This is a beginners’ guide about how to install or upgrade to the latest official build of LibreOffice in Ubuntu or Linux Mint.
As you may know, the open-source office suite LibreOffice 4.2 has been released recently which is focusing on performance and interoperability, and improving the integration with Microsoft Windows. See what’s new in LibreOffice 4.2
To install LibreOffice 4.2 in Ubuntu:
1. Press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open the terminal. When it opens, run the command below to remove the previous installation:
sudo apt-get remove --purge libreoffice*
2. Check out your system type, 32 bit or 64 bit, by going to System Settings -> Details
Greg KH has announced the first update of Linux Kernel 3.13. If you are using the first release in the Linux kernel 3.13.x branch, you should consider an update to this build.
Linux Kernel 3.13.1 is a very small release. See the changelog:
staging: comedi: fix result of memdup_user for user chanlist
GFS2: Increase i_writecount during gfs2_setattr_chown
ALSA: hda – Explicitly keep codec powered up in hdmi_present_sense
mm: Make {,set}page_address() static inline if WANT_PAGE_VIRTUAL
extcon: gpio: Request gpio pin before modifying its state
If you’re using a proprietary video driver, you may need to re-build or re-install to get it work with the new kernel.
If for some reason this kernel release doesn’t work properly for you, reboot into previous kernel (Grub -> Advanced -> select previous kernel) and run this command to remove Linux Kernel 3.13.1:
Luminance HDR, an open source graphical user interface application that aims to provide a workflow for HDR imaging, now is at version 2.4.0.
This release introduces a few new features: automatic anti-ghosting, FITS support, integration with Windows Task Bar, improved I/O with TIFF 32 bit (which will make possible to export to third party software for high-quality post processing), redesigned merge algorithms.
To install this build in Ubuntu 13.10 or Linux Mint 16, press Ctrl+Alt+T on your keyboard to open the terminal. When it opens, run below commands one by one:
Aptik is a new tool to simplify re-installation of packages after doing a clean installation of an Ubuntu-based distribution. It can be used while re-installing or upgrading to the next Ubuntu/Linux Mint release.
With this simple tool, you can backup & restore:
Software Sources (PPAs.)
Software selections (list of installed packages)
Downloaded Packages (APT Cache)
Themes and Icons
How to Use Aptik:
Plug-in your pen drive and create a new folder on it named ‘backups’. Start Aptik and select the new folder as the backup directory.
1. Backup PPAs:
Click on the Backup button and you’ll see a list of third-party PPAs as well as the installed packages from PPAs.
PPAs with a green icon are active and have some packages installed.
PPAs with a yellow icon are active but unused (no packages installed).
Select the PPAs to backup and click the Backup button. A file named ‘ppa.list’ will be created in the backup directory.
2. Backup Software Selections:
Click on the Backup button will display a list of installed top-level packages. These packages are top-level packages. Dependency packages will not be listed.
All packages that are a part of the Linux distribution are un-selected by default. For example, Firefox is a package that is installed by default on most Linux distributions. Since it came with the distribution, it will be un-selected by default. It can be selected if required.
A file named ‘packages.list’ will be created in the backup directory after you clicked no the backup button.
3. Click the Backup button for Downloaded Packages will paste packages from your system cache (/var/cache/apt/archives) to backup folder.
4. Similarly, all themes and icons from the directories /usr/share/themes and /usr/share/icons can be zipped and saved in the backup folder.
To restore backups:
Connect your pen drive to the new system. Install and then start Aptik and select the backup folder on the pen-drive as the backup directory. Click on the Restore buttons and select packages, PPAs, themes and restore them one by one.
About the “Fix Ownership of Home folder”:
The home folder can be manually copied to another location and then restored after doing a fresh install. However, it can sometimes cause problems if the user’s login name or UID is different from the previous one. Click the Take Ownership button to change ownership of files in your home directory to your current login ID. This is same as running the following command:
sudo chown username -R /home/username
How to Install Aptik:
Press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open the terminal. When it opens, run below commands one by one:
Laptop mode is a kernel “mode” that allows you to extend the battery life of your laptop. It does this by making disk write activity “bursty”, so that only reads of uncached data result in a disk spinup. It causes a significant improvement in battery life (for usage patterns that allow it).
Laptop Mode Tools is the primary way to enable the Laptop Mode feature of the Linux kernel, which lets your hard drive spin down. In addition, it allows you to tweak a number of other power-related settings using a simple configuration file.
Laptop Mode Tools was a command line only tool until version 1.64, which introduces a GUI that lets you toggle individual power saving modules.
At the moment the version 1.64 is only available in the Ubuntu 14.04 repository. For Ubuntu 13.10, Ubuntu 12.10, Ubuntu 13.04 and Ubuntu 12.04, you can install it from the Webupd8 PPA.
Install Laptop Mode Tools:
NOTE: Laptop Mode Tools is in conflict with TLP. Don’t use them in the same time!
For Ubuntu 14.04, search for and install laptop-mode-tools from Ubuntu Software Center.
For Ubuntu 13.10, Ubuntu 13.04, Ubuntu 12.10 and Ubuntu 12.04, press Ctrl+Alt+T on your keyboard to open the terminal. When it opens, run the commands below one by one:
QupZilla is a lightweight and very fast QtWebKit browser. It has been originally started only for educational purposes. But from its start, QupZilla has grown into a feature-rich browser.
The latest version 1.6.1 added option to enable tab switching using the mouse scroll wheel; a toggle to disable inline URL completion in the address bar; and the ability to launch full-screen mode using the command line.
There are also other changes and a few bug fixes in QupZilla 1.6.1:
added undo/redo context menu actions in editable web elements
speedup loading rules from subscriptions in AdBlock dialog
fixed speed dial with disabled javascript
fixed showing tooltips on tabs when tab previews are disabled
fixed search shortcuts longer than one character in locationbar
fixed building issues on OS X and OS/2
fixed disabling tab previews from preferences
fixed building new Gnome/KDE keyring passwords
fixed building StatusBarIcons plugin on Windows
win: add new jumplist option to open private window
Install QupZilla in Ubuntu:
Press Ctrl+Alt+T on your keyboard to open the terminal. When it opens, run the commands below one by one:
These commands will install the QupZilla from its official PPA. Supports Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 13.10, Ubuntu 12.10, Ubuntu 12.04, Linux Mint and their derivatives.
BTW: The developer announced in the release note that:
QupZilla will in future be ported to QtWebEngine, which will (amongst other improvements) bring multi-process architecture.
With QtWebEngine comes dependency on Qt 5, which means older platforms may not be supported.
QupZilla on QtWebEngine will be new major version 2.x.x and I hope it will be ready with Qt 5.3 (or Qt 5.4), depending on Qt devs.
Hello dear readers. As you may know, Pear Linux OS, the Ubuntu based distribution that mimics Apple’s OS X completely, is discontinued because the developer David Tavares has sold this distribution to an undisclosed company that will develop the Linux-based operating system for its own products.
All the download links have been removed from the official website, which is no longer active. Fortunately, a new team will continue the Pear OS by developing a new OS called Clementine OS.
Clementine OS 10.8 will start development in April of 2014 based on the upcoming Ubuntu 14.04 LTS. The official website is out and now provides iso images for Pear OS 8.
Clementine OS WebSite:clementineos.hj.cx.
UPDATE 1: The developer received a letter from an American company that forced him to abandon the project. He later said that it was not Apple, but another major company. He could not disclose its name, however.
UPDATE: I found that the website is down after I spread this news around. If you’re interested in this OS, you can follow the developer on Google +
The Linux Kernel 3.12 series now is at its 9th updates. All users of the 3.12 kernel series must upgrade. Here’s how to do it in Ubuntu 13.10, Ubuntu 13.04, Ubuntu 12.04, Linux Mint and their derivatives.
Linux Kernel 3.12.9 is a small release which brings improvements to arm and x86, updated driver including i915, as well as other fixes. See the announcement for details.
1. Download the .deb packages for this kernel from Ubuntu Kernel Page, or use below commands in terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T):
If you’re using a proprietary video driver, you may need to re-build or re-install to get it work with the new kernel.
If for some reason this kernel release doesn’t work properly for you, reboot into previous kernel (Grub -> Advanced -> select previous kernel) and run commands to remove Linux Kernel 3.12.9:
The latest Long Term Support Linux Kernel 3.10.28 has been released a few hours ago. This is a small release which brings improvements to ARM and x86 architectures, updated i915 driver as well as other fixes. See the announcement.
All users of the 3.10 kernel series must upgrade. Here’s how to do it in Ubuntu, Linux Mint and their derivatives.
1. Download the .deb packages for this kernel from Ubuntu Kernel Page, or via below commands in terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T):
If you’re using a proprietary video driver, you may need to re-build or re-install to get it work with the new kernel.
If for some reason this kernel release doesn’t work properly for you, reboot into previous kernel (Grub -> Advanced -> select previous kernel) and run commands to remove Linux Kernel 3.10.28:
HotShots is a Qt based screen capture software available for Windows, Linux and FreeBSD. It allows to capture screens and save them in a variety of image formats as well as add annotations and graphical data (arrows, lines, texts, …).
It is kinda similar to Shutter, but HotShots has few dependencies and takes small memory usage. The current release 2.0.1 brings below changes:
Features:
Enhanced shortcut editor
Add portable settings support (–portable option)
Add valid debian package files
Bugs:
Correct invalid freehand and region grabbing on linux (multi monitor)
Install:
If you would like to try this screen capture tool, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run below commands one by one: