Essential packages to install on Debian 13 "Trixie" and other versions based on it

Essential Packages to Install on Debian 13 "Trixie" – Part I

A few days ago (August 9, 2025) the Debian Project has updated and released to the general public, the new version of its free and open operating system called Debian. Which was called Debian 13 “Trixie”. And since then and until now, we have seen, as is customary, the update and release of many other versions of Debian-based GNU/Linux distros. Therefore, as is tradition on our website, today we offer you the first part of our series of quick guides on The essential packages to install on Debian 13 "Trixie", which we believe is advisable to install and use.

And while it is true that there are many Mother or important Distros on which many others are based (derived Distros and respines), such as Arch, Fedora, openSUSE, Ubuntu, Mint, the truth is that we usually prefer to make these Guides based on Debian GNU/Linux, since it is one of the oldest, most solid, stable, well-known, and widely used distributions worldwide. Furthermore, it is not only ideal for novice home and office users, but also for experienced users, IT professionals, and important technological infrastructures (servers) worldwide. It is also one of the most widely used parent distributions globally, for creating well-known personal and community projects, such as, «MX, antiX and Devuan».

Debian 13 “Trixie” RC3: The latest test ISO is now available!

But, before we start mentioning these essential packages that we recommend for the operating system «Debian GNU/Linux 13 “Trixie” », we recommend you explore and read a useful previous related post with one of our latest How-To Tutorials and Quick Start Guides on that version, upon completion of the same:

Related article:

Debian 13 “Trixie” RC3: A quick look at what’s new, installation, and more

Essential Packages to Install on Debian 13 "Trixie" – Part I

List of essential packages to install on Debian 13 and its derivatives

In consecuense, the steps to follow in this first stage (tutorial), to leave our recently installed as updated and complete as possible “Debian GNU/Linux 13 “Trixie”” operating system with XFCE are the following:

Basic commands to grant the created user administrator permissions with the SUDO command

su - # Solicitar inicio de sesión como root. Luego, se debe introducir la contraseña del usuario root para iniciar como superusuario
sudo usermod -aG sudo nombre_usuario # Orden de comando para añadir cualquier usuario al grupo sudo nano /etc/sudoers # Para luego añadir la linea "nombre_usuario ALL=(ALL:ALL) ALL" debajo de la línea "root ALL=(ALL:ALL) ALL" 

Basic commands to verify or create official repositories from the created user

nano /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list # Abrir o crear archivo debian.list para comprobar o configurar repositorios oficiales

Structure of official repositories under the previous format

deb http://deb.debian.org/debian trixie main non-free-firmware
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian trixie-updates main non-free-firmware
deb-src http://deb.debian.org/debian trixie main non-free-firmware
deb-src http://deb.debian.org/debian trixie-updates main non-free-firmware

Structure of official repositories under the current format

Types: deb deb-src
URIs: http://deb.debian.org/debian
Suites: trixie trixie-updates
Components: main non-free-firmware
Signed-By: /usr/share/keyrings/debian-archive-keyring.gpg

Nota: Remember that you can use the command «apt modernize-sources« to convert old repository structures to the new format. To add more repositories (Suites), you can add the following calls: “trixie-proposed-updates, trixie-security and trixie-backports”, and to add more branches (Components) you can add the following calls «contrib» and «non-free».

Basic commands to update the newly installed Operating System from the created user

sudo apt update
sudo apt full-upgrade
sudo apt dist-upgrade
sudo apt install -f; sudo apt --fix-broken install; sudo dpkg --configure -a
sudo update-grub; sudo update-grub2
sudo apt clean; sudo apt autoclean; sudo apt remove; sudo apt autoremove; sudo apt purge

Packages to complement the newly installed XFCE desktop environment from the created user

sudo apt install appmenu-gtk3-module ayatana-indicator-application xfce4-appfinder xfce4-appmenu-plugin xfce4-battery-plugin xfce4-clipman xfce4-clipman-plugin xfce4-cpufreq-plugin xfce4-cpugraph-plugin xfce4-datetime-plugin xfce4-dict xfce4-diskperf-plugin xfce4-docklike-plugin xfce4-eyes-plugin xfce4-fsguard-plugin xfce4-genmon-plugin xfce4-goodies xfce4-panel xfce4-panel-profiles xfce4-helpers xfce4-indicator-plugin xfce4-mailwatch-plugin xfce4-mount-plugin xfce4-mpc-plugin xfce4-netload-plugin xfce4-notes xfce4-notes-plugin xfce4-notifyd xfce4-places-plugin xfce4-power-manager xfce4-power-manager-data xfce4-power-manager-plugins xfce4-pulseaudio-plugin xfce4-screenshooter xfce4-sensors-plugin xfce4-session xfce4-settings xfce4-smartbookmark-plugin xfce4-systemload-plugin xfce4-taskmanager xfce4-terminal xfce4-timer-plugin xfce4-verve-plugin xfce4-wavelan-plugin xfce4-weather-plugin xfce4-whiskermenu-plugin xfce4-windowck-plugin xfce4-xkb-plugin

Packages to enhance the newly installed Debian CLI/GUI working environment from the created user

sudo apt install alacarte lolcat neofetch toilet figlet tasksel tasksel-data
sudo apt install arj bzip2 gzip lhasa liblhasa0 lzip lzma p7zip p7zip-full p7zip-rar sharutils rar unace unar unrar unrar-free tar unzip xz-utils zip
sudo apt install alien curl debian-keyring debian-archive-keyring htop lynx net-tools rpm rpm-i18n screen ssh testdisk w3m w3m-img
sudo apt install alacarte bleachbit converseen file-roller gimp gimp-data-extras gimp-help-es gnome-disk-utility gparted gufw imagination lightdm-gtk-greeter-settings lsb-release menu-l10n menulibre onboard orca pitivi ooo-thumbnailer plymouth plymouth-themes plymouth-x11 simple-scan simplescreenrecorder thunderbird thunderbird-l10n-es-es vlc vlc-plugin-notify xarchiver xscreensaver

Extra: List of basic game packages

sudo apt install gnome-games game-data-packager game-data-packager-runtime gnome-cards-data games-adventure games-arcade games-board games-card games-chess games-console games-education games-emulator games-finest games-fps games-minesweeper games-mud games-platform games-programming games-puzzle games-racing games-rogue games-rpg games-shootemup games-simulation games-sport games-strategy games-tetris games-tasks games-toys games-typing

Nota: From these game packs, select only the ones you want and need, as they all require up to 15 GB of file downloads and up to 25 GB of space to install.

Up to here, we have arrived with the first of our 3 customary tutorials about what to do after installing a new and current Debian GNU/Linux distro, in this case the new stable version 13 "Trixie." And very soon, we'll be sharing the following with you.

Related article:

Debian 13 "Trixie" is now released. Learn about its new features, improvements, and more.

Summary

In short, we hope that this ideal little first list of essential packages to install on «Debian GNU/Linux 13 “Trixie” » or other similar and compatible distros, as usual, is very useful and important for many. But above all, for those who tend to be beginners and novices in GNU/Linux, and who are looking to efficiently strengthen and complement their Debian GNU/Linux operating systems, without so many complications. And if you would like to suggest or recommend any other package or configuration to implement, we invite you to write to us via comments so we can consider it for this or another publication.