Ubuntu / Linux news and application reviews.

Terminal Emulator `Terminator` Sees New GTK3 Pre-release 1.91

Version 1.91 (GTK3) of the powerful terminal emulator Terminator was released yesterday, bringing a few enhancements, as well as numerous fixes.


Terminator terminal emulator

Tilix (Previously Terminix) 1.5.0 Released With Initial Bookmarks Support, Other Improvements [PPA]

Terminix 1.5.0 (update: the app is now called Tilix) was released recently and it includes initial bookmarks support, a reworked terminal menu, a new feature to raise a notification when inactivity is detected after a specified period of silence, and more.

Terminix terminal emulator

Terminix is a GTK3 tiling terminal emulator. The application allows splitting terminals horizontally and vertically, arranging them using drag'n'drop, save and restore terminal layouts and more.

The so called "Quake" mode feature is also supported. Using this, Terminix behaves like a drop-down terminal, invoked and hidden using a key.

Add A Searchable Command Palette To Any GTK3 Application Using Plotinus

Plotinus is a library that adds a searchable command palette to any GTK+ 3 application, similar to the Atom and Sublime Text Command Palette feature (or Unity HUD).

Plotinus with Gedit

gtk3-nocsd (Module To Disable Client-Side Decorations) Sees New Release

gtk3-nocsd is a module used to disable client-side decorations, either globally (for all applications) or only for certain applications.

Audacious Switches Back To GTK2, Adds New Qt-Based User Interface [Audacious 3.6 Alpha 1]

Audacious is a fast audio player that focuses on high audio quality and low resource usage, which comes with a pretty large plugin list and until now, it shipped with two interfaces: a GTK+ interface and a Winamp 2.x like interface (and so, it supports Winamp 2.x skins).

As we pointed out a while back, the Audacious developers aren't very happy  with GTK3 and for the latest Audacious 3.6 alpha 1, released recently, they've switched back to GTK2 by default. 

Also, since the long-term goal is to completely switch to Qt, Audacious 3.6 alpha 1 includes a new Qt5-based user interface which is already usable, but not as feature-rich as the GTK+ interface. The new Qt interface can be installed alongside the already existing GTK+ and Winamp Classic interfaces.

How To Disable GTK3 Client-Side Decorations (Header Bars)

Starting with GNOME 3.10, some GNOME applications have switched to "header bars" or "client-side decorations". These CSD (client-side decorations) don't work properly in some desktop environments / shells - for instance, in Ubuntu 14.04, Unity doesn't support CSD and because of this, some applications look broken. Luckily, there is now a relatively easy way (unofficial) of disabling client-side decorations. Read on!

Spice Up Your Linux Desktop With The Moka Project GTK / Icon Themes

Many of you are probably already familiar with the Moka Project but, since I never covered it, and the project has evolved a lot recently, I though I'd write an article about it now.

Stark Ceru GTK theme / Faba Ceru icon theme in Unity (Ubuntu 14.04)

Moka started as a single icon theme but it has evolved into an entire project which includes multiple GTK and icon themes for the Linux desktop as well as icon themes for Android, all designed / developed by +Sam Hewitt.

Currently, the Moka Project consists of 3 beautiful GTK themes (Moka, Orchis and Stark) and 3 icon themes (Moka, Faba and Faba Colors) for Linux desktops, accompanied by a GNOME Shell and a Plank theme.

GTK 3.10 Lands In Ubuntu 14.04 Trusty Tahr

Ubuntu Trusty GTK 3.10

Despite Sebastien Bacher's (software engineer at Canonical) initial proposal to stay on GTK 3.8 for Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, GTK 3.10 landed in the Ubuntu 14.04 Trusty Tahr proposed repositories.

Slick GTK3 Theme `Numix` Updated With Dark Theme Assets

Numix, a modern, flat GTK3 theme, has recently been updated with dark theme assets, along with other tweaks and fixes. The theme is compatible with GTK 3.6 and 3.8.

Numix GTK3 theme
Numix GTK3 theme under Unity

How To Install GTK3 With Broadway (HTML5) Backend Enabled In Ubuntu

GTK3 Broadway Ubuntu

Starting with version 3.2, GTK+ comes with an experimental "Broadway" backend that allows rendering GTK3 applications in HTML5-capable browsers, so you can run applications remotely, using only a web browser.

Ubuntu doesn't enable this Broadway backend by default, but thanks to Nicolas Delvaux's PPA, you can easily give this a try in Ubuntu 13.04, 12.10 or 12.04.

MediterraneanNight Theme Pack Gets Full GTK 3.8 Support [PPA]

MediterraneanNight Series, a sleek GTK theme pack that comes with 12 beautiful themes, has been updated recently, getting full support for GTK 3.8.

MediterraneanNight GTK3.6 Theme Pack Updated With 12 Color Variations, Other Changes

MediterraneanNight

MediterraneanNight, a popular GTK3 theme pack, has been updated and it now includes 12 color variations: white, dark, blue and more. 

Besides the new color variations, the latest version comes with other changes, including many redesigned widgets, new progress bar style, many fixes and also, it's no longer required to make any changes to use the themes in GNOME Shell or Unity.


2 Beautiful Dark Themes For GTK 3.6 Or 3.4 [Ubuntu PPA]

We've got quite a few requests to post some dark GTK3 themes, so here it is: DeLorean Dark and MediterraneanNight are two great dark GTK3 themes that support both GTK 3.6 (Ubuntu 12.10) and 3.4 (Ubuntu 12.04).



DeLorean Dark


DeLorean Dark is a beautiful GTK3 theme that supports the latest GTK 3.6. There's also a GTK2 theme available, which has been completely redesigned recently.

Also, the theme isn't just for GNOME (this includes Unity, Cinnamon, etc.), there are Xfce and Openbox themes available as well.

Here are some DeLorean Dark screenshots:

DeLorean Dark theme

DeLorean Dark theme

How To Install Synaptic With GTK3 Support In Ubuntu [PPA]

The latest Synaptic Package Manager from BZR has been ported to GTK3 and the new version will probably be available in the Ubuntu 13.04 repositories. Since many of us are still using Ubuntu 12.10 or 12.04, I've uploaded the latest Synaptic with GTK3 support to a PPA so you can easily install it.

Zukitwo, Adwaita Cupertino Themes Ported To GTK 3.6

Two pretty popular GTK3 themes have been updated to work with the latest stable GTK 3.6 recently: Zukitwo and Adwaita Cupertino (now called Gnome Cupertino).


Gnome Cupertino (previously known as Adwaita Cupertino) is a GTK2/3 theme pack based on the colors of Mac OSX Snow Leopard and Lion, each with variations optimized for either GNOME Shell or Unity.

Gnome Cupertino theme

8 GTK 3.6 Compatible Themes Available In PPAs For Ubuntu 12.10

GTK themes need to be updated to work with each new major GTK version, and because of this, some beautiful themes available for GTK 3.2 or 3.4 like Zukitwo and others, don't work with the latest GTK 3.6 available in Ubuntu 12.10 and other Linux distributions.

There are, however, a few cool themes which work with the latest stable GNOME / GTK (3.6). Below you'll find 8 GTK3.6 compatible themes which are available in PPAs / repositories for Ubuntu 12.10 and work with both GNOME Shell and Unity.

The Faience Pack Gets A Beautiful New GTK3 Theme, GNOME Shell And Icon Themes Updated

The Faience pack has been updated today with new and improved icons for the icon theme, GNOME Shell 3.6 support for the GS theme and there's also a beautiful new GTK3 theme.

faience icon theme

Customize GTK3 / GTK2 Theme Colors Using `GTK Theme Preferences`

gtk theme preferences

Satya, who's behind some beautiful GTK and GNOME Shell themes, has created a cool new tool that lets you customize GTK theme colors.

Right now, `GTK Theme Preferences` (that's the name of the tool) works with any GTK2 and GTK3 theme and lets you customize the following: