100, 100, 100);
  };
});

Development Server

npm run dev
npm run build

Standalone Version

./vite.config.js

// vite.config.js
import { defineConfig } from "vite";
import { viteSingleFile } from "vite-plugin-singlefile";

export default defineConfig(({ command, mode }) => {
  const isSingle = mode === "singlefile";

  return {
    base: "./",
    plugins: isSingle ? [viteSingleFile()] : [],
    build: {
      outDir: isSingle ? "dist-single" : "dist",
    },
  };
});

npm install --save-dev vite-plugin-singlefile
npm run build

python virtual environments

Debian doesn’t like installing pip modules outside the virtual environments. For projects requiring other modules the venv has to be activated:

python3 -m venv .venv # (or venv or anywhere else)
source .venv/bin/activate

Then it is possible to install modules and do the work:

python -m pip install <python-module>

The finished product can be installed so that it works even without active venv. This only works when there is a valid toml file in the project root:

deactivate
python3 -m pipx ensurepath
pipx install .

sample.toml

[project]
name = "lemon_curry"

# pip freeze
version = "0.1.0" # required :(
dependencies = [
        # can be obtained with `pip freeze`
        "prompt_toolkit==3.0.51",
        "Pygments==2.19.2",
        ]


[project.scripts]
# command name = script_file:entry_function
lemon_curry = "sample:main"
# say-hi = "hello:main" # another hypothetical one

github

Once only

# Generate a new SSH key (ed25519 is recommended)
ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "your_email@example.com"

# Copy public key
cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub

xclip -sel clip < ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub

For each terminal session

# Start ssh-agent
eval "$(ssh-agent -s)"

# Add key to agent
ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

Add existing repositories to github

Add remote alias that points to the githup repository

git remote add origin git@github.com:USERNAME/REPO.git
git remote -v
git push -u origin main   # or master, matching your local branch

Simple pull and push commands are sufficient from then on.

git add .
git commit -m "message"
git push
git pull

Github CLI setup

# Install
(type -p wget >/dev/null || (sudo apt update && sudo apt install wget -y)) \
&& sudo mkdir -p -m 755 /etc/apt/keyrings \
&& out=$(mktemp) && wget -nv -O$out https://cli.github.com/packages/githubcli-archive-keyring.gpg \
&& cat $out | sudo tee /etc/apt/keyrings/githubcli-archive-keyring.gpg > /dev/null \
&& sudo chmod go+r /etc/apt/keyrings/githubcli-archive-keyring.gpg \
&& sudo mkdir -p -m 755 /etc/apt/sources.list.d \
&& echo "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/githubcli-archive-keyring.gpg] https://cli.github.com/packages stable main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/github-cli.list > /dev/null \
&& sudo apt update \
&& sudo apt install gh -y

# Completion
mkdir ~/.oh-my-zsh/.completions # needs to be more robust
gh completion -s zsh > ~/.oh-my-zsh/completions/_gh
fpath=(~/.oh-my-zsh/completions $fpath)
autoload -Uz compinit && compinit

# One off authentication
gh auth login

Arduino Workflow

Install arduino-cli

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/arduino/arduino-cli/master/install.sh | BINDIR=$HOME/.local/bin sh
# ensure ~/.local/bin is in your PATH


# Initial config & core install (example for AVR Uno/Nano):

arduino-cli config init
arduino-cli core update-index
arduino-cli core install arduino:avr

## Useful commands (one-liners you’ll run from a tmux pane)
## ________________________________________________________

arduino-cli board list

# Find the serial device (after plugging board in):
ls /dev/ttyACM* /dev/ttyUSB* 2>/dev/null || echo "no device"

# Compile a sketch (replace fqbn accordingly):
arduino-cli compile --fqbn arduino:avr:uno /path/to/YourSketch

# Compile and upload in one go:
arduino-cli compile --fqbn arduino:avr:uno --upload -p /dev/ttyUSB0 /path/to/YourSketch
arduino-cli compile --fqbn arduino:avr:uno --upload --port /dev/ttyUSB0 /path/to/YourSketch

# Start serial monitor (in another tmux pane):
arduino-cli monitor -p /dev/ttyUSB0 -b 115200

Makefile (drop in sketch folder)

FQBN = arduino:avr:uno
PORT = /dev/ttyUSB0
SKETCH = MySketch

.PHONY: all compile upload monitor clean

all: upload

compile:
     arduino-cli compile --fqbn $(FQBN) $(SKETCH)

upload: compile
     arduino-cli upload --fqbn $(FQBN) --port $(PORT) $(SKETCH)

monitor:
     arduino-cli monitor -p $(PORT) -b 115200

clean:
     # arduino-cli doesn't have a 'clean' but you can remove build dir if needed
     rm -rf $(shell arduino-cli compile --fqbn $(FQBN) $(SKETCH) 2>/dev/null | sed -n 's/^.*Using.*work dir: //p')

PDF

pdftk one.pdf two.pdf cat output out.pdf