HUD: Ubuntu`s New Smart Menus, Announced By Mark Shuttleworth

Spice Up Your Desktop With These 5 Cool GTK2/3 Themes [PPA]

The Raspberry Pi Computer Is Finally Being Manufactured

Install Ubuntu Unity Bottom Launcher Via PPA

AirDroid: Manage Your Android Device Using A Browser

Things To Tweak After Installing Ubuntu 11.10 Oneiric Ocelot

Oxygen Appmenu - Replace The Menu With A Titlebar Button (KDE)

Cinnamon Available To Install Via PPA For Ubuntu, More News

Install Picasa 3.9 In Linux And Fix Google Sign In Issue [Wine]

Indicator Applet Ported To GNOME 3, Can Already Be Used In Ubuntu 11.10 Oneiric Ocelot Classic GNOME 3 Session

How To Install Oracle Java 7 (JDK) In Ubuntu

TeamViewer 7 Beta Available For Linux [Remote Desktop Tool]

Archive for April 2011

Written by Andrew in appindicator, linux, sensors, temperature, ubuntu

Saturday, April 30, 2011

Indicator-Sensors Displays CPU / Motherboard Temperature On The Panel Using An AppIndicator [Ubuntu]

Indicator Sensors temperature Ubuntu

These days we've got a lot of comments requesting for a temperature monitor applet with Ubuntu AppIndicator support that displays the CPU / Motherboard temperature, Fan speed, etc. on the panel.

Well, great news! Alex Murray has created an Sensors AppIndicator which can display various temperatures and fan speeds as well as the GPU / fan speed for Nvidia graphics cards (if you have installed the "nvidia-settings" package only!).

Indicator-Sensors doesn't have a PPA yet so I've debianized it and uploaded it to the WebUpd8 PPA so you can install it already in Ubuntu 11.04. But please note that Indicator-Sensors is currently in alpha so it may not work for everyone, or you may find bugs. If that happens, report any bugs you may find @ Launchpad.

Written by Andrew in compiz, linux, tips n tricks, ubuntu, unity

Friday, April 29, 2011

How To Reset Unity, Launcher Icons Or Compiz In Ubuntu

If you're using Unity and you want to reset Unity to its default settings, want to reset the Unity Launcher icons or you've changed some Compiz settings which have messed up Ubuntu and want to reset everything, here's how to do it.

Written by Andrew in conky, linux, system monitor, ubuntu

Friday, April 29, 2011

Try A Beautiful, NotifyOSD-Like Conky Setup

Conky NotifyOSD

"notifyOSD Conky" is a simple Conky setup created by BigRZA that displays the CPU usage / temperature, RAM and HDD usage as well as the network traffic.

Written by Andrew in 11.10, linux, Oneiric Ocelot, ubuntu

Friday, April 29, 2011

Possible New Default Applications In Ubuntu 11.10 Oneiric Ocelot

Ocelot

Ubuntu 11.04 has just been released but but work on Ubuntu 11.10 has already started (by the way, the Ubuntu 11.10 repositories are available already) and some very interesting blueprints have been registered on Launchpad.

Important: these are just things that are being considered, it doesn't mean the changes bellow will actually happen. For now this is just a discussion!

Written by Andrew in 11.04, linux, Natty Narwhal, ubuntu, xubuntu

Friday, April 29, 2011

Xubuntu 11.04 Released With Xfce 4.8, Gmusicbrowser Default, New Artwork [Screenshots]

XUbuntu 11.04 screenshot

Along with Ubuntu 11.04, Xubuntu, Kubuntu and Lubuntu were also release. In this post I'll try to cover the changes in Xubuntu 11.04 - a very interesting Ubuntu flavor based on Xfce.

Xubuntu 11.04 is truly lightweight, using only 184 MB of RAM on startup (I've only tested it in VirtualBox though). It's not as lightweight as Lubuntu, but it has a lot more features and if you don't like Unity or GNOME Shell, you should really consider it.

New artwork in Xubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal

Written by Andrew in 11.04, linux, Natty Narwhal, tips n tricks, tweak, ubuntu

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Things To Tweak / Fix After Installing Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal

A note before reading this post: before giving up on Unity without giving it a try... don't. Try Unity for a few days - yes, it's not a finished product but it's actually quite interesting - and if you don't like it then switch.

If you've just upgraded to Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal, there are probably a few things you'll miss, so here is how to get them back as well as some other things you may find useful.

Written by Andrew in 11.04, linux, Natty Narwhal, ubuntu

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal Released - See What`s New (Screenshots And Video)

Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal final

After the usual 6 months of development, Ubuntu 11.04 has finally been released. I usually start these posts with "there haven't been any major or ground-breaking changes" but this time pretty much everything is new with the introduction of Unity as the default interface. Since we've been writing about the new features in Ubuntu 11.04 constantly, in this post we'll only talk about the major new features. Read on!

Here is a video demoing the most important new features in Ubuntu 11.04:

(for more videos, check out our YouTube channel and Facebook page)

Written by Andrew in amd, ati, catalyst, drivers, linux, ubuntu

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

AMD (ATI) Catalyst 11.4 Released Just In Time For Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal

ATI Catalyst 11.04

A quick update: AMD has released Catalyst 11.4 with support for X Server 1.10 so all of you who want to upgrade to Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal should now be able to use Unity.

I do not use an ATI graphics card so I can't really tell you how everything works so all I can do is give you a download link:

Download ATI Catalyst 11.04

If you have an ATI graphics card, please let us know your experience with the latest 11.04 in the comments!

Many thanks to WebUpd8 reader _artem_ for the screenshot!

Written by Andrew in emesene, GTalk, im, linux, msn, ubuntu

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Install Emesene 2 Stable (2.11.4) In Ubuntu Via PPA

Emesene2

After a long period of development, Emesene 2 (stable) has finally been released, this being a complete re-write of the initial Emesene in GTK / pygtk.

Starting with version 2, Emesene supports Gtalk and Facebook or any XMPP/Jabber network (along with MSN of course). Other changes in Emesene 2 include: support for adium-like themes, Ubuntu Messaging Menu (and MeMenu integration for Natty) support and lots more.

Also, Emesene 2 uses "papylib" which is also used by Empathy. This brings many advantages like:

Written by Andrew in extensions, eyecandy, fedora, gnome 3, gnome shell, gnome shell extensions, linux, themes, ubuntu

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

ThemeSelector: GNOME Shell Extension To Change Themes (With Previews)

GNOME 3 (with GNOME Shell) is truly great and I especially like how easy it is to extend it through extensions like the new ThemeSelector extension.

ThemeSelector GNOME Shell extension is a new, unofficial GNOME Shell extension that adds a new tab in the Activities overview where all the GNOME Shell themes (not GTK themes!) installed under ~/.themes show up. To change a theme, all you have to do is click it and you don't even have to reload GNOME Shell.

Here's a screenshot with the new ThemeSelector extension:

GNOME Shell Themeselector extension

The theme previews aren't exactly great, probably because of my large screen too, but the ThemeSelector GNOME Shell extension is still in beta.

To use the ThemeSelector extension, you need to install GNOME Shell Extensions and the GNOME Shell User Theme extension. But don't worry, despite a first look on the installation steps below, installing all of these is actually quite easy. Read on!

Written by Andrew in basenji, cd, collection manager, dvd, indexer, linux, ubuntu, usb, windows

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Basenji 0.8 (Tool To Index Your CDs/DVDs, USB Devices And Network Drives), Released

Basenji

Basenji is a cross-platform tool you can use to index your CDs/DVDs and USB devices so you can later search the database without having plug the media into your computer.

Written by Andrew in launcher, linux, mount, tweak, ubuntu, unity, usb

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

How To Remove Mounted Drives From The Ubuntu Unity Launcher

Unity mounted drives launcher

All the mounted drives (this includes USB drives, NTFS and other partitions that you set to automount, etc. - basically everything that's in /media) show up in the Ubuntu Unity launcher by default which is usually ok if you have a big monitor or if you don't have a lot of applications pinned to the Launcher.

But if you use a netbook or just want more space on your Unity launcher, here's how to change the launcher behavior so that it doesn't display any mounted drives.

But firstly, here is how to unmount external devices.

Written by Andrew in battery, jupiter, linux, netbook, ubuntu

Monday, April 25, 2011

Jupiter 0.0.50 Released, Fixes Restore Mode On Boot Function

Jupiter

Jupiter is an applet written in Mono designed for netbooks and laptops that you can use to switch between maximum and high performance and power saving mode, change the resolution and orientation, enable or disable the bluetooth, touchpad, WiFi and so on. If you own an Asus EeePC, there's also a separate package that adds support for Asus Super Hybrid Engine (SHE) as well as some other EeePC tweaks.

Jupiter 0.0.50 was released today (along with jupiter-support-eee 0.13), bringing some updates for new Linux Kernels as well as a fix for the restore mode on boot.

Written by Andrew in equalizer, linux, music, pulseaudio, ubuntu

Monday, April 25, 2011

System-Wide PulseAudio Equalizer Updated For Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal, Added 2 Patches

PulseAudio Equalizer

Remember the system-wide PulseAudio Equalizer?

Today I was updating most of the packages in the WebUpd8 PPA that I didn't update yet (not many actually) for Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal and I've remembered about some patches for PulseAudio Equalizer so I though I'd add them with this update.

Written by Andrew in eyecandy, gnome 3, gnome shell, linux, themes

Monday, April 25, 2011

Adwaita Improved: Reduced Padding For Adwaita Combo Boxes / Nautilus Breadcrumbs [GNOME 3]

Adwaita improved

If you think the new GNOME3 default theme - Adwaita - uses too much padding, try "Adwaita Improved" by yes, Half-left again :)

Adwaita Improved comes with reduced padding for combo boxes and Nautilus breadcrumbs bar as well as a tweak to the Nautilus sidebar to blend with the background color. Check out these before and after images by Half-left:

Written by Andrew in linux, ubuntu, unity, wallpapers

Monday, April 25, 2011

Ubuntu Unity Keyboard Shortcuts Wallpapers

Can't remember all the Unity keyboard shortcuts? Then check out the AskUbuntu keyboard shortcuts thread - you'll find two wallpapers (one is also available in German) with most of the Unity mouse tricks / keyboard shortcuts:

Ubuntu Unity Shortcuts wallpaper

Ubuntu Unity keyboard shortcuts wallpaper

Unfortunately there's no SVG available so if the wallpaper resolution doesn't match your monitor, try tweaking it via the Appearance preferences (stretch/zoom, etc).

Get the full-size wallpapers @ AskUbuntu

[via Novatillasku]

Written by Andrew in eyecandy, fedora, gnome, gnome 3, gnome shell, gnome shell extensions, linux, themes, ubuntu

Friday, April 22, 2011

Install Themes In GNOME 3 (GTK3 / Mutter / Metacity Themes)

In the latest GNOME 3, changing the theme isn't as easy as you're used to. Using Gnome Tweak Tool you can change the GTK theme but how about the titlebar (Mutter/Metacity theme)? Read on!

Written by Andrew in linux, ubuntu, virtualbox

Thursday, April 21, 2011

VirtualBox Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal Repository, Finally Ready

VirtualBox 4.0.6 ubuntu

The VirtualBox repository (contrib) for Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal has finally been created today.

Besides the new Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal repository, there's also a new version: VirtualBox 4.0.6 which adds support for X.Org Server 1.10 final (for Guest Additions), some Linux Kernel 2.6.39-rc1 fixes as well as a fix for slow Linux guests with recent Kernels.

See the complete VirtualBox 4.0.6 changelog.

Written by Andrew in audacious, linux, music player, ubuntu

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Audacious 2.5.0 Released With Option To Dock Plugins Into The GTK Interface, Configurable Columns, More [PPA]

Audacious 2.5.0

Audacious 2.5.0 was released a few days ago, getting some very interesting new features like: option to dock some of the plugins (like album art, visualisation, lyrics) into the GTK interface, configurable playlist columns, support for GTK 3.0 (but the version in the WebUpd8 PPA is not compiled with GTK 3.0 support), a reorganized preferences window, a new New Cairo-based spectrum visualization plugin, new buttons for shuffle and repeat and much more.

Written by Andrew in appindicator, clipboard manager, glipper, linux, ubuntu

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Glipper Gets Ubuntu AppIndicator Support

Glipper

Glipper, one of the most popular clipboard managers for GNOME finally got Ubuntu AppIndicator support in Natty. Previously, Glipper was a GNOME applet.

Written by Andrew in linux, mplayer, solarized, sublime text, text editor, ubuntu, umplayer, video player

Thursday, April 21, 2011

UMPlayer Update; Sublime Text 2 Gets Solarized [WebUpd8 PPA]

UMPlayer

UMPlayer

UMPlayer is a new cross-platform SMPlayer fork. Since it uses Mplayer, it can play most video formats and comes with some very interesting features. For instance, it supports CSS skins so it's very easy to theme.

I've updated UMPlayer to revision 143 in the WebUpd8 PPA - this update brings a feature many have been asking for in the comments: the time position in the video is now remembered (thanks to Steve for the tip!).

Written by Andrew in launchpad, linux, ppa, tweak, ubuntu, y ppa manager

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Y PPA Manager 0.0.7.5 Adds Unity Launcher Quicklists

Y PPA Manager

Y PPA Manager is a GUI tool to easily add PPAs, search a package in all Launchpad PPAs, remove duplicate PPAs (only works with separate .list files), backup PPAs and other PPA-related tasks. Check out the Launchpad page for a complete features list.

Y PPA Manager 0.0.7.5 has just been released, the new version adding quicklists for Ubuntu 11.04 Unity launcher. That means that you can now right click the Y PPA Manager icon and select to add a PPA, search all the Launchpad PPAs and so on without having to launch the main Y PPA Manager interface.

Written by Andrew in android, cloud, linux, mobile, notes, phones, sync, tomboy, tomdroid, ubuntu

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Tomdroid: Sync Tomboy Notes With Your Android Device

Tomdroid

Well, this is not new but I've somehow missed the news. Anyway, I was reading on the Launchpad blog that you can use Tomboy Notes on your Android device. The app is called "Tomdroid" and it supports note syncing between your desktop computer and Android device.

Written by Andrew in colors, gedit, guake, linux, solarized, terminal, ubuntu

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Solarized: A Must Have Color Scheme For Gnome Terminal, Vim, Gedit And Lots More

Solarized

WebUpd8 reader Lu Wang sent us an email about a beautiful (and very popular) color theme for various applications called "Solarized".

Solarized comes with both light and dark colorschemes and what makes it so special is that the contrast is "low in lightness but the colors are still well distinguishable due to the different hue values used" says Lu Wang. But that's of not all. Check out the Solarized homepage for a lot more info and screenshots.

There are Solarized color schemes available for many applications: Vim, Emacs, IntelliJ IDEA, Netbeans, Mutt, GIMP and more. Below I'll tell you how to set up Solarized for Gnome Terminal (and Guake) as well as Gedit.

Written by Andrew in lens, linux, reddit, ubuntu, unity

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Install Unity Reddit Lens In Ubuntu [.deb]

Unity Reddit Lens

A Reddit user has created a cool Unity Lens for Reddit (a website where you can find what's new and popular on the web with a very active Linux section). By default it displays /r/linux, /r/ubuntu, /r/iama and of course, the main stories.

The search field for the Unity Reddit Lens is basically a filter for Reddit categories so if for instance you want to see the top stories in the /r/technology category, search for "technology":

Written by Andrew in cairo dock, dock, launcher, linux, task manager, ubuntu

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Cairo Dock 2.3.0 Released With New Applets, Better Compiz And Kwin Integration

Cairo Dock 2.3.0

Cairo Dock (also known as GLX Dock) is a launcher / task manager like Avant Window Navigator or Docky and its major advantage is the huge list of applets it comes with: menus (MintMenu, Cardapio, etc.), Drop to Share applet, Ubuntu Me Menu and Messaging Menu applets, keyboard indicator, netspeed, network monitor, notification area, power manager, stacks, terminal, weather, weblets, system monitor and many many more. Also, unlike other docks, Cairo Dock also comes with stand-alone applets meaning the applets don't have to be attached to the dock and you can use them like Screenlets / Desklets.

This is Cairo Dock:

Cairo Dock

(Cairo Dock - Tux_n_Tosh theme and some Cairo Dock applets)

And this too:

Cairo Dock Unity theme

(Cairo Dock - Unity-1 theme)

Written by Andrew in books, debian, guide, launchpad, linux, packaging, pdf, ubuntu

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Download Ubuntu Packaging Guide (PDF, Epub, HTML In A Single .deb)

Ubuntu Packaging Guide

Daniel Holbach maintains a daily builds PPA for a project called "Ubuntu Packaging Guide" which aims to provide a set of articles for working with debian packages and Launchpad, uploading your GPG key to Launchpad (required to create a PPA), fixing bugs, getting the code via BZR, working with a PPA and so on. The guide is in its early stages (currently version 0.1.0) so it's not complete but it's already quite useful.

The guide is not meant to replace the Debian documentation but to provide Ubuntu-specific instructions:

The Ubuntu Packaging Guide is a set of articles that should help you to get involved with packaging and development of Ubuntu. It's not meant to replace other great documentation like the Debian New Maintainer's Guide or the Debian policy, but serve as a starting point with easy and simple to understand articles.

Written by Andrew in linux, memenu, tips n tricks, ubuntu

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

How To Display An Icon Only For The MeMenu [Quick Tip]

Want to display an icon only for the Ubuntu MeMenu (the indicator that displays your status)? Just run the following commands in a terminal:

Written by Andrew in eyecandy, gnome, gnome 3, gnome shell, linux, themes, ubuntu

Monday, April 18, 2011

GNOME Shell Atolm - Another Beautiful GNOME Shell Theme By Half-left

Half-left (who has created the amazing Smooth Inset Gnome Shell theme) has created yet another beautiful theme for Gnome Shell called Atolm (based on Atolm by SkiesOfAzel).

Check it out - firstly some screenshots from my computer:

GNome shell atolm

Gnome Shell Atolm

Written by Andrew in appindicator, email, evolution, fix, linux, messaging menu, tips n tricks, ubuntu

Monday, April 18, 2011

Get Evolution To Minimize To The Messaging Menu Instead Of Closing [Patched Evolution Indicator]

Evolution Indicator

I've seen numerous requests for making Evolution minimize to the Messaging Menu when closing the main window but for whatever reason, this wasn't implemented in Ubuntu.

But I've recently discovered a PPA for Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat (I've only tested it in Ubuntu 10.10 and Evolution 2.30.3!) that provides a patched Evolution Indicator which allows you to close the main Evolution window yet still get new email notifications - basically the Evolution window is minimized to the Messaging Menu (Evolution Indicator) instead of closing.

Written by Andrew in top posts

Monday, April 18, 2011

Last 2 Weeks Top Posts (Weeks 14, 15 - 2011)

Written by Andrew in appindicator, linux, radiotray, ubuntu

Monday, April 18, 2011

How To Enable Ubuntu AppIndicator For RadioTray

RadioTray AppIndicator

I was reading on forums / comments that a lot of people miss RadioTray in Ubuntu 11.04. You can enable the Systray and get RadioTray to work, but if it's just about RadioTray, you don't need to enable the Systray because RadioTray comes with an AppIndicator (it's not enabled by default).

So here's how to enable the RadioTray AppIndicator (this works for both Ubuntu 10.10 and 11.04).

Written by Andrew in 11.04, fix, linux, systray, ubuntu

Saturday, April 16, 2011

How To Re-Enable The Notification Area (Systray) In Ubuntu, For All Applications

Systray Ubuntu 11.04

Unity got its notification area (called Systray by the Ubuntu developers) back a while ago, but only for a few applications: Java apps, Mumble, Wine applications, Skype, and hp-systray. But there's an easy way to either re-enable the Systray for all applications or to whitelist a few applications you can't live without. Read on to learn how to get your systray back!

Written by Andrew in dropbox, dropbox share, linux, ubuntu, unity

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Unity Launcher Icon To Share Files Using Dropbox [Drag'n'Drop]

Unity Dropbox Share

After seeing a simple script on ubuntu.onego.ru to share files on Dropbox using an icon in the Unity launcher, I though I'd update the Dropbox Share script I've created a while back to do something similar, but more advanced: just like the regular Dropbox Share, you'll be able to share both files and folders and also you can share multiple files at once.

So Unity Dropbox Share was born, a simple drag'n'drop Dropbox share icon for the Unity launcher (it's just a script written in Bash). Here's a video with Unity Dropbox Share in action:

Written by Andrew in linux, privacy, ubuntu, unity, zeitgeist

Friday, April 15, 2011

Zeitgeist Is Finally Getting Options To Blacklist Applications, Files, Folders And Clear History

Zeitgeist is finally getting a long awaited feature: deleting part of the Zeitgeist history (last hour, day or week and so on), blacklisting an application, a file type or a folder. That means you'll be able to blacklist your "highly confidential" (read: porn) files from ever showing up in any application that uses Zeitgeist (Unity, Synapse and so on).

All this will be possible thanks to a new application called "Zeitgeist Global Privacy" which is currently in development - here are some screenshots:

Written by Andrew in kupfer, linux, quicklauncher, ubuntu

Friday, April 15, 2011

Kupfer v206 Released With Improved Runtime Memory Usage, PPA Now Available For Lucid Too

Kupfer

After finally getting themes support about 2 weeks ago, another Kupfer version (v206) was released today bringing a huge list of bug fixes and more importantly, reduced memory usage. The changelog says the Kupfer runtime memory should be reduced by 10-30% thanks to the reimplementation of icon cache.

Written by Andrew in eyecandy, faenza, icons, linux, ubuntu

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Faenza Icon Theme Updated With New LibreOffice, UbuntuOne Icons

Faenza Icon Theme

Faenza Icon Theme 0.9.2 has been released with new icons for LibreOffice, UbuntuOne - which now matches the new logo, a new workspace switcher icon and more.

With these, Faenza is almost ready for Unity (some icons are still missing though, like the Applications / Files & Folder Unity Places):

Written by Andrew in .deb, fix, linux, tips n tricks, ubuntu

Thursday, April 14, 2011

How To Install .Deb Files When Getting "The package is of bad quality" Error In Ubuntu Software Center

Ubuntu Software Center - error installing .deb

When trying to install a .deb file using Ubuntu Software Center in Ubuntu 11.04, you may get an error like the following:

The package is of bad quality

The installation of a package which violates the quality standards isn't allowed. This could cause serious problems on your computer. Please contact the person or organisation who provided this package file and include the details beneath.

See these examples: 1, 2, 3, 4 and many others (those are links to comments by users having this issue). After some recent updates, the error is not so often as it used to, but it's still annoying and it stops you from installing various applications.

Written by Andrew in 11.04, linux, Natty Narwhal, ubuntu

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Final Ubuntu 11.04 Beta (2) Has Been Released

Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal beta 2 has just been released, this being the last beta. Up next: Ubuntu 11.04 final which will be released on April 28th.

Also see: Ubuntu 11.04 beta 1 | Ubuntu 11.04 alpha 3 | Ubuntu 11.04 alpha 2 | Ubuntu 11.04 alpha 1.

Written by Andrew in brightside, linux, mouse gestures, ubuntu

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Set Up Hot Corners, Edge Flipping In Ubuntu With Brightside [Without Compiz]

Brightside

Brightside is a tool to assign various actions to the corners and edges of your screen especially designed for those who do not use Compiz. If you use Compiz, use CCSM and/or Ubuntu Tweak instead (though only a few Compiz options are available in Ubuntu Tweak).

Among the built-in actions are: mute volume, prevent screensaver from starting, start screensaver, monitor DPMS stand-by, suspend or off mode and show the desktop as well as assinging a custom action.

Written by Andrew in 11.04, linux, Natty Narwhal, ubuntu, unity

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Confirmed: Unity Will Be Default In Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal

Last week, a message on the Ubuntu Devel mailing list pointed out that Unity may not be default in Ubuntu 11.04 after all. After a long discussion, it was decided that Unity will be default, despite the split reactions towards Unity.

The reasons why it was considered to ship the Classic GNOME Desktop instead of Unity were various regressions but most importantly instability and frequently crashes. But it seems most of the crashes have stopped in the recent Unity versions and the remaining bugs will be fixed soon; and the regressions can be avoided: applications can still use the Systray if they are whitelisted and the Classic desktop is still available for everything else (remember: you can login to the classic GNOME desktop by selecting it in the login window!).

Written by Andrew in bash, linux, scripts, show desktop, ubuntu, unity

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Show Desktop Icon For The Ubuntu Unity Launcher

Show Desktop Unity

Currently there's no "Show desktop" applet / icon for the Unity panel in Ubuntu 11.04 and while you can use Super + D to toggle Show Desktop, many are used to using an icon for this. So here's how to get such an icon on your Unity panel.

Written by Andrew in linux, sopcast, ubuntu

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Install SopCast Player In Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal [PPA]

SopCast Player

SopCast Player is a Linux GUI front-end for the p2p streaming technology developed by SopCast. SopCast can play various TV channels for free, using the internet. It comes with its own channel list but you can find lots more on various websites.

Written by Andrew in backup, email, gmail, linux, ubuntu

Monday, April 11, 2011

Tool To Backup / Restore Gmail Emails In Linux: `Backup Gmail` [IMAP]

Backup Gmail

A while back we wrote about backing up a Gmail account using Thunderbird. That doesn't work for restoring but you could at least have access to all your old emails.

'Backup Gmail' can backup / restore Gmail emails using a GUI or via command line

But I've recently discovered a small application that allows you to both backup and restore your Gmail emails in Linux with just a few clicks. The application is called "Backup Gmail" and you can use it to backup Gmail either from the command line or using a graphical user interface. It uses IMAP, meaning that restoring your emails will also restore their labels!

Written by Andrew in 11.04, linux, Natty Narwhal, ubuntu, unity

Monday, April 11, 2011

Unity 3.8.6 Brings Option To Configure Launcher Reveal Mode, More [Video]

I've skipped the last Unity update but with today's update I decided to make a post with the most interesting (though minor) changes in the latest Unity.

Written by Andrew in linux, scrollbars, tips n tricks, ubuntu

Sunday, April 10, 2011

How To Disable The Overlay Scrollbars In Ubuntu 11.04 [Quick Tip]

regular scrollbar Ubuntu 11.04

About a month ago we wrote about getting all applications to use the new overlay scrollbars in Ubuntu 11.04 but now that the overlay scrollbars are default, we got an email about removing them.

So, for everyone searching for this, here's how to disable the overlay scrollbars in Ubuntu 11.04. Simply open a terminal and copy/paste the following commands:

sudo su
echo "export LIBOVERLAY_SCROLLBAR=0" > /etc/X11/Xsession.d/80overlayscrollbars

Then restart your computer.

If the above solution doesn't work, you can also try removing the overlay scrollbars packages:

sudo apt-get remove overlay-scrollbar liboverlay-scrollbar-0.1-0

Written by Andrew in linux, ppa, ubuntu, y ppa manager, yad

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Y PPA Manager 0.0.7 Released (Easily Search A Package In All Launchpad PPAs)

Y PPA Manager

Today I've released Y PPA Manager 0.0.7. This is a bug-fix release so there are no new features but with this version, the regular search should work better - well, as good as the actual Launchpad search can be (for better results, check the "deep search" box when performing a search).

Written by Andrew in internet, linux, mplayer, radio, ubuntu, umplayer, video player, youtube

Friday, April 08, 2011

UMPlayer Available In The WebUpd8 Ubuntu PPA

UMPlayer

UMPlayer is a new cross-platform Mplayer front-end that supports CSS skins, easily searching, watching and downloading YouTube videos, lots of ShoutCast radio stations and more. Check out our initial post on UMPlayer for more info.

Written by Andrew in 11.04, linux, Natty Narwhal, ubuntu, unity

Friday, April 08, 2011

Ubuntu 11.04 Switching Back To Classic GNOME By Default Instead Of Unity?

A message on the Ubuntu devel mailing list mentions that the current state of Unity will be brought up for discussion and if needed, the Classic GNOME Desktop may be default after all in Ubuntu 11.04:

Written by Andrew in extensions, gnome 3, gnome shell, gnome shell extensions, linux, ubuntu

Thursday, April 07, 2011

GNOME Shell Extensions: Additional Functionality For GNOME 3 (Dock Task-Switcher, Windows Navigator, User Theme, Etc.)

Are you missing a task switcher in GNOME Shell? Want the power-off button back? Well, you'll be glad to know that GNOME Shell supports extensions and a pack has already been released, covering these as well as some other features that you may want in GNOME Shell.

GNOME Shell Extensions is a collections of extensions providing additional functionality for GNOME Shell. The first public release was made two days ago but the extensions didn't really work because of a bug in GNOME Shell - which was fixed today.

Written by Andrew in gnome, gnome 3, gnome shell

Wednesday, April 06, 2011

GNOME 3 (With GNOME Shell) Has Finally Been Released

GNOME 3

GNOME 3 has finally been released a few minutes ago. You can check out all the new features (videos and screenshots) @ gnome3.org - but unfortunately the website is down at the time I'm writing this post. The videos are also available on the GNOME Desktop YouTube channel.

Due to a GNOME Shell bug (which doesn't seem to like my graphics card), I couldn't record a proper video so I've joined all the videos provided on the gnome3.org website into a single video with all the major new features in GNOME 3:

Written by Andrew in im, linux, skype, ubuntu

Wednesday, April 06, 2011

Skype 2.2 Beta For Linux Released Skype Access Support, Improved Audio / Video Quality

Skype 2.2 beta 2 Ubuntu screenshot

After more then a year since the last beta, a new Skype beta version has been released today: 2.2 beta.

Skype 2.2 beta brings "Skype Access" support which you can use to connect to "over 500,000 WiFi hotspots worldwide using your Skype Credit", improved audio and video quality.

Other changes in Skype 2.2 beta for Linux:

you can now receive a second call while a call is ongoing; you can hold and answer it or join the two calls into a conference call.
bug fixes for PulseAudio, KDE Oxygen style issues and more

Written by Andrew in audacious, linux, music player, ubuntu

Wednesday, April 06, 2011

Install Audacious 2.4.4 (Music Player With GTK And Winamp-Like Interface) In Ubuntu [WebUpd8 PPA]

Audacious music player is a fork of Beep Media Player (BMP), which itself forked from XMMS. It looks a lot like Winamp 2.x (and the playlist, song adding functions and so on, are similar to Winamp) but it also comes with a GTK interface.

The clean interface, amazing functionality with lots of plugins and a low memory footprint have helped Audacious become the default music player in Lubuntu 11.04 (replacing Aqualung).

Audacious

(Audacious - GTK interface)

Audacious

(Audacious - Winamp 2.x interface)

Written by Andrew in gnome, gnome 3, gnome shell, gnome tweak tool, linux

Tuesday, April 05, 2011

Introducing Gnome Tweak Tool - GUI To Configure Gnome 3 / Gnome Shell

Gnome Tweak Tool

If you've been following the Gnome Shell development, you probably know that it doesn't provide a GUI tool to tweak some basic settings like changing the GTK, Gnome Shell theme or icon theme, re-enable the minimize and maximize buttons, and so on.

For this reason, John Stowers has created "Gnome Tweak Tool", a 'power user' application you can use to tweak Gnome 3. But I think this tool will become very popular for any Gnome 3 user and not just power users considering how useful it already is. Read on!

Written by Andrew in collaboration, gedit, infinoted, linux, plugins, ubuntu

Monday, April 04, 2011

How To Set Up And Use Gedit Collaboration Plugin (With Infinoted Server)

Gedit Collaboration is a really interesting plugin that provides collaborative editing meaning two or more people can work on the same files, create new files and folders and so on. The plugin allows you to collaborate both with other Gedit and Gobby users.

Check out this video created by jessevdk (the Gedit Collaboration plugin developer):

Written by Andrew in top posts

Monday, April 04, 2011

Last 2 Weeks Top Posts (Weeks 12, 13 - 2011)

Written by Andrew in image editor, linux, mono, pinta, ubuntu

Sunday, April 03, 2011

Install Pinta 0.8 In Ubuntu, Now Available For Natty Too

Pinta 0.8

Pinta 0.8 was released last week and seeing that its PPA still provides version 0.5, I've uploaded it to the WebUpd8 PPA. For some reason, even the Ubuntu 11.04 repositories haven't been updated since Pinta 0.6 so starting today I'll also be providing Natty packages for Pinta.