10 Mistakes To Avoid On Ubuntu

1. Third party installations are risky: There is a danger associated with third party installation, and some are less risky than the rest. The worst of the lot is Ultimatix, which installs all kinds of unstable versions of applications. These are also known as nightly builds. Also risky is the fact that these make use of forced permits-assume-yes and force-yes.

2. Use of cleaning applications: Cleaning applications like Computer Janitor or Bleachbit, could well destroy much more than you could want. They are also dangerous given the fact that the user could end up removing much more than they want and end up damaging the system. The risk isn’t even worth it given the fact that Linux barely experiences any pollution anyways.

3. Be very careful with adding repositories like PPA's to your sources list:Software from third-party repositories are untested for Ubuntu, and might well end up damaging the stability and reliability of a system. Also the user makes themselves dependent on the owner of the PPA.

4. Deb Files: These are files with the extension .deb and are separate installers, just like .exe installers for Windows. These can be downloaded from some websites. The smart thing to do here is that one should only install deb files that you trust completely, and eliminate the ones that have even an iota of doubt attached to them. These files are unchecked, unverified and may do damage to your system.

5. Firefox and Chromium/Chrome extensions: don't trust them blindly: Very often these extensions could come with malicious software. Also if you do install these keep their numbers down. Don't turn Firefox and Chromium/Chrome into a Christmas tree. The more extensions you install, the slower Firefox and Chromium/Chrome become.

6. Don't mix desktop environments: choose Ubuntu (Gnome/Unity), Xubuntu (Xfce) of Kubuntu (KDE): Avoid Ubuntu (Gnome/Unity) or Kubuntu (KDE) like the plague. If and when you do install these use the Synaptic Package Manager, which helps you check beforehand what a particular application needs as dependent files.

7. Don't turn on the software repository "proposed": Never change the settings to software repository "proposed", until and unless you are a tester and don't value a stable system.

8. Handle with some care: The software repositories Backports, Partners and Independent: These are three software that are safe for your computer but has to still be handled with some care: Backports, Partners and Independent. While backports are enabled by default in Ubuntu but with a lowered (harmless) priority, so that you can only install software from it when you consciously choose so.

9. Never remove any application that's part of the default installation of Ubuntu:Even in cases where you don’t ever use some default application, don’t ever remove it. The fact is that the default installation is an intertwined system that's dependent on shared supporting files, which makes the operating system run stable. When you remove a default application, you run a risk of seriously damaging the system.

10. Don't experiment on a production machine: Treat your computers differently-the war horses have to be treated differently from the play boxes. It is advisable to not experiment on the production machine, no matter how tempting it may be to try out something new.