There aren’t many ways where Ubuntu could possibly be improved upon. Everyone has a preference about how their operating system should behave. Luckily, with Ubuntu and its Gnome desktop environment, there are many ways in which to enhance or tweak it. Unfortunately, most of the common options are a bit scattered or difficult to find, especially for the new user. This is where Ubuntu Tweak aims at simplifying it by collecting and presenting them all in one simple application.

Ubuntu Tweak is authored by a university student from China going by the name of Tualatrix. Wanting to make a contribution to the GNU/Linux and Open Source community, he took what he learned about Gtk+ development and applied it to providing this little application.

Ubuntu Tweak provides a “one-stop-shop” for many things including startup options, desktop effects, personal settings, system behavior, and the installation of other applications through Ubuntu’s repositories or third-party sources. Whether its changing the settings for the desktop icons, setting up keyboard shortcuts, or installing popular applications, such as Gnome Do, Google applications, Opera, or Skype, Ubuntu-Tweak makes it very simple.

The official homepage is http://ubuntu-tweak.com where announcements about development and releases are made. There’s an entire page dedicated for collecting suggestions for future versions. The Downloads page details two ways to obtain Ubuntu Tweak. One is by downloading and installing a deb package. The other is by including Tualatrix’s personal package archive source repository maintained at Launchpad. You can also snag it from its Google Code page.

The only downside is that it is geared specifically for Ubuntu with the Gnome environment. Kubuntu and Xubuntu users, and other Gnome flavored Linux distribtutions, are currently not supported. But all three of the latest version of Ubuntu, Gutsy, Hardy, and Intrepid, are supported.

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