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Double-Click to open a File/Folder in Elementary OS Freya

Last updated: April 23, 2015

The default file browser in Elementary OS Freya uses single-click to open files and folders, though there’s no option to change this preference.

For those who would like to use double-click to open an item in the file browser, there’s a graphical configuration tool called Elementary Tweaks that may help.

1. Install Elementary Tweaks in Freya

The developer is maintaining a PPA with the latest packages for this tool.

Though the 14.04 build is failed at the moment of writing this tutorial, we can download an earlier version at PPA’s ftp download page:

Download Elementary Tweaks (.DEB)

Depends on your OS type, select download:

For 64-bit eOS Freya, download:
- elementary-tweaks-dbg_x.x.x~ubuntu14.04.1_amd64.deb
- elementary-tweaks_x.x.x~ubuntu14.04.1_amd64.deb
For 32-bit eOS Freya, download:
- elementary-tweaks-dbg_x.x.x~ubuntu14.04.1_i386.deb
- elementary-tweaks_x.x.x~ubuntu14.04.1_i386.deb

Then install them one by one, in below order, by opening the .deb package with Software Center:

elementary-tweaks_x.x.x~ubuntu14.04.1_i386/amd64.deb
elementary-tweaks-dbg_x.x.x~ubuntu14.04.1_i386/amd64.deb

2. Disable single-click and enable double-click

After installing Elementary Tweaks, open System Settings from the dock at the bottom of your screen and then click the Tweaks icon.

In the next page, select Files from left pane, and finally disable Single Click by clicking the toggle.

In Howtos double click to open file folder, Elementary OS

Install Kart Racing Game SuperTuxKart 0.9 in Ubuntu 14.04

Last updated: July 2, 2016

SuperTuxKart, an open-source kart racing game, finally gets a new stable release after nearly one and a half year since the last release.

SuperTuxKart 0.9 comes with a new rendering engine that’s fully shader-based, two completely new tracks, online log-in support, different Kart physics, an achievement system, and numerous other improvements. With now needing OpenGL3.1+, SuperTuxKart developers recommend at least having one of below graphics for playing the game:

AMD Radeon HD 3650
Intel HD Graphics 3000
NVIDIA GeForce 8600

Highlights of SuperTuxKart 0.9:

Fully shader-based rendering engine
- New tracks Cocoa Temple and Gran Paradiso
- Graphical improvements to many other tracks
- New karts Amanda, Gavroche, Sara (as wizard and racer)
- Improved tux, adiumy, Suzanne and Xue.
Online login which allows to:
- connect with friends and see when they are playing
- vote for addons
- collect online achievements
Different kart physics
In-game Grand Prix editor
Random Grand Prix generation
Achievement system

How to Install SuperTuxKart 0.9 in Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Elementary OS Freya:

1. For all Linux users, select download “supertuxkart-0.9-linux.tar.gz or “supertuxkart-0.9-linux.tar.xz” from the link below:

Download SuperTuxKart 0.9

2. Install the required library libopenal1 via Ubuntu Software Center, or by running below command in terminal:

sudo apt-get install libopenal1

3. Unpack the downloaded archive and run the run_game.sh script from in the result folder to start the game:

For those who don’t see the Run option, go to Nautilus file browser’s menu Edit -> Preferences -> Behavior -> select “Run executable text files when they are opened”, and re-open the file browser.

To Create a launcher for the game, so you can launch it from Application Menu or the Unity Dash.

In below steps, I assume that you’ve extracted the game to your user Downloads folder.

1. Open terminal from menu or the Dash. When it opens, run command to edit the .desktop file:

gedit ~/Downloads/supertuxkart-*-linux/data/supertuxkart.desktop

When the file opens, replace values of Icon and Exec with file path to the icon and run_game.sh script.

In below picture, you may replace “handbook” (without quotes) with your username.

2. Finally copy or move this file to user’s Home .local/share/applications/ folder (press Ctrl+H to view hidden folder), so that your system can read it.

Do it in your file browser, or just run below command in terminal:

mv ~/Downloads/supertuxkart-*-linux/data/supertuxkart.desktop ~/.local/share/applications/

In Howtos racing game, SuperTuxKart

Install Podcast App ‘Vocal’ 1.0 via PPA in Ubuntu 14.04/15.04

Last updated: July 31, 2015

The first stable release of Vocal, a simple and beautiful podcast app for Linux desktop, was released a few days ago. Official installers for Ubuntu, Elementary OS, Fedora, openSUSE are available.

Vocal is a beautiful and easy to use podcast app designed for elementary OS and other GTK-based Linux desktops. Since the 1.0 release, it features:

Audio and video podcast support
Built-in video playback
Automatic checking for new episodes
Episode position saving
Streaming and downloading support (works offline)
Smart library management
Automatic downloads
Full system integration
Library importing and exporting
and much more!

Screenshots in eOS freya:

How to Install Vocal:

For Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 15.04, Elementary OS Freya, and Linux Mint 17, you can install this podcast app either from its official PPA or by using the .deb binaries.

To install Vocal from PPA and receive future updates, open terminal from the Dash or App Menu, and run below commands one by one:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nathandyer/vocal-stable

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install vocal

To grab the .deb (or .rpm) package, go to the sourceforge page.

UPDATE: For transparent background issue (but with Unity’s overlay scrollbar), run below command to edit its desktop file:

gksudo gedit /usr/share/applications/vocal.desktop

and change the line Exec=vocal to Exec=env LIBOVERLAY_SCROLLBAR=0 vocal and finally save the file. This will disable overlay scrollbar for Vocal.

In Howtos podcast app, vocal

Install/Upgrade PDF Viewer ‘MuPDF’ 1.7 in Ubuntu 14.04/12.04

Last updated: April 18, 2015

MuPDF, a lightweight PDF and XPS viewer, has reached the 1.7 release. Here’s how to install or upgrade it in Ubuntu and Linux Mint.

MuPDF is a free and open-source viewer written in C. It focuses on speed, small code size, and high-quality anti-aliased rendering. Since the 1.2 release, MuPDF has optional support for interactive features such as form filling, JavaScript and transitions.

While Ubuntu repositories provide a very old version, the latest release, MuPDF 1.7, was released a few days ago with some new features and great improvements:

New HTML layout engine, and (DRM-free) EPUB viewer.
Reduced memory usage – reducing total memory use on some files by over 60%.
Better mouse wheel handling
Shift-space support
Add mutool pages option.
Mouse button control of presentation mode
many bug fixes.

For more, see the official release notes.

Install or Upgrade MuPDF:

For Ubuntu 12.04, Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 15.04, and Linux Mint 13/17, the latest packages have been made into the PPA repository.

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

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/apps

2. After adding the PPA, refresh your system package cache:

sudo apt-get update

3. Finally install the viewer via command:

sudo apt-get install mupdf mupdf-tools

You may replace step 2 & 3 by upgrading the software through Software Updater.

Once installed, open your PDF or XPS file via MuPDF through files’ right-click menu “Open With” option.

For its keyboard shortcuts, run command man mupdf in terminal and see the result.

In Howtos MuPDF, pdf viewer

HPLIP 3.15.4 Adds New Printers, Ubuntu 15.04, Linux Mint 17.1 Support

Last updated: April 17, 2015

HPLIP, an HP developed Linux solution for printing, scanning, and faxing with HP inkjet and laser printers, reached 3.15.4 release with new printers and most recent Linux Distros support.

According to the release note, Ubuntu 15.04 Beta, Debian 8.0 RC, Linux Mint 17.1 are supported in this release. Also below new printers are supported now:

HP Color LaserJet Pro M252dw
HP Color LaserJet Pro M252n
HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M277n
HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M277dw
HP Color LaserJet Enterprise M553n
HP Color LaserJet Enterprise M553dn
HP Color LaserJet Enterprise M553x
HP Color LaserJet Enterprise M553dh
HP Color LaserJet Enterprise M552dn
HP LaserJet Enterprise M604n
HP LaserJet Enterprise M604dn
HP LaserJet Enterprise M605dn
HP LaserJet Enterprise M605n
HP LaserJet Enterprise M605x
HP LaserJet Enterprise M606x
HP LaserJet Enterprise M606dn

There’s also a significant changes: HPLIP Plugin support for ARMv6,ARMv7 and aarch64 architectures. For more, see the release page.

Install HPLIP in Ubuntu/Linux Mint:

1. download HPLIP .run installer from:

Download HPLIP

2. Open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command to give executable permission to the installer:

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

3. Finally start the installer and follow the terminal prompts:

cd ~/Downloads/ && ./hplip-*.run

HPLIP on launchpad: https://launchpad.net/hplip

In News HP Print Driver for Linux

Install Twitter Client ‘Corebird’ 1.0 in Elementary OS Freya

Last updated: April 21, 2015

Since Elementary OS Freya comes with GTK+ 3.14, it’s able to install the latest Corebird 1.0, a modern, easy and fun Twitter client.

For those who never heard of Corebird, it is a native Gtk+ Twitter client for Linux, which supports keyboard shortcuts, image and video preview. It is one of the few remaining desktop Linux Twitter apps still in active development.

Install Corebird 1.0 in eOS Freya:

1. Depends on your OS type, 32-bit (i386) or 64-bit (amd64), select download the “corebird_1.1~really1.0+xxx_i386/amd64.deb” package from launchpad page:

Download Corebird DEB

2. Open terminal from the Application launcher. Run below command to refresh system package cache:

sudo apt-get update

3. Finally open the downloaded package and click install. Or install it via dpkg command in terminal:

cd ~/Downloads; sudo dpkg -i corebird_*.deb; sudo apt-get -f install

In Howtos corebird, Elementary OS, twitter client

Install Plank Dock 0.9 in Ubuntu from PPA

Last updated: April 15, 2015

Plank, a lightweight dock launcher, has reached the 0.9.0 release recently with some new features, such as Window Dodge auto-hide and hide/un-hide time delay.

Rico Tzschichholz announced the release on launchpad.net:

“Kanker” is our new feature and bug-fix release on the way to 1.0.

Most notable is that there are now some nice and smooth animations while items are added or removed. Besides that it is possible to set a HideDelay and the good old WindowDodge hide-mode got added. Plank now provides a simple dbus-interface with some methods for remote-controlling. As usual there are changes all over the place which can be studied in the full changelog.

Enjoy,
Plank: Stupidly simple.
Note: There is no stability of ABI/API until further notice!

For Ubuntu 12.04, Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 14.10, Ubuntu 15.04 and derivatives, plank dock can be easily installed from the developer’s PPA.

Just open terminal and run below commands one by one to add the PPA, refresh system cache, and install plank:

sudo add-apt-repository -y ppa:ricotz/docky

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install plank

In Howtos Lightweight Dock Launcher, Plank

How to Encrypted Your USB Stick For Ubuntu Linux

Last updated: April 14, 2015

If you have an USB flash drive or USB partition only for use in Linux computers, it’s easy to add a password protect to the drive or partition via LUKS+EXT4 in Ubuntu Linux using the default Disks utility. And below is the how-to.

Before getting started, you have to backup date from the USB flash driver or the partition.

1. Search for and install cryptsetup package in Ubuntu Software Center to add disk encryption support to the default Gnome Disks utility.

2. Launch the Disks utility from the Unity Dash or Application Menu. Plug in your USB flash drive and you will see it in the left pane.

To encrypt the drive, first highlight the partition and click the icon on the left of minus sign to unmount it. (In the case below, I’m going to unmount the 1.7GB partition)

3. Click the gear icon and select Format …

4. On next window, select encryption type “Encrypted, compatible with Linux systems (LUKS + EXT4)” from the drop-down list, type in a drive/partition name, and set your password.

That’s it. Next time you plug in the USB stick, you should be asked to input password to get access the partition.

In Howtos encrypted usb flash drive

How to Install/Upgrade to Kernel 4.0 in Ubuntu, Linux Mint

Last updated: July 28, 2015

Linux Kernel 4.0, a new stable release, has been announced by Linus Torvalds last night. He wrote on the Linux kernel mailing list:

So I decided to release 4.0 as per the normal schedule, because there really weren’t any known issues, and while I’ll be traveling during the end of the upcoming week due to a college visit, I’m hoping that won’t affect the merge window very much. We’ll see.

Linux 4.0 was a pretty small release both in linux-next and in final size, although obviously “small” is all relative. It’s still over 10k non-merge commits. But we’ve definitely had bigger releases (and judging by linux-next v4.1 is going to be one of the bigger ones).

What’s New in Kernel 4.0:

Linux Kernel 4.0, formerly known as Linux 3.20, features:

Live Kernel Patching, ability to install security kernel updates WITHOUT REBOOT.
DisplayPort Audio, and better better fan control support for the Radeon DRM driver.
Graphics and power-management support for Intel’s Skylake processors
Intel Quark SoC support
PlayStation PS 3 support.
new ARM hardware support, IBM z13 support, better Toshiba laptop support, improved Logitech HID support, and more.

Install Kernel 4.0 in Ubuntu/Linux Mint:

The Ubuntu Kernel Team has made the binary packages for this kernel release, available for download at link below:

Download Kernel 4.0 (.DEB)

First check out your OS type, 32-bit (i386) or 64-bit (amd64), then download and install the packages below in turn:

linux-headers-4.0.0-xxx_all.deb
linux-headers-4.0.0-xxx-generic_xxx_i386/amd64.deb
linux-image-4.0.0-xxx-generic_xxx_i386/amd64.deb

After installing the kernel, you may run sudo update-grub command in terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) to refresh grub boot-loader.

If you need a low latency system (e.g. for recording audio) then download & install below packages instead:

linux-headers-4.0.0_xxx_all.deb
linux-headers-4.0.0-xxx-lowlatency_xxx_i386/amd64.deb
linux-image-4.0.0-xxx-lowlatency_xxx_i386/amd64.deb

For Ubuntu Server with a graphical UI, you may run below commands one by one to grab packages with wget and install them via apt-get:

For 64-bit system run:

cd /tmp/

wget http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.0-vivid/linux-headers-4.0.0-040000_4.0.0-040000.201504121935_all.deb

wget http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.0-vivid/linux-headers-4.0.0-040000-generic_4.0.0-040000.201504121935_amd64.deb

wget http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.0-vivid/linux-image-4.0.0-040000-generic_4.0.0-040000.201504121935_amd64.deb

sudo dpkg -i linux-headers-4.0.0-*.deb linux-image-4.0.0-*.deb

For 32-bit system, run:

cd /tmp/

wget http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.0-vivid/linux-headers-4.0.0-040000_4.0.0-040000.201504121935_all.deb

wget http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.0-vivid/linux-headers-4.0.0-040000-generic_4.0.0-040000.201504121935_i386.deb

wget http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.0-vivid/linux-image-4.0.0-040000-generic_4.0.0-040000.201504121935_i386.deb

sudo dpkg -i linux-headers-4.0.0-*.deb linux-image-4.0.0-*.deb

Uninstall Linux Kernel 4.0:

If for some reason, the new kernel does not work properly for you, reboot into a previous Kernel (Grub boot loader -> Advanced -> select a previous kernel) and run below command in terminal to remove the Linux Kernel 4.0:

sudo apt-get remove linux-headers-4.0.0-* linux-image-4.0.0-*

In Howtos kernel 4.0 series, Linux Kernel

Daily Journal App: Upgrade to RedNotebook 1.10 in Ubuntu

Last updated: April 12, 2015

RedNotebook, a graphical diary and journal software, has reached the 1.10 release. Official PPA is ready for Ubuntu 10.04, Ubuntu 12.04, Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 14.10 and their derivatives.

The new version was released this Sunday, features below changes:

Write data to temporary files first to prevent corrupted month files.
Add format button for monospace font. Automatically add the correct format for code blocks.
Show warning for dates before 1900 (not supported by Python’s datetime module).
Fix undo/redo.
Don’t add unneeded newlines around titles and code.

Install/Upgrade to RedNotebook 1.10:

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

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:rednotebook/stable

2. Refresh your system package cache:

sudo apt-get update

3. Finally install or upgrade the software:

sudo apt-get install rednotebook

You may skip step 2 & step 3, instead install updates for rednotebook through Software Updater.

If you don’t want to add PPA, grab the .deb binary directly from the PPA webpage.

In Howtos Diary and Journal

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