UbuntuHandbook

How to Upgrade to LibreOffice 4.4.3 in Ubuntu 15.04/14.04

Last updated: May 6, 2015

A new release of the open-source office suite, LibreOffice 4.4.3, now is available for upgrade in Ubuntu 15.04, Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 12.04, Ubuntu 14.10 and derivatives.

LibreOffice 4.4.3 is the third bug-fix release from the 4.4 branch which brings over 88 bug-fixes. As such, the version is stable and is suitable for all users. The Document Foundation does not announced the 4.4.3 release at the moment, but the official PPA has been updated with packages for Ubuntu 12.04 and higher.

How to Upgrade LibreOffice:

As the PPA description says, it is way better to use packages from the PPA than using the *.deb files that The Document Foundation provides upstream in its website, which are intentionally build against a very old baseline for maximum compatibility.

1. So if you want to upgrade LibreOffice, open terminal from the Dash/Menu (or press Ctrl+Alt+T). When it opens, run commands to add its PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository -y ppa:libreoffice/ppa

2. After adding the PPA, you can install/upgrade the office suite by:

opening Software Updater and installing available updates after checking for updates.
or by running below commands one by one directly in terminal:
```
sudo apt-get update 

sudo apt-get install libreoffice
```

3.(Optional) If for some reason, you want to remove the new release and revert your office installation. Run commands to install ppa-purge and purge the Libreoffice PPA which also downgrade all installed packages from that repository.

sudo apt-get install ppa-purge

sudo ppa-purge ppa:libreoffice/ppa

That’s it.

In Howtos LibreOffice

PPA for LiVES Video Editor/VJ Tool 2.4.0 [Howto-install]

Last updated: May 5, 2015

LiVES, an open-source video editor and VJ tool, has reached the 2.4.0 release recently with some crash and stability fixes.

LiVES is a Video Editing system allowing both novice and advanced users to edit and create video straight away. It can also be used as a VJ tool, and can be scripted and controlled remotely.

While the default Ubuntu repositories provide an old version of this software. The latest 2.4.0 was released with below fixes:

Implement workaround for expose event problems in gtk+ 3.10.
Fix threading crash in multitrack.
Fix invalid saving of layouts in multitrack.
Fix sizes of scrolled windows inside dialog boxes (regression).
Fix timeline start position for gtkgrid widget in multitrack.
Fix “fade background mode” (b) so it looks nice again.
Stability fix for expose event during startup.
Stability fix for mkv_decoder with broken end frames.
Implement C++ language bindings (liblives).
Fixes for several smaller issues (Thomas Berger).
Code cleanup / reformat.
Updated translations to UK English, French, Galician, German, Russian and Simplified Chinese.

Install or Upgrade LiVES in Ubuntu:

For Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 14.10, Ubuntu 15.04, Linux Mint 17, Elementary OS Freya, follow below steps to install/upgrade the software:

1. Add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/lives

2. Launch Software Updater (or Software Updater), after checking for updates you should be able to upgrade the app if you have an previous version installed.

If you don’t have an previous version on your system, install it directly from Ubuntu Software Center (after checking for updates via Software Updater).

Or you can run below commands one by one in terminal to install or upgrade LiVES:

sudo apt-get update; sudo apt-get install lives

In Howtos LiVES Video Editor PPA, VJ tool

Install Circular App Launcher Gnome-Pie 0.6.2 via PPA

Last updated: May 4, 2015

Gnome-Pie, a circular application launcher, has reached version 0.6.x recently with exciting new features and important fixes.

Gnome-Pie is a visual app launcher which opens rings with user defined actions at the pointer. It is inspired by OPie, a World of Warcraft addon.

The project has reached the 0.6.x series with some exciting new features, such as:

support half and quarter pies, allow to select bast pie shape automatically.
allow to define max number of slices per pie.
new theme, new app icon.
new setttings menu layout
Client Side Decorations (Gtk.HeaderBar and Gtk.StackSwitcher) support. Need to start the app via: gnome-pie --stack-switcher or gnome-pie --header-bar
A new Pie group to show all windows of current workspace.

An old bug sometimes makes Gnome-Pie hang up and use 100% CPU has been fixed in the most recent release.

Install or Upgrade Gnome-Pie in Ubuntu:

For Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 14.10, Ubuntu 15.04 and derivatives, the latest packages are available in the developer’s PPA.

1. Open terminal from the Dash/Menu (or press Ctrl+Alt+T). When it opens, run command to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:simonschneegans/testing

2. After adding the PPA, launch Software Updater (or Updater Manager). If you have an previous version installed, Gnome-Pie should be available for upgrade in the list.

3. Or you can directly install the app from Ubuntu Software Center after checking for updates via step 2.

In Howtos Gnome-Pie

Different Launcher Icons for each Workspace in Ubuntu Unity

Last updated: May 2, 2015

For the default Unity desktop, there’s now a new tool, LSwitcher, which allows Ubuntu users to set different left launcher icons (pinned) for each workspace.

LSwitcher (Unity LauncherSwitcher) is a script running silently on the background. It automatically remembers the pinned applications’ icons on the Unity Launcher for each workspace and changes the Launcher when you switch between workspaces.

The tool is still at a very early stage， it only changes pinned icons when you switch between workspaces. Not work for unpinned icons even though there are opened on different workspaces.

LSwitcher settings window

Install and Use LSwitcher:

The tool is available in Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 14.10, and Ubuntu 15.04 Unity Desktop, and you have to enable workspaces at System Settings -> Appearances -> behavior tab.

To install the tool from PPA, open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run below commands one by one:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:vlijm/lswitcher

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install lswitcher

Depends on your OS type, 32-bit (i386) or 64-bit (amd64), you can alternatively download & install the .deb installer from the launchpad page.

To use the tool, open LSwitcher from the Unity Dash. When it opens, do:

Turn on the script by clicking on the toggle and you may enable the start at login feature.
Open Unity Dash, drag and drop some apps to the left Launcher.
Switch to other workspaces, and drop some other apps to the Launcher.
Finally check out the Launchers on different workspaces

For more, go to launchpad.net/lswitcher

In Howtos different Unity Launcher

Install uGet Download Manager 2.0 in Ubuntu, Linux Mint

Last updated: May 1, 2015

uGet 2.0, a new major release of the powerful and light-weight download manager, finally was released after more than 7 months beta testing!

uGet is a VERY Powerful download manager application with a large inventory of features but is still very light-weight and low on resources. It allows you to classify download, and allows you to import download from HTML files. Every category has an independent configuration that can be inherited by each download in that category.

uGet 2.0 in Ubuntu 15.04

uGet 2.0, a new stable release since version 1.10.4, was released earlier today. Changes according to the README file:

curl plug-in:

support multi-thread downloading.
support mirrors.
support aria2 control file format ver 1 (aria2 v1.4.1).
It can allocate file by its size before downloading.
uGet1’s downloaded file can’t be resumed by uGet2. It is not compatiable.

aria2 plug-in:

better BitTorrent and metalink support.
support JSON-RPC batch request to improve remote aria2 downloading.
support aria2 “–out” argument to set output filename.
support RPC authorization secret token (Aria2 v1.8.4 new feature)
add “split” option to avoid less connections if user specify mirrors.

Application:

Every category has it’s data file. (file format is JSON)
Program can set priority for each download in global speed limit mode.
Auto classifier by file extension, host, and scheme.
User can change category order.
All data files use JSON format. (not compatiable with uGet 1)
Global speed control can affect all plug-ins.
Skip existing URLs from clipboard and command-line.

GTK+ User interface:

New setting dialog.
Adjust category selector in main window for touch screen.
Remember category selection and paned position.
Program can sort all downloads by status.
Program can launch custom command when download complete.
Remove feature: launching app for specified file types.
Don’t notify completed if error occurs. It will notify error.
Banner can show uGet RSS message.
provide uget-1to2 (or uget-gtk-1to2) to convert setting from old uGet files.

How to Install or Upgrade to uGet 2.0

The 2.0 release is available in its official PPA for Ubuntu 12.04, Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 14.10, Ubuntu 15.04, Linux Mint 17, and Elementary OS Freya.

1. To add the PPA, open terminal from the Dash, Menu or by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard. When it opens, run command:

sudo add-apt-repository -y ppa:plushuang-tw/uget-stable

2. After that, upgrade uGet through Software Updater (or Update Manager):

If you don’t have a previous version installed, directly install uGet from Ubuntu Software Center after checking for updates via Software Updater (or Update Manager).

For other Linux and Windows, download uGet 2.0 from this page.

In Howtos uGet download manager

Install Weather Indicator & Desktop Widget in Ubuntu 15.04

Last updated: March 27, 2016

Weather App “My Weather Indicator” was finally made into PPA with Ubuntu 15.04 Vivid support.

My-weather-indicator is a small indicator displays your weather formation on Unity panel system tray area. It features:

support two locations, select location with OpenStreetMap
desktop widget with a few themes.
up to 7 day weather forecast, and forecast map.
support: Open Weather Map, Yahoo Weather, wunderground.com, World weather online.

How to install my-weather-indicator:

Open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run below commands one by one to install it from the developer’s PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:atareao/atareao

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install my-weather-indicator

Or grab the .deb installer (“my-weather-indicator_0.6.9-0extras14.04.2_all.deb”) from the launchpad page

After installing the software, launch it from the Dash and set your location, widget, weather service, display units, refresh frequency, etc.

Finally click the OK button and enjoy!

In Howtos weather indicator, weather widget

How to Install Latest Wayland in Ubuntu 14.04 Gnome via PPA

Last updated: April 28, 2015

Daily builds of Wayland and Weston are now available in PPA for Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 14.10, and Ubuntu 15.04.

Thanks to Bryce Harrington, a former Canonical developer who continues to be heavily involved in Wayland development, he has created an automatic builds PPA to make it easy to try out the newest Wayland/Weston code on Ubuntu.

To get started, open terminal from the Dash, App launcher, or by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard. When it opens, do below steps:

1. To add the PPA, paste below command in terminal and run:

sudo add-apt-repository -y ppa:wayland.admin/daily-builds

2. After that, install the package weston and XWayland via Synaptic Package Manager or by running below commands one by one:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install weston xwayland

3. Now you should be able to start Weston within X by running command weston, which provides a Terminal along with a basic window manager functionality.

If you want you can create & edit weston.ini file via below command:

gedit ~/.config/weston.ini

Change its appearances by adding some settings like this page. Finally the weston window looks like:

4. To running Gnome Shell session on Wayland, run command:

sudo apt-get install gnome-session-wayland

Then log out and select “Gnome on Wayland” in gdm login screen:

If you’re using the default LightDM display manager, you may have to do :

Install Gnome Shell if don’t have Gnome session:
```
sudo apt-get install gnome-shell
```
If you’ve installed Gnome-Shell but still using LightDM, run command to select gdm:
```
sudo dpkg-reconfigure lightdm
```
Finally restart your computer and you should see the gdm login screen as above picture shows.

In Howtos wayland, wayland ppa

PPA for Ubuntu 15.04: Scribus 1.4.5, Pragha, Liferea

Last updated: April 25, 2015

The latest desktop publishing software Scribus 1.4.5, Pragha music player 1.3.2, Liferea RSS reader 1.10.15, and Hotshots screenshot tool 2.2.0 are ready in PPAs for Ubuntu 15.04 Vivid.

Scribus is a desktop publishing (DTP) application based on the free Qt toolkit. It is designed for layout, typesetting and to prepare files for professional quality image setting equipment. It can also create animated and interactive PDF presentations and forms.

While Ubuntu repositories provide an old version, you can install the latest Scribus 1.4.5 via below commands one by one in terminal:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/ppa

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install scribus

Or you can grab the .deb installer for Vivid from this page.

Pragha is a Lightweight Music Player for GNU/Linux, based on Gtk, sqlite, and completely written in C, constructed to be fast, light, and simultaneously tries to be complete without obstructing the daily work.

To install it, run below commands one by one:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/pragha

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install pragha

Or download the .deb installer at launchpad page.

Liferea is an open source feed reader and news aggregator with an embedded graphical browser (supports playing video, audio).

While Ubuntu repositories provide an old version, you can install the latest for Ubuntu 15.04 via:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/apps

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install liferea

In Howtos liferea, pragha player, scribus

Ubuntu 15.04: Install Media Codecs & Enable DVD Playback

Last updated: April 25, 2016

After installing the new Ubuntu 15.04 Vivid Vervet, one of the top things to do is to install audio/video codecs and enable DVD playback.

Due to legal constraints in many countries, Ubuntu does not include these codecs to play mp3, movies, and DVDs out-of-the-box. But we can easily get them from the default repositories through Ubuntu Software Center.

1. Install the codecs to play common audio and video file formats:

Open Ubuntu Software Center, search for and install ubuntu-restricted-extras package. After that, you should be able to play your musics and movies through the default multi-players.

2 The previous step also installs libdvdread4, library to read DVDs. If not, install it from Ubuntu Software Center.

3. To play encrypted DVDs, you also need the libdvdcss2 library by installing it via below command in terminal:

sudo /usr/share/doc/libdvdread4/install-css.sh

You may need to set the region code for DVD drive if it is still not working, by running below command in terminal:

sudo apt-get install regionset && sudo regionset

In Howtos play encrypted DVD

Ubuntu 15.04 Vivid Vervet (Final) Available for Download

Last updated: September 29, 2017

The final release of Ubuntu 15.04 Vivid Vervet and its flavors, e.g., Xubuntu 15.04, Lubuntu 15.04, Ubuntu Gnome 15.04, UbuntuKylin 15.04, Ubuntu MATE 15.04, Ubuntu Studio 15.04, and Kubuntu 15.04 are available for download now!

Ubuntu 15.04 will be supported for 9 months for Desktop, Server, and all its official flavors. It features:

Linux Kernel 3.19
Updated packages
systemd has replaced Upstart as the standard boot and service manager on all Ubuntu flavors except Touch.
Unity 7.3
Kubuntu 15.04 comes with Plasma 5 and KDE Applications 14.12 as the default
Gnome 3.14 for Ubuntu Gnome 15.04
Xfce 4.12 for Xubuntu 15.04

Download Ubuntu 15.04 and its flavors

Ubuntu 15.04 Desktop (Unity) and Sever:

http://releases.ubuntu.com/vivid/

Xubuntu 15.04, a lightweight Xfce Desktop based flavor:

http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/xubuntu/releases/15.04/

Lubuntu 15.04, based on the lightweight LXDE desktop environment:

http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/lubuntu/releases/15.04/

Ubuntu Gnome 15.04, based on Gnome-shell desktop environment:

http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-gnome/releases/15.04/

UbuntuKylin 15.04, an official flavor for Chinese users:

http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntukylin/releases/15.04/release/

Ubuntu MATE 15.04, a new official flavor based on MATE desktop, the continuation of classic GNOME 2: