Taking Pop!_OS for a spin

I missed out on the HP Dev One laptops that came with Pop!_OS installed on them, so I decided to install it on an old laptop. Pop!_OS is based on Ubuntu 22.04, which is itself based on Debian. I use a Debian machine every day, so it shouldn't be too big an adjustment for me. Pop!_OS has something called COSMIC, which is a desktop enviroment built on top of GNOME. Apparently, it has a sort of tiling effect. I normally use Xfce and have done for years, so that will probably be the biggest change.

First, download the OS and put it on a thumb drive.

sudo fdisk -l # note which device is the thumb drive
sudo cp ~/Downloads/pop-os_22.04_amd64_intel_21.iso /dev/sdc

Then boot the laptop with the thumb drive and install the os. I just gave it the entire hard drive and took all the defaults.

First problem: the Wifi doesn't work. Some chipsets need proprietary drivers and the os doesn't include them. This is true for Debian (although they do distribute them as "nonfree"), but I thought Ubuntu included them. Indeed, I thought this was one the reasons that folks find Ubuntu easier to use than Debian. Perhaps Pop!_OS took them back out again, since System 76 knows what drivers they need. Anyway, I ran lspci to figure out what chipset I had (Broadcom) and then looked up the driver for it. I plugged in an ethernet cable and installed it.

sudo apt install firmware-b43-installer

Now unplugging the ethernet cable causes the laptop to find the wifi. Whee!

Let's install some other non-free things.

sudo apt install ubuntu-restricted-extras

I have to swap Ctrl and Caps lock as my muscle memory was learned on Unix keyboards from decades ago. Pop!_OS offers no help with this. Apparently, GNOME requires a "Tweaks" package to do it.

sudo add-apt-repository universe
sudo apt install gnome-tweaks
Tweaks -> Keyboard & Mouse -> Additional Layout Options

Stop the cursor from blinking! I cannot bear blinky things. I think it's genetic. My Mom never let us have blinking Christmas lights because she couldn't stand them. Pop!_OS offers no help with this. Apparently, GNOME requires you to go to the command line (ironic).

gsettings list-recursively | grep cursor
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface cursor-blink false

Focus follows mouse. Again, I've used various window managers this way for decades. Again, Pop!_OS offers no help with this and GNOME needs Tweaks.

Tweaks -> Windows -> Window Focus -> Focus on Hover

Make mouse left handed.

gsettings list-recursively | grep mouse
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.peripherals.mouse left-handed true

But not the touchpad.

gsettings list-recursively | grep touch
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.peripherals.touchpad left-handed 'right'

Okay, I think I can use it now. Phew!

So here's what it looks like with all of the windows closed. Pretty typical, with a panel across the top and a dock at the bottom.

So far, this is practically identical to my Xfce desktop. But when you open a window, it is maximized.

Then when you open more, they get sort of tiled.

When you think it's too much, you can use another workspace.

Now it's time to explore Pop!_OS documentation, including its many keyboard shortcuts. Sadly, it looks like someone started an mdbook for Pop!_OS documentation and then abandoned it.