Ubuntu

Disable resize grips (11.10+)

Add the following to ~/.config/gtk-3.0/gtk.css

* {
    -GtkWindow-resize-grip-default: false;
}

Disable gnome-terminal menu

sudo apt-get remove appmenu-gtk3 appmenu-gtk appmenu-qt

Fix xinerama (10.04)

Prerequisites:

sudo aptitude install dpkg-dev debhelper pkg-config quilt flex bison automake libtool xutils-dev x11proto-bigreqs-dev x11proto-composite-dev x11proto-damage-dev x11proto-kb-dev x11proto-xinerama-dev x11proto-randr-dev x11proto-record-dev x11proto-render-dev x11proto-resource-dev x11proto-scrnsaver-dev x11proto-video-dev libxinerama-dev libglib2.0-dev libxv-dev libxfixes-dev libxres-dev libxtst-dev libxmu-dev libxaw7-dev libdmx-dev libxrender-dev libxmuu-dev libgl1-mesa-dev x11proto-gl-dev x11proto-xf86dri-dev libselinux1-dev libudev-dev libgcrypt-dev libpciaccess-dev libpixman-1-dev libxkbfile-dev libxfont-dev x11proto-dri2-dev x11proto-xf86vidmode-dev x11proto-xf86dga-dev x11proto-xf86bigfont-dev x11proto-xcmisc-dev

apt-get source xorg-server
cd xorg-server-1.7.6/
wget -O patch "http://bugs.freedesktop.org/attachment.cgi?id=35383"
patch -p1 < patch
apt-get source -b xorg-server
sudo dpkg -i *.deb
sudo /etc/init.d/gdm restart

Move window buttons back to the right (10.04)

gconftool -s --type string /apps/metacity/general/button_layout ":minimize,maximize,close"

Re-enable the update notifier in the notifications area (9.10+)

gconftool -s --type bool /apps/update-notifier/auto_launch false

Disable terminal close confirmation (9.10+)

gconftool -s --type bool /apps/gnome-terminal/global/confirm_window_close false

Install Microsoft TrueType core fonts

sudo aptitude install msttcorefonts

Restore Ctrl+Alt+Backspace Behavior

sudo aptitude install dontzap
sudo dontzap --disable
reboot

Encrypted Home Directory

It is easy to create a new user with an encrypted home directory

sudo adduser --encrypt-home username

But, if you already have a user with an existing home directory that you now want encrypted, there is a little more to it. You will get the cleanest results if you log out of your X session and do this from a terminal (CTRL+ALT+F1), but that is not entirely necessary.

ecryptfs-setup-private
ecryptfs-mount-private
rsync -a --exclude=Private --exclude=.Private --exclude=.ecryptfs /home/$USERNAME/ /home/$USERNAME/Private/
sudo mkdir -p /home/.ecryptfs/$USERNAME/
sudo mv /home/$USERNAME/.ecryptfs /home/.ecryptfs/$USERNAME/
ln -s /home/.ecryptfs/$USERNAME/.ecryptfs /home/$USERNAME/Private/
ecryptfs-umount-private
sudo mv /home/$USERNAME/.Private /home/.ecryptfs/$USERNAME/
sudo mv /home/$USERNAME /home/$USERNAME.bak
sudo mkdir -p /home/$USERNAME
sudo chown -R $USERNAME: /home/$USERNAME
sudo chown -R $USERNAME: /home/.ecryptfs/$USERNAME
ln -s /home/.ecryptfs/$USERNAME/.ecryptfs /home/$USERNAME/
ln -s /home/.ecryptfs/$USERNAME/.Private /home/$USERNAME/
ln -s /usr/share/ecryptfs-utils/ecryptfs-mount-private.desktop \
    /home/$USERNAME/Access-Your-Private-Data.desktop
ln -s /usr/share/ecryptfs-utils/ecryptfs-mount-private.txt /home/$USERNAME/README.txt
echo /home/$USERNAME > /home/.ecryptfs/$USERNAME/.ecryptfs/Private.mnt

Log off, then log back in. If everything is correct, you should see /home/$USERNAME/.Private mounted at /home/$USERNAME. If something goes wrong, you can always move /home/$USERNAME.bak back to /home/$USERNAME. Once you have verified that everything is working properly, remove /home/$USERNAME.bak.

Fix Suspend when SD Card is Mounted (10.04)

If your machine does not suspend properly, it may be because you have an SD card mounted. At least, that's the problem with my Dell Mini 9. To fix it, create the following file, and replace the mount point with the location of your SD card

#!/bin/sh

case "$1" in
    suspend|hibernate)
        umount /media/6a828057-12bd-4028-b6f1-2c411c93f1f3
        ;;
esac