Free open-source astronomy software Stellarium 0.20.2 was released a few days ago as the 20 year anniversary celebration.
Stellarium 0.20.2 contains many changes in AstroCalc tool and core of Stellarium, changes in scripting engline and Script Console, Oculars and Satellites plugins, updated DSO catalog, see release note for details.
How to Install Stellarium 0.20.2 in Ubuntu:
The official Stellarium PPA contains the latest packages for Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 19.10, and Ubuntu 20.04
1. Open terminal either by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard or by searching for ‘terminal’ from application menu. When it opens, run command to add the PPA:
This is a step by step guide shows how to enable the old Compiz alike Wobbly windows effect in Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 22.04, and Ubuntu 24.04 with default Gnome Desktop.
So far there is a Gnome Shell Extensions that can enable Wobbly Windows effect in Ubuntu:
Compiz alike Wobbly Windows Effect: Just do the job. (discontinued)
Compiz Wobbly Windows Effect: For those prefer an effect more similar to the original. However, you need to install the libanimation library first.
Preparation:
If you’ve previously installed a Gnome Shell extension, you may skip this step.
1.) Open terminal by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard, then run command:
sudo apt install chrome-gnome-shell
2.) Go to extensions.gnome.org, and click the link to install the browser integration.
Install the Gnome Shell Extension:
To install the extension, simply go to the extension web page, and turn on the toggle switch to install it.
For Ubuntu 22.04 and higher, you may also search and install “Extension Manager” in Ubuntu Software (or App Center). Then, use the tool to search & install the wobbly windows extension.
Uninstall Wobbly Windows extension:
To remove the extensions, use either Extension utility or Gnome Tweak tool.
To remove libanimation library as well as the PPA, run commands:
fre:ac audio converter 1.1.2 was released a few days ago. The new release features UI scaling to the system font size, theme colors and dark mode support on Linux, and many improvements and bug-fixes.
Fre:ac 1.1.2 release highlights:
Scale UI to adjust to system font size by default
Added support for theme colors and dark mode on Linux/FreeBSD
Improved handling of maximized window state on Linux/FreeBSD and macOS
Removed non-working option to not lock CD trays while ripping
Stop ripping before trying to eject a disc
Write audio data CRC to log files when ripping
Write MD5 checksums to log files when verifying files
Write log entries when replacing existing files
How to Install fre:ac in Ubuntu:
fre:ac is available in Snap, Flatpak, and Appimage package formats.
Snap package:
The software is available as snap package, which runs in sandbox. Simply search for and install it from Ubuntu Software.
You can alternatively install the snap by running command in terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T):
snap install freac
Flatpak package:
fre:ac is also available as flatpak package, runs in sandbox, in flathub repository.
You can run following commands one by one to setup flatpak and install fre:ac in Ubuntu:
Prefer installing Chromium browser via DEB rather than using SNAP package? Here’s how to install Chromium .deb package in Ubuntu 20.04 via PPA.
Since Ubuntu 20.04, Chromium deb in the main repository is empty!! It will automatically install the containerized snap package when you trying to install it via apt command.
For those prefer deb to the universal snap package format, user may install the browser either from Linux Mint repository or using a third-party Ubuntu PPA.
Option 1: Install Chromium using Linux Mint repository:
Linux Mint, the popular Ubuntu based system now maintains the latest Chromium DEB packages in its repositories since the developers does not like Snap.
I’ve written about how to add the Linux Mint repository and install Chromium step by step in another post.
Option 2: Install Chromium via third-party Ubuntu PPA:
Personally, I prefer the package from Linux Mint a bit more. Though, there’s now a trustworthy third-party PPA maintains the latest Chromium package. And, the PPA supports Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 20.04 and Ubuntu 21.04 so far. Ubuntu 21.10 is somehow not supported at the moment.
1. Add the PPA
Firstly, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run command to add the PPA:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:savoury1/chromium
Type user password (no asterisk feedback) when it asks and hit Enter to continue
For Ubuntu 20.04 and earlier, the FFmpeg PPA is also required as dependency:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:savoury1/ffmpeg4
NOTE: Update system ffmpeg library might cause conflict to other packages in your system. It’s NOT recommended for beginners!
2. Update the package cache:
For Ubuntu 18.04 and earlier, user need to manually update the package cache after adding the PPA. To do so, run command in terminal:
sudo apt update
3. Install Chromium package:
Finally, install the Chromium browser package in .deb format via command:
sudo apt install chromium-browser
Keep an eye on terminal output, it should start downloading the package from the PPA. If not, press Ctrl+C on keyboard to stop it.
Once installed, search for and open the browser from ‘Activities‘ overview screen. And, check its version in about page.
Remove Chromium:
To remove the web browser, simply open terminal via Ctrl+Alt+T shorcut key and run command:
Strawberry is an open-source fork of Clementine music player aimed at music collectors and audiophiles.
Strawberry is written in C++ with Qt 5 toolkit. The development started in 2018 while Clementine was not in active development (now development of Clementine revives).
Advanced audio output and device configuration for bit-perfect playback on Linux
Edit tags on music files
Fetch tags from MusicBrainz
Album cover art from Last.fm, Musicbrainz, Discogs and Deezer
Song lyrics from AudD
Support for multiple backends
Audio analyzer
Audio equalizer
Transfer music to iPod, iPhone, MTP or mass-storage USB player
Scrobbler with support for Last.fm, Libre.fm and ListenBrainz
Subsonic streaming support
How to Install Strawberry in Ubuntu 18.04, 20.04:
The software offers Snap package (runs in sandbox) which can be installed simply from Ubuntu Software.
Also the official Strawberry PPA maintains the latest .deb packages for Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 19.10, Ubuntu 20.04, Linux Mint 19.x, and their derivatives.
1.) Open terminal either by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard or by searching for ‘terminal’ from ‘Show Applications’ menu. When it opens, run command:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:jonaski/strawberry
Type user password (no asterisk feedback) when it asks for sudo prompts and hit Enter to continue.
2.) After adding the PPA, run commands to refresh package cache and install the music player:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install strawberry
Uninstall Strawberry:
To remove the PPA repository, either go to Software & Updates -> Other Software:
This simple tutorial shows how to install (and uninstall) FreeFileSync, open-source file synchronization software, and create application shortcut in Ubuntu 20.04 and Ubuntu 22.04 LTS.
FreeFileSync is a free and open-source software to create and manage backup copies of all your important files. Instead of copying every file every time, it determines the differences between a source and a target folder and transfers only the minimum amount of data needed.
How to Install FreeFileSync in Ubuntu:
1.) The software now provides an official .run installer, available to download at its website:
Scroll down a little and select download the Linux package.
2.) Extract the source tarball in file manager, then you can navigate to the extracted folder and click Run the installer to get start installing FreeFileSync.
3.) The installer starts a terminal window. And, you have to answer ‘y’ to access license terms. Or, press ‘s’ to show details then ‘y’ to accept, or ‘n’ to refuse.
4.) The installer by default to install the software for system wide into /opt/ directory. Meaning, all users in this Ubuntu system can run it.
For choice, you can type 1 to switch to current user only. If you want, also type 2 to change installation directory, and type 3 to choose whether to add the app icon to the desktop.
When done selecting installation type, directory, and whether to create desktop shortcuts, hit Enter to start the process. If everything goes well, it will show you something as the screenshot below, indicates that all done.
5.) Enable desktop icons.
The desktop icons by default are not usable due to permission issue. Just right click on them one by one and select “Allow Launching” will make them work.
Or, simply delete the desktop icons (move to trash) since you can launch FreeFileSync from start menu or Gnome overview (depends on your desktop environment).
How to Uninstall FreeFileSync:
The installation folder contains a uninstall script to remove FreeFileSync from your system.
Press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal, then run either command below to uninstall:
If installed for current user only, then run command:
$HOME/FreeFileSync/uninstall.sh
For all users (if installed system wide), use command:
/opt/FreeFileSync/uninstall.sh
If you selected non-default installation directory, then replace $HOME/FreeFileSync or /opt/FreeFileSync in the command above according where you installed the software.
In case you forgot where it was installed, use either command below to tell:
The unofficial PPA has built the packages, so far only support for Ubuntu 18.04 and Ubuntu 16.04.
1.) Open terminal either by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard, or by searching for ‘terminal’ from your system application menu. When it opens, run command:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:jonathonf/ffmpeg-4
Type user password (no asterisk feedback) and hit Enter to continue.
2.) Then refresh system package cache and install FFmpeg 4.3 via commands:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install ffmpeg
Once installed, check version via ffmpeg -v command:
Uninstall:
To remove the PPA repository as well as downgrade FFmpeg to the stock version, run command:
SMPlayer, complete front-end for MPlayer and mpv, released version 20.6.0 a day ago. Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 19.10, and Ubuntu 20.04.
SMPlayer 20.6.0 is a small release contains following changes:
The internal YouTube code has been removed. Now SMPlayer uses an external application to get the video URLs.
The shuffle option in the playlist does shuffle the items of the playlist.
How to Install the latest SMPlayer via PPA in Ubuntu:
The official SMPlayer PPA contains the latest packages for all current Ubuntu releases, as well as Ubuntu 12.04, Ubuntu 14.04.
1. Search for and launch “terminal” from ‘Show Applications’ menu. When it opens, run command to add the PPA:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:rvm/smplayer
Type user password (no asterisk feedback while typing) when it asks and hit Enter.
2. Then upgrade SMPlayer using Software Updater (or Update Manager):
or run commands in terminal to install (or upgrade) the media player: