ntp (keep time in sync)

I would also recommend to install ntp to keep time in sync.

apt-get install ntp
/etc/init.d/ntp restart
hwclock --systohc

zsh and screen

apt-get install zsh

An enhanced shell which is my favourite one. The default config is really bad so I recommend to use the grml zsh config. You either add the grml repositories to you sources.list.

deb     http://deb.grml.org/ grml-stable  main
deb-src http://deb.grml.org/ grml-stable  main

To add the keyring you would have to

apt-get update
apt-get --allow-unauthenticated install grml-debian-keyring
apt-get update

Now you can install the grml-etc-core which will also install screen

apt-get install grml-etc-core

Here you also retrieve a nice screen config. Or you can simply replace the /etc/zsh/zshrc

wget -O /etc/zsh/zshrc http://git.grml.org/f/grml-etc-core/etc/zsh/zshrc

The downside is that you want receive updates through the dpkg system. Now it's time to change the login shell for root

usermod -s /bin/zsh root

editor

I love emacs, so

apt-get install emacs-nox
update-alternatives --config editor

etckeeper

It is really cool to keep everything inside /etc inside git. There is a tool to do so

apt-get install etckeeper
etckeeper init

You can configure etckeeper to use hg or bzr but I really suggest git. To set some defaults about the root author do

git config --global user.name "John Doe"
git config --global user.email "john@example.net"

sudo

You really should use sudo if you need temporary root access

apt-get install sudo
chmod u+w /etc/sudoers
emacs /etc/sudoers       # add 'your_username  ALL=(ALL) ALL'
chmod u-w /etc/sudoers

And now test it

sudo -i

(a way to get a permanent root shell through sudo)

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