Boring with the external disk partitions, USB drive, as well as Trash icons displayed on the left panel (aka, Ubuntu Dock)? Ubuntu 22.04 now has the options in system settings to toggle display these icons.
It’s not hard to do the tweaks in previous Ubuntu editions. Usually, we just need to run single command in terminal (press Ctrl+Alt+T to open terminal):
gsettings set org.gnome.shell.extensions.dash-to-dock show-mounts false
Or, install and use the advanced ‘Dconf Editor‘ configuration tool to look for and change the key values.
Hide Mounted Drives & Trash from left panel in Ubuntu 22.04
In the daily build of the next Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, it now includes the options in the ‘Appearance‘ tab of system settings. So, users don’t have to search for the commands or look through the keys to do the trick.
1.) Firstly, open ‘Settings‘ either from start menu or top-right corner system tray menu. When it opens, navigate to ‘Appearance’ tab and click on ‘Configure dock behavior‘ in the right.
2.) In will pop-up a small dialog with toggle icons and check-boxes to show/hide the volumes and trash icon on Ubuntu Dock.
Just change the settings as you wish. The change will take effect immediately.
NOTE: Ubuntu 22.04 is not officially released at the moment, things can be changed and even removed in the final freeze.
The popular open-source live streaming app OBS Studio released v27.2 with exciting new features! Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu via different ways.
The software package is available in Ubuntu default repositories, but old. For the most recent version, there are official Ubuntu PPA, Official Flatpak package, and community maintained Snap package.
Option 1: Install OBS Studio via Ubuntu PPA:
The official PPA may be the most favorite method, since it installs the app as the classic .deb. So far, the PPA contains 64-bit package for Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 20.04, and Ubuntu 21.10.
1.) Press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. Next, paste the command below and hit Enter 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.) After adding the PPA, Ubuntu 18.04 user need to manually refresh system package cache via command:
sudo apt update
3.) Finally, either install the app via command:
sudo apt install obs-studio
Or update the software package using ‘Software Updater’ utility:
Option 2: Install OBS Studio via Flatpak:
The Fluthub repository offers the official 64-bit and 32-bit packages available to install in most Linux systems.
The Flatpak package updates automatically and use the latest dependency libraries for best performance. However, it takes hundreds more megabytes disk space!
1.) Firstly, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal and run command to install Flatpak daemon:
sudo apt install flatpak
2.) Next, install OBS Studio as Flatpak using command:
Snap is another universal package format runs in most Linux. It’s developed by Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu. It updates automatically and takes more disk space too. However, OBS Studio as Snap is NOT official package so far.
Ubuntu user may install the Snap package easily from Ubuntu Software. Though, it’s v27.1.3 at the moment.
NOTE: Snap, Flatpak, and Deb packages can be installed alongside with each other. So you may have duplicated app icons if more than one installed.
Uninstall OBS Studio:
To remove the Ubuntu PPA, open terminal and run command:
Ubuntu by default shows orange dots under app icons in the dock panel, indicate the apps have running windows. They are called ‘running dots‘. And, Ubuntu provides hidden settings to change the style as well as colors if you don’t like the default look and feel.
Option 1: Change the Orange Dots via Dconf Editor
1.) The advanced ‘Dconf Editor‘ provides a graphical interface to configure hidden settings in Ubuntu. You may firstly install it either via the apt command below:
sudo apt install dconf-editor
or use Ubuntu Software:
2.) Next, search for and open ‘Dconf Editor’ from the Activities overview screen. When it opens, navigate to ‘/org/gnome/shell/extensions/dash-to-dock/‘.
3.) Scroll down, find out and click to configure the key ‘running-indicator-style‘. By selecting another value will replace the dots with dashes, square dots, or lines.
4. After changing the style, you may also specify another color, by changing the value of ‘custom-theme-running-dots-color‘:
As you see, it also supports border color though disabled by default since border width set to 0.
In addition, you may enable different colors for running dots (dashes or lines) on per app basis by disabling ‘custom-theme-customize-running-dots‘ and then enabling ‘running-indicator-dominant-color‘.
Option 2: Customize the Orange Dots via gsettings command:
For those familiar with Linux commands, the previous things can be done by running the commands below in terminal.
Firstly, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run the commands below accordingly.
1.) Replace the dots with square dots, dashes, or vertical lines by running command:
gsettings set org.gnome.shell.extensions.dash-to-dock running-indicator-style 'DASHES'
Here the value ‘DASHES’ can be replaced with: ‘DOTS’, ‘SQUARES’, ‘SOLID’, ‘METRO’, ‘CILIORA’, and ‘SAGMENTED’.
Also, set it to ‘DEFAULT’ will reset to default and override the settings below.
2.) Specify a color to use for ‘running dots’ (change the color value as you prefer):
gsettings set org.gnome.shell.extensions.dash-to-dock custom-theme-running-dots-color '#F2F1F0'
3.) To have color on per app basis, first disable ‘custom-theme-customize-running-dots’ key via:
gsettings set org.gnome.shell.extensions.dash-to-dock custom-theme-customize-running-dots false
then enable ‘running-indicator-dominant-color’ via command:
gsettings set org.gnome.shell.extensions.dash-to-dock running-indicator-dominant-color true
Want to display your avatar icon in the top-right corner system menu? Here’s an extension to do the job for Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 21.10, and Debian 11 with GNOME desktop.
You know, many Linux desktops (e.g., KDE Plasma and Cinnamon) display the icon/figure of user account in the system start menu.
GNOME however does not have the classic style ‘start menu’ by default. Instead, user may add the avatar icon into upper-right corner system tray drop-down menu (aka system menu).
Install Avatar Extension:
The function is implemented by a small extension called ‘Big Avatar‘. It so far supports GNOME version from v3.36 to 40.
1. Install ‘chrome-gnome-shell’
Firstly, make sure you have installed the chrome-gnome-shell package, which is required for installing Gnome Extensions in Ubuntu from web browser.
To install it as well as extension management tool, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. Then, run command:
NOTE: Firefox as Snap (pre-installed in Ubuntu 21.10) so far (Feb, 2022) does not support for installing Gnome Extensions! Use another browser or install Firefox as classic DEB.
Now, go to the link button below in web browser and turn on the toggle icon to install the extension:
If you don’t see the toggle icon, try installing browser extension via ‘Click here to install browser extension’ link and refresh the web page.
3. Configure Avatar icon size:
The icon should appear immediately after installation. However, the icon size is NOT looking good.
To adjust it, search for and open ‘Gnome Extensions‘ app from Activities overview screen. When it opens, click on the gear button and change the value accordingly.
This simple tutorial shows how to install the desktop app of the Signal private messenger in Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 24.04, and Debian in 2 official ways. It should also work on their based systems, e.g., Linux Mint, Elementary OS, Kali Linux, and more.
Signal Desktop app is available to install in Ubuntu through 3 different ways. They include:
Native .deb package. official, Intel/AMD only, NOT easy to install for beginners.
Snap package. unofficial, for Intel/AMD and RAM (e.g., Raspi), very easy to install but run in sandbox.
Flatpak package. unofficial, Intel/AMD only, easy to install but run in sandbox.
Mozilla Firefox web browser 97.0 was released a day ago with few new features and various bug-fixes.
The release does not include any exciting new features for Linux, but only adds new minimal overlay scrollbar support for Windows 11. As well, system font loading on macOS has been improved to make opening and switching to new tabs faster in certain situations.
Other changes in Firefox 97 include:
The 18 colorway themes introduced in Firefox 94 expires! Though, enabled colorway will persist in add-on manager forever.
Remove support for directly generating PostScript for printing on Linux. However, printing to PostScript printers still remains a supported option
Various security fixes and new policies implemented in Enterprise 97.
colorways has gone
How to Install Firefox 97 in Ubuntu Linux:
For Ubuntu 21.10+ using the pre-installed Firefox as Snap, it updates automatically and user should now have v97.0.
For those using the classic .deb version, the best choice is wait! The official Ubuntu build will be available in next few days. At that time, open “Software Updater” to upgrade the Firefox package.
Firefox website also provides official Linux package via a portable tarball. Extract and run the executable file within the tarball will launch the web browser without installation:
The Fragments BitTorrent client finally released version 2.0. It’s now uses Rust, GTK4 and the new Libadwaita library to provide a stylish user interface for those running Linux with GNOME desktop.
For those never heard of Fragments, it’s a free open-source torrent app that uses Transmission as backend for transferring data. With it, user may starting downloading via:
click a magnet link
copy magnet into clipboard,
or add torrent via ‘+’ icon.
Fragments dark mode
By releasing version 2.0, it now has the ability to control remote Fragments or Transmission sessions. Simply click the option in hamburger menu, type a name and the IP address of remote machine. In advanced settings, toggle on/off SSL and specify the port if default one is not in use.
The header bar will turn purple and display a subtitle name indicates you’re in control of a remote session.
Instead of expanding the downloading item, it now shows the detailed information via a pop-up dialog. It displays the network speed, total up and downloaded data, as well as a few action buttons.
Other features include:
New context (right-click) menu.
Copy current download as Magnet link into clipboard.
Statistics about the current session
Rework preferences dialog with more options.
How to Install Fragments in Ubuntu & other Linux:
The software is available to install as Flatpak package. Open terminal by searching from ‘Activities’ overview screen. When it opens, run following commands one by one:
1.) Install Flatpak framework if you don’t have it installed by running command:
sudo apt install flatpak
2.) Add flathub, the main repository hosts a large list of flatpak packages:
Similar to Android lock screen owner info functionality, it allows you to add your message to the GNOME lock screen.
Custom text in lock screen
The extension is called ‘Lock Screen Message’. At the moment, it supports GNOME 40 and 41. Which means, you may install it on Ubuntu 21.10, Fedora 34/35, Arch Linux and Manjaro etc.
Install Lock Screen Message extension:
1. Install ‘chrome-gnome-shell’:
Firstly, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run command to install the ‘chrome-gnome-shell’ package and Gnome Extensions app if you don’t have it:
If you don’t see the toggle icon, install the browser extension via the link in that page and refresh it.
NOTE: The pre-installed Firefox in Ubuntu 21.10 is a Snap package that does NOT support for installing Gnome Extensions so far. Use another browser or install Firefox as deb.
Finally, search for and open ‘Gnome Extensions‘ from overview screen.
Manage Gnome Extensions
And, click on the gear button after that extension to input the text message to display in lock screen.
After Python3 and PyQt5 port, the Puddletag audio tag editor finally got a new update after almost 1 year and half of development.
Puddletag 2.1.0 fixed many crash issues, including crashes when using Update From Tag function, mass tagging search button, adding custom tag with language lyrics, searching with AcoustId, specifying ‘Export artwork to file’ in action, and more!!
Besides, there are some minor new features. When refreshing in preview mode, it now asks confirm before discarding changes; New Actions menu option ‘Go to parent folder‘; Copy & Paste cover from/to clipboard.
How to Install Puddletag 2.1.0 in Ubuntu
The new 2.1.0 release updates the minimum core dependency libraries! It seems that system default libraries in current Ubuntu releases (at least Ubuntu 20.04) do NOT meet the requirements.
Fortunately, Puddletag now is available to install via PyPI repository. Which means, all Ubuntu editions (including Ubuntu 18.04) as well as Ubuntu/Debian based systems may install the latest package via following steps!
1. Remove old package:
If you have an old puddletag package installed, such as from PPA repository. Remove it first by running command in terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T):
sudo apt remove --autoremove puddletag
2. Install Pip:
In case you don’t have pip, the command line tool for installing and managing Python packages. Firstly, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. And, run command to install it:
sudo apt install python3-pip
Type user password (no visual feedback) for sudo authentication and hit enter.
For non-Ubuntu/Debian based systems, replace the apt command with your system package manager.
3. Install Puddletag from PyPI:
Finally, run this single command in terminal will download & install the latest Puddletag as well as dependency packages from PyPI:
pip3 install puddletag
Later, you may run the command below at any time to try upgrading the package:
pip install --upgrade puddletag
Finally, try launching puddletag via command:
~/.local/bin/puddletag
4. Fix app shortcut issue:
By default, pip installs the executable file into ‘.local/bin‘ directory. If it’s NOT in your PATH, then Puddletag icon won’t show in app launcher (Activities overview search result). To workaround this issue, do following steps:
a.) Add ‘.local/bin’ to the PATH.
Firstly, open a terminal window and run the command below to edit user profile:
gedit ~/.profile
When the file opens, add following lines and save it:
if [ -d "$HOME/.local/bin" ] ; then
PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"
fi
After log out and back in, puddletag should appear in app menu (or overview search result).
b.) Fix missing icon file.
After step a.), the app shows in app launcher but misses icon. To fix the issue, simply grab one from the web. For example, download the source tarball and extract the PNG file.
Then put the icon file (named puddletag.png or puddletag.svg) into “.local/share/icons” directory. It’s a hidden folder, press Ctrl+H to toggle display it in file manager.
Manually install missing icon file
How to Remove Puddletag Python Package:
To remove Puddletag via pip, simply run command:
pip3 uninstall puddletag
However, this command leaves useless dependency packages un-handled. To also remove the dependency libraries, install pip-autoremove tool:
pip3 install pip-autoremove
Then use the tool to remove puddletag as well as dependencies:
