Software Tweaks

Geany

To make Geany behave like Gedit used to and open a file in the current workspace create a batch file in ~/bin and add the following to it.

#!/bin/sh

socket=`xprop -root _NET_CURRENT_DESKTOP`
socket=${socket##* }

if [ "$socket" ]
then
    if [ "$DISPLAY" ]
    then
        socket="${DISPLAY%.*}-$socket"
        socket=${socket#*:}
    else
        socket="NODISPLAY-$socket"
    fi
    exec geany --socket-file "/tmp/geany_socket_$socket" "$@"
else
    exec geany "$@"
fi

Now in the file manager right click on a file and select open with then custom then point to this script. Make sure all instances of Geany are closed. Now when you double click on a file it will open in the current workspace.

Mate Popups

Install dconf-editor if you want to supress the annoying popups from software.

sudo apt install dconf-editor

Run Applications > System Tools > dconfEditor. In /org/mate/notification-daemon turn on do-not-disturb

Caja

Open Places > Home Folder to start Caja

Edit > Preferences

Views . View new folders using: List View

Defaults > List View . Uncheck Show Icons

Behavior . Uncheck Ask before emptying the Trash or deleting files . Include a Delete command that bypasses Trash

List Columns . Uncheck Type

Close

Open a terminal (Ctrl Alt t) and add open in terminal to context menu

sudo apt install caja-open-terminal

You will need to reboot for this to take effect.

Firefox

Click on the three bars in the upper right corner to open the Settings Menu.

General Tab

Downloads check Always ask you where to save files.

Applications Select Always ask for every item

Browsing Uncheck Enable picture-in-picture video controls Uncheck Control media via keyboard, headset, or virtual interface Uncheck Recommend extensions as you browse Uncheck Recommend features as you browse

Home Tab

New Windows and Tabs Homepage and new windows Blank Page New Tabs Blank Page

Firefox Home Content Uncheck them all except Web Search

Search Tab

Search Suggestions Uncheck them all

Search Shortcuts Uncheck all search engines

Privacy & Security Tab

Send websites a “Do Not Track” signal that you don’t want to be tracked Always

Logins and Passwords Set to suit yourself

Address Bar Uncheck Search engines