Archives For November 30, 1999

Like Firefox, the Chromium web browser package in recent Ubuntu repository is just empty package that links to Snap version.

If you would like to install the classic .Deb version instead, here are 2 choices that work on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS.

Option 1: Use Rob Savoury’s PPA

Rob Savoury is maintaining a collections of software packages in PPAs including Chromium browser. With this unofficial PPA, you may get the the latest Chromium packages in Ubuntu 22.04 and Ubuntu 20.04.

This could be the easiest way, however, only 64-bit modern PC/laptop is supported!

1.) Add the PPA

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

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:savoury1/chromium

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

2.) Install the browser package

After adding the PPA, you can install the browser package via commands:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install chromium-browser

How to Uninstall:

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

sudo apt remove --autoremove chromium-browser

And remove the Ubuntu PPA by launching “Software & Updates” and remove the source line from “Other Software” tab.

Remove Rob Savoury’s Chromium PPA

Option 2: Install Chromium from Ubuntu 18.04 Repository

Ubuntu 18.04 still provides the most recent Chromium .Deb package and keeps updating in its repository.

Until April 2023 (end of life date of Ubuntu 18.04), you may install the package from that repository in 64-bit and ARM64/ARMhf machines running Ubuntu 22.04.

However, the process is a little bit complicated due to change of the apt key policy. For choice, there’s a third-party PPA keeps a copy the packages for Ubuntu 20.04 and Ubuntu 22.04.

1.) Install Ubuntu 18.04 repository key:

Firstly, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run the command below get the bionic-updates repository key:

sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 3B4FE6ACC0B21F32

Due to change of the apt-key policy, run the command below to move the key to “/usr/share/keyrings“.

sudo mv /etc/apt/trusted.gpg /usr/share/keyrings/bionic-updates.gpg

2.) Add Ubuntu 18.04 updates repository:

Next, run the command below in terminal to create and edit repository file:

sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list.d/bionic-updates.list

When file opens, paste the single line below and save it.

deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/bionic-updates.gpg] http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-updates universe

3.) Setup package priority

It’s IMPORTANT to set package priority so ONLY chromium browser package is allowed to be installed from this repository!!

Open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command below to create and edit a preference file:

sudo gedit /etc/apt/preferences.d/99bionic-updates

When the file opens, paste following lines to tell only allows chromium related packages and prevent all others!

# Prefer 'chromium-browser' package from Ubuntu 18.04 updates repository

Package: chromium-browser*
Pin: release a=bionic-updates
Pin-Priority: 501

# Prefer 'chromium-chromedriver' package from Ubuntu 18.04 updates repository

Package: chromium-chromedriver
Pin: release a=bionic-updates
Pin-Priority: 501

# Prefer 'chromium-codecs-ffmpeg' package from Ubuntu 18.04 updates repository

Package: chromium-codecs-ffmpeg*
Pin: release a=bionic-updates
Pin-Priority: 501

# Prevent all other packages from Ubuntu 18.04 repository

Package: *
Pin: release a=bionic-updates
Pin-Priority: -10

4.) Update & Install Chromium

Finally, run the apt update command to refresh package cache:

sudo apt update

And, install the browser package from Ubuntu 18.04 repository using command:

sudo apt install chromium-browser

How to Remove 18.04 Repository and Uninstall Chromium

Like the Rob Savoury’s PPA package, simply run the command below in terminal will remove the browser package:

sudo apt remove --autoremove chromium-browser

If you want to get rid of Ubuntu 18.04 repository, run the command below one by one in terminal:

  • Remove the source file:
    sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/bionic-updates.list
  • Remove the keyring:
    sudo rm /usr/share/keyrings/bionic-updates.gpg
  • And clear the priority file:
    sudo rm /etc/apt/preferences.d/99bionic-updates
  • Finally, refresh system package cache to apply changes:
    sudo apt update

Summary:

There are quite a few software sources to get the Chromium package in .Deb version. Here, the third-party Rob Savoury’s PPA could be the easiest way which however contains only 64-bit package. The old Ubuntu 18.04 repository is good choice for those need arm64/armhf package, though the support will end in April 2023.

DeaDBeeF music player released new 1.9.0 version a day ago. Here’s what’s new and how to install the application in Ubuntu.

DeaDBeeF is one of my favorite music players, especially for its design mode. Glory to Ukraine! In this release you’ll see two little hearts (in blue and yellow) in the title bar of app window.

The 1.9.0 release added some new features including:

  • Long file seeking support for Opus and FFMPEG
  • HTTPS support for vfs_curl in portable builds, via libmbedtls
  • Design mode for CocoaUI
  • New Scope and Spectrum Analyzer visualizations
  • Visualization appearance preferences pane
  • New album art loader
  • Title formatting $year(time) function
  • GTK UI for editing a chosen field of multiple selected tracks, in a table interface
  • Creating new playlist via clicking the “+” button in the playlist tab strip
  • Improved DSP preferences GTK UI
  • Improved handling of invalid MP3 files
  • Last.fm scrobbler will use HTTPS by default

And, you can now easily get the menu to set dB scale, Linear scale, or Cubic scale by simply right-clicking on volume slider. There are as well various bug fixes, see HERE for more.

How to Install DeaDBeeF 1.9.0 in Ubuntu:

The software project provides official packages for 64-bit modern PC/laptop. For Debian, Ubuntu, Linux Mint based systems, simply download the “deadbeef-static_1.9.0-1_amd64.deb” from the link page below:

After downloaded the package, open your Downloads folder, right-click blank area and select “Open in Terminal”. Finally, install the package by running the command below in pop-up terminal:

sudo apt install ./deadbeef-static*amd64.deb

It works in all current Ubuntu releases, including Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 21.10 and Ubuntu 22.04.

Once installed, press Windows (Super) key on keyboard. Then search for and open the player to enjoy your music!

In addition for those prefer Ubuntu PPA, here’s one that built with Qt5 interface and MPRISv2 plugin support.

It should be trustworthy as the maintainer is the guy behind Debian and Ubuntu’s official Tesseract OCR package. However, the package version there at the moment of writing is still the last v1.8.8. And, it’s better to remove “deadbeef-static” first before installing the music player from this PPA.

How to Remove DeaDBeeF:

The package is installed as deadbeef-static. To remove it, open terminal by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard. Then run command:

sudo apt remove --autoremove deadbeef-static

That’s all. Enjoy!

User of Google Chrome or Chromium based web browser? Here are the workarounds if you found that double-clicking does not work for maximizing/restoring app window in Ubuntu Linux.

When double-clicking on the header bar of any app window, it should maximize or restore the application. However, it just changes the cursor to drag arrow and back then, nothing else happens in Ubuntu 22.04 with Chrome/Chromium.

Double click does not maximize Chrome

This should be a compatibility issue between the browser and GNOME Wayland. Someone has reported the same issue that happened in Fedora 34.

It’s not a big deal if you OK to triple click or use title-bar button to do maximize/restore action. But if you want, there are a few workarounds until Google or GNOME fixed the issue.

Workaround 1: Use system title bar

Just right-click on browser header bar, then select “Use system title bar and borders” in pop-up menu option.

An external title bar will appear on top of the browser. The double click function works well in this case, though it takes a bit more screen space and looks not so good in Linux today.

To restore the change, right-click on tab bar to get the previous menu and un-tick the menu option.

Workaround 2: Switch back Xorg session

As mentioned above, this issue only happens in Wayland session. User may switch back the classic Xorg session to workaround it as well as many legacy applications (e.g., Peek, Shutter) that are not properly working issue.

To do so, log out current session (save your work first!) and click your username in login screen. Then click the bottom right gear button and select “Ubuntu on Xorg“. Finally, type password to login.

To verify your session, either open “System Settings -> About -> Check ‘Windowing System'”, or run the command below in terminal:

echo $XDG_SESSION_TYPE

Workaround 3: Disable touchpad tap and drag

The Xorg session is the good choice except for those using touchpad tap clicking to simulate double-click action.

If you use touchpad for the most time like me, and there are physical left/right buttons, then disable tap and drag feature will make double tapping work for maximizing Chrome/Chromium browser.

To do so, either press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal and run the single command:

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.peripherals.touchpad tap-and-drag false

Or install ‘Dconf Editor’ from Ubuntu Software. Open it, and navigate to ‘org.gnome.desktop.peripherals.touchpad’. And, finally turn off the key for ‘tap-and-drag’.

That’s all. Enjoy!

This is a beginner’s guide shows how to install and use the Dropbox cloud storage and file sharing tool in Ubuntu 22.04.

Dropbox is a popular file hosting service powered by the American company Dropbox, Inc. It provides free account with 2 GB storage and paid plans for more. You can use it as a cloud storage and/or for sharing files with your friends.

Step 1: Enable Multiverse Repository

Dropbox is easy to install in Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, Linux Mint and their based systems that use GNOME or MATE desktop via file manager extension.

For Ubuntu, first search for and open ‘Software & Updates‘ utility from top left Activities overview screen.

When it opens, make sure the ‘multiverse’ repository which includes the packages is enabled. For Fedora Workstation, you need to enable third-party non-free repositories first.

Step 2: Install Nautilus/Caja Extension

Now, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run the command below to refresh system package cache:

sudo apt update

And then install the package for GNOME (the default desktop environment):

sudo apt install nautilus-dropbox

For MATE desktop, replace nautilus-dropbox with caja-dropbox in the command.

For Fedora, replace apt in the previous command with dnf to install the package.

After installation, it may pop-up a dialog indicates to restart your file manager. It’s OK to just close it.

Step 3: Install the daemon

Click on the top-left ‘Activities’ or use 3-finger up gesture to get into overview screen. Then, you can search for and launch Dropbox.

The first time launching the app will indicate to download & install the proprietary daemon package.

Just click on “OK” button. It will start downloading and installing the daemon automatically. Depends on your internet connection, the process can take up a few minutes. And, if you close the process dialog mistakenly, re-launch the app should start it again.

Step 4: Use Dropbox

Once the installation process done, an indicator applet should appear in top-right corner system tray. And, it will open the login page in your default web browser automatically. If NOT, click the “sign in” indicator menu option to open it manually. Then sign in in the web page (or sign up if you don’t have an account).

After signed in, you’ll see a new “Dropbox” folder in user home, as well as some new indicator menu options.

To upload (sync) your files or folders into cloud, simply put them into the “Dropbox” folder, either by using copy & paste action or via your files/folders’ right-click menu options.

If you want, you may share your files in that folder quickly by getting an URL from its context menu option “Copy Dropbox Link“. Then, anywhere with any device can open the file by visiting the URL via a web browser.

get URL link and share file with your friends

For the indicator menu, there are options to quickly launch Dropbox local folder and web page, enable/disable syncing, and launch ‘Preference’ to configure auto-startup, bandwidth, proxy, account, etc.

How to Remove Dropbox integration:

To remove the client, first exit Dropbox via indicator menu option. Then run the command below in terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T):

sudo apt remove --autoremove nautilus-dropbox

For MATE, use caja-dropbox instead of nautilus-dropbox in command.

To clean up, you may remove the “Dropbox” folder (backup your data first), “.dropbox” and “.dropbox-dist” folders. For the hidden folders, you need to press Ctrl+H on keyboard to view them, and press the key combination again to hide them.

And, search for and open “Startup Applications Preferences” from Activities overview. When it opens, you can remove the startup configuration for Dropbox, though it no longer works as daemon has been removed.

That’s all. Enjoy!

This quick tutorial shows how to easily set a solid color as background wallpaper in your Ubuntu 22.04 or Ubuntu 24.04 PC/laptop.

To stay focused and increase productivity, user may set a solid color desktop background which can also reduce eye strain. And, a black background will consume significantly less power especially for AMOLED displays.

If you already downloaded a solid color wallpaper from web, or created one via an image editor, simply click the “Add Picture” button in system settings -> Background (or Appearance). Then, your image will be there as a choice.

Add Personal Wallpapers

Set Solid color background via Dconf Editor

Instead of using an image file, there’s a hidden option that could work better! Not only for Ubuntu, it also works on Fedora, Debian, Manjaro, and other Linux with GNOME Desktop.

1. Firstly, search for and install “Dconf Editor” configuration tool from either Ubuntu Software or App Center:

Or press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard, and run the command below in pop-up terminal to install the tool:

sudo apt install dconf-editor

2. Once installed, either press Windows (Super) key on keyboard or click the top-left corner “Activities”, then search for and open ‘Dconf Editor’

3. When the tool opens, navigate to ‘org/gnome/desktop/background‘ page. There you need to do:

  • Clear the value of ‘picture-uri‘ and ‘picture-uri-dark to disable current wallpapers for both light and dark mode. Click them one by one, disable “use default value”, and set empty content for custom value.
  • Set ‘color-shading-type’ to ‘solid’ (usually default).
  • Change value of ‘primary-color’ to display as background. (#000000 for dark, #ffffff for white. Or use color picker tool to get other color value)

For choice, you may set gradient color background, by setting ‘color-shading-type’ to ‘vertical’ or ‘horizontal’, and set color value of “secondary-color”.

Linux commands to set solid color background.

If you’re familiar with Linux command line, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open a terminal window.

When it opens, run the commands below one by one to disable current wallpapers for light and dark mode:

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.background picture-uri ''
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.background picture-uri-dark ''

In case you’ve set gradient color background before, reset the “color-shading-type” via command:

gsettings reset org.gnome.desktop.background color-shading-type

Finally, run the command below in set a solid color background (total dark for example):

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.background primary-color '#000000'

How to Restore:

To restore the changes, simply open Settings -> Background and select a wallpaper as you want. Just note that you need to do this in both Light and Dark mode in Ubuntu 22.04 LTS.

For other Desktop Environments:

The steps above was written for the default GNOME Desktop. For other desktop environments, see below:

XFCE (XUbuntu)

For XFCE, the default desktop in XUbuntu and many other Linux, right-click on desktop and select “Desktop Settings“.

In pop-up dialog, choose “Solid color” from Color select box, and pick a color right after it. Finally, set Style to “None” to make it work.

KDE Plasma (KUbuntu, Ubuntu Studio)

KDE user can right-click on desktop and select “Configure Desktop and Wallpaper” to launch the configure dialog.

Then, choose “Plain Color” as Wallpaper type, and set your favorite color, finally click “Apply”.

MATE (Ubuntu MATE)

For MATE desktop, also right-click on desktop and select “Change Desktop Background” from pop-up menu.

Then, select the first image in top-left as background, and choose “Solid color” from Colors selection box, and click color picker to choose a color as you want.

Cinnamon (Ubuntu Cinnamon)

Also, right-click on desktop and select “Change Desktop Background”.

Then in pop-up dialog, navigate to “Settings” page, and do:

  • Set “Picture aspect” to No picture.
  • Change Background color to Solid color and choose a color.

LXQt (LUbuntu)

For LXQt desktop, right-click on desktop and select “Desktop Preferences” from context menu.

In pop-up dialog, navigate to “Background” tab, then do:

  • Choose color via the button under “Background”.
  • Select “Fill with background color only” for Wallpaper mode.
  • Finally, click Apply.

Trying out different Gnome Extensions frequently? The new “Extension Manager” app is really a good choice to make life easier!

We usually install extensions by browsing through the Gnome Extension website and using the on page on/off switch. Then, manage the settings via a separate ‘Extensions’ app. However, Ubuntu’s pre-installed Firefox does not support the process since it’s a Snap package.

Without installing anther browser package and opening the site time by time, a new project “Extension Manager” has been created as an “App Center” for Gnome Extensions.

Manage installed extensions

The app integrates an “Installed” tab to enable, disable, remove extensions and manage their settings, just like “Extensions” app does.

In the “Browse” tab, it allows to search extensions with “Popularity”, “Downloads”, “Recent” and “Name” filters. And, it provides button to install extensions directly from search results that are compatible with your Gnome edition.

Search and install extensions

Like Ubuntu Software (or Gnome Software), user may view the details about an extension in a separate page with screenshot, description, supported Gnome versions, and reviews.

Extension Detail page

Install the Extension Manager in Ubuntu & Other Linux

For Ubuntu 22.04, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, paste the command below and hit run to install the package:

sudo apt install gnome-shell-extension-manager

Run sudo apt update to refresh package cache on a brand new system in case the command does not work.

After that, you may click the top-left “Activities”, then search for and open the application:

For old Ubuntu releases and other Linux, the application is available to install as universal Flatpak package. Do the setup first, and then install the package from Flathub page (Run the bottom command).

How to Remove Extension manager

For any reason, you may remove the extension manager by opening terminal and run command:

sudo apt remove --autoremove gnome-shell-extension-manager

If you installed it via the Flatpak package, use this command instead to remove it:

flatpak uninstall --delete-data com.mattjakeman.ExtensionManager

And remove useless libraries via flatpak uninstall --unused.

Want to create an USB installer for Microsoft Windows, but only has a Linux PC (or server)? Here’s how to do the trick in Ubuntu, Arch, Fedora, and their based systems, e.g., Linux Mint, Manjaro.

WoeUSB-ng

Today when I was installing Windows 7 on my 10 years old laptop, the first I tried is booting the ISO image via Ventoy USB stick. Sadly, it just didn’t boot!

So, I turned to WoeUSB-ng. It’s a free open-source tool to create a Windows USB stick installer from a real Windows DVD or iso image.

It’s a rewrite of WoeUSB in Python programming language with graphical interface support! With it, you can burn Windows Vista, Windows 7, Window 8.x, Windows 10 and Windows PE into USB with following boot mode:

  • Legacy/MBR-style/IBM PC compatible bootmode
  • Native UEFI boot for Windows 7 and later (FAT file-system only).

Step 1: Install WoeUSB-ng

Arch Linux users just need to run yay -S woeusb-ng command in terminal to install the app.

1.) Install Dependency

Firstly, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run the command below to install the dependencies:

sudo apt install git p7zip-full python3-pip python3-wxgtk4.0 grub2-common grub-pc-bin

Type user password for sudo authentication, though there’s no asterisk feedback

For Fedora, run the command below instead:

sudo dnf install git p7zip p7zip-plugins python3-pip python3-wxpython4

2.) Install WoeUSB-ng

As a Python application, it’s easy to install via the pip package manager. To do so, just run command:

sudo pip3 install WoeUSB-ng

Due to policy change, the command above does no longer work in Ubuntu 24.04, see this post for workarounds, or just run the command below instead:

sudo pip3 install WoeUSB-ng --break-system-package

Once installed, click the top-left “Activities” button, then search for and open the tool:

Step 2: Create Windows USB Installer via WoeUSB-ng

Firstly, you need to download the Windows ISO image or insert the CD/DVD drive, plug in your USB stick (8GB+ is recommended).

Then, launch WoeUSB-ng from start menu, select your ISO image or CD/DVD drive and highlight the USB stick (click “Refresh”) if not in list.

Before clicking the “Install” button, backup your data in the USB stick. It by default formats the drive into FAT, though you can select “NTFS” in options.

After clicking “Install” and confirm in pop-up dialog, it will open a new small dialog indicates the installing process.

If everything goes OK, it should prompt “Installation Succeed” when done. Plug the USB stick in target machine and select boot it in BIOS or UEFI, and enjoy!

Create USB Windows Installer from command line

Running Linux without a desktop session? The tool also has command line options to do the job.

Firstly, find out the USB stick device name (usually /dev/sdb) via command:

sudo fdisk -l

Then, run the command to create installer from iso image (run woeusb -h to get more options):

sudo woeusb --device /PATH/TO/ISO /dev/sdb

And for BIOS boot, it’s better to add ‘–workaround-bios-boot-flag’ to workaround BIOS bug that won’t include the device in boot menu.

Uninstall WoeUSB-ng

To remove the application, open terminal and run the command:

sudo pip3 uninstall WoeUSB-ng

Then clear the shortcut icon via command:

sudo rm /usr/share/applications/WoeUSB-ng.desktop

Want to share your files over local network or transfer file from one PC to another PC? Here are a few commonly used ways to do the job in Ubuntu 22.04 LTS.

Option 1: Share Folder Temporarily via Python scripts:

Without installing any package, user may run a built-in Python script at any time to create a http file server for temporary use. Any device (Windows, Mac, Linux PC, and mobile phones) can access or download the files via a web browser.

NOTE: This method seems to be not working good for transfer large files (1 GB+).

1. First, right-click on the folder you want to share. Then click on “Open in Terminal” option in the context menu to open terminal.

2. Next, run command to share this folder content over LAN via command:

python3 -m http.server

In case the default listening port 8000 is already in use, you may specify another port (9001 for example) via command:

python3 -m http.server 9001

Now, in any device’s web browser, go to http://ubuntu-machine-ip:9001 (change the port accordingly, default is 8000). Click to open file directly or right-click and select “save as …” to download file.

To stop sharing the folder, either press Ctrl+C in terminal window or just close it.

Option 2: Use Dukto file transfer

If you transfer files regularly from one PC to another, then the open-source “Dukto” app is a good choice that works on Linux, MacOS, and Windows machines.

Just open the app in both machines, it will detect each other automatically and offer options to transfer file/folder, and send text.

Though the app has not been updated for years, it’s still working very well! Mac and Windows users may download & install the app packages from:

For Ubuntu user, the package in previous link does not install due to dependency issue. However, the Qt6 port from this Ubuntu PPA is available for all current Ubuntu releases.

Simply open terminal by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard, and run following commands one by one will add the PPA and install Dukto in Ubuntu:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:xuzhen666/dukto
sudo apt update
sudo apt install dukto

Option 3: Share Folder via Samba

If you want to share a folder for long time use, it’s better to use the samba file sharing service. This can be done easily in Ubuntu, since “Files” (Nautilus file manager) provides a context menu option to do the job.

1.) Firstly, right-click on the folder you want to share. Then, click on the “Local Network Share” menu option.

2.) In the pop-up dialog, enable the checkbox which says “Share this folder”.

3.) If you’re doing this for the first time, it will prompt to install the samba sharing service.

Just click “Install service” and confirm in next dialog to install the required packages.

4.) After installing them, go back to the previous dialog in step 1.). Enable “Share this folder” and tick “Guest access” and “Allow others to create and delete …” accordingly.

If you enabled the write permission (“Allow others to create and delete …”), it will prompt to change the folder permissions.

5.) If you got “‘network share’ return 255” error, open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command to add current user to ‘sambashare’ group should fix the issue after logged out and back in.

sudo gpasswd --add $USER sambashare

And, if you didn’t enable guest access then a separated password has to be added for authentication:

sudo smbpasswd -a $USER

To access this samba share:

For Windows user, press Window key + R on keyboard to open “Run” box, and type \\ubuntu-machine-ip. Then type username and password you set in previous step to access this folder.

For Linux user (only tested in GNOME), open “Files -> Other Locations” and type smb://ubuntu-machine-ip in button to connect.

For MacOS, press command + K on keyboard to open Connect to Server dialog, type smb://ubuntu-machine-ip and hit Enter to access.

This is a step by step beginner’s guide shows how to install Sublime Text code editor in Ubuntu 22.04 and Ubuntu 24.04.

Sublime Text is available to install in Ubuntu Linux through 3 different ways. They include:

  • Snap package – maintained by contributors.
  • Deb pacakge – through its official repository.
  • Flatpak package (Sublime Text 3) – maintained by contributors.

Option 1: Snap package

A group of contributers maintain the text editor in Snap package format, which runs in sandbox. The package so far supports amd64 (Intel/AMD) and arm64 (Raspberry Pi) devices.

Ubuntu 20.04 and higher can simply search for and install it from Ubuntu Software (or App Center):

Sublime Text Snap package in Ubuntu Software / App Center

The snap package runs in sandbox and always up-to-date since it receives updates automatically. The only downside could be that some do NOT like sandboxing apps.

For those prefer Linux commands, the package also can be installed by running the command below in terminal:

sudo snap install sublime-text --classic

Option 2: Official Apt repository (.deb package)

Sublime has an official guide for installing the deb package from apt repository. However, it’s outdated due to Debian policy change!

This is the official .deb package works in Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Debian, and even Raspberry Pi OS (arm64).

1. Firstly, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run the command below to make sure ‘https’ source is supported:

sudo apt install apt-transport-https

2. Add the repository key

The sublime text website still use the ‘apt-key‘ command in its document, which is deprecated.

For security reason, Debian has updated the policy. And, it’s recommend to use the command below instead to install the key:

wget -qO - https://download.sublimetext.com/sublimehq-pub.gpg | gpg --dearmor | sudo tee /etc/apt/keyrings/sublimehq-pub.gpg

It will download the key from its website, convert it to un-readable encrypted key, and put into “/etc/apt/keyring” directory.

3. Add the official repository

Next, run the command below to create a source file and edit it via Gnome text editor:

sudo gnome-text-editor /etc/apt/sources.list.d/sublime-text.list

For Ubuntu 22.04 and earlier, replace gnome-text-editor with gedit. Or use mousepad for XFCE, pluma for MATE, or nano command line text editor that works in most desktop environments.

When the file opens, add the following line (it’s a single line) and save it.

deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/sublimehq-pub.gpg] https://download.sublimetext.com/ apt/stable/

This step can be done alternatively by running the single command below in terminal:

echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/sublimehq-pub.gpg] https://download.sublimetext.com/ apt/stable/" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/sublime-text.list

4. Now, run the command below to refresh system package cache:

sudo apt update

In the output, it should print a line looks like “Get: x https://download.sublimetext.com apt/stable …

5. Finally, install the code editor from that repository by running command:

sudo apt install sublime-text

Option 3: Flatpak package

Sublime Text 4 is NOT available as Flatpak so far. But for the old version 3, you may install it by running the commands below one by one in terminal.

NOTE: Like Snap, the Sublime Text as flatpak is also un-official package maintained by contributors, runs in sandbox.

Firstly, press Ctrl+Alt+T to open terminal and run command to install Flatpak daemon:

sudo apt install flatpak

Then, install Sublime Text 3 via Flatpak by running command:

flatpak install https://dl.flathub.org/repo/appstream/com.sublimetext.three.flatpakref

Uninstall Sublime Text:

For the Snap package, remove it either using Ubuntu Software or by running command in terminal:

sudo snap remove --purge sublime-text

For the Flatpak package, use the command to uninstall the package:

flatpak uninstall --delete-data com.sublimetext.three

and cleanup useless run-times via flatpak uninstall --unused.

For the official .deb package, remove it by running command:

sudo apt remove --autoremove sublime-text

The apt repository will not display in “Software & Updates” utility, so get rid of it by running command to remove the source file:

sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/sublime-text.list

And remove the key file by running command:

sudo rm /usr/share/keyrings/sublimehq-pub.gpg

Summary:

Here I introduced 3 ways to install Sublime Text in Ubuntu. The Snap is the easiest, which is available in Ubuntu Software, but the official apt repository is recommended! For those still looking for the old Sublime Text 3, the Flatpak package is available for choice.

Got some beautiful photo images? Let me show you how to set them as desktop slideshow, so it will be your Ubuntu background wallpaper and switch automatically in certain time interval.

Option 1: Use Shotwell

Using Shotwell is the easiest way to do the job in Ubuntu. You don’t need to install anything, as it available out-of-the-box.

Just search for and open the app from Activities overview screen. Import (via File menu) and select your photos (Ctrl or Shift + Click), then you may use “File -> Set as Desktop Slideshow” option to set them as wallpaper and change automatically.

You may set time interval from 5 seconds up to 1 day. And, the slideshow will work even in next boot, until you select another wallpaper in “System Settings -> Background” page.

Option 2: Use Gnome Extension

There’s an extension can do the job, not only for Ubuntu, but also for Fedora and other Linux using GNOME desktop (e.g., Arch, Manjaro, CentOS, etc).

It’s light, simple and just do the basic function as well as options to manually go next wallpaper, and stop changing automatically.

Install the extension

Firstly, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal and run the command to install the agent package:

sudo apt install chrome-gnome-shell

Secondly, turn on the toggle icon in the link page below to install the extension.

NOTE: The pre-installed Firefox does not support installing Gnome Extension so far, use another browser or install the Deb version instead. And, for the first time, you need to install browser extension and refresh the page to see the toggle button.

Option 3: Use Variety

Besides automatically changing your desktop wallpaper, Variety is a good choice that also supports for downloading photo images from flickr, deviantart, unsplash, etc.

What makes it different is that it supports displaying custom text and digital clock on wallpaper. As well, it can apply random effect to your wallpapers, e.g., blur, oil painting.

To install Variety in Ubuntu, either press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal and run command:

sudo apt install variety

or just search for and click install in Ubuntu Software.

Option 4: Use Wallch

Wallch was a popular wallpaper managing app for Linux. Though it’s not been updated for a long period of time, the basic desktop slideshow function still works. And, it can be a choice for old desktop environments.

However, the live earth, daily picture, wallpaper clocks and live website features never work in my case.

To install Wallch, either use Ubuntu Software or run command in terminal:

sudo apt install wallch

Option 5: Group your images via XML file

If you would like to add your desktop slideshow as a choice in Background selection page, then this is for you.

1.) Create XML:

Firstly, you need to create a XML file that defines which photo images to use, how long each wallpaper will be displayed, transition time, etc.

To make things easy, you may install “Dynamic Wallpaper Editor” by running following 2 commands one by one in terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T):

sudo apt install flatpak
flatpak install https://dl.flathub.org/repo/appstream/com.github.maoschanz.DynamicWallpaperEditor.flatpakref

2.) Make use of XML:

After creating XML file or files, you need to put them into “~/.local/share/backgrounds” folder.

  • Run command in terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) to create the folder in case it does not exist.
    mkdir -p ~/.local/share/backgrounds
  • Open that folder in file manager to do copy & paste things.
    nautilus .local/share/backgrounds/

For each XML, you have to create another XML under “~/.local/share/gnome-background-properties”.

  • Run command to create that folder in case it does not exist.
    mkdir -p ~/.local/share/gnome-background-properties
  • Open that folder in file manager to create another XML files.
    nautilus ~/.local/share/gnome-background-properties

In this new XML file, you need to add following lines:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE wallpapers SYSTEM "gnome-wp-list.dtd">
<wallpapers>
  <wallpaper>
    <name>TYPE NAME HERE</name>
    <filename>PATH-TO-DESKTOP-SLIDESHOW-XML</filename>
    <options>zoom</options>
    <pcolor>#2c001e</pcolor>
    <scolor>#2c001e</scolor>
    <shade_type>solid</shade_type>
  </wallpaper>
</wallpapers>

As the picture shows, you have to type the full path (‘/home/USERNAME/.loca/share/…’) to the generated XML you created in previous step. If you did everything correctly, you should see the new choice (with little clock) in Background settings page.

That’s all. Enjoy!