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Install Zulip Team Chat Client in Ubuntu 18.04 via Snap

Last updated: August 19, 2018

You can now install the open-source team chat Zulip desktop client easily via Snap in Ubuntu and receive future updates automatically.

Zulip is a powerful, group chat software with clients for Linux, Windows, mac OS, Android, iOS, and web UI. For Ubuntu Linux, it offers an apt repository with the latest .deb packages and appimage single executable package.

Now Zulip is available as Snap, a containerised software package designed to work securely within most Linux desktop. Snap bundles most required dependencies and auto-updates itself.

To install Zulip via snap, simply open Ubuntu Software, search for and install zulip:

For those familiar with Linux command, open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run:

snap install zulip

Once installed, open the client either from software launcher or by running command in terminal and enjoy:

/snap/bin/zulip
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Opera 55 Released with New Settings Layout, Better Page Control

Last updated: August 17, 2018

Opera web browser reached the new stable 55 release a day ago with a new settings page, better page control, and easier Chrome extension installation.

Opera 55 release highlights:

  • New layout of settings page options for the start page, the user interface, dark theme support, languages, downloads, system, shortcuts and for reset settings.
  • Better control of the pages you visit with an expanded badge pop-up menu
  • Add install button when visiting Chrome extensions web store.
  • Bookmarks bar now is enabled by default. Click the heart icon on the right side to add new bookmarks.

How to Install Opera 55 in Ubuntu:

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

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

You can make Software Updater receive future updates for the traditional Opera package by adding its official apt repository:

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
In Howtos, News
 

Planetarium Software Stellarium 0.18.2 Released (How to Install)

Last updated: August 16, 2018

Free and open-source planetarium software Stellarium 0.18.2 was released a day ago with enhancements, various bug-fixes and translation updates.

Stellarium 0.18.2 release highlights:

  • Improvements and fixes for AstroCalc tool and plugins
  • Added support Abell Catalog of Planetary Nebulae and ESO/Uppsala Survey of the ESO(B) Atlas
  • Added filters for enlisted objects in Search Tool/Lists tool
  • Added new textures for moons
  • Added support Milkyway saturation effect
  • Added possibility to select all constellations through scripts and hotkeys
  • Added artwork for some Maori constellations
  • Added distances for some planetary nebulae
  • Added Lokono sky culture
  • Added a few new scripts
  • Updated code and data, and fixed various bugs.

How to Install Stellarium 0.18.2 in Ubuntu:

The software has an official PPA repository that contains the latest Stellarium packages for Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 18.10, and their derivatives.

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

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:stellarium/stellarium-releases

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

2. Then upgrade Stellarium from an existing release with Software Updater utility:

Or run following commands to install the software for the first time:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install stellarium

Uninstall:

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

sudo apt-get remove --autoremove stellarium

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

In Howtos, News ,
 

qBittorrent 4.1.2 Released with Option for “inhibit sleep”

Last updated: September 19, 2018

qBittorrent 4.1.2, free and reliable p2p bittorrent client, was released a few days ago with some new features, various bug-fixes and other improvements.

qBittorrent 4.1.2 release highlights:

  • New options for “inhibit sleep”
  • Add option for regexps in the transferlist search filter’s context menu
  • Add async io threads option to AdvancedSettings
  • Allow save resume interval to be disabled
  • Add checkbox for recursive download dialog
  • Add changelog link in program updater
  • Implement “Sequential downloading” feature.
  • Various bug-fixes, WebUI improvements, and more.

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 (though the new 4.1.2 release is not ready at the moment of writing).

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
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Visual Studio Code 1.26 Released

Last updated: August 14, 2018

Microsoft Visual Studio Code 1.26 was released a day ago with a number of significant updates.

According to the release note, some of the key highlights in VS Code 1.26 include:

  • Breadcrumbs – A navigation bar allows to quickly navigate between symbols and files.
  • You can now apply Quick Fixes from the Problems panel
  • User setup package for Windows is now available on stable.
  • Column selection is supported within the Integrated Terminal via Alt+click
  • “Add missing import” Quick Fix to all missing imports in a JavaScript/TypeScript file
  • JSX tags closed automatically when type > in a JavaScript or TypeScript file
  • Better JS/TS error reporting
  • Add IntelliSense autocompletions to the extension search field.

How to Install VS Code 1.26 in Ubuntu:

The official .deb package for Debian/Ubuntu is available for download at the link below:

Grab the deb and install it via either Gdebi package manager or command in terminal(Ctrl+Alt+T):

sudo dpkg -i ~/Downloads/code_*.deb; sudo apt -f install

For those who want to receive updates for VS Code via Software Updater utility, add the Microsoft repository via following steps (64bit only):

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

sudo sh -c 'echo "deb [arch=amd64] https://packages.microsoft.com/repos/vscode stable main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/vscode.list'

2. Download and install the repository key via commands:

curl https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc | gpg --dearmor > microsoft.gpg

sudo mv microsoft.gpg /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/microsoft.gpg

Uninstall Visual Studio Code:

To remove the code editor, either use Synaptic Package Manager or run command:

sudo apt-get remove --autoremove code

And remove the Microsoft repository by launching Software & Updates utility and navigating to Other Software tab.

In News
 

How to Install Linux Kernel 4.18 in Ubuntu, Linux Mint

Last updated: August 13, 2018

Linus Torvalds finally announced the release of Linux Kernel 4.18 yesterday afternoon. He wrote in lkml.org:

It was a very calm week, and arguably I could just have released on schedule last week, but we did have some minor updates. Mostly networking, but some vfs race fixes (mentioned in the rc8 announment
as “pending”) and a couple of driver fixes (scsi, networking, i2c). Some other minor random things (arm crypto fix, parisc memory ordering fix). Shortlog appended for the (few) details.

Some of these I was almost ready to just delay to until the next merge window, but they were marked for stable anyway, so it would just have caused more backporting. The vfs fixes are for old races that are
really hard to hit (which is obviously why they are old and weren’t noticed earlier). Some of them _have_ been seen in real life, some of them probably need explicit help to ever trigger (ie artificial delays
just to show that “yes, this can actually happen in theory”).

Changes in kernel 4.18 include:

  • Initial support for the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC.
  • Various power management improvements to AMDGPU
  • Initial NVIDIA GV100 Volta support within Nouveau DRM driver
  • 32-bit ARM finally gets mitigated for Spectre V1/V2
  • Various new sound chips support
  • USB 3.2 and USB Type-C improvements.
  • And many other changes.

How to Install Linux Kernel 4.18 in Ubuntu:

There a few tools, e.g., UKTools and Ukuu, make it easy to install the latest Kernel in Ubuntu.

You can also manually download the Kernel 4.18 Ubuntu binary packages at:

Depends on your OS type, download and install the packages in turns:

  1. linux-headers-4.18.0-xxxxxx_all.deb
  2. linux-headers-4.18.0-xxx-generic(/lowlatency)_xxx_amd64(/i386).deb
  3. linux-modules-4.18.0-xxx-generic(/lowlatency)_xxx_amd64(/i386).deb
  4. linux-image-xxx-4.18.0-xxx-generic(/lowlatency)_xxx_amd64(/i386).deb

Select generic for common system, and lowlatency for a low latency system (e.g. for recording audio), amd64 for 64bit system, i386 for 32bit system, or armhf, arm64, etc for other OS types.

Also you can download and install the kernel binaries via terminal commands:

For 64-bit OS:

cd /tmp/

wget -c http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.18/linux-headers-4.18.0-041800_4.18.0-041800.201808122131_all.deb

wget -c http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.18/linux-headers-4.18.0-041800-generic_4.18.0-041800.201808122131_amd64.deb

wget -c http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.18/linux-image-unsigned-4.18.0-041800-generic_4.18.0-041800.201808122131_amd64.deb

wget -c http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.18/linux-modules-4.18.0-041800-generic_4.18.0-041800.201808122131_amd64.deb

sudo dpkg -i *.deb

for 32-bit OS:

cd /tmp/

wget -c http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.18/linux-headers-4.18.0-041800_4.18.0-041800.201808122131_all.deb

wget -c http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.18/linux-headers-4.18.0-041800-generic_4.18.0-041800.201808122131_i386.deb

wget -c http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.18/linux-image-4.18.0-041800-generic_4.18.0-041800.201808122131_i386.deb

wget -c http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.18/linux-modules-4.18.0-041800-generic_4.18.0-041800.201808122131_i386.deb

sudo dpkg -i *.deb

Once installed, restart your computer and enjoy!

Uninstall Linux Kernel 4.17:

Restart your machine and select boot with the previous kernel in boot menu ‘Grub2 -> Advanced Option for Ubuntu’. Then run command to remove Linux Kernel 4.18.0:

sudo dpkg --purge linux-image-4.18.0-041800-generic linux-image-unsigned-4.18.0-041800-generic
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Make ‘PrintScreen’ Launch Shutter Area Selection in Ubuntu 18.04

Last updated: August 12, 2018

For those who don’t use the default Gnome screenshot tool, here’s how to make the ‘PrintScreen’ keyboard key take a screenshot via another (Shutter in this case) screen capturing tool.

1. Launch System Settings and navigate to Devices -> keyboard.

2. In right, scroll down and find out the line says “Save a screenshot to Pictures“. Click on it, and in pop-up dialog change the shortcut from Print to any other key.

3. Scroll down and click plus sign to add a new shortcut, then:

  • type a name for the new shortcut.
  • type shutter -s as the shortcut function.
  • set the shortcut key to PrintScreen.

Finally click the Add button and done.

In addition, you can add more shortcuts for shutter, e.g., shutter -f to take a screenshot of full-screen and shutter -w for window capturing.

In Howtos ,
 

UKTools – Another Tool to Install the latest Linux Kernels in Ubuntu

Last updated: March 14, 2025

There’s already a graphical tool called Ukuu which make it easy to install the latest Linux Kernels in Ubuntu and Linux Mint.

UPDATE 2025: UKTools has NOT been updated for a few years!

Today I’m going to show you a new command line tool called UKTools which provides:

  • uktools-upgrade, one command to install the latest Linux kernel (stable) from kernel.ubuntu.com.
  • uktools-purge, one command to remove old kernels, the first and the last two are excluded.

The tools also support cron jobs to automatically run upgrade and/or purge scripts.

How to Install UKTools in Ubuntu:

The application does not has any Ubuntu binary at the moment. However, it’s easy to compile it from the source.

1. Open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and clone the source via command:

git clone https://github.com/usbkey9/uktools && cd uktools

2. Then compile and install it via command:

make

The setup runs automatically if it’s installed successfully.

Uninstall:

Keep the uktools folder in your user root directory, so you can re-run UKTools setup, or remove the command line tool via command:

cd ~/uktools/ && make uninstall
In App Review, Howtos ,
 

Audacious 3.10 Released! How to Install it in Ubuntu 18.04

Last updated: August 15, 2018

After nearly a year of development, Audacious audio player 3.10 was finally released yesterday. Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 16.04, Linux Mint 19 and 18.

Audacious 3.10, code-named “Not Quite There Yet”, added following new features:

  • Shuffle history is remembered at exit to avoid repeating songs
  • Exported M3U and PLS playlists now use relative paths by default
  • Recursively adding subfolders to the playlist is now optional
  • The URL history shown in the Add/Open URL dialogs can be cleared
  • Toolbar buttons in the GTK UI now show tooltip hints
  • The adplug input plugin has a new settings window
  • The Search Tool can be configured to scan for new files at startup
  • The number of results shown in the Search Tool is now configurable
  • The Delete Files plugin is clearer about which files will be deleted
  • Icons from the desktop theme are used more consistently
  • Scalable icons are now used on Windows for better high-DPI support
  • The bottom info bar now matches the color tone of dark themes
  • The soxr resampler has some new, more detailed settings

There are also many UI improvements and various bug-fixes. See the previous link for details.

How to Install Audacious 3.10 in Ubuntu:

You can install the new release packages in Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 16.04, and their derivatives via the unofficial PPA.

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

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nilarimogard/webupd8

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

2. Then you can upgrade Audacious via Software Updater:

or run commands one by one in terminal to install or upgrade the audio player:

sudo apt update

sudo apt install audacious audacious-plugins

Uninstall:

You can easily remove the PPA either by going to Software & Updates utility -> Other Software tab, or by running command:

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:nilarimogard/webupd8

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

sudo apt remove --autoremove audacious audacious-plugins
In Howtos, News ,
 

Quick Tip: Display Battery Percentage in Ubuntu 18.04 Gnome panel

Last updated: August 8, 2018

This quick tutorial will show Ubuntu beginners how to show or hide the battery percentage in Ubuntu 18.04 top-right system tray.

I’ve already written about this while the default System Settings utility does not have an option for the function. And in Ubuntu 18.04 you can do it easily via Gnome Tweaks tool.

1. Gnome Tweaks is one of my must-have applications, specially for configuring Gnome 3 desktop.

To install it, search for and install ‘Gnome Tweaks’ in Ubuntu Software:

2. Then launch the tool, navigate to Top Bar settings page. There you can see the option for turning on / off battery percentage.

That’s it. Enjoy!

In Howtos