OS Best Practices

🐧 Linux (Debian)

Post Installation

Area	Details
Updates	sudo apt update → refresh package lists sudo apt upgrade → install available updates sudo apt full-upgrade → upgrade including dependency changes sudo apt dist-upgrade → handle more complex dependency changes sudo apt autoremove → remove unnecessary packages
Cron	Set up a cron job to run every 5 minutes and ping a health‑check URL: */5 * * * * curl -fsS -m 10 --retry 5 -o /dev/null https://hc-ping.com/...; This ensures the system reports availability regularly to a monitoring service.

Software - OpenSource

Category	Tools
Must to have	htop – interactive process viewer fastfetch – system information tool net-tools – legacy networking utilities (ifconfig, netstat, route) joe – nostalgic text editor
Nice to have	git – version control system ncdu – disk usage analyzer tmux – terminal multiplexer that lets you split windows dash to dock – gnome extension providing easier access to running apps

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🍏 MacOS

Post Installation

Area	Details
Configurations	General - About - Name Desktop & Dock Menu Bar Lock Screen Touch ID & Password Internet Accounts Keyboard Trackpad - Secondary Click
Dock	Finder, Launchpad, Browser, Messages, Maps, Photos, Facetime, Phone, Calendar, Reminders, Notes, Calculator, Home, App Store, System Settings, Terminal, Editor, VPN

Software - MAC

Category	Tools
Must to have	Homebrew – package manager for installing and managing software Amphetamine – keep Mac awake and prevent sleep The Unarchiver – lightweight archive extraction tool VLC Media Player – universal multimedia player
Nice to have	Rectangle – window management utility Alfred – productivity launcher with workflows iTerm2 – advanced terminal emulator Cleanshot X – Screen snippet tool with perfect usability

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💻 MS Windows

Post Installation

Area	Details
Privacy Script	Chris Titus Winutil – privacy optimization & debloating
Taskbar	File Explorer, Browser, MS Outlook, MS Teams, MS OneNote, MS Word, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint, Notepad, Snipping Tool, Terminal

Software - WIN

Category	Tools
Must to have	Notepad++ – advanced text editor 7-Zip – file compression and archive manager Microsoft PowerToys – productivity utilities for Windows VLC Media Player – universal multimedia player
Nice to have	KeePass – secure password manager PuTTY – SSH and Telnet client for remote connections SumatraPDF – lightweight and fast PDF, eBook, and document reader Rufus – bootable USB creation utility