UbuntuHandbook

Elementary OS Freya (Stable) Available for Download

Last updated: April 11, 2015

Elementary OS 0.3 Freya is out! The beautiful desktop Linux distribution is now based on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, uses GTK+ 3.14 and supports UEFI.

After a few days of countdown in Elementary website, the developer team finally announced the release of Elementary OS 0.3 Freya, via a Live Youtube video. Here are some of the great new features in the Elementary OS 0.3:

Linux Kernel 3.16.
GTK+ 3.14, which will be default in Ubuntu 15.04 (Ubuntu 14.04 comes with GTK 3.10)
new, unified, app-focused design
Math calculations and Quicklist support in Application Launcher
Vala 0.26 and UEFI support.

See the video for more:

Download Elementary OS Freya:

In News Elementary OS

Install/Upgrade to FreeCAD 0.15 in Ubuntu 14.04/14.10

Last updated: April 11, 2015

A new stable release of FreeCAD, an open ource parametric 3D CAD modeler, was released a few days ago. It features a great variety of improvements in many workbenches, as well as fancy new things like Occulus Rift support.

What’s New in FreeCAD 0.15:

Cutting objects with planes is possible now.

IFC filter is based on the most recent IfcOpenShell library, it’s faster and supports the exporting of IFC files now, thus making FreeCAD two-way compatible in BIM workflows.

New Panel object allows creating all sorts of panel-like objects.

New Arch Equipment object makes it possible to add lighting appliances, sanitary equipments, furniture and all kinds of interior design objects.

New Roof tool provides more control over roof features such as thickness, length of the overflow etc.

Read the release note for more details.

Install /Upgrade to FreeCAD 0.15 in Ubuntu/Linux Mint:

The new release has been made into its PPA repository, available for Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 14.10, and Linux Mint 17.

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

sudo add-apt-repository -y ppa:freecad-maintainers/freecad-stable

2. After adding the PPA, you should be able to upgrade your FreeCAD installation using Software Updater or Update Manager.

Or run below commands one by one directly in terminal:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install freecad

That’s it. Enjoy!

In Howtos 3D CAD modeller, FreeCAD

Use Gnome Shell’s Header Bar in Rhythmbox Music Player

Last updated: April 9, 2015

For Gnome Shell users, Rhythmbox music player now looks better by using new GTK3 header bar (client-side decorations) provided by alternative-toolbar plugin.

Thanks to David Mohammed, Ozon and Georgi Karavasilev. With the new alternative-toolbar plugin, Rhythmbox player looks better in Gnome:

And below is the plugin configuration window with a few options:

How to install alternative-toolbar plugin:

For ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 14.10, and Ubuntu 15.04, install the plugin from developer’s PPA by running below commands one by one in terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T):

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:fossfreedom/rhythmbox-plugins

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install rhythmbox-plugin-alternative-toolbar

If you don’t want to add the PPA, grab the .deb package from launchpad.net

In Howtos client side decorations, rhythmbox

Install Nvidia Driver 346.59 in Ubuntu from PPA

Last updated: April 8, 2015

A new Linux graphics driver NVDIA 346.59 was released with all GeForce 900 series notebook GPUs support, e.g., GeForce 920M, 930A, 930M, 940M, GTX 950M, GTX 960M. Also GTX TITAN X, Quadro K1200, M6000 GPUs are added support in this release.

Besides that, following bugs has been fixed in NIVDIA 346.59:

Fixed a bug that caused corruption when switching display modes in some applications that use transform feedback.
Fixed a bug that caused texture corruption on framebuffer depth attachments cleared using glClearTexImage().
Fixed a bug that artificially limited the maximum pixel clock on displays in some SLI Mosaic configurations.
Fixed a kernel memory leak that occurred when looping hardware- accelerated video decoding with VDPAU on Maxell-based GPUs.
Fixed a bug that could cause nvidia-settings to crash on exit on 32-bit Linux systems.

Install NVIDIA 346.59 from PPA:

The new release has been made into PPA repository, available for Ubuntu 14.10 and Ubuntu 15.04.

To install it, open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run below commands one by one:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mamarley/nvidia

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install nvidia-346

For Ubuntu 14.04 and other Linux, you may download the official binary from nvidia page, and follow this how-to-install guide.

In Howtos Nvidia Driver

Nitrux Icon Theme 3.5 Brings Several New Software Icons

Last updated: April 6, 2015

Nitrux is a simple, clean and hand crafted icon set for GTK based environments (Gnome, Cinnamon, Mate, XFCE, LXDE), KDE (Plasma, Plasma 5) and Android.

This icon theme just got a new release a few hours ago which fixed misnamed Bygfoot icon, added back Synaptic package status icons, made icon for Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Nitrux 3.5.0 also adds some new icons for:

fault milestone one
Fading Hearts
Narcissu 1st & 2nd
Sakura Spirit
Serious Sam 3:BFE
garry’s mod
Team Fortress 2
Half-Life Blue Shift
Counter Strike-Condition-Zero
Ricochet
Opposing Force
Team Fortress
and several action icons for Plasma.

Install Nitrux Icon Theme:

First grab the latest .DEB binary (nitrux-icon-theme_x.x.x_all.deb) from link below:

Download Nitrux Icon DEB

For KDE user, download the below version instead:

Download Nitrux Icon for KDE

Then click open the .deb with Ubuntu Software Center and install the theme.

To apply the theme, you may use Unity Tweak Tool, Gnome Tweak Tool, Ubuntu Tweak, etc.

In News icons

Install Audacity Audio Editor 2.1.0 in Ubuntu From PPA

Last updated: April 4, 2016

A new stable release of the free and open-source Audio Editor and Recorder, Audacity 2.1.0, was announced a few days ago.

The new release brings Real-Time Preview feature and lots of improvements and bug fixes. Here’s the release highlights:

For a long time, we have wanted Real-Time Preview for effects. It seemed nearly unachievable without major restructuring. But with Audacity 2.1.0, we have it in LADSPA, VST, and Audio Unit (OS X) effects! Thanks to Leland Lucius for these great new capabilities!
Much improved Noise Reduction effect replaces Noise Removal. Thanks to new contributor Paul Licameli!
Lots of other improvements to effects, also thanks to Leland, including:
- VST: FXB preset banks, hosting multiple plugins
- All effects can now be used in Chains, and can be sorted on name, publisher, or class.
- Most Nyquist effects now have Preview button.
Redesigned Meter Toolbars show a lot more information in smaller area. Thanks, Leland Lucius and James Crook!
Spectral Selection in Spectrogram view. Thanks to Paul Licameli!

For more details, see the release note.

Install / Upgrade to Audacity 2.1.0 in Ubuntu / Linux Mint:

Since Audacity Team only provides an daily build PPA with latest development packages and Ubuntu repositories still provide old versions in Software Center, I’ve uploaded Audacity 2.1.0 into this PPA.

So far, Ubuntu 12.04, Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 14.10, Ubuntu 15.04, Linux Mint 13 and 17 are supported.

Update: PPA updated with the 2.1.1 packages for 15.10, 15.04, and 14.04! Ubuntu 12.04 is excluded due to the old libsuil library.

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 ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/audacity

2. After adding the PPA, you can upgrade the editor using Software Updater (or Updater Manager).

Or just run below commands one by one in terminal:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install audacity

For issue and help, please use Audacity Forum.

In Howtos audacity, Audacity PPA

How to Play An Ambient Noise in Ubuntu 14.04

Last updated: April 4, 2015

ANoise Player is a handy application allows to play some background noises in Ubuntu by simply choosing a noise (e.g., rain, night, wind, sea, storm, fire, forest, and coffee shop) from system tray sound menu. More noises can be added to menu manually.

The player is an open-source project created by Marcos Alvarez Costales, an Ubuntu Member and the developer of Folder Color extension.

If you want to try it in your Ubuntu, run below commands one by one in terminal to get it from PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:costales/anoise

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install anoise anoise-community-extension1

So far, Ubuntu 12.04, Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 14.10, and Ubuntu 15.04 are supported. Note: For GNOME Shell you’ll need this extension.

If you don’t want to add the PPA, grab the .deb packages of anoise and anoise-media from PPA packages page. And I will recommend to install them via below command because they depend on each other.

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

Once installed, start the player for the first time from the Unity Dash and then you can always play a ambient noise the sound indicator.

To add your own .OGG noises to sound indicator, copy and paste the files into Computer > usr > share > anoise > sounds folder. You may run gksudo nautilus command to open file browser with root and do the copy and paste things.

In Howtos Ambient Noise

Blender 2.74 Released with Lots of Improvements

Last updated: April 2, 2015

A new stable release of the open-source 3D software Blender 2.74 was released at the end of March with some new features and numerous improvements.

Blender 2.74 release highlights:

Cycles got several precision, noise, speed, memory improvements, new Pointiness attribute.
Viewport has new cool compositing features, outliner now manages orphan datablocks better.
Modeling now allows custom normals, and transferring data layers between meshes!
Massive improvements to hair dynamics and editing tools: a big step forward with more to come…
A new tool “Cavity Mask” was added to sculpting/painting, along with other improvements.
Great memory consumption optimization in Freestyle NPR stroke rendering.
Grease pencil and Game engine improvements, and more…

Read the detailed changes at this page.

How to Install or Upgrade to Blender 2.74 in Ubuntu:

While Blender website provides a portable version for download, you can always install the latest release via these steps in another post (You may first remove the previous Blender installation).

There are some guys maintaining the most recent Blender release in PPAs. Below are some of them:

Thomas Schiex’s PPA: https://launchpad.net/~thomas-schiex/+archive/ubuntu/blender
hjmooses’s PPA: https://launchpad.net/~heyarje/+archive/ubuntu/blender-2.7

To add a PPA, run below command in terminal:

sudo add-apt-repository PPA_NAME_HERE

For example, running sudo add-apt-repository ppa:thomas-schiex/blender to add the Thomas Schiex’s PPA.

After adding a PPA, open Software Updater and upgrade Blender after checking for updates.

In Howtos blender

How to Fix Screen Brightness Issue in Ubuntu Laptop

Last updated: April 1, 2015

Running Ubuntu on a laptop? You may found that Ubuntu doesn’t memorize your screen brightness level. Every time you reboot or wake the machine up from sleep, it resets the screen brightness to maximum level.

I’ve written how to save screen brightness level in Ubuntu, but it might not work for all video adapters.

Thanks to Norbert, he made a sysvinit-backlight script that automatically remembers your screen brightness level for all video adapters and loads the backlight levels on boot, reboot, or wake up from sleep.

To install the script:

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

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nrbrtx/sysvinit-backlight

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install sysvinit-backlight

If you don’t want to add PPA, you may grab the script directly from PPA packages page. So far, Ubuntu 14.10, Ubuntu 14.04 and Ubuntu 12.04 are supported.

For more you may contact the the script author at launchpad.net.

In Howtos screen brightness

Firefox 37 Released with User Rating System [How-to-Upgrade]

Last updated: March 31, 2015

A new stable release of Mozilla’s web browser, Firefox 37, was released today at the end of March.

According to the release note, Firefox 37 brings a heartbeat user rating system to get user feedback about Firefox. Every day a random subset of users are offered a rating widget. After rating Firefox, an ENGAGEMENT page may open in a background tab.

Users can disable this feature by going to about:config, search browser.selfsupport.url in filter box and set value to “”.

Besides that, Firefox 37 comes with below changes:

Yandex set as default search provider for the Turkish locale
Bing search now uses HTTPS for secure searching
Improved protection against site impersonation via OneCRL centralized certificate revocation
Opportunistically encrypt HTTP traffic where the server supports HTTP/2 AltSvc
Disabled insecure TLS version fallback for site security
Extended SSL error reporting for reporting non-certificate errors
TLS False Start optimization now requires a cipher suite using AEAD construction
Improved certificate and TLS communication security by removing support for DSA
Improved performance of WebGL rendering on Windows
Implemented a subset of the Media Source Extensions (MSE) API to allow native HTML5 playback on YouTube (Windows only)
Added support for CSS display:contents
IndexedDB now accessible from worker threads
New SDP/JSEP implementation in WebRT