1. Install a new kernel

Well, the default kernel should work fine for most people, however, if you’re the kind who wants to eke out the max from your computer and/or reduce boot times etc. well, you can install a custom patched kernel specifically optimized for your processor family. Con Kolivas’ patchset with BFS CPU scheduler, is quite the rage on machines with 16 CPU’s or less, in addition to TuxOnIce for enhanced hibernating features. Or, you can just compile your own after removing unwanted features from the configuration resulting in a tiny kernel size.

2. Customize every nook and cranny

Don’t like the look of your default shell (Ubuntu)? Don’t have a GUI (Arch Linux)? Think that your shell is made specifically so that old grannies won’t have problems surfing Facebook? Well, this isn’t Windows, man. Rip off that old bloated interface and install something that suits your purpose. Linux has tons of Desktop Environments/Window Managers (GNOME, KDE, XFCE, LXDE, Openbox, Awesome, Fluxbox etc).

Still aren’t happy? You can take up the dirty work yourself and modify whatever you don’t like about your interface. Panel height, fonts, font size, colours etc. can all be changed to suit your needs. You can also, install Compiz to make every other system blush with embarrassment

3. Build the ultimate Home Theater PC

With the advent of an awesome little thing called XBMC, it’s now damn easy to make a sharp looking HTPC out of rugged old hardware. Install XBMC, slap on a new skin (AEON looked awesome last time I checked), setup Bittorrent (Deluge/rTorrent/Transmission) and automate the hell out of downloading videos – i.e. add RSS feeds for auto-downloading, transfer completed downloads to a place of your choice (HDD/NAS), and auto-add to XBMC’s library. Obviously, all this hoopla is useless without that 50” HDTV and a fast internet connection.

4. Make your own Networked Attached Storage (NAS) system

A NAS is a file server on a network, hence suitable for people with multiple computers wanting to share HDD space. A perfect example would be a torrent downloading machine in your garage coupled with a Home Theater PC in your bedroom. With NFS (Network File System) built into the latest Linux kernels (or Samba if you’d like to share with Windows PCs) it’s possible to implement this on your own Linux machine.

5. Experiment with new file system

Common file systems like ext4 are like the jack-of-all-trades, however, if you know that you’ll be using a particular partition for a specific purpose (for example, storing movies etc. i.e. large files) you can use file systems like ReiserFS or XFS which are specifically fast for small or large files respectively. Something else that you can do is split up your /boot, /var, /home folders and store them in separate partitions. Sample guide is here.

Another cool thing to do is to mount your /tmp in unused space in your RAM that is begging to be used. You can even take it a step further and use your VRAM if you want.

Obviously, there are many, many more things that you can do with your Linux machine, but these here are the ones straight off the top of my head. Have fun!

ADITYA PANT