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Liferea 1.12.3 Released! How to Install it in Ubuntu 18.04

Last updated: May 2, 2018

Liferea Feed Reader

The Liferea feed reader reached the 1.12.3 release earlier today with various bug fixes. Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 17.10, Ubuntu 16.04.

“Today sees a new 1.12 release which addresses some long-standing user concerns. One being accidentally marking all your headlines as read, we have no a confirmation dialog. Another issue addressed is that of custom download tools. The list provided is not always sufficient so we now provide a CLI command you can enter to use you favorite downloader. A lot of refactoring also allowed us to provide a GTK headerbar plugin for all fans of GNOME style window decorations.”

Liferea 1.12.3 release highlights:

  • Added setting for custom download commands
  • GTK Headerbar support via plugin
  • Refactoring UI code to switch to GAction and GtkBuilder
  • Item list view column order rework as a preparation for possible real column drag&drop. Introduces a new DConf setting for the column order.
  • Mark read toolbar button always disabled for search folders
  • Please add a safety question when “marking all read”
  • Avoid exception in trayicon.py
  • GnomeKeyring plugin fails to activate when keyring doesn’t exist
  • Fix feed list selection after DnD
  • Big Memory leak in date code

How to Install Liferea 1.12.3 in Ubuntu:

For Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 17.10, Ubuntu 18.04, and derivatives, the new release is available in a third-party PPA repository.

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

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/apps

Type your password (no visual feedback while typing) when it asks and hit Enter.

2. Then upgrade Liferea via Software Updater utility:

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:

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

sudo apt-get remove --autoremove liferea

To remove the PPA repository, open “Software & Updates” utility and navigate to Other Software tab.

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Move Window Buttons ‘Min, Max, Close’ to Left in Ubuntu 18.04

Last updated: July 11, 2018

For Ubuntu 16.04 users who are accustomed to have window buttons ‘minimize, maximize, close’ on the left side, this quick tutorial will show you how to change window buttons position after you install or upgrad to Ubuntu 18.04 LTS.

1. To get started, open Ubuntu Software, search for and install Gnome Tweaks.

2. Then launch the Gnome Tweaks, and navigate to Windows tab. At the bottom, you can see the toggle to change the titlebar buttons placement.

That’s it. Enjoy!

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SMPlayer 18.4 Released with Ability to Change OSD Bar Position

Last updated: April 30, 2018

SMPlayer media player 18.4.0 was released a few days ago with new feature to change the position of OSD bar.

Other than that, the time displayed by a tooltip when the mouse is over the seekbar is now much more accurate. And now it’s possible to turn off the use of the system native file dialog in Preferences -> Interface.

How to Install SMPlayer 18.4 in Ubuntu:

For Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 17.10, Ubuntu 18.04, and derivatives, do following steps to install or upgrade SMPlayer via its PPA repository.

1. Search for and launch “terminal” from application launcher. When it opens, run command:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:rvm/smplayer

Input your password (no visual 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:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install smplayer smtube smplayer-themes

Uninstall:

To remove SMPlayer, run command in terminal:

sudo apt-get remove --autoremove smplayer smtube smplayer-*

And remove the PPA via “Software & Updates” utility under Other Software tab.

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HPLIP 3.18.4 Released with Ubuntu 18.04 Support

Last updated: April 29, 2018

HPLIP 3.18.4, an HP developed Linux drivers for HP inkjet and laser based printers, was released recently with Ubuntu 18.04 beta support and new printers support.

HPLIP 3.18.4 adds support for following new devices:

  • HP LaserJet Pro MFP M28a
  • HP LaserJet Pro MFP M29a
  • HP LaserJet Pro MFP M30a
  • HP LaserJet Pro MFP M31a
  • HP LaserJet Pro MFP M30c
  • HP LaserJet Pro MFP M31c
  • HP LaserJet Pro MFP M28w
  • HP LaserJet Pro MFP M29w
  • HP LaserJet Pro MFP M30w
  • HP LaserJet Pro MFP M31w
  • HP LaserJet Pro MFP M30cw
  • HP LaserJet Pro MFP M31cw
  • HP LaserJet Pro M14a
  • HP LaserJet Pro M15a
  • HP LaserJet Pro M16a
  • HP LaserJet Pro M17a
  • HP LaserJet Pro M14c
  • HP LaserJet Pro M17c
  • HP LaserJet Pro M14w
  • HP LaserJet Pro M15w
  • HP LaserJet Pro M16w
  • HP LaserJet Pro M17w
  • HP LaserJet Pro M14cw
  • HP LaserJet Pro M17cw

HPLIP 3.18.4 also adds support for Ubuntu 18.04, Debian 9.2, 9.3, and 9.4.

Download / Install HPLIP 3.18.4:

To install the software, download the package “hplip-3.18.4.run” from the link below:

Then open terminal via Ctrl+Alt+T or search for “terminal” from app launcher. When it opens, run command:

cd ~/Downloads/ && chmod +x hplip-3.18.4.run && ./hplip-3.18.4.run

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

Then follow the terminal outputs, answer some questions to build and install HPLIP on your system. When everything is done, plug/re-plug your printers and enjoy!

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How to Install GIMP 2.10 in Ubuntu 18.04, 17.10 via PPA

Last updated: April 29, 2018

GIMP 2.10, a new major release of the most popular Linux image editing software, was announced a day ago with huge list of changes.

The most notable changes in GIMP 2.10 include:

  • Nearly fully ported to GEGL, allowing high bit depth processing, multi-threaded and hardware accelerated pixel processing, and more.
  • Color management is a core feature now, most widgets and preview areas are color-managed.
  • Many improved tools, and several new and exciting tools, such as the Warp transform, the Unified transform and the Handle transform tools.
  • On-canvas preview for all filters ported to GEGL.
  • Improved digital painting with canvas rotation and flipping, symmetry MyPaint brush support…
  • Support for several new image formats added (OpenEXR, RGBE, WebP, HGT), as well as improved support for many existing formats (in particular more robust PSD importing).
  • Metadata viewing and editing for Exif, XMP, IPTC, and DICOM.
  • Basic HiDPI support: automatic or user-selected icon size.
  • New themes for GIMP (Light, Gray, Dark, and System) and new symbolic icons meant to somewhat dim the environment and shift the focus towards content.
  • And more, better, more, and even more awesome! See the release note.

How to Install GIMP 2.10 via PPA in Ubuntu:

The new release has been made into PPA repository for Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 17.10.

Ubuntu 16.04 is not supported at the moment due to inextricably Glib dependencies.

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

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:otto-kesselgulasch/gimp

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

2. After added the PPA, you can upgrade to GIMP 2.10 from an existing release using Software Updater (Update Manager):

or run commands one by one in terminal to install or upgrade GIMP:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install gimp

Tip: apt update command is not required for Ubuntu 18.04 since it automatically refresh repository caches after adding PPA.

How to Restore:

For any reason, you can restore to the old GIMP 2.8.22 by running following command in terminal to purge the PPA:

sudo apt-get install ppa-purge && sudo ppa-purge ppa:otto-kesselgulasch/gimp
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VLC 3.0.2 Released with 150+ Bug Fixes (How to Install)

Last updated: April 25, 2018

VLC media player 3.0.2 was released a few days ago. The release fixed more than 150 bugs since the 3.0.0 release, and improves decoding speed on macOS.

Changes in VLC 3.0.2 include:

  • Fix snapshotting with subtitles when using hardware acceleration
  • Fix green/missing line/column when the picture dimensions are odd
  • Important improvements in hardware decoding for macOS, notably faster, supporting more samples and removing crashes/deadlocks
  • Improve compatibility for DxVA2 and D3D11 decoding, fix crashes when seeking and fix blacklisting of broken drivers
  • Fix SSA subtitles forced alignment
  • Fix E-AC-3 stuttering
  • Fix MIDI playback on macOS
  • Add playback support for ProRes 4444 XQ
  • Fix IFO files playback to start DVDs
  • Fix a crash with missing/invalid MPEG SDT
  • Update VP8/9/10 ISOBMFF bindings and improve HDR for those cases
  • Fix TTML inside MP4
  • Fix flac seeking and improve flac parsing
  • Improve mkv opening & seeking speed
  • Miscellaneous MKV crash fixes
  • Fix crash with multi-region DVDs
  • Fix audio being muted on DVD chapter change
  • Fix audio being muted when seeking in a BluRay disc
  • Avoid a crash/assert in FTP after seeking
  • Fix “reset audio volume” being forcefully deactivated
  • Improve resampling and latency computation for CoreAudio
  • Fix audio stutter after unpausing with headphones
  • Fix OpenGL crashes or bad display with semi-planar chromas
  • Fix OpenGL interop (zero-copy) disabled for tvOS
  • Fix transform filters with hardware decoding
  • Fix snapshot and filters with HEVC hardware decoding
  • Fix a buffer overrun during GPU/CPU image copy
  • Fix last folder used in open dialogs
  • Allow to customize the seek jump when using the mousewheel
  • Fix pasted URLs not being trimmed
  • Fix jump size not being configurable
  • Fix playback speed slider not accepting 1.0x value
  • Fix raw input dump
  • Fix window size after a fullscreen playback
  • Fix crashes when searching for renderers
  • Fix VDPAU GLX usage on Linux
  • Fix libvlc_media_list not going to next media
  • Miscellaneous chromecast improvements
  • Fix missing OSD navigation feedback

How to Install VLC 3.0.2 in Ubuntu:

The VideoLAN team offers official snap package, so Ubuntu users can easily install the latest VLC package from Ubuntu Software.

or you can run command in terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) to install the snap:

snap install vlc --classic

NOTE for Ubuntu 16.04 uses who never installed a snap package, first run command in terminal to install snapd daemon via command:

sudo apt-get install snapd snapd-xdg-open

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How to Install Geary Email Client in Ubuntu 24.04 | 22.04

Last updated: April 22, 2024

Geary is a free and open-source email client formerly developed by Yorba. Now, it’s a community maintained app for GNOME Desktop.

The source code of the email client is available in this Gitlab page. And, features include:

  • Quick email account setup
  • Shows related messages together in conversations
  • Fast, full text and keyword search
  • Full-featured HTML and plain text message composer
  • Desktop notification of new mail
  • Compatible with GMail, Yahoo! Mail, Outlook.com and other IMAP servers

The graphical interface of this app is a little bit lag behind, since GNOME is porting to GTK4 plus Libadwaita, though it’s still working good. And, users can install it in all current Ubuntu releases, through either Deb package or Flatpak package.

How to Install Geary in Ubuntu:

Option 1: Deb package

For those who prefer the native .deb package format, Geary is available in system repository, though it’s a bit old.

To install it, simply press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. Then run commands below one by one:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install geary

Option 2: Flatpak package

If you want the most recent version, then it’s available to install as Flatpak package which runs in sandbox environment, and can be installed in most Linux.

Linux Mint 21+ and Fedora 38/39+ can directly search for and install the package from either Software Manager or GNOME Software.

While Ubuntu users can install the Flatpak by running 2 commands below one by one in terminal (Ctrl+ALt+T):

  • First, enable Flatpak support: 
    sudo apt install flatpak
  • Then, run command to install the email client as Flatpak package: 
    flatpak install https://dl.flathub.org/repo/appstream/org.gnome.Geary.flatpakref

  • For future updates, use command to update it: 
    flatpak update org.gnome.Geary

NOTE: If you’re first time installing an app as Flatpak package, then you may need to log out and back in for the app icon visible in start menu or Gnome ‘Show Apps’ screen.

Uninstall Geary:

To remove Geary email client, simply run command in terminal:

sudo apt-get remove --autoremove geary

For the Flatpak package, use this command instead to uninstall:

flatpak uninstall --delete-data org.gnome.Geary
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Kid3 3.6.1 Released! How to Install it in Ubuntu 18.04

Last updated: April 23, 2018

Kid3 audio tag editor 3.6.1 was released earlier today. Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 17.10, Ubuntu 16.04, and/or Ubuntu 14.04.

This bugfix release improves the speed when saving with a lot of unchanged files in the directory. It fixes wrong parsing of the xid atom when using the Mp4v2Metadata plugin, scrolling to the opened file when using a custom sort order in the file list and avoids changing the file name extension when setting file names from the tags.

Kid3 3.6.1 changelog:

  • Faster saving when many files are unchanged.
  • Do not change file extension when creating file name from tags.
  • Support for cross building.
  • Fix parsing of xid atom with Mp4v2Metadata plugin.
  • Scroll to opened file after sorting file list.
  • Avoid recursion when automatically applying format.

How to Install Kid3 3.6.1 in Ubuntu:

The developer maintains a PPA repository with the latest packages for all current Ubuntu releases.

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:ufleisch/kid3

Type in your password (no visual feedback while typing) when it asks and hit Enter to continue.

2. Then run following commands to install or upgrade the audio editor:

sudo apt update 

sudo apt install kid3-qt

For KDE users, replace kid3-qt in the last command with kid3 for better integration.

To upgrade Kid3 from an existing release, simply install the updates via Software Updater:

Uninstall:

To remove the PPA, launch Software & Updates and navigate to ‘Other Software’ tab.

To remove Kid3 tag editor, either use system package manger or run command:

sudo apt-get remove --autoremove kid3 kid3-*
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How to Install Sopcast Player in Ubuntu 18.04

Last updated: April 22, 2018

This quick tutorial is going to show you how to install Sopcast Player in Ubuntu 18.04 LTS.

SopCast Player is designed to be an easy to use Linux GUI front-end for the p2p streaming technology developed by SopCast.

There are a few PPAs contain the Sopcast player packages. Although there’s no Ubuntu 18.04 package available at the moment, you can install the .deb for Ubuntu 17.10 as a workaround.

1. Download and install the dependency package sp-auth:

For beginners, it’s recommended to install Gdebi package installer from Ubuntu Software, then install .deb packages with Gdebi.

2. Then download and install the sopcast player package built for Ubuntu 17.10:

Once installed, launch the software from your application launcher.

I can’t get access to any sopcast channels due to the Great Firewall, so I’m not sure if video streaming works.

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How to Install Notepad++ in Ubuntu 18.04/16.04 via Snap

Last updated: January 7, 2019

For those who want to install Notepad++ text editor in Ubuntu, though there’s already a Linux alternative called Notepadqq, a snap package of Notepad plus plus running with Wine now is available.

Snap is an universal Linux package format with almost all required libraries bundled in its installation file. And wine is a compatibility layer capable of running Windows applications on Linux.

1. To make things easy, the latest Notepad++ 7.5.6 runs with wine has been made as snap package, so it can be easily installed via Ubuntu Software:

or you can open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and install the snap via Linux command:

snap install notepad-plus-plus

2. After installed the snap package, you may install some plugs via commands:

sudo snap connect notepad-plus-plus:process-control

sudo snap connect notepad-plus-plus:removable-media

sudo snap connect notepad-plus-plus:hardware-observe

sudo snap connect notepad-plus-plus:cups-control

Finally launch the text editor from your application launcher and enjoy!

NOTE for Ubuntu 16.04 users first time installing a snap package, you may install the snapd daemon first via command:

sudo apt-get install snapd

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