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Kodi 17.1 Released! How to Install it via PPA in Ubuntu

Last updated: March 21, 2017

kodi-icon

Kodi 17.1, the first bug-fix release for the v17 “Krypton”, has been released and made into PPA for Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 16.10, and Linux Mint 17 & 18.

According to the changelog, Kodi 17.1 brings a huge list of fixes and here are some of them:

  • Update Estuary and Estouchy with some bugfixes and improvements
  • Fix EDL skipping
  • Fix slow song smartplaylist
  • Several PVR fixes
  • Update Chorus webinterface
  • Fix addons not being marked broken when they are updated with broken flag
  • Add limiter on random songs which should prevent large memory usage on big libraries
  • Improve keyboard mapping during button mapping
  • Improve analog stick handling
  • Improve plugin performance when building the content list
  • Include RTMP inputstream add-on for Windows

Kodi-Wallpaper-15B-1080p_samfisher-600x336

Although the Kodi website does not announced the v17.1 release at the moment, you can now install or upgrade to Kodi 17.1 via following steps:

1. Open terminal by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T or searching for “Terminal” from Unity Dash / Start Menu. When it opens, run command to add Kodi PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:team-xbmc/ppa

Type in your password (no visual feedback due to security reason) and hit Enter.

kodi ppa

2. Then upgrade Kodi Media Center from a previous release via Software Updater:

upgrade Kodi

Or run the commands below one by one to install or upgrade Kodi:

sudo apt update

sudo apt install kodi

Once installed, you can either launch Kodi from app launcher or select log in Kodi session at login screen.

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Install The Latest GScan2PDF in Ubuntu 16.04/16.10/17.04

Last updated: March 20, 2017

gscan2pdf-icon

The latest GScan2PDF has recently reached 1.7.3 release. Here’s how to install it in all current Ubuntu releases including Ubuntu 12.04, Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 16.04, and higher.

gscan2pdf is a GUI to ease the process of producing PDFs or DjVus from scanned documents. You scan one or several pages in with File/Scan, and create a PDF of selected pages with File/Save PDF. At maturity, the GUI will have similar features to that of the Windows Imaging program, but with the express objective of writing a PDF, including metadata. Scanning is handled with SANE via scanimage. PDF conversion is done by libtiff. Perl is used for portability and ease of programming, with gtk2-perl for the GUI. This should therefore work more or less out of the box on any system with gtk2-perl, scanimage, and libtiff.

While Ubuntu repositories only provide old versions, you can install the latest GScan2PDF (1.7.3 so far) via the developer’s PPA and keep it up-to-date by receiving updates via Software Updater.

gscan2pdf-173

1. To add the PPA, open terminal by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T, when it opens, run command:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:jeffreyratcliffe/ppa

Type in your password (no visual feedback due to security reason) and hit Enter.

gscan2pdf ppa

2. Have an old version installed? You can now launch Software Updater (Update Manager) and upgrade the software to the latest:

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 Restore:

For any reason you can easily restore to the stock version of gscan2pdf in your Ubuntu main repository by purging the PPA via command:

sudo apt-get install ppa-purge && sudo ppa-purge ppa:jeffreyratcliffe/ppa
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Audacity 2.1.3 Released! Install it in Ubuntu 16.04 & Higher

Last updated: March 18, 2017

audacity-icon245

After more than one year of development, the Audacity audio editor has reached the 2.1.3 release. Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 16.10, and their derivatives.

Thanks to an upgrade of the PortAudio library, Audacity 2.1.3 now properly supports Windows 10. It also features:

  • Added support for Magic Mouse/Trackpad on mac OS.
  • New Distortion effect, Rhythm Track (was called Click Track) and Sample Data Import. Also effects are no longer grayed-out when in pause.
  • New scrub ruler and ‘pinned’ option so the waveform moves and the recording/playing head stays still.
  • New features in Timer Record.
  • On Mac, audacity.app is now added to /Applications/ directly rather than adding a folder there.
  • Over 60 bugs fixed, including five longstanding bugs.

Audacity 2.1.3

How to Install Audacity 2.1.3 in Ubuntu via PPA:

The Audacity Team does not offer official builds of DEB packages. Besides building from source, you can install Audacity 2.1.3 from my PPA (unofficial). Ubuntu 14.04 is excluded due to requirement of GCC >= 4.9.

1. Open terminal by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T or searching for “Terminal” from Unity Dash. When it opens, run command to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/audacity

Type in your password (no visual feedback due to security reason) when it asks and hit Enter.

audacity ppa

2. After that, upgrade Audacity via the Software Updater (Update Manager) utility:

upgrade audacity

Or you can run the commands below one by one to install or upgrade the audio editor:

sudo apt update

sudo apt install audacity

Uninstall:

For any reason, you can easily remove the PPA and downgrade Audacity to the stock version in Ubuntu via the ppa-purge tool:

sudo apt install ppa-purge && sudo ppa-purge ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/audacity
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Stop Onscreen Keyboard ‘Onboard’ Auto-Starting in Ubuntu 16.04

Last updated: March 17, 2017

onscreen keyboard

After first time launching the onscreen keyboard in the login screen, the ‘onboard’ onscreen keyboard automatically starts up every time when I login, or backup from suspend.

launch onscreen keyboard in login

The software does not offer an option to enable / disable the auto startup feature. So here’s how to stop Onboard onscreen keyboard from auto-launching using the Startup Applications utility.

onboard-onscreen-keyboard

1. Open terminal by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T or searching for “Terminal” in Unity Dash. When it launches, run command:

sudo sed -i "s/NoDisplay=true/NoDisplay=false/g" /etc/xdg/autostart/*.desktop

Type in your password (no visual feedback due to security reason) when it asks. The command will show hidden startup applications in the Startup Applications utility including Onboard.

show-hidden-startup-apps

2. Launch Startup Applications utility, find out “Onboard” and un-check or remove it:

disable-onboard-autostart

3. (Optional) You may re-hide these hidden startup applications by running the command below in terminal:

sudo sed -i 's/NoDisplay=false/NoDisplay=true/g' /etc/xdg/autostart/*.desktop

That’s it. Enjoy!

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How to Install Wireshark 2.2.5 in Ubuntu 16.10, 16.04, 14.04

Last updated: March 14, 2017

wireshark

The most popular network protocol analyzer, Wireshark 2.2.5, was finally made into PPA repository more than a week after its release date.

Wireshark 2.2.5 is mainly a bug-fix release. The changes include updated protocol support and the following bug-fixes:

  • Infinite loop: RTMTP dissector, WSP dissector, STANAG 4607 file parser, NetScaler file parser, IAX2 dissector, and NetScaler file parser.
  • Crashes: LDSS dissector, NetScaler file parser, and K12 file parser.
  • Display filter textbox loses focus during live capturing.
  • crashes when saving pcaps, opening pcaps, and exporting specified packets.
  • Dumpcap crashes during rpcap setup.
  • Crash on closing SNMP capture file if snmp credentials are present.
  • And see the release note for more.

How to Install Wireshark 2.2.5 via PPA:

The official stable PPA has built the new release for Ubuntu 16.10, Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 12.04 and their derivatives.

1. To add the PPA, open terminal from Unity Dash / App Launcher, or via Ctrl+Alt+T shortcut keys, and then run command:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:wireshark-dev/stable

Type in your password (no visual feedback due to security reason) when it asks and hit Enter.

wireshark-official-ppa

2. For those who have a previous release installed, launch Software Updater (or Update Manager) to upgrade it to the latest:

upgrade wireshark

Or run the commands below in terminal to install / upgrade wireshark:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install wireshark

How to restore:

To restore to the stock version of Wireshark in Ubuntu main repositories, purge the PPA via ppa-purge tool:

sudo apt-get install ppa-purge && sudo ppa-purge ppa:wireshark-dev/stable
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How to Install Pidgin 2.12 in Ubuntu 16.04 via PPA

Last updated: March 13, 2017

Pidgin internet messenger

The Pidgin internet messenger 2.12 was released a few days ago on last Thursday. Here’s how to install it via PPA in Ubuntu 16.04.

After 9 months of development, Pidgin 2.12 brings following changes:

  • Fix an out of bounds memory read in purple_markup_unescape_entity
  • Fix use of uninitialised memory if running non-debug-enabled versions of glib
  • Updated AIM dev and dist ID’s to new ones that were assigned by AOL.
  • TLS certificate verification now uses SHA-256 checksums.
  • Fixed SASL external auth for Freenode.
  • Removed the protocol plugin: MSN, Mxit, MySpaceIM, Yahoo!, Facebook (XMPP)
  • Fixed gnutls certificate validation errors that mainly affected google (Dequis)
  • Replaced instances of d.pidgin.im with developer.pidgin.im and updated the urls to use https.
  • Fixed issue of messages being silently cut off at 500 characters.

Pidgin IM 2.12

How to Install Pidgin 2.12 in Ubuntu 16.04, Linux Mint 18

The official Pidgin PPA was dropped years ago. Besides building the new release from source, you can use this third-party PPA

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

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:jonathonf/backports

pidgin-unofficial-ppa

2. Then launch Software Updater and you’ll see Pidgin 2.12 available for upgrade:

update-pidgin

Or you can run command to install / upgrade the messenger:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install pidgin

Finally restart your computer to apply changes.

How to Restore:

To restore Pidgin to the stock version (2.10.12) in Ubuntu 16.04, run command to purge the PPA via ppa-pure tool:

sudo apt install ppa-purge && sudo ppa-purge ppa:jonathonf/backports

If you want to keep the Pidgin 2.12 in your system, you may also remove the PPA since it contains various other (low impact) packages, either via Software & Updates -> Other Software tab or by running command:

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:jonathonf/backports
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How to Install Punch Clock App ‘Kapow’ in Ubuntu 16.04 & Higher

Last updated: March 11, 2017

kapow-punch-clock-icon

Kapow is a free and open-source punch clock program that works on Linux, Windows, and Mac OS.

Kapow is a punch clock program designed to easily keep track of your hours, whether you’re working on one project or many. Simply clock in and out with the Start/Stop button. If you make a mistake in your hours, you can go back and edit any of the entries by double-clicking on the session in question. Kapow also allows you to easily keep track of the hours since you last billed a client, by providing a helpful “Billed” checkbox—the totals will reflect your work after the last billed session.

Kapow Punch Clock

kapow-report1

kapow-report2

kapow-report3

To install the software in Ubuntu, follow the steps below one by one:

1. Open terminal from Unity Dash or via Ctrl+Alt+T combination key. When it opens, run command to add the developer’s PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:gottcode/gcppa

focuswriter-ppa

Type in your password (no visual feedback for security reason) when it asks and hit Enter.

2. Then you can install the software either via Synaptic Package Manager or by running commands:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install kapow

For those who don’t want to add the PPA, grab the DEB package from HERE.

Uninstall:

To remove Kapow punch clock software, either use Synaptic Package Manager or run the command below in terminal:

sudo apt-get remove kapow && sudo apt-get autoremove

And remove the PPA via System Settings -> Software & Updates -> Other Software tab.

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Deluge BitTorrent 1.3.14 Released [Highly Recommended to Upgrade]

Last updated: March 7, 2017

Deluge BitTorrent Client

The Deluge BitTorrent client 1.3.14 was release one day ago. Users with previous release installed are highly recommended to upgrade to this release.

For WebUI, Deluge 1.3.14 contains a fix for CSRF vulnerability that has the real potential to compromise your machine. For Windows user, the package now includes libtorrent 1.0.11 which should fix crashing on startup.

  • Fixed ‘Too many files open’ errors.
  • Added support for python-geoip for use with libtorrent 1.1.
  • Fixed a single proxy entry being overwritten resulting in no proxy set.
  • Added tracker_status translation to UIs.
  • [GtkUI] Strip whitespace from infohash before checks.
  • Add missed feature autofill infohash entry from clipboard.
  • Backport bind interface option for server.
  • Security: Fixed WebUI CSRF Vulnerability.
  • [Console] Fix decode error comparing non-ascii (str) torrent name.
  • Fixes for splitting magnets from file.
  • Remove duplicate magnet extension when splitting.

How to Install Deluge 1.3.14 in Ubuntu / Linux Mint:

The new release has been made into the official PPA, available for Ubuntu 12.04, Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 16.10, Ubuntu 17.04, Linux Mint 13, 17, 18, and their derivatives.

1. To add the PPA, open terminal and run command:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:deluge-team/ppa

Type in your password (no visual feedback) and hit Enter

Deluge PPA

2. Then upgrade Deluge using Software Updater (Update Manager):

upgrade deluge bittorrent

Or install it for the first time via commands:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install deluge

How to Restore:

To restore deluge BitTorrent client to the stock version in your Ubuntu main repository, open terminal and run command to purge the PPA:

sudo apt-get install ppa-purge && sudo ppa-purge ppa:deluge-team/ppa
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How to Install Green Recorder 2.0 in Ubuntu 16.04, 16.10, 17.04

Last updated: March 6, 2017

green-recorder-icon

Green Recorder is a simple yet functional Linux desktop recorder written with Python and GTK+ 3. Since 2.0 release, it supports Wayland on GNOME session.

Green Recorder uses ffmpeg libraries and so far supports mkv, avi, mp4, wmv and nut (And only WebM for Wayland’s GNOME session). With it, you can record a running window or select an area to record.

The changelog in Green Recorder 2.0 includes:

  • Added Wayland Support (GNOME Session).
  • Added ability to select a specific window.
  • Added ability to select a specific area.
  • Added ability to show/hide mouse cursor.
  • Added ability to follow mouse cursor.
  • Added ability run a command after finishing recording.
  • Indicator now checking for ffmpeg before running.
  • Fixed some issues about multi-recordings.

green-recorder

green recorder select area

To install the desktop recorder, open terminal from Unity Dash, App Launcher, or via Ctrl+Alt+T keys, and then run following commands one by one:

1. Run command to add the Green project PPA repository:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mhsabbagh/greenproject

Type your password (no visual feedback) when it prompts and hit enter.

green recorder ppa

2. Then install green-recorder package either via Synaptic Package Manager (after click refresh):

greenrecorder-synaptic

or by running following commands in terminal:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install green-recorder

How to Remove:

To uninstall the software, either use Synaptic Package Manager or run command in terminal:

sudo apt-get remove green-recorder && sudo apt-get autoremove

To remove the PPA repository, go to System Settings -> Software & Updates -> Other Software tab.

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How to Install SopCast Player in Ubuntu 16.04 / 16.10

Last updated: March 5, 2017

sopcast-icon

For those who want to install SopCast Player, a Linux GUI front-end for the p2p streaming technology developed by SopCast, here’s a PPA with sopcast-player 0.8.5 for Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 16.10, Linux Mint 18, and derivatives.

Sopcast Player in Ubuntu Unity

Open terminal from Unity Dash, App Launcher, or via Ctrl+Alt+T shortcut keys. When it opens, run following commands one by one:

1. Run command to add the PPA repository:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:linuxthebest.net/sopcast

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

sopcast-xenial-ppa

2. Then install sopcast-player package either via Synaptic Package Manager or by running commands in terminal:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install sopcast-player

3. Remove the PPA repository afterwards, since the player is not updated any more.

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:linuxthebest.net/sopcast

For those who don’t want to add PPA, manually grab the DEB packages here.

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