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How to Install Kodi 20 “Nexus” in Ubuntu 22.04 | 20.04

Last updated: February 18, 2024 — 3 Comments

Kodi media center finally announced the new major 20.0 release! Here are the new features and how to install guide for Ubuntu/Linux Mint based systems.

Kodi 20, code-name ‘Nexus’, is a big release with 4,600 commits since the last v19. It features AV1 media decoding support for several platforms. As well, it allows add-ons using inputsream.adaptive to play AV1 streams.

For Windows user, the release has implemented the full HDR support, though it’s not available in non-Desktop, i.e. UWP Store (Xbox) versions. As well, Kodi v20 has implemented NFSv4 support.

Other changes in Kodi 20.0 include:

  • Ability to load multiple instances of a binary add-on
  • Rework subtitles with option to change border and background colors, subtitle position.
  • Save game state at any time, even if games do not provide native savestate features themselves.
  • Improved right-click/long-press context menu
  • stability, performance improvements, and more.

There are so far 2 official ways to install Kodi in Ubuntu Linux. They are Ubuntu PPA contains the native .deb packages and Flatpak package works in most Linux.

Option 1: Install Kodi via Ubuntu PPA

Kodi website provides the downloads for all supported platforms.

For Ubuntu and Linux Mint users, the official PPA repository is one of the best choices to install the media player. So far, it supports Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 22.04, Linux Mint 20/21 on Intel/AMD platforms.

UPDATE: The Ubuntu PPA packages lag behind a bit. It contains Kodi 20.2, while the latest so far has reached v20.4. And only a few plugins have ported to v20.x. 

1. First, open terminal by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard. When it opens, run command to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:team-xbmc/ppa

Type user password (no asterisk feedback) when it asks and hit Enter to continue.

2. Software Updater may not upgrade the media center if an old version was installed in Ubuntu 22.04. Instead it show ‘Partial Updates’ issue.

As a workaround, either run apt install command below:

sudo apt install kodi kodi-bin

Or run sudo apt full-upgrade to install all available updates (you may still need to install kodi-bin manually). For Linux Mint, run sudo apt update before doing updates!

Option 2: Install Kodi using Flatpak package

For most Linux on amd64 (Intel/AMD), and arm64 (Apple Silicon, Raspberry Pi, etc), Kodi also is available to install as Flatpak package, though runs in sandbox.

Fedora 38/39 (with 3rd repository enabled) and Linux Mint 21 can directly search for and install it from either GNOME Software or Software Manager.

While, Ubuntu users can press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal, and run 2 commands one by one to get it:

  • First, run command to enable Flatpak support: 
    sudo apt install flatpak

    For other Linux, see the official setup guide to enable Flatpak.

  • Then, install Kodi as Flatpak package by running command: 
    flatpak install https://dl.flathub.org/repo/appstream/tv.kodi.Kodi.flatpakref

First time installing an app as Flatpak package needs log out and back in to make app icon visible.

As the Flatpak app runs in sandbox, you may also run command to install Flatseal:

flatpak install https://dl.flathub.org/repo/appstream/com.github.tchx84.Flatseal.flatpakref

Which, provides a graphical interface to manage the permissions.

How to Uninstall:

For the Ubuntu PPA package, you can either run command in terminal to purge the PPA, which will downgrade Kodi to stock version in system repository:

sudo apt install ppa-purge && ppa:team-xbmc/ppa

Or manually remove the software package via command:

sudo apt remove kodi kodi-bin --autoremove

And remove the PPA via command as you prefer:

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:team-xbmc/ppa

For the Flatpak package, open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command to uninstall:

flatpak uninstall --delete-data tv.kodi.Kodi

Also, run command flatpak uninstall --unused will free up some disk space by removing useless runtime libraries.

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Kid3 Autio Tagger Celebrate Its 20th Birthday by Releasing v3.9.3

Last updated: January 14, 2023 — Leave a comment

Kid3, the free and open-source Qt app for editing audio tags, now is 20 years old!

It was January 12, 2003, exactly 20 years ago, when the first version 0.1 of Kid3 was released. And, it’s the first app that I used to edit music tags in Ubuntu when in 2008.

To celebrate it, the developer team announced the new 3.9.3 release, but with only following changes:

  • Add user action script to fix ID3v2 standard violations.
  • Accept letters in track numbers when setting tags from filename.
  • Embed lyrics: Use letras.com instead of lyrics.wikia.com.
  • Fix crash upon termination when qml and qmlview actions have been used
  • Abort when invalid keys are used for FLAC Vorbis comments.
  • Use of non-BMP Unicode characters with TagLib.
  • Fix error description when saving files fails.
  • Fix Discogs import.
  • Windows: Handling of common path in multiple command line arguments.

How to Install Kid3 via PPA in Ubuntu:

The software offers official binary packages available to download at the sourceforge page.

For all current Ubuntu releases (Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 22.04 and Ubuntu 22.10), there’s an official PPA repository contains the latest package.

1. First, open terminal by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard. When it opens, run command to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ufleisch/kid3

Type user password (no asterisk feedback) when it asks and hit Enter to continue.

2. For the old Ubuntu 18.04 and Linux Mint, you have to manually update the package cache by running command in terminal:

sudo apt update

3. Finally, either update Kid3 using Software Updater (Update Manager) if an old package installed on your system.

Or, run command in terminal to install the tag editor.

sudo apt install kid3-qt

Uninstall Kid3

To remove the PPA repository, either open ‘Software & Updates‘ and remove the source line under ‘Other Software’ tab:

Or, open terminal and run the command instead to remove the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:ufleisch/kid3

To remove the audio tag editor, run command:

sudo apt remove kid3 kid3-qt kid3-core

That’s all. Enjoy!

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KeePass2 2.53 Added FIPS Mode, Improved History Entry [Ubuntu PPA]

Last updated: January 13, 2023 — 2 Comments

KeePass password manager released new 2.53 version a few days ago. Here are the new features as well as PPA packages for Ubuntu users.

The new release enhanced the History tab in Edit Entry. When editing an entry, the History tab contains the ‘Dialog (unsaved)’ to represent all data entered in the current dialog, and ‘Current (TIME)’, for currently stored in the database.

As you see in the screenshot above, when selecting 2 history entries, user can click “Compare” button to get a detailed comparison between them in a new “Compare Entries” dialog.

As well, there’s now a ‘History’ option in the ‘Find’ main menu, allows to get a overview of all edit histories.

The release also added filter box, Print and Export buttons to most report dialogs (see the last 2 screenshots), including last modified entries, history, large entries, similar password clusters, password quality, history entry comparison, database file search.

Other changes in KeePass 2.53 inlcude:

  • Support for running KeePass in FIPS mode.
  • Add access keys in the ‘View’ -> ‘Sort By’ menu, entry templates menu, ‘Perform Auto-Type’ menu, and
  • Ctrl+T for the ‘Copy Time-Based OTP’, and Ctrl+Shift+T for the ‘Show Time-Based OTP’ entry data command
  • Enhance Password Depot XML import module to support the new format
  • Improvements to integrate with Edge browser.

How to Install KeePass 2.53 in Ubuntu:

For native Linux password manager, I would recommend KeePassXC. Though, it’s always good to have more choices!

There’s an unofficial PPA maintains the software package, for all current Ubuntu releases (Ubuntu 18.04, 20.04, 22.04, and 22.10) and their based systems.

1. First, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. Then run the command below to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/keepass2

2. For old Ubuntu 18.04 & Linux Mint, you need to manually refresh package cache though it’s done automatically in Ubuntu 20.04+:

sudo apt update

3. Finally, either run the apt command below to install the package:

sudo apt install keepass2

Or use Software Updater (Update Manager) to update the package if an old version was installed on your system.

4. Since KeePass 2.52, it checks ‘KeePass.exe.config’ file on every app startup. And, it will pop-up a warning dialog due to version mis-match. The exe version number (the last 5 numbers in 2.53.0.13788) auto-generates depends on when you build the package. It cannot be totally same to the one in KeePass.exe.config file, unless it happened to build at exact same time when the official KeePass team compiled the package.

  1. I can’t figure out this issue due to poor bash scripting skill, but you can workaround the issue by checking version number via command: 
    monodis --assembly /usr/lib/keepass2/KeePass.exe
  2. Then edit the KeePass.exe.config file via command: 
    sudo gedit /usr/lib/keepass2/KeePass.exe.config

    Replace gedit depends on your DE, or use nano that works in most Linux.

  3. In the pop-up text editor, replace “newVersion” value with the one you got in the monodis command out.

Finally, save the file and enjoy! For nano text editor, press Ctrl+X, type y and hit Enter to save.

Uninstall:

To remove the software package, also open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command:

sudo apt remove --autoremove keepass2

And, remove the PPA, either by going to “Software & Updates -> Other Software” and remove the source line, or run the command below in terminal:

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/keepass2
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Converseen batch image converter adds option to Remove Metadata

Last updated: January 12, 2023 — Leave a comment

Converseen image converter announced 0.9.10.0 release few days ago. Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu via PPA.

Converseen is a free and open-source tool for converting or resizing a large quantity of photo images to another format with a few mouse clicks.

The new 0.9.10.0 release redesigned the Images Settings dialog. Previously, it automatically removes the metadata (information including date & time, device, and even location you capture the photo image) in output images, and replaces with only modified date and other non-sensitive data.

Now, it provides a “Remove image’s metadata” check-box. So, user can manually choose to either to remove the metadata information about the photo images in output files.

As you can see in the screenshot above, it now supports configuring the compression level and image quality for WebP images. As well, it fixes a bug that inhibits the overwrite feature when the Rename option is checked.

How to install the new Converseen 0.9.10.0 in Ubuntu

The image converter is available to install in different package formats: AppImage, Snap, and Deb. Choose either one that you prefer.

1. AppImage

The software website provides the universal AppImage for downloading via the link button below:

Download Converseen (AppImage)

It’s a non-install package. Just grab it, right-click and go to ‘Properties’ dialog to add executable permission. Finally, click run the AppImage will launch the tool.

2. Snap

For Ubuntu 20.04+, the snap package is the easiest way to get converseen, though it runs in sandbox. Just open Ubuntu Software, search for and install the package marked as ‘Snap Store (snap)’.

3. Ubuntu PPA (.deb)

For those who prefer the classic .deb package format, there’s unofficial PPA that contains the package for Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 22.04, and Ubuntu 22.10.

1. First, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run command to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/apps

Type user password (no asterisk feedback) and hit Enter to continue.

2. Then, install the software package by running command:

sudo apt install converseen

Linux Mint user may have to run sudo apt update first to update cache.

Uninstall:

The PPA also contains some other software packages, so you may remove it immediately after installed Liferea.

To do so, either run the command below in terminal, or remove the source line under “Other Software” tab in Software & Updates tool.

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/apps

To remove the feed reader package, simply run command:

sudo apt remove converseen

That’s all. Enjoy!

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Liferea Feed Reader finally Released 1.14.0 Stable [Ubuntu PPA]

Last updated: January 11, 2023 — Leave a comment

Liferea, Linux Feed Reader, finally announced the new stable 1.14 release series! Here’s how to install it via PPA in Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 22.04, and Ubuntu 22.10.

Liferea is a news aggregator that brings together all of the content from your favorite subscriptions into a simple interface for easy organizing and browsing. It features offline reading, HTML 5 support, sync with Google Reader API, Reedah, and TinyTinyRSS.

The new 1.14.0 was released today as a new stable release, after more than 2 years of v1.13 series unstable development.

New Features in Liferea 1.14.0

For the built-in browser, it has finally implemented support for Webkits Intelligent Tracking Protection. Youtube videos from media:video can be embedded now with a click on the video preview picture. And, there’s a new ‘Reader mode’ preference that allows stripping all web content.

The UI now is adaptive, that switches automatically between ‘Normal’ and ‘Wide’ mode when resizing the window width. Though, I personally prefer the old layout a bit more.

Other changes in Liferea 1.14.0 include:

  • New GTK dark theme logic.
  • Make several plugins support gettext
  • Export a feed to XML file
  • Allow converting TinyTinyRSS subscriptions to local subscriptions
  • Add generic Google Reader API support
  • New plugin: ‘add-bookmark-site’ and ‘getfocus’.
  • New search folder rules.
  • New hot keys.
  • Remove support for CDF channel, Atom 0.2/0.3 (aka Pie), blogChannel namespace, photo namespace.

How to Install Liferea 1.14.0 in Ubuntu:

For most Linux, Liferea is available to install as Flatpak package, though NOT updated at the moment of writing.

Ubuntu users can also use the unofficial PPA, which so far supports for Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 22.10, Linux Mint 20/21, and their based systems.

1. First, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run command to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/apps

Type user password (no asterisk feedback) and hit Enter to continue.

2. Then, install the Liferea package by running command:

sudo apt install liferea

Linux Mint user may have to run sudo apt update first to update cache.

Uninstall:

The PPA also contains some other software packages, so you may remove it immediately after installed Liferea.

To do so, either run the command below in terminal, or remove the source line under “Other Software” tab in Software & Updates tool.

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/apps

To remove the feed reader package, simply run command:

sudo apt remove --autoremove liferea-data liferea

That’s all. Enjoy!

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Try out GNOME’s New Window Focus Animation in Ubuntu/Fedora

Last updated: May 7, 2024 — Leave a comment

UPDATE 2024: The Focus Indicator is NO Longer available! See the GNOME Discourse page for more about it.

Gnome, the default desktop environment in Ubuntu & Fedora Workstation, is going to replace the app menu with a new window animation, for indicating window focus.

Meaning it will remove the app menu for current window, in the top-bar beside ‘Activities’ button. Because, it’s always confusing users who are new to GNOME.

Gnome to remove app menu, instead using a window animation

Instead, when switching workspaces, closing a window, or pressing Super + Tab, it will perform a short animation on newly focused window. As the GIF below shows you, it’s a window animation that scales up the window and then scales back, indicating that the window is on focus.

The downside so far is that it’s missing the behavior to indicate the process of launching a large or slow application …

How to Install the new Window Animation

The new function is available so far as a Gnome Shell extension called “Focus Indicator“, for testing purpose in GNOME 43. Meaning users of Ubuntu 22.10, Fedora 37, Arch and Manjaro, etc., can try it out by following the steps below.

1. For Ubuntu 22.10, firstly search for and install Extension Manager from Ubuntu Software.

Install Extension Manager in Ubuntu 22.04+

2. Then open the tool, and navigate to ‘Browse’ tab to search and install ‘Focus Indicator’:

For other Linux, just use ON/OFF switch in this web page to install the extension.

Configure the Window Focus animation

After installed the extension, use either Extension Manager or Gnome Extensions app to open the configuration dialog. Then, you can set the scale up/down delay, animation duration, scale factor, and so forth.

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OBS Studio 29.0 is Out! How to Install via PPA in Ubuntu 22.04 | 22.10

Last updated: January 8, 2023 — Leave a comment

OBS Studio, the popular free and open-source video recording and live streaming software, announced a new major 29.0 today.

The new release came with great improvements for Windows users, including AMD AV1 Encoder for the RX7000 series GPUs, Intel AV1 Encoder for Arc GPUs, and Intel HEVC Encoder.

It also introduced native HEVC and ProRes encoders, including P010 and HDR and Desk View support for macOS.

Other changes OBS Studio 29.0 include:

  • Upward compressor filter
  • 3-band equalizer filter
  • Update channels for opting into receiving beta/release-candidate builds to Windows
  • Websockets 5.1.0
  • Add media key support in Linux
  • Encryption and authentication support for SRT and RIST outputs
  • Support for higher refresh rates in the Video Capture Device source on Windows
  • Apple VT Hardware encoder to the Auto Configuration Wizard

How to Install OBS Studio 29.0 in Ubuntu:

It provides official binary packages for Windows, macOS and Linux in its official website.

For Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 22.10, Linux Mint 21, and their based systems, there’s also an official PPA repository contains the latest packages.

1. Firstly, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open a terminal window. When it opens, run command to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:obsproject/obs-studio

Type user password (no asterisk feedback) when it asks and hit Enter to continue.

2. Then, either use Software Updater to upgrade the software package is an old version was installed on your system.

Or, use apt command to install/upgrade the software package:

sudo apt install obs-studio

NOTE: Linux Mint may need to run sudo apt update first to update package cache.

Once installed, search for and launch OBS Studio from ‘Activities’ overview or start menu depends on your desktop environment and enjoy!

Uninstall OBS Studio

To downgrade the software to the stock version that your system repository provides, run command:

sudo apt install ppa-purge && sudo ppa-purge ppa:obsproject/obs-studio

Or, either open Software & Updates and remove the PPA source line under ‘Other Software’ tab:

or run command in terminal to remove the PPA repository:

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:obsproject/obs-studio

Also, remove the OBS Studio if you want by running command in terminal:

sudo apt remove --autoremove obs-studio
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How to Compile & Install Pinta 2.1 from Source in Ubuntu 24.04 | 22.04

Last updated: May 8, 2024 — 1 Comment

For Pinta users who do NOT like the Snap and Flatpak packages that run in sandbox. Here’s how to build the 2.1 release from source tarball in Ubuntu 22.04 & Ubuntu 24.04

Pinta has switch to .NET 6.0 framework since version 2.0, and support .NET 8 via 2.1.2. Which however needs internet connection to fetch something for the first time during the build time. And, most Linux so far still has Pinta v1.x in their system repositories.

Thankfully, building Pinta 2.1 from source is not hard. And, here’s the step by step guide show you how!

1. Firstly, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run command to install .NET 6 as well as dev libraries for building the package.

sudo apt install dotnet-sdk-8.0 debhelper autotools-dev autoconf-archive gettext intltool libgtk-3-dev

2. Next, download the source tarball from github release page (under ‘Assets’ section):

Download Pinta (source)

3. Then, extract the tarball in file manager. Right-click on source folder and select “Open in Terminal”.

4. The last step will open a terminal window and automatically navigate to the Pinta source folder as working directory.

In the terminal window, run command to configure the source:

./configure

And, finally compile and install it via:

sudo make install

NOTE: This step needs internet connection if you’re first time using dotnet to build a package. And, it may fail if you’ve ever installed .NET 7.0 but removed (not completely) and use .NET 8.0 now.

If everything’s done without any error, you should now be able to search for and launch Pinta from system start menu (‘Activities’ overview).

Uninstall:

Until you remove the source folder, you can run sudo make uninstall at any time from in that folder to uninstall Pinta package.

If you’ve removed the source folder, re-do the previous steps and replace the last command with sudo make uninstall.

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Paint.NET Clone Pinta 2.1 Released! WebP & Google Drive Support

Last updated: January 4, 2023 — Leave a comment

The free and open-source Paint.Net 3.0 clone, Pinta image editor got a new major release after 1 year of development.

The new Pinta 2.1 came with some exciting new features, including WebP image support via webp-pixbuf-loader library, and updated icons with improved support for dark theme and HiDPI displays.

The Gradient tool now has a ‘Transparency Mode‘. The release also adds support for loading files from network drive, meaning user can now open pictures from Google Drive folder.

Other changes in Pinta 2.1 include:

  • Update screenshot tool to make it work in Wayland.
  • Support images with unknown extension but valid contents.
  • Improve canvas rendering performance
  • Improve .ora files support.
  • Update to .NET7, though .NET6 also supported.
  • Various bug-fixes.

How to Install Pinta 2.1 in Ubuntu Linux

Pinta offers official Linux package through both Snap and Flatpak package. Choose either one that you prefer.

NOTE: Both packages now do NOT support for WebP images. Try to build it from source by yourself if you like this feature.

Option 1: Snap package

Ubuntu 20.04 | 22.04 and higher user can easily install the package from Ubuntu Software. NOTE: There are 2 Pinta packages in Software Center, choose the one from Snap Store.

Option 2: Flatpak package

Pinta is also available to install as another universal Flatpak package format. Just press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal, then run commands below one by one to install it.

  1. First, install the daemon package in case you don’t have it: 
    sudo apt install flatpak

    For the old Ubuntu 18.04, add this PPA first before installing Flatpak.

  2. Then, install Pinta as flatpak by running command: 
    flatpak install https://dl.flathub.org/repo/appstream/com.github.PintaProject.Pinta.flatpakref

Tip: if you’ve already installed Pinta as Flatpak, run the command below to check updates:

flatpak update com.github.PintaProject.Pinta

Uninstall Pinta:

For the Pinta Snap package, just remove it either using Ubuntu Software app or by running command in a terminal window:

snap remove pina

To remove the Flatpak package, run command:

flatpak uninstall --delete-data com.github.PintaProject.Pinta

Also run flatpak uninstall --unused to remove useless run-time libraries.

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How to Disable Event Sound in Ubuntu 24.04 & 22.04

Last updated: May 8, 2024 — 2 Comments

Ubuntu by default play a short alert sound when you plug in/out USB drive, power supply, or hit tab function key in terminal.

This is useful for indicating certain type of system messages and events, but it’s easy to mute these type of sounds in case you don’t like them. And, here’s the quick tutorial show you how.

Single command to disable event sound

There’s a dconf database option to toggle on/off this feature for GNOME and Cinnamon desktop.

Simply, press Ctrl+Alt+T key combination on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run command:

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.sound event-sounds false

Not only for Ubuntu, this command should also work for Fedora workstation, Debian, Arch and other Linux with GNOME desktop.

For Linux Mint cinnamon desktop, use the command below instead:

gsettings set org.cinnamon.desktop.sound event-sounds false

Disable event sound via Dconf Editor (graphical way)

In case for those who hate Linux commands, there’s an advanced configuration tool Dconf Editor, that provides a graphical interface to do the job.

1. Firstly, search for and install Dconf Editor from Ubuntu Software (or App Center for 24.04).

2. Then launch Dconf Editor, and navigate to org/gnome/desktop/sounds. Finally, turn off the option for ‘event-sounds’.

Similarly, navigate to org/cinnamon/desktop/sounds or org/mate/desktop/sounds and set the key depends on your desktop environment.

That’s all. Enjoy!

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