Setting up Pop OS (Pop! OS) with 20+ selected Program Recommendations

Recommendations for programs needed for the Linux Gaming distribution: Pop! OS. Such as; Pop! shop programs, how to install snap and flatpak appstores, dependencies, wine staging, windows dependencies, authenticators, qr scanner, ereaders, emails, audio editors, music, file system cleaner, browsers, gaming, night light, alarms, mobile app communication, streaming…

Author: Siren Watcher. Published: 2020-10-28.

Setting up Pop OS (Pop! OS)

with 20+ selected Program Recommendations

Author: Siren Watcher. Published: 2020-10-28.

Explaining the code

Install = Starts download.

Key = Gives you access to the dev’s folders. Your computer scans periodically to check for updates from these folders.

Repository = Is the place where the program is stored by the developer. You will get a ping on your PC whenever an update is applied to the folder to update the program you have with the new files.

Update = Rechecks your PC for the most recent updates and then installs the program fully from the folder.

Sudo su = Become administrator / root.

To begin open Terminal. This is the Command Line user interface in Linux. It is also present on Windows and Mac. The following codes are to be copy pasted into the Terminal.

A few useful links:

Pop! OS Reddit

System76 Support

These Windows 10 Vs Pop OS Benchmarks Reveal A Surprising Truth About Linux Gaming Performance | Forbes | Jason Evangelho

Dependencies

If your PC is 64-bit, enable 32-bit also incase programs you download require 32-bit for some part of their system. This can be useful for things like game launchers which can be locked at 32-bit to be back compatible for potato PCs.

32-bit

sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386

Software & Updates

Downloading Software & Updates from the Pop! OS Shop will give you the same driver and software update manager from traditional Ubuntu. The Pop! OS Shop will come already installed. You can click on it on the toolbar.

Graphics Drivers

Nvidia:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:graphics-drivers/ppa
sudo apt-get update

AMD Guide:

AMD stable drivers are automatically installed on your system. If you want to get the “staging” version of the drivers you can use this repository.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:oibaf/graphics-drivers
sudo apt update && sudo apt -y upgrade

FFmpeg

FFmpeg is needed for some audio.

sudo apt install ffmpeg

Synaptic Package Manager

Synaptic is a downloader for a huge list of dependencies on Linux. If you are trying to download a program and it comes up with a required dependency missing. Then Synaptic is a great source to find them for instant download.

An extremely easy way to install any component you need.

Open the Pop! OS Shop.
Download Synaptic Package Manager.

Or,

sudo apt-get install synaptic

How to use Synaptic:

Open the program.
Type the name of the file into the search bar.
Click Mark for Apply.
Click Apply when ready to install.

Wine Staging and Windows Dependencies

Wine stands for Wine Is Not an Emulator. It is a program meant to be a middle ground between Windows and Linux.

Staging is the non-stable “most recent” version of Wine for consumers.

Gaming patches generally get put into Staging most quickly. So if you are looking for the most recently updated Wine you should download Staging.

Wine Staging

Needed for installing Windows programs.

wget -nc https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/winehq.key

sudo apt-key add winehq.key

The key will be located in your Home folder. Right click inside any folder and select open in terminal if you would prefer the key be saved elsewhere.

If you have 20.10 ‘groovy’ (check this page if not sure for the newest).

sudo add-apt-repository 'deb https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/ubuntu/ groovy main'

sudo apt update

sudo apt install --install-recommends winehq-staging

If you accidentally download the wrong repository. Use the same line as above but add -r to remove the package. If you have more than one repository downloaded it will give you an error messaging when trying to install wine.

sudo add-apt-repository -r 'deb https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/ubuntu/ groovy main'

Winetricks

Winetricks is a GUI (graphical user interface / a user-friendly face) for Wine which allows you to easily enter into the program and edit your faux Windows installation.

The key and program will be located in your Home folder. Right click inside any folder and select Open in Terminal. Then run the following codes if you would prefer the key be saved elsewhere.

wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Winetricks/winetricks/master/src/winetricks
chmod +x winetricks

sudo apt-get install cabextract

Fonts:

Open Winetricks by typing ./winetricks into terminal.
Select the default wineprefix.
Install a font.
Corefonts.
Keep clicking OK.

Window components:

Open Winetricks.
Select the default wineprefix.
Install a Windows DLL or component.

This is a good place to know exists. I personally have dxvk, iertutil, vcrum6, vcrum2019, vcrum6sp6, winhttp, and wininet installed. This kind of thing is only required on a per-program basis if you come into any problems. Similar to the fonts, which are required for some games to load.

Window 10:

Open Winetricks from Navigation.
Select the default wineprefix.
Run winecfg.
Applications: Windows Version: Windows 10.

This is a good place to know exists. In Libraries you can add any particular file you need to act like it is ‘Windows Native’ or tell it to behave like it’s Build in Wine, etc.

You can also see under taskmgr (task manager) what files are running in Wine (your simulated C drive installation).

NVIDIA X Server Settings

If you have game graphical issues, open NVIDIA X Server Settings, click advanced and tick on Force Composition Pipeline and Force Full Composition Pipeline. See if that helps.

Snap and Flatpak - Linux App Stores

Both Flatpack and Snap are extensive app stores with extremely easy download styles.

Great for people who have very little Linux knowledge and looking to just download programs at the click of a button.

Snap and SnapStore

Snap is a type of file. Think of it like a .exe, but this is a newer generation of an .exe type of file.

sudo apt install snapd

sudo snap install snap-store

Flatpak

Flatpak is a type of file. Think of it like a .exe, but this is a newer generation of an .exe type of file.

Where to get new programs from: Flathub

sudo apt install flatpak

flatpak remote-add --user --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo

sudo apt install gnome-software-plugin-flatpak

Computer Temperatures

This program is for knowing the temperatures of your fans, GPU, CPU, etc. It works by allowing you to tick on and off the each device to choose what temperatures you want to track and see. Works great for basic temperature tracking.

Psensor

sudo apt install psensor

Music

Spotify is available also on Linux. It runs its own patch cycles and is maintained by Spotify itself.

Spotify

curl -sS https://download.spotify.com/debian/pubkey_5E3C45D7B312C643.gpg | sudo apt-key add - 

echo "deb http://repository.spotify.com stable non-free" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/spotify.list

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install spotify-client

Audio Editing

Audacity is used as a free audio editor for both Linux and Windows. It suits all basics needs with audio editing.

Audacity

sudo apt install audacity

Ever wanted a Linux replacement for RTX Voice or a similar program? Look no further than Cadmus. A fantastic voice cancellation program for linux. Just boot the program, pick what microphone you want to override, and then pick the new cadmus microphone from the list on any application.

I have personally used it daily with no issues for a Teaching English website platform.

Background Noise Cancellation

Open this page on github to download the program.
Download the .deb and boot from Navigation.

Authenticator

I have personally used Authy to connect to websites like Twitter, Xvideos, xHamster, etc. It should function normally for any website. It also comes in a mobile app to sync with Pop! OS.

Authy

sudo snap install authy --beta

QR Scanner

CoBang acts as an allround QR Scanner for all your needs.

CoBang

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ng-hong-quan/ppa

sudo apt update

sudo apt install cobang

Video Player / Video Recorder

VLC is an open source video player and video recorder. It has an amazing list of extended features to look into. Though it functions as a great basic video player.

VLC

sudo apt-get install vlc

VLC Themes / Skins

DeviantArt

Right click file, Extract Here.
Tools > Preferences > Use custom skin > .vlt file.
Close, then reopen.

Article and Guide

Official

To watch DVDs on VLC check out the latter section.

Video Editors

There is a lot of video editors in Linux which can be found in the Pop! OS Shop. The one I will recommend is Kdenlive but it is user preference for what you need the program to do. Checkout the programs in the Shop by typing in “video”. A few examples are Openshot, Pitivi, Flowblade, Cinelerra, Lightworks, etc.

Pictures

GIMP is an open-source free Photoshop. Check videos on Youtube for any features you are unable to work out how to do yourself as GIMP has some things in different places though mostly all the basics are the same.

Gimp

flatpak install https://flathub.org/repo/appstream/org.gimp.GIMP.flatpakref

flatpak run org.gimp.GIMP//stable

flatpak update

Audio Books / Ereaders

Calibre is an extensive Ereader for Linux. It utilises all the normal Ereader functions, syncing to Ereaders. Make sure to check the addons for a huge list of extended features.

Calibre

sudo -v && wget -nv -O- https://download.calibre-ebook.com/linux-installer.sh | sudo sh /dev/stdin

Addons / Full

Audible

sudo snap install audible-for-linux

Streaming

OBS is an open source streaming platform used on all platforms.

OBS

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:obsproject/obs-studio

sudo apt update

sudo apt install obs-studio

You need this addon for the Linux version.

Download the Zip for the addon.

Go to Home and press Control + H.
Open > .config > obs-studio > then make the folder, plugins.
Right click the folder in Downloads and extract it.
Put the inner folder “obs-linuxbrowser” into the Plugins folder.

Open Synaptic in Navigation.
Type in Search: libgconf. Check that it is green (downloaded).
- If not, tick it, then click Apply.

Emails

Thunderbird

sudo apt-get install thunderbird thunderbird-locale-en-us thunderbird-gnome-support

Install extra addons if required.

Example: I use Manually Sort Folders to reorder email addresses and Minimize on Close.

File System Cleaner

BleachBit is a great program for cleaning out those hard to reach places within your computer allowing for a speed boost. It allows you to clean the cache of your downloaded programs, etc. It also has a Deep Scan mode which is similar to a defrag (Disk Defragmenter) on Windows.

BleachBit

sudo apt install bleachbit

Browser

Pop! OS comes with Firefox installed. If you want to install a privacy focused Chromium alternative then Brave is a good option.

Brave

sudo apt install apt-transport-https curl

sudo curl -fsSLo /usr/share/keyrings/brave-browser-archive-keyring.gpg https://brave-browser-apt-release.s3.brave.com/brave-browser-archive-keyring.gpg

echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/brave-browser-archive-keyring.gpg arch=amd64] https://brave-browser-apt-release.s3.brave.com/ stable main"|sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/brave-browser-release.list

sudo apt update

sudo apt install brave-browser

Gaming

Steam is a platform for playing and downloading games. It utilising Proton which is a Steam (Valve) in-house version of Wine which gaming developers can use to make sure their game works on Linux.

Steam

sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys B05498B7

sudo sh -c 'echo "deb http://repo.steampowered.com/steam/ precise steam" >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/steam.list'

sudo apt install steam

Open steam.
Steam Settings > Steam Play.
Tick, Enable Steam Play for All supported Titles.
Tick, Enable Steam Play for all other Titles

For the latest proton patches, also download Custom Proton below.

Similar to Wine, proton has an extended feature which is a more updated staging version. Made by a user called GloriousEggroll with a discord help section, this proton can sometimes be used if your game has some linux problems.

Asking in the discord can also get you some help quicker. I have personally encountered issues which the Discord has tried to help with me and I appreciate that it is an option.

Custom Proton

Go to this html.
Scroll down to the first .tar.gz file.
Click it and save the file.
Open downloads folder.
Right click the .tar.gz, click Extract Here.
Right click the folder, and click Cut.
Open your home folder.
Press Ctrl+H (hide and unhide / repeat the button to hide).
Open folder, .steam, then root.
Inside root, make a folder called compatibilitytools.d.
Place the folder from downloads into this folder.
Open steam.
Steam Settings > Steam Play.
Change the dropdown menu to the Proton version you downloaded.

Steam Skins

To install:

Home.
Press Ctrl+H (hide and unhide / repeat the button to hide).
.steam > root > Skins.

Steamskins

DeviantArt

Article

Gamemode can offer a bit of extra performance by optimising your PC whilst gaming.

Gamemode

sudo apt install gamemode

Lutris is a standalone launcher for games. It sometimes can work better than just a basic download as it utilises a stable list of depositories and wine version for each game independantly.

Lutris

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:lutris-team/lutris

sudo apt update

sudo apt install lutris

VR Chat / Unity / Blender

sudo apt install youtube-dl

sudo apt-get install --reinstall libgtk2.0-0

Open Steam, go to Library, type in VR. Install Steam VR. If it doesn’t show make sure the search results dropdown menu has Tools ticked on.

Right click on SteamVR, click Properties, Betas, select Linux.

Download VR Chat in Steam.

Right click VR Chat, Properties, Launch Options:

 -force-d3d11 -show-screen-selector

Open SteamVR, set up your Room.

Then open VR Chat. Choose DesktopLow from the Resolution options.

Guide on installing Unity / Blender.

A good video to watch on Gaming in Pop! OS is by Intelligent Gaming – Linux Tutorials & Gameplay.

RGB

To customise the colour within RGB devices you can download OpenRGB.

Scroll to the bottom of the page and click something, for example a 64-bit.deb, and then click your download and it will install with your package installer.

Be aware on the page there is two downloads per row (64 and 32 bit).

Printers

If you have a HP Printer then HPLIP will help you with any issues.

sudo apt install hplip hplip-data hplip-gui

sudo su

hp-setup

Voice Chat

Discord is a popular voice chat service for all platforms.

Discord

Go to https://discord.com/.
Download the .deb.
Open it and install.

Alarms

Gnome Clocks

Open Pop! OS Shop.
Download Gnome Clocks.

Mobile to PC Communication

Wire and Signal are apps which work on both Linux desktop and mobile for free privacy-focused instant messaging.

Wire

sudo apt-get install apt-transport-https

wget -q https://wire-app.wire.com/linux/releases.key -O- | sudo apt-key add -

echo "deb [arch=amd64] https://wire-app.wire.com/linux/debian stable main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/wire-desktop.list

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install wire-desktop

Signal

wget -O- https://updates.signal.org/desktop/apt/keys.asc | gpg --dearmor > signal-desktop-keyring.gpg
cat signal-desktop-keyring.gpg | sudo tee -a /usr/share/keyrings/signal-desktop-keyring.gpg > /dev/null

echo 'deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/signal-desktop-keyring.gpg] https://updates.signal.org/desktop/apt xenial main' |\
  sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list.d/signal-xenial.list

sudo apt update && sudo apt install signal-desktop

File Manager

The program Disks comes with Pop! OS but if you are looking for an alternative program K4DirStat is a great option with a nice GUI. You can download it from the Pop! Store. I personally prefer it to Disks but its user preference.

sudo apt-get install k4dirstat

DVD and Converting

This involves quite a few dependencies and the program Handbrake.

Handbrake

sudo apt-get install libdvdcss2

sudo apt install libdvd-pkgsudo

sudo dpkg-reconfigure libdvd-pkg

sudo apt install handbrake

Other sources for libdvdcss, here.

Installing the first dependency will also let you play a full DVD through VLC.

Feel free to follow the following youtube video for a step by step guide. Don’t worry about moving libdvdcss to the folder, it does so automatically.

For further help you can checkout:

Converting Your Old DVDs to MP4 | Computing Tutorial (Handbrake)

Install DVD support (libdvdcss) on Debian or Ubuntu

How To Install Handbrake on Linux and Rip a DVD

How to Customize the Best HandBrake Settings for DVD

Best Preset Settings for HandBrake to Rip DVD to MP4

Fonts

How to edit Fonts in Linux is through gaining administrator access to the Fonts folder.

Sudo su

nautilus /usr/share/fonts

Copy downloaded font into the correct folder.

- Opentype = .otf
- Truetype = .ttf

Night Light - Remove Blue Light on PC

Blue light at night can keep you awake, be bad for your eyes and can give you acne if exposed for too long. As blue light is like sunlight so it affects the skin. If you want to turn it off for some of the time you are on the PC you can schedule it in Pop! OS’s settings.

Settings > Screen Display > Night Light > set the daily schedule.

You can set the amount of blue light you want to remove or allow in a scroll bar.