Step 1 - Convenience / Basic Environment setup

For the most comfortable interacting with the system, I use/suggest several tools and programs.
  • vim
    Here is my custom vimrc: To apply this config system-wide, execute:
    root@yourmachine # wget "http://andre.bytesare.us/goodies/vimrc" -O - > /etc/vim/vimrc
    To apply this config for your user only:
    fritz@yourmachine $ wget "http://andre.bytesare.us/goodies/vimrc" -O - > ~/.vimrc
  • zsh
    Here is my custom zshrc.
    To apply this config system-wide, execute:
    root@yourmachine # wget "http://andre.bytesare.us/goodies/zshrc" -O - > /etc/zsh/zshrc
    To apply this config for your user only:
    fritz@yourmachine $ wget "http://andre.bytesare.us/goodies/zshrc" -O - > ~/.zshrc
    As a java developer, I also like the maven zsh completion:
    root@yourmachine # wget "https://raw.github.com/Echos/maven-zsh-completion/master/_mvn" \
            -O /usr/share/zsh/functions/Completion/Base/_mvn
  • tree
  • zip
  • unzip
  • gzip
  • unrar
  • rsync
  • xmllint (package: libxml2-utils in ubuntu)

Set the correct terminal encoding and keyboard layout

If you want to change the terminal and keyboard settings, simply use the dpkg-reconfigure commands and follow the gui instructions:
root@xubuntu ~/Desktop # dpkg-reconfigure keyboard-configuration
root@xubuntu ~/Desktop # dpkg-reconfigure console-setup

Limit sudo to a single group

Allow members of group chucknorris to execute any command after they have entered their password
root@jiffybox # groupadd chucknorris
Make sure the line
%chucknorris ALL=(ALL) ALL
is contained in the /etc/sudoers file.
Finally, add the desired user(s) to the group:
root@jiffybox # usermod -a -G chucknorris testuser