You installed a Linux desktop. Now you have to get used to liking it.

This is the unofficial companion to the official manual. There are fewer commands here and considerably more grumbling. For anything that changes your machine, use the real documentation linked in each chapter.

A few things to get used to

The defaults are a starting point. The keyboard is worth learning. Themes can change more than the wallpaper. You do not need to agree with every choice to enjoy the whole thing.

If you came here looking for a genuinely hostile review, sorry. We opened the terminal and got distracted.

How to read this manual

Start with the bit you need. There is no requirement to read every chapter before opening a terminal, and no final exam in which we ask you to defend your wallpaper. The chapters explain the broad ideas and point you towards the real documentation for instructions that affect your machine.

If a joke gets in the way of solving a problem, follow the official link at the bottom. We will understand. Our commitment to the bit is considerable, but your working computer takes precedence.

Your computer working matters more than our commitment to the joke.

Find your particular problem

• Getting started: for the first evening, before you decide you need a personal doctrine.
• Using the keyboard: for the day your mouse begins to suspect something.
• Changing the theme: for when the desktop already matches, but could match differently.
• Getting some work done: for the part the installation cannot do for you.

You can work through these in order, skip to the useful bit, or close the manual because you have already figured it out. We are trying very hard not to take the last option personally.