New to Ubuntu? Start here...

[sharks]

On how to install anything on Ubuntu:
http://monkeyblog.org/ubuntu/installing/

Medibuntu repositoryMultimedia,Entertainment & Distractions In Ubuntu)
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Medibuntu

Compiz extra plugins:

http://forum.compiz-fusion.org/showthread.php?t=5303

Helpful Uubntu commands:
Privileges
sudo command - run command as root
sudo su - open a root shell
sudo su user - open a shell as user
sudo -k - forget sudo passwords
gksudo command - visual sudo dialog (GNOME)
kdesudo command - visual sudo dialog (KDE)
sudo visudo - edit /etc/sudoers
gksudo nautilus - root file manager (GNOME)
kdesudo konqueror - root file manager (KDE)
passwd - change your password


Display
sudo /etc/init.d/gdm restart - restart X (GNOME)
sudo /etc/init.d/kdm restart - restart X (KDE)
(file) /etc/X11/xorg.conf - display configuration
sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg - reset X configuration
Ctrl+Alt+Bksp - restart X display if frozen
Ctrl+Alt+FN - switch to tty N
Ctrl+Alt+F7 - switch back to X display


System Services¹
start service - start job service (Upstart)
stop service - stop job service (Upstart)
status service - check if service is running (Upstart)
/etc/init.d/service start - start service (SysV)
/etc/init.d/service stop - stop service (SysV)
/etc/init.d/service status - check service (SysV)
/etc/init.d/service restart - restart service (SysV)
runlevel - get current runlevel
Package Management¹
apt-get update - refresh available updates
apt-get upgrade - upgrade all packages
apt-get install pkg - install pkg
apt-get remove pkg - uninstall pkg
apt-get autoremove - remove obsolete packages
apt-get -f install - try to fix broken packages
dpkg –configure -a - try to fix broken packages
dpkg -i pkg.deb - install file pkg.deb
(file) /etc/apt/sources.list - APT repository list
Network
ifconfig - show network information
iwconfig - show wireless information
sudo iwlist scan - scan for wireless networks
sudo /etc/init.d/networking restart - reset network
(file) /etc/network/interfaces - manual configuration
ifup interface - bring interface online
ifdown interface - disable interface
Special Packages
ubuntu-desktop - standard Ubuntu environment
kubuntu-desktop - KDE desktop
xubuntu-desktop - XFCE desktop
ubuntu-minimal - core Ubuntu utilities
ubuntu-standard - standard Ubuntu utilities
ubuntu-restricted-extras - non-free, but useful
kubuntu-restricted-extras - KDE of the above
xubuntu-restricted-extras - XFCE of the above
build-essential - packages used to compile programs
linux-image-generic - latest generic kernel image
linux-headers-generic - latest build headers
Firewall¹
ufw enable - turn on the firewall
ufw disable - turn off the firewall
ufw default allow - allow all connections by default
ufw default deny - drop all connections by default
ufw status - current status and rules
ufw allow port - allow traffic on port
ufw deny port - block port
ufw deny from ip - block ip adress
Application Names
nautilus - file manager (GNOME)
dolphin - file manager (KDE)
konqueror - web browser/filemanager (KDE)
kate - text editor (KDE)
gedit - text editor (GNOME)


System
Recovery - Type the phrase “REISUB” while
holding down Alt and SysRq (PrintScrn) with
about 1 second between each letter. Your system
will reboot.
lsb_release -a - get Ubuntu version
uname -r - get kernel version
uname -a - get all kernel information

If GRUB is corrupted :
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=224351

To know all commands in Terminal, press tab twice in terminal.


To read and write ntfs:
sudo aptitude install ntfs-config

[lswest]

</snip>

P.S.

Yes, ctrl+alt+backspace shuts down the X server, but annoyingly, it restarts it immediately afterward. For those wanting a command line to begin with, and then the option of choosing the desktop environment that they want afterward, do simply the following:

mv /etc/rc3.d/S30gdm /etc/rc3.d/K80gdm
mv /etc/rc3.d/S10xserver-xorg-input-wacom /etc/rc3.d/K80xserver-xorg-input-wacom

simply reverse (switch the two arguments around) the commands to make it start GNOME automatically again.

Actually, even more efficient in Ubuntu is just

sudo /etc/init.d/gdm stop

to turn it off and

sudo /etc/init.d/gdm start

to turn it back on.

*Edit* ah, sorry, you meant to enable/disable it on boot. That could be done the way you mentioned. Or you could do

#!/bin/bash
/etc/init.d/gdm stop

in a script (stop-gdm.sh) made executable with

chmod a+x stop-gdm.sh

moved to /etc/init.d/ with

mv [path of stop-gdm.sh] /etc/init.d/stop-gdm.sh

and then just

update-rc.d stop-gdm.sh defaults

(there may be an even easier way to do it), but that's a bit more complex (maybe too much for this thread, any mod is welcome to shorten this post/delete it if they find it out of place).