Linux Mint (Ubuntu) Node.js Hacker Setup

This guide is for a Node.js focused development environment for developers.

Advice, suggestions, pull requests, and comments can be filed on Github as issues.

Hardware

If you are on a budget (e.g. $400-500), then use the following setup for a fast environment:

• $300-500 Lenovo Laptop (e.g. $200-$300 Lenovo B570 with i3-2330M (i3, not Celeron) processor (please BIOS flash first in order to whitelist the Bluetooth/Wireless card below)
• $45-100 mSATA SSD (replaces standard hard drive in the laptop) or 2.5" Solid State Drive ("SSD")
• Already included (free) to $8 Atheros AR5B22 Bluetooth 4.0 and Wireless-N mini PCI-E card combo (replaces standard card in the Lenovo B570 laptop and is whitelisted via BIOS flash)
• $26 Kinivo BTH220 Bluetooth Stereo Headphones or RF-MAB2 (if you can find a good deal)
• $13 Patriot Memory Supersonic Boost XT USB 3.0 8GB Flash Drive
• $70 Crucial 8GB Laptop Memory Kit (4GBx2)

Software

The instructions below install a complete tech stack including, but not limited to:

• Linux Mint 15 Cinnamon for the OS (based on Ubuntu 13.04 Raring Ringtail)
• Redshift for screen color temperature adjustment
• Microsoft core-fonts (e.g. Arial) to support Google Chrome with standard fonts
• Inconsolata monospaced font (set as default)
• Clementine music player (listen to Spotify and radio streams from DI.FM and Sky.fm easily)
• vim, zsh, and oh-my-zsh with several plugins and modified Lambda theme (with ACPI battery plugin)
• sshuttle for SSH tunneling (quick and simple VPN alternative) (also check out Prove for easy Two-Factor Authentication ("TFA") SSH tunneling with sshuttle)
• JSHint NPM module for JavaScript code quality (also comes with a default ~/.jshintrc file)
• TLP (and other tools) for laptop power management (improves battery life/power usage)
• Git Extras for quick git commands (watch screencast) (added by oh-my-zsh git-extras plugin)
• Git aliases for quick git aliases (added by oh-my-zsh git plugin)
• Node.JS for server, MongoDB for database, and Redis for sessions
• cpulimit for limiting processes to only consume specific CPU percentages
• Variety for automatic wallpaper changing
• UFW firewall enabled by default (blocks incoming, allows outgoing)
• Google Public DNS sets default DNS servers to Google's
• Clam AntiVirus for anti-virus protection and scanning (not scheduled by default)
• Irssi for Internet Relay Chat ("IRC") (try joining #linux-mint, #node.js, and #javascript on Freenode) (here are screen shortcuts)
• CUPS-PDF printer that allows you to print directly to PDF.
• lm-sensors for Linux hardware monitoring (e.g. run sensors from command line to get temperature readings)

Get Started

You could also run these instructions inside a VirtualBox instance for evaluation.

1. Download and install Linux Mint 15 Cinnamon 64-bit (use the torrent and remove from seeding once finished downloading).

2. Log in, load a new terminal process (CTRL+SHIFT+T), and install the environment's setup:

   wget https://raw.github.com/niftylettuce/linux-mint-ubuntu-nodejs-hacker-setup/master/install.sh -O - | sh

3. Hit ENTER on prompts when needed (unfortunately add-apt-repository does not support -y flag and environment variable FORCE_ADD_APT_REPOSITORY=force doesn't work; you have to hit ENTER a few times).

4. Set up Git and Github configurations.

5. Change default shell to ZSH:

   chsh -s `which zsh`

6. Reboot.

Notes

• Generate passwords easily with DuckDuckGo's random password plugin

• Optimize your Solid State Drive for running Linux.

• Change the latitude/longitude for gtk-redshift in Startup Applications to match yours.

• If running a laptop with Intel HD Graphics (e.g. Lenovo B570), then consider adding the following kernel modules to your Grub config:

  sudo apt-get install grub-efi-amd64
  sudo vim /etc/default/grub

  -GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"
  +# Use semaphores for inter-ring sync: `i915.semaphores=1`
  +# Activate RC6 mode of Intel GPU: `i915.i915_enable=rc6=1`
  +# Activate PCIe Active State Power Management: `pcie_aspm=force`
  +# Use panel (LVDS/eDP) downclocking for power savings: `i915.lvds_downclock=1`
  +# Enable frame buffer compression for power savings `i915.i915_enable_fbc=1`
  +GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash i915.semaphores=1 i915.i915_enable_rc6=1 pcie_aspm=force i915.lvds_downclock=1 i915.i915_enable_fbc=1"

  sudo update-grub

  More info on i915 kernel module is available by using:

  modinfo i915

  For example, if you have a Haswell processor, you might want to try adding i915.preliminary_hw_support=1.

  If you mod everything correctly, you can get 4-5+ hours of battery life (lowering your screen brightness helps as well).

License

MIT License