What to Do After Installation? 5 Tips for Beginners

What to Do After Installing Linux – 5 Most Important Steps (for All Major Distributions)

First thing – check and install all available updates.

In the graphical interface, you will usually find the “Update Manager”

Or use the terminal:

1. Update the system

Each distribution has its own method:

• Ubuntu, Mint, Debian, Zorin OS, MX Linux:

  sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade
  

• Fedora, RHEL, CentOS:

  sudo dnf update
  

• openSUSE:

  sudo zypper update
  

• Arch Linux, Manjaro:

  sudo pacman -Syu
  

2. 💻 Check drivers

Graphics (NVIDIA), Wi-Fi or printers:

• Ubuntu/Mint/Zorin: tool “Driver Manager”
• Fedora/openSUSE/Arch: manual installation, e.g. package nvidia or broadcom-wl
• Or use:

  lspci | grep -i vga
  

3. ▶️ Install codecs and multimedia players

• Ubuntu/Mint: ubuntu-restricted-extras
• Fedora: rpmfusion-free-release, then vlc, gstreamer-plugins
• openSUSE: add the Packman repository, then vlc-codecs, ffmpeg
• Arch/Manjaro: vlc, gstreamer, ffmpeg from the repository

4. 🛠️ Install essential software

Distributions have different software managers:

• GUI: Software Center, Discover, GNOME Software, Synaptic
• Or via terminal:

  sudo apt install vlc gimp libreoffice
  

(Or dnf, zypper, pacman depending on the distribution)

5. 💾 Backups

Important for everyone, regardless of the system.

• Timeshift – works well in Debian/Ubuntu systems, but can be installed elsewhere too.
• Déjà Dup – simple tool for backing up personal files
• rsync, Borg, Restic – more advanced options