Ubuntu / Linux news and application reviews.

YaRock - A Music Player Designed For Browsing Your Music Collection Based On Album Cover Art

| Date: October 31, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: album covers, linux, music player, ubuntu, yarock

YaRock album view
(YaRock 0.0.28 album view)


YaRock is a new QT4 music player designed to provide a nice overview of your music by allowing you to browse your music collection based on the album cover art. Thanks to its multiple views: album, artist, track, genre or folder view, you can easily find an artist or album even with a large music collection (and if that's not enough, you can always use the built-in search). Depending on the view you're using, you can drag a whole album or just some tracks to the playlist on the right.

YaRock can fetch albums cover art from Last.fm or you can load it from a file - but unfortunately you must do this manually for each album. Hopefully an automatic way of doing this will be implemented in the future.

Music And EXIF Metadata Information In Nautilus List View [Nautilus Columns Extension - PPA]

| Date: October 30, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: columns, exif, extension, music, nautilus

A long time ago, we wrote about a Nautilus extension (called Nautilus Columns) which adds music (mp3, WAV and FLAC) and EXIF metadata info to the Nautilus List View. Well, I though I'd rescue this extension (as it's no longer packaged as a .deb) and upload it to the WebUpd8 PPA so it can be easily installed.


Here's a Nautilus screenshot before using this extension:

Nautilus

And after:

Nautilus Columns

Java (JDK) Updater - Script To Update The Java (JDK) Paths After Manual Installation

| Date: October 30, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: bash, Java, jdk, linux, script, zenity

Ubuntu is kind of slow at updating JDK in the official repositories. And not only that but if you've used Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat before the final release, you probably know that Java has only been uploaded to the Ubuntu Partner repository a few days before the final release so you could either use the Ubuntu 10.04 repository or manually install Java.

When you manually install JDK, you have to update the paths to get it to work. For this, you can use a script created by WebUpd8 reader Bruce Ingalls (this is actually a new version as we've already wrote a while back about this script) which uses Zenity and can easily update the Java (JDK) paths - all you have to do is select the folder where you've installed Java and the script will do the rest.

News On The Default Applications In Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal [Updated]

| Date: October 29, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: 11.04, banshee, chrome, firefox, libreoffice, linux, Natty Narwhal, rhythmbox, ubuntu

Today is the last UDS-N day and a session about the default application selection in the upcoming Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal is ongoing. Here's what has been discussed:

Install And Change Plymouth Themes In Ubuntu Using Zorin Splash Screen Manager

| Date: October 29, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: eyecandy, linux, Plymouth, splash, themes, ubuntu

Plymouth Splash Screen Manager

If you want a simple Plymouth manager to easily change, install and remove Plymouth themes, try the the new Zorin Splash Screen Manager.

Besides options to install / remove and change the Plymouth theme, Zorin Splash Screen Manager also allows you to change the theme text (for a text mode Plymouth).

Interesting Unity Concept For Managing Multiple Desktops [Mockups]

| Date: October 29, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: 11.04, linux, mockups, multiple desktops, Natty Narwhal, ubuntu, unity

Now that Unity will be used by default in Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal, it's been getting a lot of attention and there are discussions going on about if and how the Global Menu (AppMenu) will behave on the desktop, a better way of managing multiple desktops and many other subjects. One such discussion drew my attention and I though I'd share it with you.


Vineyard Gets A Testing PPA

| Date: October 28, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: linux, ubuntu, Vineyard, wine

Vineyard

Vineyard is a collection of tools you can use as a replacement for Wine's default configuration tool, designed to make it easier to manage Wine. Read more about it: Configure Wine With Vineyard [Version 0.1.5 Beta, Released]

Have Questions About Unity? Ask Them At AskUbuntu!

| Date: October 28, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: 11.04, askubuntu, linux, Natty Narwhal, ubuntu, unity

Jorge Castro is answering questions regarding Unity at AskUbuntu, based on the number of votes they receive:

Unity developers will be advising me best on how to answer your questions and we can continue to develop the answers based on feedback.

Several interesting questions have already been answered, like:

Sync Chrome Tabs Across Multiple Computers With TabCloud

| Date: October 27, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: chrome, extensions, internet, tabcloud

tabcloud chrome extension

Chrome/ium sync has evolved a lot and the latest dev builds allow you to synchronize almost everything between multiple computers - except tabs.

So what to do? Well, until Chrome will include a feature to sync tabs across multiple computers (such a feature is coming), you can use an extension called TabCloud.

New UbuntuForums.org Design On The Way

| Date: October 27, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: design, linux, ubuntu, ubuntuforums

new ubuntuforums design

The Ubuntu website and basically all the official Ubuntu related websites have been upgraded to use the new Ubuntu branding, except for Ubuntuforums.

But that's about to change. Mike Basinger create a blueprint @ Launchpad regarding this matter which has already been accepted, so it looks like we'll be getting a new Ubuntuforums design soon (I'm not sure when).

Mike also posted a link with a test theme for Ubuntuforums. To check it out for yourself, head over to www.mikesplanet.net/forums. What do you think about the new proposed design (note: the link is marked as "test theme" so it may not be the actual new theme or it may change)?


Update October 31: Some changes have been made to the design so I've updated the screenshot.

Orta GTK Theme: A Stylish Theme Inspired By Bespin And Elementary

| Date: October 27, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: elementary, eyecandy, linux, themes, ubuntu

Orta

Inspired by the Elementary theme and Bespin, Orta comes with some slick new elements to give your desktop a more polished look. The most interesting elements are the scrollbar - which even though look a like in Elementary, seem more polished -, the Nautilus Elementary breadcrumbs, buttons and the Gedit tabs.

You Can Finally Install Evernote (4) In Linux, Under Wine

| Date: October 27, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: evernote, internet, linux, notes, ubuntu, wine

Evernote 4 wine

Evernote is an application that allows users to collect, sort, tag and annotate notes and other miscellaneous information.

Evernote 4 has been released yesterday and the new version brings a completely redesigned user interface and a re-write of the code to C++. Unfortunately there is still no native Linux version, however the new version runs perfectly under Wine:

v3.5 and v3.6 wouldn't install under Wine as it was using Microsoft .net 3.6 (or something like that), well today I heard evernote v4 was out and the new feature of this is that it is re-written in C++, [...] I installed it under Wine and it ran perfectly

-WebUpd8 reader Richard Arkless


Download Evernote 4


Thanks to Richard Arkless for the tip!

Use Keyboard Shortcuts To Control Spotify Under Wine (Linux)

| Date: October 27, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: internet, keyboard shortcuts, linux, music, music player, Spotify, ubuntu

Spotifycmd is a command line tool (which even though is called "spotify_cmd.exe", is actually a Linux binary) that can control a running instance of Spotify (in Wine). It can play, pause or stop the current playing track, go to the previous / next track and display the Spotify status (playing artist / song) - but we don't need this last part since we have Spotify-Notify.

Ubuntu Font Family Uploaded To The Ubuntu 10.04, 9.10 And 8.04 Official Repositories

| Date: October 26, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: fonts, linux, ubuntu, ubuntu font

I like dogs better

The Ubuntu Font Family, which was only available for Ubuntu 10.10 and 11.04 (in the official repositories) has just been uploaded to the official Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx, 9.10 Karmic Koala and 8.04 Hardy Heron repositories.

Currently, the font can be found in the "Proposed" repository (but there shouldn't be any issues or regressions as it's just a font) and it should be soon moved to the "Backports" repository.

You could already install and stay up to date with the Ubuntu Font Family in Ubuntu 10.04 and 9.10 by using our Ubuntu Font Family PPA - by the way, you should still be using our PPA since we are usually faster then the Ubuntu official repositories at releasing updates.


Compiz 0.9.2 Released With Minimized Live Window Previews, Natural Scale Mode; 0.9.4 News

| Date: October 26, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: compiz, linux, ubuntu

Compiz natural scale mode plugin
(New Natural Scale Mode Compiz plugin)

Compiz 0.9.2 has been released with a lot of bugs fixed but also new features such as:
  • a new MultiAnim which allows for mutliple copies of windows in animations
  • minimized live window previews (experimental) - a feature many have been waiting for to use in DockBarX (among others)
  • natural scale mode which pushes windows apart based on their distance from each other already when overlapping
  • re-written group plugin
  • simplified shadow storage in the decorations
  • support for KDE 4.5's blur hint
  • Allow resizing from the center of the window


Here is a video featuring the new minimized windows (using "fake" minimization) live previews in Compiz 0.9.2:

Video: UDS Natty 11.04 - Mark Shuttleworth's Keynote

| Date: October 25, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: 11.04, linux, mark shuttleworth, Natty Narwhal, ubuntu, uds-n, unity, video

Part 1:

Unity To Use Compiz instead of Mutter [Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal News]

| Date: October 25, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: 11.04, compiz, gnome shell, mutter, Natty Narwhal, ubuntu, uds-n

If you thought Compiz was left in the dark once Gnome Shell comes out, think again. A post on the blog of one of the Compiz developers states that Unity will use Compiz instead of Mutter as the default window manager:

Most notably this was done for performance reasons, but also because a number of the new interfaces provided in compiz 0.9x allow for some great new stuff to happen with Unity.

And that means a whole lot for the Ubuntu users now when Unity has been announced as being default for Ubuntu 11.04 desktop (and not just for the netbook edition) - they will get to keep the Compiz effects and all the bling (but also usefulness) which attracts so many users to Linux.

This also means that the Compiz development will now be much faster and it will get a lot more attention then before (or at least more then in the last few months).


If you're worried your graphics card doesn't support Compiz, you should know that Compiz 0.9.x no longer requires Opengl or compositing to run. So basically it's not Compiz that will need to support your hardware, but Unity.


Thanks to vs8 for the tip!

Unity Confirmed As The Default Desktop Interface For Ubuntu 11.04, New Icon Theme Should Be Ready By 12.04

| Date: October 25, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: 11.04, linux, Natty Narwhal, ubuntu, uds-n, unity

unity

The UDS-N (Ubuntu Developer Summit - Natty Narwhal) started today and Mark Shuttleworth already announced that Unity will be default for Ubuntu 11.04 desktop:

"11.04 will have Unity as the default desktop for new users" - via popey

I'm not exactly sure what "new users" refers to, but it might mean that those who will upgrade will use the old Gnome interface instead of Unity. Also (important!), Unity will only be default if your graphics card supports it:

It is going to be a primary focus this cycle to enable Unity on as many chipsets as possible.

(Neil Patel, Technical lead for Ubuntu Netbook Edition and Unity, Desktop Experience Team)


unity shell
A slide from Mark Shuttleworth's keynote at UDS-N


Unity is the current Ubuntu Netbook Edition interface and has received a lot of criticism since UNE 10.10 came out such as not being finished, poor performance and the lack of customization.

Also, a new icon theme will be designed especially for Ubuntu. It will not be ready for 11.04 but the work will probably start now and the new icon theme should be ready by Ubuntu 12.04.


Update: and a surprise (I for one definitely didn't see that coming): Unity will use Compiz instead of Mutter!


If you don't know what Unity is, check out our Ubuntu Desktop and Netbook 10.10 post (lots of screenshots and Unity video inside).

For more info, stay tuned!

Undo apt-get build-dep (Remove Build Dependencies)

| Date: October 24, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: apt-get, aptitude, cli, debian, linux, tips n tricks, ubuntu

When you want to compile something from source in Ubuntu/Debian, the easiest way to install the dependencies required to compile it is to run (sudo) "apt-get build-dep PACKAGE_NAME". But there is no built-in command to remove these dependencies (like apt-get remove-dep).

Last Week's Top Posts (Week 42, 2010)

| Date: October 24, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: top posts

Install And Configure Burg In Ubuntu With Burg Manager

| Date: October 24, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: burg, grub2, linux, ubuntu

Burg Ubuntu
(Burg menu)

Burg (Brand New Universal Bootloader) is a boot loader based on Grub which supports themes so you can choose the OS you want to boot based on its icon in the menu list (it supports a lot of Linux distributions, Windows, Mac OSX).

Burg Manager is an application to easily install Burg (along with the default Burg themes and a Burg emulator) and change most of the Burg settings such as the timeout, download and install new themes, remove Burg and restore Grub 2, set the default operating system and many advanced options. Burg works in both Ubuntu and Kubuntu (I've tested it in both) and most probably other *ubuntu flavors too.

Canonical To Sue Apple?

| Date: October 23, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: apple, canonical, launchpad

Apple published an Mac OSX Lion sneak peak that includes a launchcer which "gives you instant access to your apps - iPad style". And this launcher is called [drums..... ] Launchpad.


Install Miro 3.5 In Ubuntu [Now With Built-In Media Converter]

| Date: October 23, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: bittorrent, convert, linux, macosx, miro, ubuntu, video player, windows

Miro 3.5

Miro is a free/open source video player that automates subscribing to feeds of videos that are fetched using Bittorrent and then played in a flexible player that supports practically every format. Miro works on Windows, Linux and Mac OS X.


Miro 3.5 was released yesterday with an option to easily convert media to various video/audio formats for your media devices, better HTTP downloading performance using libcurl, option to specify the font style and encoding for the subtitles and bug fixes which include faster torrent restarting, proxy/http authentication and more.

Elementary Emerald Theme

| Date: October 23, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: elementary, emerald, eyecandy, themes

Elementary Emerald

WebUpd8 reader Ricardo Ferreira writes:

I've been using the elementary theme for quite some time. I don't know why, today I thought about searching for an emerald theme that would match elementary and provide some nice, smooth edges compared to Metacity.

And he found an Elementary Emerald theme which he then slightly modified to closely replicate the Metacity theme.

Download Ricardo's slightly modified Elementary Emerald theme or download the original theme.


Thanks to Ricardo for the tip and screenshot!

New SopCast Player PPA Comes With Fixed Packages For Ubuntu 10.10

| Date: October 22, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: internet, linux, online, sopcast, tv, ubuntu

Roberto @ LFFL created a new SopCast PPA (he already had SopCast packages in a different PPA along with some other packages - for Lucid only) for Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat so you no longer have to manually download .deb files and apply a fix to get Sopcast player to start.

Video: How To Customize Avant Window Navigator - Lucido Style

| Date: October 22, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: avant window navigator, dock, dockbarx, launcher, linux, lucido, ubuntu

Because we get a lot of comments asking what's the dock / launcher in some of the screenshots on WebUpd8 and just pointing to Avant Window Navigator is not enough, I though I'd create a video on how to customize the Avant Window Navigator Lucido style:

Install (Fixed) SopCast Player In Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat (With VLC 1.1.x)

| Date: October 22, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: 10.10, fix, linux, maverick meerkat, sopcast, ubuntu, vlc

Linux SopCast Player

Update: A new PPA comes with fixed Ubuntu 10.10 Linux Sopcast Player packages so use that instead of this manual fix.

SopCast Player is a Linux GUI front-end for the p2p streaming technology developed by SopCast. SopCast can play various TV channels online (watch football games, HBO, AXN Movie and so on) for free. Besides the default channel list, you can find many more (local or international) channels by simply searching Google.

Try Something Different: Divergence IV - "A New Hope" (GTK & Emerald Theme) [Post Updated!]

| Date: October 21, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: Divergence, emerald, eyecandy, linux, themes, ubuntu

Divergence IV

Divergence IV - "A New Hope" is a very cool looking new theme which gives a slick look to your desktop. I'm not an Emerald fan, but the truth is you can't do something as beautiful as the Divergence IV - "A New Hope" Emerald themes with Metacity.

The pack incluses a beautiful GTK2 theme as well as 3 Emerald themes: 2 "A New Hope" themesL one with the buttons on the right side and one with the buttons on the left and a theme called "The Empire strikes back" which you can see in the Nautilus Elementary screenshot further down in the post.


Opera 11 Alpha With Extensions Support Is Available For Download

| Date: October 21, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: extensions, linux, opera, ubuntu, windows

Opera 11 extensions

That was fast! Just last week we were telling you about Opera getting extensions support and today, Opera 11 alpha has been released. The extensions work just like in Chromium: an icon is displayed next to the search bar (or no icon at all) and you also get an extensions page from where you can disable or uninstall the extensions (to reach this page you either have to right click any extension and select "Manage Extensions" or press Ctrl + Shift + E).

Manhattan OS Rebranded As Jupiter OS; Ditches Ubuntu For Debian

| Date: October 20, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: debian, jupiter os, linux, manhattan os

Jupiter OS

Manhattan OS was a great Ubuntu remaster you might remember reading about on WebUpd8. I say "was" because it doesn't exist anymore - you can't download it and there won't be any new versions, not under the "Manhattan OS" name. That's because Kevin wanted to go with Debian instead of Ubuntu and as a result, he is currently working on a new Linux distribution called Jupiter OS.

Configure Wine With Vineyard [Version 0.1.5 Beta, Released]

| Date: October 20, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: linux, ubuntu, Vineyard, wine

Vineyard

Vineyard is a collection of tools you can use as a replacement for Wine's default configuration tool, designed to make it easier to manage Wine. Something like this should really be integrated into Wine - just because Wine is for well, running Windows applications doesn't mean it can't use a native configuration tool.

Vineyard has an Ubuntu PPA but the version in the PPA is very old and Christian, the Vineyard developer says the latest Vineyard 0.1.5 beta is more stable than the "stable" version available from the PPA. Further more, 0.1.5 beta also comes with new features: new tools to simulate reboot, shutdown, close/kill programs an so on (on the Tools tab), ISO files are now supported as drive devices and you can set flat style menus from the Appearance tab.

Install Gnome Shell (From GIT) In Ubuntu 11.04 / 10.10

| Date: October 20, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: gnome, gnome 3, gnome shell, gnome3, linux, ubuntu

Gnome Shell GIT screenshot - Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat

Unfortunately there are no Gnome Shell daily builds in the Ricotz testing PPA anymore (for any Ubuntu version) and even though Ubuntu 10.10 has just been released, the Gnome Shell version in the official Ubuntu repositories is quite old so if you want to run the latest version of Gnome Shell (from GIT), you'll have to compile it. Fortunately, this is not as hard a I initially imagined (because the last time I've compiled Gnome Shell - around Ubuntu 9.04, it was a pain) thanks to the Gnome Shell testing thread @ Ubuntuforums.

By compiling Gnome Shell using the instructions in this post, all the packages the Gnome Shell script will download and compile will not replace any existing libraries and it will install in your home folder, so you don't have to worry about breaking stuff on your system (excluding here the build dependencies of course, which are usual packages from the Ubuntu repositories and will install just like any other package).

Before starting the process, here is a video I've just recorded with the latest Gnome Shell which includes a new notification area (notice how Dropbox is now only displayed in the Activities view) as well as a cool new feature (which is thanks to the latest Mutter): side-by-side tiling:

Install Elementary GTK Theme 2.0 (With Optional Dark Panel) In Ubuntu

| Date: October 19, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: elementary theme, gnome, linux, ubuntu

Elementary GTK theme version 2.0 has been released yesterday and brings some cool improvements such as:

- new breadcrumbs and mode button for Nautilus Elementary and a new ListView style (for all applications):

Elementary GTK theme 2.0

Noflipqlo: Popular Screensaver "Fliqlo" Comes To Linux [Installation Instructions]

| Date: October 19, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: fliqlo, linux, screensaver, ubuntu

Fliqlo

WebUdp8 reader bhm brought Fliqlo, a very popular screensaver for Windows and OSX to Linux. Fliqlo allows you to make your screen look like a flip-style clock.

What doesn't work: Noflipqlo currently doesn't work with Gnome Screensaver so you'll have to use Xscreensaver. Also, the "flip" effect doesn't work (hence the name - Noflipqlo).

To install Fliqlo in Linux (called "Noflipqlo"), use the following commands (note: the commands below will disable the Gnome Screensaver):

Video: Nautilus Elementary With ClutterFlow, Embedded Terminal In Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat

| Date: October 18, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: embedded terminal, linux, nautilus elementary, ubuntu, video

For those who haven't upgraded to Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat yet or simply never tried Nautilus Elementary, I though I'd create a video showing off the new features such as ClutterFlow (well, that's not new, it was also implemented in Nautilus Elementary for Ubuntu 9.10 but it was missing in Ubuntu 10.04), Embedded Terminal (with a GUI to configure it) and so on:



For installation instructions, see the previous post (ClutterFlow and Embedded Terminal are only available in Ubuntu 10.10!): Nautilus Elementary PPA Update Brings NE-Terminal-Config, Copy/Paste For The Terminal

Nautilus Elementary PPA Update Brings NE-Terminal-Config, Copy/Paste For The Terminal

| Date: October 18, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: embedded terminal, linux, nautilus, nautilus elementary, ubuntu

NE Terminal Config

A tool to configure the Nautilus Elementary (NE-Terminal-Config) terminal was released last week but it was only working with Nautilus Elementary from BZR. But the Nautilus Elementary PPA has been updated today now only works with NE-Terminal-Config, but it also integrates it with Nautilus Elementary: to configure the terminal, simply right click it and select the configuration option.

Apt-Proz And Apt-Metalink: 2 Alternatives To Apt-Fast [Speed Up Apt-Get Download Speed]

| Date: October 17, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: apt-fast, apt-get, cli, download manager, linux, ubuntu

apt-fast is a shell script to accelerate apt-get downloads using Axel, a command line download accelerator. Based on apt-fast, some other scripts have been created and I though they are worth mentioning:

apt-proz - which is maintained in a PPA by Damar Riyadi (thanks for the tip!), who also maintains apt-fast in his repository -, uses ProZilla to handle the downloads and Damar says it's faster (at least for him) then apt-fast (using Axel). You can get apt-proz from this PPA: ppa:tldm217/tahutek.net, then to use it, simply replace "apt-get" with "apt-proz" when installing / upgrading a package.

apt-metalink allows you to download deb packages from several sources concurrently by using repository mirrors (you'll have to add them manually in the sources.list file). It uses Aria2 to download the files and it has an extra feature compared to apt-fast and apt-proz: it can check the hash of the downloaded files. For more info and usage, see apt-metalink @ Github.

Basenji Gets A Scanner Daemon Which Automatically Adds Inserted Volumes To The Database

| Date: October 17, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: basenji, indexer, linux, ubuntu

Basenji daemon notification

Basenji is a tool which indexes your removable media such as CDs/DVDs and USB sticks and keeps a history of the data on each media you add to its database so you can later easily search / browse for something on your CDs/DVDs or USB sticks without actually plugging them into your computer.

When we wrote about Basenji, a lot of people requested a daemon which automatically scans a device you plug in and adds it to the Basenji database. Well, The Basenji PPA has been updated and it now features a package called volumedb-tools which can do this.

Use Mplayer With Hardware Acceleration In Ubuntu 10.04 And 10.10 [Nvidia]

| Date: October 17, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: 10.10, hardware acceleration, linux, mplayer, ubuntu, video

Firstly, why should you use Mplayer with hardware accelerated video decoding? Check out this video (look at the CPU usage for the same video when played with and without vdpau) I've just recorded:


(Video available in HTML5 if you've enabled it on YouTube)


Last Week's Top Posts (Week 41, 2010)

| Date: October 17, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: top posts

Simple Rhythmbox Plugins: Save Cover In Mp3 Metadata, Save Existing Cover in Mp3 Folder And More

| Date: October 17, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: linux, mp3, music, plugins, rhythmbox, ubuntu

Simple Rhythmbox Plugins is a collection of 5 Rhythmbox plugins which can: search for album cover on Google Images, save the existing cover in the mp3 folder, save the cover in the mp3 metadata, search the artist on Wikipedia and open the albumart cover.

DeadBeef 0.4.2 Has Been Released, Adds Option To Specify New Tray Icon And More

| Date: October 16, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: deadbeef, linux, music player, ubuntu

Deadbeef

DeadBeef, a lightweight music player I was telling you about in the Ubuntu Netbook Edition optimization tips post was updated to version 0.4.2 today which brings some minor but interesting new features:

Copy / Paste Files From The Command Line [Bash Alias]

| Date: October 15, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: bash, cli, linux, tips n tricks, ubuntu

Here is a cool bash alias which you can place you your ~/.bashrc file to be able to copy and paste from the command line:

Script To Fix The Ubuntu Plymouth For Proprietary Nvidia And ATI Graphics Drivers

| Date: October 15, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: 10.04, 10.10, fix, linux, Plymouth, ubuntu

Plymouth Ubuntu

Installing the proprietary Nvidia or ATI graphics drivers in Ubuntu (10.04 or 10.10) will make Plymouth (the boot screen) look very big and ugly. The script in this post should fix this.


If you're looking for an easy way to fix the Plymouth in Ubuntu, search no more: there's a script which fixes the Plymouth for both ATI and Nvidia proprietary graphics drivers.

Personal rant: I've found this script on d0rkye's blog and I liked that it displays the supported screen resolutions and you can enter the best resolution for your system but comparing it to kyleabaker's script, it looks like he copied most of the code from there (except the resolution thingy) - that's made clear by 2 bugs in the script (one was also in the initial script and the other is a "variable" used in the first) so don't use the original script posted on d0rkye's blog as the last part won't work!

Now, back to the script and fixing the Plymouth.

Grub Customizer 1.5 Released With Grub 2 Recovery Feature

| Date: October 14, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: fix, grub customizer, grub2, linux, recover, ubuntu

Grub Customizer

Grub Customizer is a new graphical GRUB2 settings manager which we've told you about last week.

Immediately after we published the Grub Customizer article, a new version was released which added BURG support so if you've read that article as soon as we've posted it, you might have missed this feature.

Grub Customizer 1.5 which has been released today comes with a cool new feature: Grub recovery & configuration using a live CD:

New Unity uTouch Video [Ubuntu Netbook Edition 10.10]

| Date: October 14, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: 10.10, linux, maverick meerkat, multi-touch, touch, ubuntu, unity

Because there aren't too many touch-enabled devices so only a few people can enjoy the touch functionality in Unity (Ubuntu 10.10 Netbook Edition), the guys at Canonical blog posted a video showing off the amazing multi-touch capabilities of Unity:

How To Disable The Spotify Tray (Notification Area) Icon In Linux

| Date: October 14, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: internet, linux, music, Spotify, ubuntu, wine

The Spotify tray (notification area) icon is well... useless and ugly, so I've removed it from my notification area and I though I'd share the "trick". Please note that I'm using the WINE (Windows) version of Spotify (so it might or might not work with the native Spotify client for Linux which you can currently use only if you're a paying subscriber).

Opera 11 To Get Extensions Support

| Date: October 14, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: browsers, extensions, opera

The Opera developers have just announced that Opera 11 will finally get extensions support. The announcement also states that porting extensions from other browsers (they are most probably referring to Chrome) will be very easy and the extensions will either display a new button in the browser UI or will run in the background without any UI element.

I don't know about you, but for me this is very exciting news as the extensions (even though opera offers a lot of functionality which you'll not find in other browsers by default) were the only thing that kept me from using Opera as my default web browser.


Alpha builds of Opera 11 will soon be available for download @
http://www.opera.com/browser/next/

For more info, read the announcement.

Window Applets 0.2.8 Released With 6 New Themes

| Date: October 14, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: applet, gnome panel, linux, ubuntu, window applets

Window Buttons

Window Applets are 2 Gnome panel applets which can display the maximized window title and buttons on the panel (and hiding them on the actual window). This can be very useful for getting more vertical screen space for maximized windows (see the screenshot). Since this is separated into 2 applets, it means you can place the title and buttons independently, wherever you want on the panel.

Ubuntu 10.10 Netbook Edition features a similar applet by default, however UNE 10.10 doesn't allow you to customize anything about it: you can move it around or use a different theme for the buttons - as opposed to Window Applets which comes with many default themes, allows you to customize the button order and other options.

Fix Google Earth Crashing On Startup In Ubuntu 10.04 And 10.10

| Date: October 13, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: 10.10, google earth, internet, linux, ubuntu

Google Earth

If you've installed Google Earth in Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat from the Super OS 10.10 repository or from the Medibuntu 10.04 repository, Google Earth probably crashes at startup.

How To Get A Quake Like Terminal Under Gnome Using Terminator

| Date: October 13, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: compiz, gnome, guake, linux, terminal, terminator, ubuntu

I am aware of Guake (Gnome), Yakuake (KDE) and so on, but this post is about using drop-down grid terminals using Terminator. Read on!

I used to love Yakuake - a drop-down terminal which will remind you of the Quake console - and used it for about an year but then I decided not to install any KDE libraries in Gnome so I switched to Guake. Guake is nice but you can't have multiple terminals in one window and lacks a lot of the customization that was available for Yakuake.

Terminator on the other hand supports multiple terminals in one window, has tabs support, you can save your own custom layouts, has a built-in "watch terminals for activity" option and supports many other customizations but you can't use it as a drop-down terminal, Quake-style. By default that is, because you can actually do this using the Compiz "Widget Layer" plugin.

Here is a video demonstrating how to configure Terminator to use the Widget Layer Compiz plugin and of course, see the actual Terminator using Widget Layer in action (the how-to result is displayed later on in the video, so watch it till the end):


(Watch it in HD!)


And here is the detailed info on how to do it:

NE Terminal Config: Configure The Nautilus Elementary Embedded Terminal

| Date: October 12, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: 10.10, embedded terminal, linux, maverick meerkat, nautilus elementarry, ubuntu

NE Terminal Config

NE Terminal Config is an utility to configure the Nautilus Elementary embedded terminal (which is only available for Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat), developed by FLOZz.

To avoid the confusion: Nautilus Terminal (which is also developed by FLOZz) is a Nautilus extension to get an embedded terminal into Nautilus which works with any Nautilus version. However, NE Terminal Config is an utility for configuring the embedded terminal feature in Nautilus Elementary, not the Nautilus Terminal extension.

NE Terminal Config allows you to change the colors, font, default terminal height, hide/show the scrollbar and so on.

Install Hamachi2 And Haguichi (GUI For Hamachi, Now Available In A PPA) In Ubuntu

| Date: October 12, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: haguichi, hamachi, linux, p2p, ppa, ubuntu, vpn

Haguichi Hamachi2 GUI Ubuntu

Firstly, an introduction so you'll know what this is about:
  • Hamachi is a zero-configuration virtual private network (VPN) application capable of establishing direct links between computers that are behind NAT firewalls without requiring reconfiguration (in most cases); in other words, it establishes a connection over the Internet that emulates the connection that would exist if the computers were connected over a local area network. 
  • Haguichi provides a graphical frontend for Hamachi on Linux that integrates smoothly into your GNOME desktop. 

Configure Logitech G Series Keyboards In Ubuntu With Gnome15, Now Available In A PPA

| Date: October 12, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: keyboard, linux, logitech, ubuntu

Logitech G19 keyboard

Gnome15 provides a panel applet, configuration tool, macro system and plugin framework for the Logitech G series keyboards, including the G15 and G19. The intention is to provide the best integration with the Gnome desktop possible, using the standard protocols and libraries where possible.

Gnome15 comes with many plugins for displaying various info on your keyboard, such as a Cairo Clock, Notify LCD, a calendar integrated with Evolution, RSS reader, volume monitor, display the weather (using Google API), system monitor (displays current CPU, network and memory summary), display the current track information (works with Rhythmbox, Banshee, Audacious, XMMS2 and more) and even an experimental video player.


Until today, you had to compile Gnome15 to use it in Ubuntu, but WebUpd8 Reader MastroPino sent as an email which points out that Gnome15 can now easily be installed in Ubuntu using a PPA (currently available for Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat only!).

Easily Install Google Earth, TeamViewer, Dropbox, IBM Lotus Symphony And Many More In Ubuntu 10.10 Using The Super OS Repository

| Date: October 12, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: adobe air, dropbox, flash, google earth, googlecl, linux, lotus symphony, picasa, remastersys, spideroak, teamviewer, truecrypt, ubuntu, uck, virtualbox

Super OS 10.10, a modified version of Ubuntu has been released today and with it, the Super OS repository I was telling you about a while back has also been updated to support Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat.

Install Transmission 2.10 In Ubuntu (Stable PPA)

| Date: October 12, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: bittorrent, internet, linux, transmission, ubuntu

Transmission 2.10

Transmission (bittorrent client) 2.10 was released a few days ago, and while it doesn't bring major changes, the new version includes several performance improvements (small memory cache to reduce disk IO and some minor CPU optimizations), support for a cookies.txt file, support for automatically stopping idle seeding torrents, new command line options and other changes which you can see HERE.

The latest Transmission 2.10 is available in the Transmission stable PPA for Ubuntu Hardy, Karmic, Lucid and Maverick so to install it, use the following commands:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:transmissionbt/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install transmission

The Medibuntu Repository Is Available For Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat

| Date: October 11, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: 10.10, linux, maverick meerkat, medibuntu, ubuntu

Medibuntu (Multimedia, Entertainment & Distractions In Ubuntu) is a repository of packages that cannot be included into the Ubuntu distribution for legal reasons (copyright, license, patent, etc).


The Medibuntu repository is available (was released seconds ago) for Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat - I know many of you were waiting for it so here is how to add it to your sources.list:

How To Make .deb Files Open With GDebi Instead Of Ubuntu Software Center In Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat

| Date: October 11, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: .deb, 10.10, fix, gdebi, linux, maverick meerkat, ubuntu, ubuntu software center

Most of you probably like the fact that Ubuntu Software Center is now used for opening .deb files in Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat, but I for one am not very happy with this change because Ubuntu Software Center is a lot slower then GDebi so why wait some extra seconds when I can do it faster with GDebi?

Also, Ubuntu Software Center doesn't display the dependencies that will be installed with the .deb so if for instance I download some .deb for KDE and don't realize this, Ubuntu Software Center will install hundreds of packages while GDebi will display the number of dependencies that are about to be installed so this can be avoided:

GDebi open deb Ubuntu 10.10

VirtualBox Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat Repository

| Date: October 11, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: linux, ubuntu, virtualbox

The Virtualbox (non-free - which doesn't mean it's free per se, but that it's proprietary) repository for Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat has been created today.

Tweak The NotifyOSD Notifications In Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat [Patched NotifyOSD PPA Updated]

| Date: October 11, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: linux, notifications, notifyosd, ubuntu

Customized NotifyOSD Notifications
(The color in the screenshot is for testing purposes only, you can set NotifyOSD to any colors you like)


Update: for Ubuntu 11.04 or 11.10, see: Configurable NotifyOSD Bubbles For Ubuntu: Move, Close On Click, Change Colors And More

As you probably know, the NotifyOSD notification bubbles in Ubuntu don't support any kind of customization. Mark Shuttleworth himself said that it's ok to customize the NotifyOSD appearance (so we might get that in Ubuntu at some point), but not the behavior.

But that doesn't mean you can't customize both the NotifyOSD notification bubbles appearance and behavior if you want. You can do it with the patched NotifyOSD from Leolik's PPA which has just been updated with Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat packages (but it also works in Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala and 10.04 Lucid Lynx - like we've previously wrote).

The patched NotifyOSD allows a lot of customizations such as changing the position on the screen (corner to display the notification bubbles), colors, timeout and much more.

But first, here is a screenshot using NotifyOSD notifications positioned in the bottom right corner of the screen:

NotifyOSD Notifications bottom left screen



To get the whole idea, here is a video I've just recorded - it starts with the default NotifyOSD behaviour, but watch it till the end:

How To Set A Proxy For The Terminal [Quick Linux Tip]

| Date: October 11, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: linux, proxy, terminal, tips n tricks, tor, ubuntu

If you set a global proxy in Gnome (I'm not sure about other desktop environments), you'll notice that the terminal ignores it. Here's how to set a proxy for the terminal:

Install Kernel Updates Without Rebooting With Ksplice Uptrack, Now Available For Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat

| Date: October 11, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: kernel, ksplice, linux, maverick meerkat, updates

With the release of Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat, Ksplice Uptrack - the rebootless update capability - will yet again be offered free of charge for Ubuntu Desktop 10.10.

In case you don't know, Ksplice Uptrack lets you apply Kernel updates without having to reboot. While you have to pay a monthly fee to use it for Debian, Red Hat, CentOS or Ubuntu Server, Ksplice Uptrack is free to use for Ubuntu Desktop (from 9.04 to 10.10) and Fedora 13.

Ubuntu .deb downloads and installation instructions @ http://www.ksplice.com/uptrack/download-ubuntu

Last Week's Top Posts (Week 40, 2010)

| Date: October 10, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: top posts

Macbuntu 2.3, Elegant Gnome Pack 0.9.2 Have Been Released [Updates]

| Date: October 10, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: elegant gnome, eyecandy, linux, macbuntu, themes, ubuntu

Macbuntu


macbuntu

Macbuntu is a script which makes your Ubuntu desktop look like Mac OSX in seconds. The script installs a lot of things: from GTK, icon and cursor themes to backgrounds, fonts, Global Menu, Docky, Ubuntu-Tweak, Cheese, Compiz Extras and will change the look of the Login screen, Metacity, set Compiz effects and modify the top panel completely. We've already posted a complete Macbuntu review so check out that post for further info: Make Ubuntu Look Like Mac OSX In Seconds Using Macbuntu.

Chrome Extension To Use The Ubuntu Font On All The Web Pages

| Date: October 10, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: chrome, extension, fonts, linux, ubuntu, ubuntu font

WebUpd8 ubuntu font

If you like the new Ubuntu Font and use Chrome/ium, you can make all the web pages use the new font by installing a Chrome extension created by superpiwi @ UbuntuLife.

You'll of course need the Ubuntu font which is installed by default in Ubuntu 10.10 but if you're using an older Ubuntu version, you can either download it from HERE or use our Ubuntu Font public PPA.


Install Ubuntu 10.10 (unified font style) Chrome extension

What To Do After A Fresh Ubuntu 10.10 Install? Run These Commands!

| Date: October 10, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: 10.10, linux, maverick meerkat, ubuntu

In case you were wondering, there won't be a new Ubuntu Start script version, at least not for Ubuntu 10.10. There are many reasons for this but I'd rather not get into details.

To get you started with your fresh Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat installation, I'd though I'd share the commands I use to install the basic stuff. For everything else there's Ubuntu Tweak or manual installation, however these following should get you started.

Ubuntu Tweak 0.5.7 Released With New / Updated PPAs For Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat

| Date: October 10, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: ppa, ubuntu, ubuntu tweak

Ubuntu Tweak 0.5.7

To celebrate the release of Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat today, a new Ubuntu Tweak version is available for download - 0.5.7. This new version comes with some bug fixes and small improvements, but most importantly: it includes new / updated PPAs for Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat. A complete list of changes can be found @ Ubuntu Tweak blog.

The new / updated PPAs in Ubuntu Tweak 0.5.7 include: Adobe Flash 64bit, Cairo Dock (stable and unstable), DeadBeef, Elegant Gnome, Firefox Daily Builds, Glippy, Gwibber Daily, Hotot daily, Lookit, qBittorrent, Chromium Beta Channel and Dev Channels PPA (along with the existing Daily builds PPA), Wine, Pdfmod and many more.

So if you're looking for a quick way to set up everything on your fresh Ubuntu 10.10 installation, use Ubuntu Tweak.

Download Ubuntu Tweak 0.5.7 (installing the .deb will automatically add the Ubuntu Tweak PPA).

Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat Has Been Released - See What's New In Both Desktop And Netbook Editions

| Date: October 10, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: 10.10, linux, maverick meerkat, netbook edition, ubuntu, unity

Ubuntu perfect 10

Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat final has just been released. I'm taking this opportunity to review the major changes (mostly on the UI) in both Ubuntu 10.10 Desktop and Netbook editions. If you're a regular WebUpd8 reader, you should already know all these changes but even so, read on for a new Unity video (recorded today) as well as a recap of the changes to Ubuntu Software Center, Unity and so on. 

Please note that as usual, the Netbook Edition video and screenshots have been taken on my desktop - that's because I personally do not like Unity and prefer my own netbook setup, but it has nothing to do with the Unity performance (which by the way works great now).

Ubuntu One Indicator Applet Gets Initial Ubuntu 10.04 Support, PPA

| Date: October 10, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: appindicator, linux, sync, ubuntu, ubuntu one

UbuntuOne Indicator Applet

The Ubuntu One Indicator Applet which we told you about a few days ago now has a PPA so it's easier to install and stay up to date with new releases.

Play YouTube Videos In Rhythmbox With YouTubeClips [Plugin]

| Date: October 09, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: internet, linux, music, plugins, rhythmbox, ubuntu, youtube

Rhythmbox youtube clips

First of all, you should know that YoutubeClips is not a Rhythmbox plugin that allows you to search for YouTube videos and play them in Rhythmbox. What the plugin does is automatically searches YouTube and displays the video of the currently playing song in Rhythmbox.

Gnome Shell: From Mockups To Reality

| Date: October 09, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: gnome, gnome shell, linux

Gnome Shell mockup

Do you remember the above mockup? It was presented this year at GUADEC along with some other mockups we posted HERE. Well, Florian Müllner is making that a reality - here is a real screenshot of his work:


Gnome Shell

I don't know about you, but I for one am really glad we'll finally have some sort of window list (dock, launcher or whatever is called) in Gnome Shell, although the above screenshot looks like the Activities view - hopefully the window list will be displayed in any view, not just here. What do you think?


In other Gnome Shell news, the testing PPA maintained by Ricotz no longer provides Gnome Shell packages so it looks like it's now harder then ever to try out Gnome Shell in Ubuntu, especially since now it depends on GTK3).


Grub Customizer Lets You Reorder, Add Or Remove GRUB 2 (Or BURG) Menu Entries

| Date: October 08, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: grub customizer, grub2, linux, tweak, ubuntu

Grub customizer

Grub Customizer is a new graphical GRUB2 settings manager. For now, it only allows you to edit the GRUB2 menu entries: reorder, rename or add/remove entries. Since these are actually scripts which generate the boot.cfg file, Grub Customizer changes the actual script order and then generates a new boot.cfg so if you then run "sudo update-grub", your customization won't be overwritten.

Elementary Firefox Theme 3.0, Released, Looks Amazing!

| Date: October 08, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: elementary, eyecandy, firefox, linux, themes, ubuntu

Firefox Elementary has been under heavy development for the past weeks and it finally reached version 3.0 today. This version brings a toolbar button - Nautilus Elementary style, a new tab bar with bookmark and history button, full personas support and a lot more:

Firefox Elementary 3.0


You can still access the old Firefox menu by holding the ALT key.

If something looks out of place, it means you'll have to customize the toolbars and re-arrange the elements exactly like in the above screenshot (that's pretty easy).


Download @ DeviantArt

As usual, thanks to Thomas for the tip!

Ubuntu One Indicator Applet

| Date: October 08, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: appindicator, internet, linux, sync, ubuntu, ubuntu one

UbuntuOne Indicator applet

Ubuntu One started with an applet back on Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala but it was later removed with the intention of making Ubuntu One as unobstrusive as possible. But that brought a problem: now there is no easy way of knowing the Ubuntu One sync status.

For this reason, Roman has created an Ubuntu One indicator applet which can display the file synchronization status, available space and it can also be used to disconnect Ubuntu One.

Fix NO_PUBKEY Error For The Extras Ubuntu Repository

| Date: October 07, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: 10.10, fix, tips n tricks, ubuntu

Strangely, the new Ubuntu Extras repository has been added to the Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat sources.list by default, yet the repository key has not been imported so if you're using Ubuntu 10.10, you probably get an error when running "sudo apt-get update":

W: GPG error: http://extras.ubuntu.com maverick Release: The following signatures couldn't be verified because the public key is not available: NO_PUBKEY 16126D3A3E5C1192

To fix it, run the following command:
sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 3E5C1192

That imports the Extras repository key (make sure port 11371 is not blocked or else it won't work).

Create A Bootable Windows 7 USB Drive From Linux (Tested On Ubuntu)

| Date: October 07, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: linux, ubuntu, unetbootin, usb, windows, windows 7

Update: you may want to check out WinUSB (fork) instead, a tool that can create bootable Windows 10 as well as 8 and 7 sticks from Linux. See here: Make A Bootable Windows 10 USB Install Stick On Linux With WinUSB Fork

I recently had to create a Windows 7 bootable USB flash drive for my girlfriend because she doesn't have a DVD-ROM, and I had to do it from Ubuntu as I don't have Windows (neither at work or at home).

What I ended up on using is the good old (just a figure of speech) UNetbootin which is available for both Windows and Linux. It's in the Ubuntu repositories so to install it, search for it in the Ubuntu Software Center. For Windows and other Linux distributions, get it from HERE.

At first I didn't think it'll work since you can't choose Windows from the UNetbooting options, but it actually works and I've successfully installed Windows 7 on my girlfriend's computer using UNetbootin. Here's what I did:

Gedit Plugin To Search And Replace In Multiple Files

| Date: October 07, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: gedit, gnome, linux, plugins, ubuntu

Advanced find replace gedit plugin

Advanced Find / Replace is a plugin for Gedit (both 2 and 3) for easily search and replace in multiple documents. It currently works with all opened documents and all the files in a directory you select.

When searching in multiple files, the plugin can display a bottom panel (View > Bottom Pane) which displays the row matching your search for each file in the selected directory.

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