UbuntuHandbook

Install Gnome Classic Desktop in Ubuntu 14.04

Last updated: April 20, 2014

This simple tutorial is going to show you how to install the Gnome Classic desktop environment in Ubuntu 14.04 Trusty Thar.

Ubuntu 14.04 gets new window decorations inside Unity and so far it does not support changing window control buttons to the right of title bar. So if you want your window buttons on the right, you may switch to the Gnome Classic desktop.

Alt + right-click

Install Gnome Classic:

Press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open the terminal. When it opens, paste the command below and hit run. Type in your password when prompt.

sudo apt-get update; sudo apt-get install gnome-session-fallback

Once installed, log out the current session. When you’re in log-in screen, click the logo icon and select log in to Gnome Flashback (Compiz) or Gnome Flashback (Metacity).

In Howtos Gnome Classic, Ubuntu 14.04

Ubuntu Tweak 0.8.7 Released With Ubuntu 14.04 Support

Last updated: April 20, 2014

Ubuntu Tweak, the popular Ubuntu configuration tool, has just released version 0.8.7 a few hours ago. According to the changelog, the new release added or fixed:

add support for Ubuntu 14.04 Trusty Tahr
add Support for Minimize from Unity Launcher
add toggle for Nautilus Recursive Search
Fix the nautilus scripts support for Ubuntu 13.10 and later
Going to workspace adjustement automatically add keyboard shortcut for fade screen
Missing options: fonts, desktop icons,window, file manager
Never crash when sources.list is not parsable

Install Ubuntu Tweak 0.8.7 in Ubuntu 14.04:

Ding Zhou, the app developer, has built this release into PPA for Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 13.10, Ubuntu 12.10 and Ubuntu 12.04.

To install it, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run the commands below one by one:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:tualatrix/ppa

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install ubuntu-tweak

If you don’t want to add the PPA, download & install the deb at here.

In Howtos Ubuntu 14.04, ubuntu tweak

Save Screen Brightness Settings In Ubuntu 14.04

Last updated: September 24, 2014

Laptop users still have the backlight issue in Ubuntu 14.04. Every time Ubuntu boots up you get the maximum level of screen brightness.

Here’s a workaround by adding a startup script which will automatically adjust screen brightness when Ubuntu boots up.

To get started:

Preparation: Open your file browser and navigate to “Computer-> sys -> class -> backlight” directory. You’ll see two or three folders there:

Find Out Actual Backlight Settings Folder

In each folder there’s a file called actual_brightness, you can see its content (brightness value) through the thumbnail icon.

Remember them and do:

Change your screen brightness through Fn + Arrow key.
Check out the actual_brightness files in each folder (Re-open each folder to refresh the value).
Does the value change?
Remember the folder name in which the value of actual_brightness changes.
Replace acpi_video0 in below commands with that folder name

1. Press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open the terminal. When it opens, run the command below will give you the maximum level of your laptop backlight:

cat /sys/class/backlight/acpi_video0/max_brightness

Mine is 9, so I can set backlight level from 0 to 9.

2. Run the command below one by one. You’ll get the super user privilege and open the /etc/rc.local file, a script executed at the end of each multiuser runlevel, with gedit editor.

sudo -i

gedit /etc/rc.local

Add the line below before the last. Change the number 0 to the brightness level you want.

echo 0 > /sys/class/backlight/acpi_video0/brightness

That’s it. Enjoy!

In Howtos screen brightness, Ubuntu 14.04

Remove Guest Session From Ubuntu 14.04 Login Screen

Last updated: November 6, 2014

Ubuntu 14.04 LTS is Out! One of the first things to do after upgraded to or installed the Trusty Tahr is disable the Guest Session. Here I’ll show you how.

In Ubuntu 14.04 Trusty, the configuration files for LightDM has been moved to /usr/share/lightdm directory. I could only guess that the previous location “/etc/lightdm” is in preparation for giving the login option of logging in to a Unity 8 preview session running on Mir/Xmir.

Anyhow, you can follow the below steps to remove Guest Session in Ubuntu 14.04:

1. Press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open the terminal. When it opens, run the command below to edit the config file:

gksudo gedit /usr/share/lightdm/lightdm.conf.d/50-ubuntu.conf

Type in your user password when it asks. You may need to install gksu first from Ubuntu Software Center.

2. When the file opens, add this line in the end of file and save it.

allow-guest=false

That’s it. Guest Login will disappeared at next boot.

In Howtos remove guest session, Ubuntu 14.04

Install Grub Customizer in Ubuntu 14.04 to Manage Your Grub Bootloader

Last updated: April 18, 2014

Grub Customizer is a graphical tool for managing the Grub boot entries in Ubuntu Linux.

With it, you can set the default OS, add/remove boot entries, change boot order, set an background image, and more.

This simple tutorial is going to show you how to install the Grub Customizer in Ubuntu 14.04 Trusty Tahr from the developer’s PPA.

To get started:

press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open the terminal. When it opens, paste the commands below and run one by one:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:danielrichter2007/grub-customizer

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install grub-customizer

Once done, you’re able to open this tool from the Unity Dash or application menu. Enjoy!

In Howtos grub customizer, Ubuntu 14.04

Minimize Application Window on Click For Ubuntu 14.04 Unity Launcher

Last updated: April 18, 2014

One of my favorite Unity features was that we can click on an Unity Launcher icon to minimize an opened application window.

The feature was last supported in Ubuntu 12.04 Precise LTS. Now it comes back in Ubuntu 14.04 Trusty LTS and here is how to enable it.

Once screencast is enough:

To get started:

Search for and install compizconfig settings manager via Ubuntu Software Center. Or install it via terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) command:
```
sudo apt-get install compizconfig-settings-manager
```
Open CCSM from Unity Dash.
Click “Ubuntu Unity Plugin” and then navigate to the Launcher tab.
Enable “Minimize Single Window Applications (Unsupported)” by check the box after that line

That’s it. Enjoy!

In Howtos Minimize on click, Ubuntu 14.04

Ubuntu 14.04 Trusty Tahr Is Out!

Last updated: April 17, 2014

Ubuntu 14.04 Trusty Tahr, the Long-Term Support release finally is out!

Here’s a summary of the most obvious changes in Ubuntu 14.04 LTS (zdnet.com):

Choice of application menu position
Application click-to-minimise from the Launcher
A wider range of scale for launcher icons – from 16 to 64 pixels
Appearance improvements for very high-resolution displays
Anti-aliased corners on windows
Borderless windows
New language status icon in the top menu bar
Harmonised appearance for the lock screen
System Settings (GNOME Control Centre) replaced by Unity Control Centre
Linux kernel incremented to version 3.13
Multi-task filtering by text input (see our 14.04 beta preview)
Opening a guest session triggers a ‘changes are temporary’ warning
Since Ubuntu One is to close in June, 14.04 will not support Ubuntu One File Services
First time for Ubuntu community flavours (Edbuntu, Kubuntu et al) to also be approved for LTS status
New Upstart — its last outing before Ubuntu switches to systemd

Download Ubuntu 14.04:

releases.ubuntu.com/trusty

Links:

In News Ubuntu 14.04

Install SMPlayer 14.3 in Ubuntu 14.04 to Play Blu-ray Discs

Last updated: April 17, 2014

SMPlayer, the graphical front-end of MPlayer, now is able to play non-protected blu-ray discs since release 14.3.0. While Ubuntu 14.04 Trusty still has the version 0.8.x, here’s how to install the latest build of this media player in Ubuntu via the PPA.

Changes in SMPlayer 14.3:

The control for fullscreen mode has been rewritten and improved. Now it is displayed over the video.
(Windows) New option in Preferences -> Subtitles to enable or disable the use of the Windows font directory. Disabling this option prevents the annoying font scanning.
Some presets have been added to the audio equalizer.
(Experimental) Possibility to play (non-protected) blu-ray discs.
Better support for multimedia keys. This can help control SMPlayer with a remote control.
New option in the playlist preferences for adding automatically other files in the folder to the playlist.
The option “Move the window when the video area is dragged” has been fixed.
(Windows) Now it’s possible to open Windows shortcuts (symlinks).
Better support for Youtube.
(Windows) Better screensaver disabling.
Many bugfixes.
Possibility to compile with Qt 5.

Install SMPlayer:

Press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open the terminal. When it opens, run the commands below one by one:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:rvm/smplayer 

sudo apt-get update 

sudo apt-get install smplayer smtube smplayer-themes smplayer-skins

It will install the media player, skins, themes, and the YouTube Browser in Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 13.10, Ubuntu 12.10, or Ubuntu 12.04.

In Howtos Play Blu-ray, SMPlayer, Ubuntu 14.04

LiVES Video Editor 2.2.3 Released, Ubuntu PPA’s Ready

Last updated: April 15, 2014

LiVES, an open source video editor and DJ tool, has released version 2.2.3 with bug fixes and translation updates.

LiVES is designed to be simple to use, yet powerful. It is small in size, yet it has many advanced features.

The application allows the user to manipulate video in realtime and in non-realtime. The application also has features which go beyond traditional video editing applications – for example, it can be controlled and monitored remotely over a network, and it has facilities for streaming to and from another copy of LiVES. It is resolution and frame rate independent.

LiVES uses a system of plugins for effects, decoders, encoders and video playback. The APIs for these are now well defined, and the application can be easily extended.

LiVES 2.2.3 changelog:

Run data processing plugins in both video and audio threads.
Fix crash when loading device map (regression).
Fix bug which prevented audio changes from being recorded when audio analysers are running.
Updates for gtk+ >= 3.8.
Define HAVE_AVFORMAT_FIND_STREAM_INFO in decplugin/Makefile.am
Workaround for missing av_set_pts_info() in libav.
Fix to handle changed option order in ffmpeg.
Updated translations to Russian, Piemontese, Uk English, Spanish and Ukranian.

Install LiVES in Ubuntu:

Besides building from the source tarball. Ubuntu users can install this video editing system from PPA. To do so, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open the terminal. Then run the commands below one by one:

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/lives

sudo apt-get update 

sudo apt-get install lives

Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 13.10 and Ubuntu 12.04 are supported.

LiVES Video Editor Homepage.

In Howtos LiVES, LiVES Video Editor PPA, Ubuntu 14.04

Enable SSH in Ubuntu 14.04 Trusty Tahr

Last updated: April 15, 2014

This simple tutorial is going to show you how to enable Secure Shell (SSH) service in Ubuntu 14.04 Trusty Tahr.

Secure Shell (SSH) is a cryptographic network protocol for secure data communication, remote command-line login, remote command execution, and other secure network services between two networked computers.

SSH is not enabled by default in Ubuntu, but you can easily enable this service via OpenSSH, a free version of the SSH connectivity tools developed by the OpenBSD Project.

To do so, run the command below in terminal: