I have regularly covered article like things to do after installing Ubuntu for almost all the new versions. It’s a list of few things that one requires after a fresh install of Ubuntu. In fact those list articles have helped me the most in reminding me to install essentials programs and tools for a better Ubuntu desktop experience.

One thing I have noticed that few users talked about creating a script or something similar so that one doesn’t have to go manually installing applications by applications. It is cumbersome and time taking. An automated process might come as handy for a number of people.

Thankfully, we have a GUI application in development that provides a list of essential applications that you can download in few mouse clicks. Quite aptly, the application is named Ubuntu After Install.

Install Ubuntu After Install in Ubuntu 14.04 & 15.10

To install Ubuntu After Install, you can add its official PPA. Use the following commands in the terminal to install it:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:thefanclub/ubuntu-after-install sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install ubuntu-after-install

Packages offered in Ubuntu After Install

Ubuntu After Install provides the following applications/packages for installation:

Ubuntu Restricted Extras: video codecs and Flash Plugin

libdvdcss to enable DVD playback

Unity Tweak Tool to tweak your desktop settings

Numix Circle Icons

Variety wallpaper changer

My Weather Indicator

Google Chrome

Tor Browser for anonymous internet browsing

LibreOffice

Skype

Pidgin all in one instant messenger

Grive Tools to sync your Google Drive

DropBox

VLC

KODI (XBMC)

Radio Tray for streaming radio service in Ubuntu

Spotify

GIMP: Photoshop alternative

Darktable to process RAW files image

Inkscape for vector based illustration and graphics editing

Scribus professional quality desktop publishing software

OpenShot video editor

Kdenlive for more advanced video editing

Handbrake to convert DVD’s and videos for mobile devices

Audacity for music and sound editing

Steam for gaming on Linux

KeePass to store all your passwords securely

Shutter to manage screenshots

FileZilla for FTP file up- and downloads

BleachBit for secure file and history delete

Samba for windows network sharing

PDF Tools to merge, cut, append and edit PDF documents

p7zip adds the powerful 7zip file compression and decompression

Oracle Java 7

Using Ubuntu After Install

Using Ubuntu After Install is fairly simple. Go to Unity Dash and look for Ubuntu After Install. I must say that they can really do away with that ugly icon of Ubuntu After Install. It is really off putting.

You’ll need to enter admin password of course. Later on you’ll see a GUI with a list of application already marked for installation. By default it marks all the application in the list which are not already installed on the system. Of course, you can deselect the ones which you want to avoid. You can identify the already installed packages with the green radio button.

Since it is in beta, perhaps this is why it did not recognize that few of the applications such as Dropbox and LibreOffice was already installed on my system.

Remove Ubuntu After Install

If you are not satisfied with Ubuntu After Install, you can uninstall it using the following commands:

sudo apt-get remove ubuntu-after-install sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:thefanclub/ubuntu-after-install

Don’t worry, the applications you installed using Ubuntu After Install will not be removed if you remove it.

Conclusion

Indeed it is a nice application which saves you lots of time and trouble that you spend in manually adding PPA and installing applications. It would definitely be useful if you are frequently reinstall your system.

In addition to Ubuntu After Install, you can use Apptik to restore the applications from previous installation of Ubuntu.