UbuntuHandbook

Clipboard Manager CopyQ 3.6.0 Released with Animated App Icon

Last updated: September 23, 2018

CopyQ clipboard manager 3.6.0 was released today with some new features, performance improvements, and various bug-fixes.

CopyQ 3.6.0 release highlights:

Invoking search with a shortcut reuses last search expression
Exiting from search (ESC) doesn’t unselect found item
COPYQ_SETTINGS_PATH environment variable overrides default config path
Merge top item with same new clipboard text
Check clipboard after start
Animate app icon when a clipboard changes or a client calls some functions
Use gpg for encryption if gpg2 is unavailable
Faster tray and context menu updates
Close dialog() after client process exits
Display system, arch and compiler info when using version()
Tests are about 2x faster
Updated icons (Font Awesome 5.3.1)
And various bug-fixes.

Install Copyq 3.6.0 in Ubuntu:

The official PPA repository has made the latest packages for Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 18.04, and their derivatives..

1. To add the PPA, open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) from application launcher and run command:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:hluk/copyq

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

2. After added the PPA repository, install CopyQ either via Synaptic package manager or by running commands in terminal:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install copyq

Once installed, start the clipboard manager from application launcher and you’ll see the icon in system tray area.

Uninstall:

To remove the software, either use Synaptic package manager or run command:

sudo apt-get remove --autoremove copyq

To remove PPA repositories, launch Software & Updates and navigate to Other Software tab.

In Howtos, News clipboard manager, CopyQ

Qt-based Audio Player Qmmp 1.2.4 Released (Howto Install)

Last updated: September 22, 2018

Qmmp 1.2.4, qt-based audio player with winamp or xmms look like user interface, and Qmmp 0.11.3 for Qt4 were released earlier today.

The new releases added equalizer optimization, improved PCM WAVE support, updated translation list, and fixed following bugs:

fixed segmentation fault
fixed tag reading in the archive plugin
fixed seeking in the archive plugin
fixed issue with multiscreen configuration

How to Install Qmmp 1.2.4 in Ubuntu 18.04/16.04:

The PPA repository has made the new releases packages for Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 18.10, and Ubuntu 18.04.

1. Open terminal via Ctrl+Alt+T or from app launcher, and then run command to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:forkotov02/ppa

Input your password (no asterisks feedback while typing) and hit Enter to continue.

2. If a previous version exists, upgrade Qmmp using Software Updater:

Or run commands to install or upgrade Qmmp and its plugins:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install qmmp qmmp-plugin-pack

For qt4 version, use qmmp-qt4 and qmmp-plugin-pack-qt4 instead in the last command.

Uninstall:

You can manage the PPA repository via Software & Updates utility, under Other Software tab.

To remove Qmmp music player, either use your system package manager or run command:

sudo apt-get remove --autoremove qmmp qmmp-*

In Howtos, News qmmp, qt music player, winamp

Gscan2PDF 2.1.6 Released with Fix for Starting OCR

Last updated: September 21, 2018

Gscan2pdf 2.1.6, a GTK tool to produce PDF / DjVu from scanned document, was released today with few quick fixes.

According to the changelog, Gscan2pdf 2.1.6 fixed the issue that application exits on pressing “Start OCR” for Tesseract. In the release, it also fixed opening UDT and unpaper dialog windows.

How to Install gscan2pdf 2.1.6 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 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:

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.

In Howtos, News gscan2pdf, scan to pdf

How to Get Windows 7+ Style Single Bottom Panel in Ubuntu 18.04

Last updated: September 20, 2018

This quick tutorial is for those who want to remove the top and left panel, instead use Microsoft Windows style a single bottom panel in Ubuntu 18.04 Gnome desktop.

Without installing other desktop environments, e.g., Cinnamon and KDE, this can be done easily via Gnome shell extensions called dash to panel.

Dash to panel combines the top panel and left dock launcher into one single panel. So your Ubuntu deskop will look like:

1. To install the extension, search for and install Dash to Panel extension in Ubuntu Software utility:

Once installed, restart your machine to apply changes.

2. To configure the panel appearance, either use Gnome Tweaks or right-click on application menu and select “Dash to Panel Settings”.

That’s it. Enjoy!

In Howtos dash to panel, Dock

qBittorrent 4.1.3 Released with Improvements and Bug Fixes

Last updated: September 19, 2018

qBittorrent

The third bug-fix release for qBittorrent 4.1 was released a day ago with new features, some bug-fixes, web UI and search improvements.

qBittorrent 4.1.3 release highlights:

Preselect name without extension when renaming files
Allow setting seq & first/last from context menu without metadata
Show “N/A” if there is no scrape
Save option about tracker favicons under correct key
When file data are unreachable pause torrent and show “Missing Files” status
Don’t disable DHT when using force proxy
Correctly save torrent queue position/state/priority changes in fastresume
Fix icon height/width ratio
Fix values sorted wrong in “Last Activity” column
Replace png icons with svg
Various Web UI improvements
Refactor in searchjob to always color visited entries
Set “enter” as shortcut to download the selected torrents in search job
Add regex option in the search filter’s context menu
Fix GUI scaling issue on Linux

How to Install qBittorrent 4.1.2 in Ubuntu:

The official qBittorrent PPA maintains qBittorrent binary packages for Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 18.04, and derivatives.

1. To add the PPA, open terminal either via Ctrl+Alt+T or searching “Terminal” from app launcher. When it opens, run:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:qbittorrent-team/qbittorrent-stable

Type in your password (no visual feedback while typing due to security reason) when it prompts and hit Enter to continue.

2. To upgrade from a previous release, launch Software Updater and you’ll see qBittorrent available for upgrade after checking for updates.

Or run commands below to install /upgrade it from terminal:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install qbittorrent

Uninstall:

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

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:qbittorrent-team/qbittorrent-stable

To remove the bittorrent client, either use your system package manager or run command:

sudo apt-get remove --autoremove qbittorrent

In Howtos, News bittorrent client, qbittorrent

Install Postman App Easily via Snap in Ubuntu 18.04

Last updated: September 18, 2018

The Postman Linux app now is easy to install in Ubuntu 16.04 and Ubuntu 18.04 via Snap package, containerised software package that bundles most required dependencies and auto-updates itself.

Postman is the complete toolchain for API developers, used by more than 3 million developers and 30000 companies worldwide. Postman makes working with APIs faster and easier by supporting developers at every stage of their workflow, and is available for Mac OS X, Windows, Linux and Chrome users.

Ubuntu Software utility contains the snap packages from snappy store. Simply search for and click install Postman in Ubuntu Software.

Or open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command to install the Postman snap package:

snap install postman

NOTE for Ubuntu 16.04 users first time installing a snap package, first make sure snapd is installed:

sudo apt install snapd snapd-xdg-open

Once the snap package is installed, launch the Postman app from software launcher and enjoy!

In Howtos postman app, postman snap, postman ubuntu

Battle for Wesnoth 1.14.5 Released (How to Install)

Last updated: September 17, 2018

Battle For Wesnoth in Ubuntu

Battle for Wesnoth 1.14.5, an open source, turn-based strategy game, was released a day ago. Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 16.04.

Changes in Battle for Wesnoth 1.14.5 include:

Fix AI ignoring teleport locations when moving leader to leader goals.
Heir to the Throne:
- S6: Allow canceling an attack when a move+attack spawns enemy units
- S6: Change the trigger for spawning undead reinforcements
- S17: Add dialog explaining the lava game mechanic and an easter egg
Liberty, S3: Add story and war drums music
Northern Rebirth:
- S12: empty sides are hidden
- S13: allied leaders whose death causes defeat won’t leave their keep and
  the lich brothers and Krash got more gold
Sceptre of Fire:
- S4: a cave entrance has been added.
- S5: Gryphon Riders are now available starting form S5 (formerly S3).
- S7: it’s now impossible to kill all pursuers.
Secrets of the Ancients: Fix dialog said by wrong unit & revert previous fix
The Hammer of Thursagan: S10: Fix objectives requiring too much of the player
The South Guard:
- S2: the case where Deoran is not sent to the Citadel is handled better.
- S2: enemy units will no longer neutralize villages instead of capturing or burning them. This also means certain units will no longer be hidden in the Game Stats list.
- S4: bodyguards are never spawned next to other units, and always in forest.
- S5: zombies have now one castle with two leaders.
- S6a: mermen leave after this scenario and will no longer be available.
- S7a & S8a: a certain hero may now die.
Under the Burning Suns: New graphics for Eloh.
And various other changes and bug-fixes

How to Install Battle for Wesnoth 1.14.5 in Ubuntu:

The flathub repository contains the Flatpak package of the game. You can install it in Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 18.04 via following steps:

1. (For Ubuntu 16.04 only), open terminal either via Ctrl+Alt+T keyboard shortcut or by searching for ‘terminal’ from app launcher. When it opens, run command:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:alexlarsson/flatpak

sudo apt-get update

2. Install flatpak framework via command:

sudo apt-get install flatpak

3. Add flathub repository:

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

4. Finally install the flatpak package of Battle for Wesnoth:

flatpak install flathub org.wesnoth.Wesnoth

Once installed, launch the game either from software launcher, or by running command flatpak run org.wesnoth.Wesnoth

(Optional) 5. To remove the game, run command:

flatpak uninstall org.wesnoth.Wesnoth

In Howtos, News Battle for Wesnoth

PPSSPP 1.6.3 Available to Install via its Official PPA

Last updated: September 15, 2018

Finally PPSSPP stable PPA built the latest 1.6.3 packages of the Sony PSP emulator for Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 16.04, and Ubuntu 14.04.

PPSSPP reached the new major 1.6 series more than 4 months ago with following changes:

OpenGL backend now properly multithreaded, giving a good speed boost.
Various Vulkan performance improvements and memory allocation fixes.
GPU command interpreter performance improvements
Various fixes for app switching and widgets on Android
Bugfixes and some performance improvements in the ARM64 JIT compiler and IR interpreter
Shader cache enabled for Vulkan
Multiple iOS fixes, including JIT and file browser.
Improved compatibility on Mac
Texture replacement ID bugfix (note: some textures from 1.5.4 may become incompatible)
Adhoc multiplayer fixes
Vulkan support on Linux/SDL
Retroarch support

How to Install PPSSPP 1.6.3 in Ubuntu:

Open terminal either via Ctrl+Alt+T keyboard shortcut or by searching for ‘terminal’ from software launcher. When it opens, do following steps to install PPSSPP in all current Ubuntu releases.

1. Copy and paste the command and hit run to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ppsspp/stable

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

2. Then refresh your system cache and install the latest PPSSPP via commands:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install ppsspp

Replace ppsspp with ppsspp-sdl in the code for the SDL version.

Uninstall:

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

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:ppsspp/stable

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

sudo apt-get remove --autoremove ppsspp ppsspp-sdl ppsspp-common

In Howtos ppsspp, psp emulator

LibreOffice 6.1 Available to Install in Ubuntu 18.04 via PPA

Last updated: September 14, 2018

LibreOffice

For those who prefer upgrading LibreOffice office suite from PPA, LibreOffice 6.1 now is finally available to install in Ubuntu 18.04 and Ubuntu 18.10 via its official PPA

LibreOffice 6.1 is new major version released more than a month ago with following new features:

Use the elementary icon set by default GNOME-based Linux distros
New app icons that you can see in the application launcher.
Reworked image handling using a new graphic manager
The notebook bar is significantly improved in LibreOffice 6.1
Use native GTK3 dialogs on Linux desktops.
Improvements to Excel 2003 XML import
DOCX export/import
And many other new featurese and improvements

libreoffice new app icons

How to Install LibreOffice 6.1 in Ubuntu 18.04 via PPA:

Open terminal either via Ctrl+Alt+T keyboard shortcuts, or by searching for “terminal” from application launcher. When it opens, do:

1. Run command to add the LibreOffice PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:libreoffice/ppa

Input your password (no visual feedback while typing) when it prompts, and read terminal output for PPA description and hit Enter to continue.

2. Then you’ll see the upgrade available in Software Updater after checking for updates.

The LibreOffice upgrading process may be kept back. If so, run following commands instead in terminal after added the PPA:

sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

Uninstall:

You can restore to stock version of LibreOffice in Ubuntu main archive by running command in terminal:

sudo apt-get install ppa-purge && sudo ppa-purge ppa:libreoffice/ppa

In Howtos LibreOffice

[Quick Tip] Pin App Shortcuts to the Desktop in Ubuntu 18.04

Last updated: September 13, 2018

This quick tutorial is for those who want to pin application shortcut icons to the default Gnome Desktop in Ubuntu 18.04, while you can’t drag and drop icons from applications menu to the desktop.

1. First, open Gnome Tweaks (if not available, install it via Ubuntu Software) and navigate to Desktop tab and enable ‘Show icons’ on desktop.