how to setup gnome using ansible

How to setup GNOME using Ansible

GNOME (GNU Network Object Model Environment) is probably the most used graphical environment in the Linux ecosystem, if only because all major Linux distributions such as Fedora, RHEL, Debian and Ubuntu ship with it as the default desktop. GNOME strives for simplicity and ease of use, and for this reason, not without some criticisms by a part of the Linux community, tends to be less customizable than other desktop environments such as KDE Plasma or XFCE. Instead of using plaintext configuration files, GNOME stores its settings in the dconf database, which can be manipulated using the “dconf-editor” GUI, or from the command line using the “dconf” utility.

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How to customize Firefox using the policies.json file

How to customize Firefox using policies

In a world where Google Chrome is, by a large margin, the most used web browser, Firefox represents the only relevant open source alternative. The Mozilla browser is installed by default (or at least available in the official repositories) of all the most used Linux distributions.  In order to configure its behavior we can change settings interactively, or, more conveniently, we can create and deploy “policies”.

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How to set default programs using the Debian alternatives system

How to set default programs using update-alternatives on Debian-based distributions

More often than not, on our Linux system, we can find two or more applications of the same type installed: it is typically the case of text editors, but we can also have multiple web browsers, for example. Setting the default application used to perform a specific task system-wide, however, can sometimes be problematic. To solve this problem, on Debian and Debian-based Linux distributions, we can use the alternatives system and the “update-alternatives” tool.

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How to keep configuration files under version control with Etckeeper

How to keep configuration files under version control with Etckeeper

On Linux-based operating system the /etc directory is used to hold global configuration files for applications and services. A good set of configurations is really important for a good working system, so being able to keep track of changes and quickly revert them, in case something go wrong, is crucial. Etckeeper helps us achieve this goal keeping configuration files under version control.

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