Archives For November 30, 1999

Gscan2pdf, GTK tool to produce PDF / DjVu from scanned document, released version 2.3.0 a few hours ago.

While v2.1.3 does not really fixed the issue that time is always set to 0 UTC. Gscan2pdf 2.3.0 fixed it by optionally also include time information in metadata of PDF or DjVU.

The 2.3.0 release also include following changes:

  • Reduced “bouncing” effect when dragging OCR output
  • Fix update of image viewer/OCR output after deleting a page
  • Support different resolutions in x and y directions.
  • Make post-scan PNG conversion optional
  • Remember size of multiple message window
  • Translation updates.

How to Install gscan2pdf 2.3.0 in Ubuntu:

The official Ubuntu PPA has made the new release packages for Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 18.10, and their derivatives.

1. Open terminal either by 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:jeffreyratcliffe/ppa

Type user 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:

upgrade gscan2pdf

For the first time, you can either install it via Synaptic Package Manager or by running following commands in terminal:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install gscan2pdf

How to Remove:

To remove gscan2pdf, either use your system package manager or run command:

sudo apt-get remove --autoremove gscan2pdf

And the PPA can be removed via Software & Updates utility, under Other Software tab.

Gnome Twitch App

Gnome Twitch 0.4.2, GTK+3 Twitch app for Linux desktop, now is finally available as Snap package in the stable channel.

UPDATE: GNOME Twitch seems NOT in active development! It may or may NOT work in current Ubuntu releases.

While Ubuntu offers an old version of Gnome Twitch .deb package in its official repositories, and there’s no stable PPA repository provides the latest updates, Daniel Llewellyn finally made the snap package for Gnome Twitch 0.4.2 into stable channel.

For Ubuntu 18.04, Linux Mint 19.x and higher, simply open Ubuntu Software, search for and install Gnome Twitch:

For Ubuntu 16.04 and Linux Mint 18.x, open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and first install snapd via command:

sudo apt install snapd

Then install the snap package via command:

sudo snap install gnome-twitch

Uninstall:

Depends on your system edition, remove the software either via Ubuntu Software or by running command in terminal:

sudo snap remove gnome-twitch

For those prefer .deb package to the containerized flatpak package, the latest Gnome MPV 0.16 now is available to install via PPA in Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 18.10, Linux Mint 19.x, and higher.

Gnome MPV 0.16 was released a few days ago with some changes on preferences dialog and app menu, improvements to MPRIS DBus connection, playlist, etc.

Xu Zhen, one of the software contributors, maintains a PPA repository with the latest packages for Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 18.10, and the next Ubuntu 19.04.

1. Open terminal either via Ctrl+Alt+T keyboard shortcut or from software launcher. When it opens, paste below command and hit run to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:xuzhen666/gnome-mpv

Type user password (no asterisks feedback) when it prompts and hit Enter to continue.

2. If a previous version was installed, upgrade the media player via Software Updater:

or simply run command in terminal to install MPV 0.16:

sudo apt install gnome-mpv

For Linux Mint, you may first run sudo apt update to refresh system package cache.

Uninstall:

To remove the PPA, either go to Software & Updates -> Other Software, or run command in terminal:

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:xuzhen666/gnome-mpv

To remove Gnome MPV, simply run command in terminal:

sudo apt remove --autoremove gnome-mpv

opera web browser

Opera web browser released new stable 58 a day ago. The new release features warning dialog before closing window with multiple tabs, and Yandex Zen integration for Russian users.

Changes in Opera 58 include:

  • Display a comfirm dialog when closing window with multiple tabs.
  • Integrate news recommendation service Yandex Zen for Russian users.
  • Add an option in settings for “Always open SD”
  • Enable Chromium toast notifier in Opera
  • Provide feedback popup for users clicking like and dislike icons
  • Review Compatibility Mode
  • Numerous bug-fixes and improvements.

How to Install Opera 57 in Ubuntu:

The Opera team offers snap package (containerised software package), which is always up-to-date (auto-updates itself). You can simply install it in Ubuntu Software:

Also traditional Opera binary package for Ubuntu is available for download at the link below:

Download Opera for Linux

To receive future updates through Software Updater, add the official Opera apt repository via following steps:

1. Open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command to add the opera repository:

sudo sh -c 'echo "deb http://deb.opera.com/opera-stable/ stable non-free" >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/opera.list'

2. Get the key:

wget -O - http://deb.opera.com/archive.key | sudo apt-key add -

Finally either install Opera via following command or upgrade the browser via Software Updater:

sudo apt update

sudo apt install opera-stable

Uninstall:

For the Opera snap package, simply remove it from Ubuntu Software.

For the Opera apt repository, launch Software & Updates and navigate to Other Software tab.

To remove traditional opera package, either use your system package manager or run command in terminal:

sudo apt remove --autoremove opera-stable

Gnome MPV, GTK+ frontend for mpv video player, released version 0.16 a day ago. Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu 18.04 and higher.

Gnome MPV 0.16 release highlights:

  • Split up the General tab in the preferences dialog
  • Improve behavior when toggling playlist under tiling window managers
  • Move app menu items to primary menu
  • Use separate MPRIS DBus connection for each window
  • Add support for MPRIS property LoopStatus
  • Add option --mpv-options for setting arbitrary mpv options from the command-line

How to Install Gnome MPV 0.16 in Ubuntu:

For those prefer installing or updating Ubuntu legacy .deb package, Gnome MPV 0.16 also available to install via PPA repository for Ubuntu 18.04 and higher.

You can install the latest Gnome MPV via the flatpak (containerised software package) which is available in Flathub repository.

1. Open terminal either via Ctrl+Alt+T keyboard shortcut or from software launcher. When it opens, run command to install flatpak daemon:

sudo apt-get install flatpak

2. Then add the flathub repository via command:

flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo

3. Finally install Gnome MPV from the repository:

flatpak install flathub io.github.GnomeMpv

Once installed, launch Gnome MPV from application menu or video file’s context menu and enjoy!

Uninstall:

To remove the flatpak package, simply run command:

flatpak uninstall io.github.GnomeMpv

gnome shell

In Ubuntu 18.04 Gnome Shell Power settings, you can choose how long when system is inactive to turn off the screen, though only from 1 minute to 15 minutes and ‘Never’ are available in the drop-down box.

For those who want to increase or set a custom time for “Blank screen” as well as “Lock screen” options in Privacy settings, this tutorial may help.

1. Open Ubuntu Software, search for and install dconf Editor.

2. Launch dconf Editor, navigate to org.gnome.desktop.session, and change the value of idle-delay:

  • Disable ‘Use default value’ switch
  • Type a number in Custom value box(1800=30 minutes in pic.)

3. Then navigate to org.gnome.desktop.screensaver, and change the value of lock-delay:

  • Disable ‘Use default value’ switch
  • Type a number in Custom value box (2700=45 minutes in pic.)

Note that after applying the changes, the Power and Privacy settings will display incorrectly. And it will override previous steps if you change the values in the 2 settings page.

gnome shell

For those boring with the default ‘Show Applications‘ button in Ubuntu 18.04 left panel, here’s how to replace it with your desired icon without installing a new icon theme.

In Ubuntu 18.04 Gnome Shell, the ‘Show Applications’ button in the bottom-left corner relies on view-app-grid-symbolic.svg icon file located in /usr/share/icons/Adwaita/scalable/actions/.

By replacing the icon file, you’ll get a brand new ‘Show Applications’ icon in the dock.

1. Open terminal either via Ctrl+Alt+T keyboard shortcut, or from applcation menu.

2. Paste the following command and hit run to backup the original icon file:

sudo cp -p /usr/share/icons/Adwaita/scalable/actions/view-app-grid-symbolic.svg /usr/share/icons/Adwaita/scalable/actions/view-app-grid-symbolic.svg.bak

Type user password (no asterisks feedback) when it prompts and hit Enter.

3. Prepare your desired .svg icon file. In my case, it’s gnome-launcher.svg located in my ‘Downloads’ folder.

4. Copy your .svg to the original file location:

sudo cp /path/to/your/svg /usr/share/icons/Adwaita/scalable/actions/view-app-grid-symbolic.svg

In my case, the command is:

sudo cp ~/Downloads/gnome-launcher.svg /usr/share/icons/Adwaita/scalable/actions/view-app-grid-symbolic.svg

5. Finally, run command to refresh the icon cache:

cd /usr/share/icons && sudo gtk-update-icon-cache Adwaita

Or simply log out and login back to apply the change.

How to Restore:

As you’ve made a backup in step 2, simply copy the file back via command:

sudo cp -p /usr/share/icons/Adwaita/scalable/actions/view-app-grid-symbolic.svg.bak /usr/share/icons/Adwaita/scalable/actions/view-app-grid-symbolic.svg

And refresh icon cache or log out and back in.

Entangle is a free tethered camera control & capture software. Here’s how to install it in all current Ubuntu releases, including Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 24.04, and Ubuntu 20.04

Entangle provides a graphical interface for “tethered shooting”, aka taking photographs with a digital camera completely controlled from the computer. The 2.0 release, “Sodium”, features:

  • Document some missing keyboard shortcuts
  • Fix upper bound in histogram to display clipped pixel
  • Option to highlight over exposed pixels in red
  • Disable noisy compiler warning
  • Remove use of deprecated application menu concept
  • Fix image redraw when changing some settings
  • Update mailing list address in appdaat
  • Add more fields to appdata content
  • Fix reference counting during window close
  • Use correct API for destroying top level windows
  • Fix unmounting of cameras with newer gvfs URI naming scheme
  • Avoid out of bounds read of property values
  • Fix many memory leaks
  • Workaround for combo boxes not displaying on Wayland
  • Fix race condition in building enums
  • Fix setting of gschema directory during startup
  • Set env to ensure plugins can find introspection typelib
  • Dependency libraries, and translation updates

How to install entangle 3.0 in Ubuntu / Linux Mint:

The app is available in system repository for all current Ubuntu releases. Simply launch Ubuntu Software (or App Center), then just search and click install ‘entangle’:

For choice, you may press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal, then run the commands instead to install the software:

sudo apt install entangle

Run sudo apt update first to refresh cache if the package is not found.

For old Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 16.04, and Ubuntu 18.04, you may run the commands below to add this PPA before using apt install command:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:dhor/myway
sudo apt update

Uninstall:

To remove the software, run command in terminal:

sudo apt-get remove --autoremove entangle

For those prefer installing and removing Ubuntu packages via Synaptic package manager, you must have noticed the ‘Quick filter’ search function has been replaced by a search button.

This quick tutorial is going to show you how to re-enable the ‘Quick filter’ function in Synaptic package manager in Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 16.04, and higher.

UPDATE: The tutorial is still working in today’s Ubuntu, including Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 23.10, and Ubuntu 24.04.

The quick filter search box is offered by ‘apt-xapian-index‘, which is a ‘recommends’ dependency package for Synaptic. Installing synaptic via Ubuntu Software or apt command without --install-recommends will exclude that optional dependency package.

So, the solution is just install the package and re-build search engine index by doing the following steps one by one:

1. Open terminal either via Ctrl+Alt+T keyboard shortcut or from application launcher. When it opens, run command to install apt-xapian-index:

sudo apt install apt-xapian-index

Type user password (no asterisks feedback) when it prompts and hit Enter to continue.

2. Then rebuild the search engine index via command:

sudo update-apt-xapian-index -vf

Finally open or re-open Synaptic package manager, and you’ll see the search box back. Unfortunately for perfectionist, the original ‘Search’ button seems not easy to be removed from tool-bar.

Free Scorewriter MuseScore released version 3.0.1 yesterday with some improvements and numerous bug-fixes.

MuseScore 3.0.1 redesigned New Score Wizard for easy searching templates, better score previews, and accessibility improvements for blind users. The new release also features better import of 2.X scores, better automatic placement of hairpins and dynamics, and reworked Mixer UI.

There are also dozens of issues fixed in the release, including:

  • Properties were not saved properly in a number of cases
  • Layout was broken after operations with measure rests and tuplets
  • Time signatures appeared incorrectly in some cases and might lead to crash
  • Using the implode tool on notes connected with slurs led to crashes
  • Editing a barline was applied incorrectly
  • Context menu on instrument names didn’t appear
  • Pages with landscape orientation were cropped when printing
  • Playback went crazy on saving
  • Tempo was applied incorrectly in certain cases involving fermatas
  • Slurs were lost or detached in some cases
  • Autoplacement couldn’t be switched off for stems and arpeggio

How to Install MuseScore 3 in Ubuntu:

MuseScore is available via Snap (available in Ubuntu Software), Ubuntu PPA, and Gnome Flatpak.

As there are not updated to MuseScore 3.0.1 at the moment, you may download the Appimage (single executable package), and run the file to launch the software.

MuseScore Appimage