UbuntuHandbook

Install Blender 2.80 Beta in Ubuntu 18.04, 16.04, 18.10

Last updated: December 12, 2018

Blender 2.79

While the next Blender 2.80 stable is scheduled to be released on early 2019, Blender 2.80 Beta package now is available for testing.

What’s new in Blender 2.80:

A revamped user interface
A new physically based realtime renderer: EEVEE
A new, modern 3D viewport.
Blender’s 2D drawing capabilities has been greatly improved
A new collection system, and more

Download / Install Blender 2.80 Beta in Ubuntu:

To help testing Blender 2.80, you can either download the official Linux package from the link below:

Download Blender

After downloaded the Linux package, simply extract and run the executable to launch the program.

Or install the Blender snap package maintained by Gustavo Niemeyer.

Open terminal via Ctrl+Alt+T keyboard shortcut and run command to install the Blender snap beta package:

snap install blender --channel=beta --classic

The snap package auto-updates itself once a new release package published by maintainer, though the current package is a few days older than the official Linux package.

To remove the Blender snap package, run command:

snap remove blender

In Howtos blender 2.8

Firefox 64.0 Released with Enhanced Tab Management

Last updated: December 11, 2018

Firefox 55

Mozilla Firefox announced new stable 64.0 release a few hours ago with new features and performance improvements.

Mozilla Firefox 64.0 features:

Better recommendations: You may see suggestions in regular browsing mode for new and relevant Firefox features, services, and extensions based on how you use the web (for US users only)
Ability to select multiple tabs from the tab bar and close, move, bookmark, or pin them quickly and easily
New Task Manager page (about:performance) lets you see how much energy each open tab consumes and provides access to close tabs to conserve power
Enable link time optimization (Clang LTO) for Mac and Linux.
Add Share web pages option for Windows in the Page Actions menu
Added option to remove add-ons using the context menu on their toolbar buttons
Various security fixes and many other changes.

Install the Latest Firefox in Ubuntu:

The Firefox 64.0 packages for Ubuntu Linux will be available in 2 or 3 days.

At the time, Firefox snap package (available in Ubuntu Software) will automatic update to the 64.0 release.

To upgrade from the default Firefox packge, launch Software Updater and Firefox 64 package will be there once published.

In News Firefox

Star Ruler 2 Now Available to Install via Snap in Ubuntu

Last updated: December 10, 2018

Star Ruler 2, a space 4X / RTS hybrid developed by Blind Mind Studios, now can easily installed in Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 18.04 and higher via Snap package.

Explore dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of systems in a galaxy of your choosing, expand across its planets, exploit the resources you find, and ultimately exterminate any who stand in your way. The fate of your empire depends on your ability to master the economy, field a military, influence galactic politics, and learn what you can about the universe.

Star Ruler 2 Snap is a containerised software packages runs in most Linux desktop. It bundles most dependency libraries and auto-updates itself once a new release package published.

To install Star Ruler 2 snap package in Ubuntu 18.04 & higher, simple open Ubuntu Software, search for and install the game package:

For Ubuntu 16.04, open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command to install snapd first:

sudo apt install snapd snapd-xdg-open

then install the snap via command:

sudo snap install starruler2

Uninstall:

To remove the software package, either use Ubuntu Software or run command:

sudo snap remove starruler2

In Howtos Star Ruler 2

[Quick Tip] How to Change Animation Speed in Ubuntu 18.04 & Higher

Last updated: December 9, 2018

This quick tutorial is going to show you how to increase or decrease the default Gnome Shell animation speed in Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 18.04, and higher.

There is a Gnome Shell extension called impatience can do the job. It can be easily installed in Ubuntu via Ubuntu Software.

After installed the extension, go to its settings via Gnome Tweaks (available in Ubuntu Software).

Then change the speed scaling value < 1 to speed up the animation, > 1 to slow down desktop animation.

In Howtos speed up animation

How to Install Brave web browser in Ubuntu / Linux Mint (Updated)

Last updated: August 4, 2021

This simple tutorial shows how to install the latest Brave web browser in Ubuntu 21.10, Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 18.04, Linux Mint 20.

Brave is a free and open-source web browser based on Chromium. It features faster page loading speed, and blocks ads and trackers by default.

The browser offers an official apt repository. So Ubuntu, Debian, and Linux Mint based systems can easily install the software and receive updates via built-in update manager utility.

To make things easier, Ubuntu 18.04 and higher can install the community maintained Brave snap package directly from Ubuntu Software.

1. Firstly, search for and open “terminal” from your system start menu. When it opens, paste the command below into terminal and hit Enter:

sudo apt install apt-transport-https curl

Type user password (no asterisk feedback) and hit Enter. It will add https support for apt package manager and install curl to grab the GPG key.

2. Next copy and paste the command below, and run to download & install the GPG key:

sudo curl -fsSLo /usr/share/keyrings/brave-browser-archive-keyring.gpg https://brave-browser-apt-release.s3.brave.com/brave-browser-archive-keyring.gpg

And run command to add the apt repository to your system. So far, only 64-bit PC / laptop is supported.

echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/brave-browser-archive-keyring.gpg arch=amd64] https://brave-browser-apt-release.s3.brave.com/ stable main"|sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/brave-browser-release.list

3. Finally refresh system cache and install the web browser by running the commands one by one:

sudo apt update

sudo apt install brave-browser

Uninstall Brave & Apt Repository:

To remove the Brave web browser, run command in terminal:

sudo apt remove --autoremove brave-browser

Unlike PPA, Brave’s apt repository does not list in Software & Updates utility under Other Software tab. However, you can remove the config file easily by running command in terminal:

sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/brave-browser-release.list

In Howtos brave web browser

FlightGear Flight Simulator 2018.3 Released with New Features

Last updated: December 7, 2018

FlightGear 2018.3 was finally released with many exciting new features, enhancements and bugfixes including usability improvements to the launcher, better visuals for AI and MP aircraft.

FlightGear 2018.3 release highlight according to the changelog:

Flightplan loading within the launcher.
Chinese, Russian and Italian translations for the launcher and UI
Improved support for the state of the aircraft depending on starting location
Improved joystick configuration and binding options.
Multiple Levels of Detail (LoD) for MP and AI aircraft. To improve performance, low-detail models are used when the viewer is far from the MP aircraft.
Fallback models to display in the case where a viewer does not have the MP aircraft installed.
Many improvements to AI models including new liveries, timetabled movements
Support for retrieving Canvas images over HTTP.
Improved cloud rendering with stronger Mie scattering on cloud fringes, improved scattering on cirrus clouds
Improved scenery for Hawaii, the default location for this release.
New scenery for Jan Mayen, situated northeast of Iceland. Including the active volcano of Beerenberg (2277m).
FG1000 glass panel display, based on the Garmin G1000
Improved Replay handling of AI aircraft and carriers – judge your own carrier landings.
KC-130 tanker aircraft for air-to-air refueling
Significant Aircraft updates

Download / Install FlightGear in Ubuntu:

For Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 18.04, and higher, FlighGear 2018.3 will be available to install either via Ubuntu PPA, or Flathub repository (run in sandbox).

In News flight simulator, flightgear

PyCharm 2018.3.1 Released with Various Bug Fixes

Last updated: December 6, 2018

PyCharm IDE

PyCharm IDE released version 2018.3.1 one day ago with various bug fixes. Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu 16.04 and higher.

PyCharm 2018.3.1 release highlights:

A fix for the recently added WSL support in PyCharm 2018.3
An issue where PyCharm couldn’t correctly authenticate over SSH using a passphrase-protected private key has been resolved.
A few fixes for Docker and Docker Compose
Fixes for the embedded terminal
Many fixes coming from WebStorm, DataGrip and IntelliJ IDEA

How to Install PyCharm 2018.3.1 in Ubuntu:

Jetbrains offers official Snap package for Linux desktop, which keeps the IDE always up-to-date.

For Ubuntu 18.04 and higher, simply open Ubuntu Software, search for and install pycharm packages:

For Ubuntu 16.04, open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and install snapd daemon via command:

sudo apt install snapd snapd-xdg-open

Then install PyCharm snap package via command:

sudo snap install pycharm-community --classic

In the command replace pycharm-community with pycharm-professional for the professional edition.

Uninstall:

To remove the PyCharm snap package, either use Ubuntu Software or run command in terminal:

sudo snap remove pycharm-professional pycharm-community

In Howtos, News PyCharm, Python IDE

GitKraken Released Official Snap package for Linux

Last updated: December 5, 2018

GitKraken now offers official snap package to make it easy to install and update the software in Ubuntu Linux.

Used by the likes of Netflix, Tesla and Apple, GitKraken is the go-to home for developers who are looking for a more user-friendly interface for Git with integrations for GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket and VSTS (Azure DevOps).

GitKraken Snap is containerised software package designed to work within most Linux desktop. It bundles its required dependencies and auto-updates itself once a new release package published.

To install GitKraken Snap in Ubuntu 18.04 and higher, simply open Ubuntu Software, search for and install gitkraken:

For Ubuntu 16.04, open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run commands to install the snap:

sudo apt install snapd && sudo snap install gitkraken

In News GitKraken

Liferea News Reader 1.12.6 Released (Ubuntu PPA)

Last updated: December 4, 2018

Liferea Feed Reader

Liferea (Linux Feed Reader) 1.12.6 was released day. Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 18.10.

Liferea 1.12.6 is a new bug-fix release which resolves several usability problems.

Add confirmation dialog when adding duplicate subscription
Fix that when resuming from sleep feeds were being fetched before Wifi came up
Fix Headerbar plugin “Mark All Read” button is not feed-specific
Fix scrollbars not always present in the headline area
Fix that Next update overrides HTML5 enrichment
Fix overly wide label in enclosure preferences dialog
Dropped unencrypted warning from auth dialog (not true anymore)
Adding translatable tooltips for the headerbar plugin

How to Install Liferea 1.12.6 in Ubuntu:

For Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 18.10, and derivatives, the new release packages are available in an unofficial PPA repository.

1. Open terminal either via Ctrl+Alt+T or by searching for ‘terminal’ from app launcher. When it opens, run command to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/apps

Type your password (no asterisks feedback while typing) when it prompts and hit Enter.

2. Then upgrade Liferea via Software Updater utility:

upgrade Liferea via Software Updater

or run commands one by one to install the Linux feed reader:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install liferea

Finally launch the news reader from your application launcher and enjoy! (Log out and log back if you don’t see the icon).

Uninstall Liferea:

As the PPA also contains many other software packages, you may remove it by launching Software & Updates and navigating to Other Software tab.

If you want to remove the Liferea news reader software, either use your system package manager or run command in terminal:

sudo apt-get remove --autoremove liferea liferea-data

In Howtos, News Liferea News Aggregator

HPLIP 3.18.12 Released with Ubuntu 18.04 64-bit Support

Last updated: December 3, 2018

HP Linux Imaging and Printing

HPLIP, HP developed Linux drivers for HP inkjet and laser based printers, released version 3.18.12 a few hours ago with new devices and Linux Distros support.

According to the release note, HPLIP 3.18.12 adds support for 64-bit Ubuntu 18.10 and Debian 9.6.

Also following new devices are supported:

HP Tango
HP Tango X
HP Scanjet Pro 2000 S1

Download / Install HPLIP 3.18.12 in Ubuntu:

To install the software, download the package “hplip-3.18.12.run” from the link below:

HPLIP Download Page

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-3.18.12.run && ./hplip-3.18.12.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!