This isn’t so much of a guide, as it is just some general notes of things I did after installing Ubuntu Linux on my ThinkPad T43.
The volume control buttons in previous releases of Ubuntu would turn up both the hardware mixer and the software mixer at the same time. One press would adjust the sound (louder or quieter) more than expected. The “fix” seemed to be make the buttons not do anything.
To change it back to the way it use to be (before Ubuntu 9.04), type this command:
sudo cp /sys/devices/platform/thinkpad_acpi/hotkey_all_mask /sys/devices/platform/thinkpad_acpi/hotkey_mask
Then add the line cp /sys/devices/platform/thinkpad_acpi/hotkey_all_mask /sys/devices/platform/thinkpad_acpi/hotkey_mask to your /etc/rc.local file right above the exit 0 line.
This tells the system to re-copy that file on every boot.
After install, Applications -> Sound & Video -> Rhythmbox Music Player and click “Install MP3 plugins”.
Two-finger Scrolling
Go to System -> Preferences -> Mouse.
Click Touchpad and then Two-finger Scrolling.
You may also want to enable Enable horizontal scrolling.
Autoscrolling
If desired, you can enable autoscrolling with the middle mouse button within Firefox.
Go to Edit -> Preferences.
Click Advanced then the General tab, then Use autoscrolling.
Middle-click Paste
I find the middle-click paste feature of Firefox annoying.
Load up about:config, type in middlemouse.paste and set to false.
(Most of the above has been tested on both Ubuntu 10.04 and 10.10.)