This quick tutorial will show Ubuntu beginners how to show or hide the battery percentage in Ubuntu 18.04 top-right system tray.
I’ve already written about this while the default System Settings utility does not have an option for the function. And in Ubuntu 18.04 you can do it easily via Gnome Tweaks tool.
1. Gnome Tweaks is one of my must-have applications, specially for configuring Gnome 3 desktop.
To install it, search for and install ‘Gnome Tweaks’ in Ubuntu Software:
2. Then launch the tool, navigate to Top Bar settings page. There you can see the option for turning on / off battery percentage.
Converseen is a free open-source application, allows you to convert, resize, rotate and flip an infinite number of images with a mouse click. As well, it supports for transforming an entire PDF file into a bunch of images with the characteristics you prefer.
Converseen is written in C++ with Qt5 libraries. Thanks to Magick++ it supports more than 100 image formats.
With converseen, you can:
Carry out a single or a multiple conversion.
Resize one or multiple images.
Compress images for your web pages.
How to install the new Converseen in Ubuntu
The image converter is available to install in different package formats: AppImage, Snap, Flatpak, and Deb. Choose either one that you prefer.
1. AppImage
The software website provides the universal AppImage for downloading via the link button below:
It’s a non-install package. Just grab it, right-click and go to ‘Properties’ dialog to add executable permission. Finally, click run the AppImage will launch the tool.
NOTE: Ubuntu 22.04 and higher does not support AppImage out-of-the-box. You need to open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command to install the required library to make AppImage works.
sudo apt install libfuse2
2. Snap
For Ubuntu 20.04+, the snap package is the easiest way to get converseen, though it runs in sandbox. Just open Ubuntu Software, search for and install the package marked as ‘Snap Store (snap)’.
3. Flatpak package
Converseen now is also available to install as Flatpak package, that works in most Linux through a sandbox environment.
To install the Flatpak package, first open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command to install the daemon:
sudo apt install flatpak
Then, use the command below to install the package from Flathub repository:
If this is the first time you installing a Flatpak package, then you may need a log out and back in to make app icon visible. Or, run the command below instead to start it from terminal:
flatpak run net.fasterland.converseen
4. Ubuntu PPA (.deb)
For those who prefer the classic .deb package format, there’s unofficial PPA that contains the package for Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 24.04, and Ubuntu 24.10.
1. First, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run command to add the PPA:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/apps
Type user password (no asterisk feedback) and hit Enter to continue.
2. Then, install the software package by running command:
sudo apt install converseen
Linux Mint user may have to run sudo apt update first to update cache.
Uninstall:
The PPA also contains some other software packages, so you may remove it immediately after installed Liferea.
To do so, either run the command below in terminal, or remove the source line under “Other Software” tab in Software & Updates tool.
Want to display internet speed in Ubuntu panel? I used to use an indicator applet in Ubuntu when the Unity desktop was the default. Now in Ubuntu 18.04 this can be done via a Gnome shell extension.
The Gnome shell extension system is a replacement for the “applets” or “widgets” system. Extensions can add their own items to the top panel. And NetSpeed extension display internet speed in Gnome panel.
To install NetSpeed extension, simply open Ubuntu Software, search for and install “netspeed”:
It displays internet speed in top-right system tray area once you installed the extension. For settings, go to Ubuntu Software -> NetSpeed -> Extension Settings.
BeeBEEP is an open-source, peer to peer, lan messenger that works on Windows, Mac OS, Linux, OS/2 and eComStation.
With BeeBEEP, you can talk and share files over local area network without a server. It supports offline messengers, messenger history, and messengers are encrypted based on Rijndael Algorithm.
For Windows and Mac OS, the official binaries are available for download at sourceforge.
How to Install BeeBEEP in Ubuntu:
For Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 22.04, the latest BeeBEEP now is available as Snap package. Simply open Ubuntu Software, search for and install beebeep.
While, Ubuntu 24.04 and higher may launch App Center, then search and install beebeep filtered by Snap package.
Or open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command to install BeeBEEP snap package:
snap install beebeep
Once installed, open it from software launcher and enjoy!
Add video filters -> BLACKDETECT in app menu: create clips via black frame detection.
Automatic chapters created per clip in your list
Add “Edit chapter name” option to right-click on a click option.
External media file joins issue were fixed.
Added new “Enable use of PBOs” setting under the Video category
OSD (on-screen display) text defined for all user actions + standardised OSD case and wording/format.
Improvements to Snap, Appimage, Flatpak, and UI.
How to Install VidCutter 6.0 in Ubuntu:
The Appimage is available for download at the release page (see the previous link). And the snap package is on the way.
To install the traditional .deb packages, VidCutter 6.0 is available via the developer’s PPA for Ubuntu 18.04 and Ubuntu 16.04.
1. Open terminal by either pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard or searching for “terminal” from software launcher. When it opens, run command to add the PPA:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ozmartian/apps
Type your user password (no asterisks feedback) when it prompts and hit Enter.
2. Then install VidCutter either via Synaptic Package Manager or by running 2 commands in terminal:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install vidcutter
Uninstall:
You can remove the developer’s PPA repository via Software & Updates -> Other Software:
The latest Opera web browser now is available to install easily via Snap package in Ubuntu.
Snap is containerised software package, designed to work securely within most Linux desktop. It bundles most required dependencies and auto-updates itself.
HPLIP 3.18.7, a new monthly release of HP developed Linux drivers for HP inkjet and laser based printers, was released a few hours ago.
HPLIP 3.18.7 added 64-bit Fedora 28, and following new printers support:
HP Smart Tank 350
HP Smart Tank Wireless 450
HP Ink Tank 310
HP Ink Tank Wireless 410
HP Ink Tank 115
HP DesignJet Z6 24in
HP DesignJet Z6 44in
HP DesignJet Z6dr 44in
HP DesignJet Z9 24in
HP DesignJet Z9 44in
HP DesignJet Z9dr 44in
The new release also added support for CDS feature and fixed a few bugs:
Supplies and status information are not displayed in the hp-toolbox for Ruby
HPLIP Google Reported Issues related to models.dat file on PPD mapping
HPLIP Google Reported Syntactical Issues related to models.dat file
Download / Install HPLIP 3.18.7 in Ubuntu:
To install the software, download the package “hplip-3.18.7.run” from the link below:
Then open terminal either via Ctrl+Alt+T or search for “terminal” from app launcher. When it opens, run command:
cd ~/Downloads/ && chmod +x hplip-3.18.7.run && ./hplip-3.18.7.run
Type your user password (no asterisks feedback) when it prompts and hit Enter.
Then follow the terminal prompts, answer some questions to build and install HPLIP on your system. When everything is done, plug/re-plug your printers and enjoy!
For open-source graphic driver users, the latest Mesa 18.1.5 now is available in Ubuntu-X team PPA for Ubuntu 18.04.
Mesa 18.1.5 was released a few days ago with RADV Radeon Vulkan driver fixes, a number of Intel ANV Vulkan driver fixes, and some fixes to i965, RadeonSI, and even R600g driver.
You can now install Mesa 18.1.5 in Ubuntu 18.04 via following steps:
1. Open terminal by either pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard or searching for ‘Terminal’ from software launcher. When it opens, run command:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-x-swat/updates
Type your password (no asterisks feedback) when it prompts and hit Enter to continue.
2. After adding the PPA, do system update via command:
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
apt-get update is not required any more in Ubuntu 18.04 since adding PPA automatically refreshes system repositories.
3. Finally check your driver version via command:
glxinfo | grep "OpenGL version"
Uninstall:
To restore changes and downgrade to the default drives shipped in Ubuntu 18.04, run command:
Gscan2pdf, a GTK tool to produce PDF / DjVu from scanned document, reached the 2.1.3 release a few days ago.
Gscan2pdf 2.1.3 closed feature request “gscan2pdf always set the time to 0 UTC“, by optionally including timezone and time information in metadata of PDF or DjVU.
The new release also contains following changes:
Only run test if session file can be deserialised. This fixes t/175_open_session2.t fails on i686 machine.
Don’t unnecessarily use tiffcp on single-page TIFFs.
Update to German translation.
How to Install gscan2pdf 2.1.3 in Ubuntu:
For Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 18.04, and derivatives, gscan2pdf 2.1.3 can be easily installed via its official PPA repository.
1. Open terminal by either pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard or using software launcher. When it oepns,run command to add the PPA:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:jeffreyratcliffe/ppa
Type your password (no asterisks feedback due to security reason) when it prompts and hit Enter.
2. For those who have a previous release installed, upgrade it through Software Updater:
For the first time, you can either install it via Synaptic Package Manager or by running following commands in terminal:
Yaru is the new Ubuntu theme that will be used as default in next Ubuntu releases.
Yaru, originally named “Communitheme“, is based on the GNOME Adwaita theme. The new theme contains GTK3 theme, Gnome shell theme, and icon theme. And Ubuntu 18.10 will ship with the new theme.
For Ubuntu 18.04 users who want to try the new Ubuntu theme, do:
search for and install communitheme in Ubuntu Software.
or launch terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command:
snap install communitheme
Once installed, reboot and choose login with the ‘Communitheme’ session and enjoy.
In addition for those who don’t prefer Snap package, the new Ubuntu theme has a PPA repository.
