App Review | UbuntuHandbook

Stacer – System Optimizer / Cleaner / Monitor for Ubuntu Desktop

Last updated: June 9, 2019

Stacer is an open-source, CCleaner like system optimizer and application monitor utility for Linux desktop.

Stacer features:

Monitoring system resource usage.
System cleaner for package caches, application logs.
Manage system services, processes, packages, startup applications, apt repositories.
Window manager and desktop appearance settings.

How to Install Stacer in Ubuntu:

The software offers .Appimage (non-install executable file) and .deb packages in the project release page:

Stacer also has an stable PPA with .deb packages and future updates for Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 19.04, and their derivatives.

1. Open terminal either via Ctrl+Alt+T shortcut or from application menu. When it opens, run command:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:oguzhaninan/stacer

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

2. Then check updates and install the utility via following 2 commands:

sudo apt update

sudo apt install stacer

Uninstall Stacer:

To remove the utility, run command in terminal:

sudo apt remove --auto-remove stacer

And remove the PPA repository from Software & Updates -> Other Software tab.

In App Review, Howtos CCleaner Alternative Ubuntu

Slimbook – Another Battery Saving Tool for Ubuntu

Last updated: May 4, 2019

Slimbook battery is a battery optimization tool that works on Gnome, KDE, Unity, Cinnamon, and MATE desktop.

The software offers a system tray application indicator with three energy modes: Energy Saving, Balanced, and Maximum Performance. Also an ‘Off‘ menu option is available to turn off the optimization.

Each energy mode comes with default values. User is allowed to change the most important values via the Preferences (Advanced mode).

How to Install Slimbook battery in Ubuntu:

Slimbook’s official PPA contains the latest packages for Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 18.10, Ubuntu 19.04, and their derivatives.

1. Open terminal either via Ctrl+Alt+T keyboard shortcut or from application menu. When it opens, run command to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:slimbook/slimbook

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

2. Then refresh system package cache and install the tool:

sudo apt update

sudo apt install slimbookbattery

Once installed, launch it from application menu and enjoy!

Uninstall:

To remove the tool, open terminal and run command:

sudo apt remove --auto-remove slimbookbattery

And remove the PPA either via Software & Updates-> Other Software, or by running command:

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:slimbook/slimbook

In App Review battery saving

Show System Info / Hardware Details in Ubuntu Command Line

Last updated: January 9, 2019

To check system information and hardware details in Ubuntu command console, without confused with various Linux commands, there’s a full featured CLI system information available.

There’s already a great graphical tool Hardinfo available in Ubuntu Software. For the command line tool, inxi is available to check:

Audio/sound card(s), driver, sound server.
System battery info
CPU output
Hard Disk info
Graphics card, driver, display server, resolution, renderer, OpenGL version.
General info, including processes, uptime, memory, IRC client or shell type, inxi version.
Memory (RAM) data (Require root)
Network card, driver.
system info, partition info, sensors output, USB data, and more.

To install inxi in Ubuntu, simply run command:

sudo apt-get install inxi

Then run man inxi to get a list of command options, or run inxi -F to get a brief output:

For more about the tool, go to inxi web page.

In App Review hardware info CLI, system info CLI

Split, Merge, and Mix PDF files in Ubuntu via PDF Mix Tool

Last updated: October 8, 2018

PDF Mix Tool is an open-source and lightweight application allows to split, merge, rotate and mix PDF files.

The software is written in C++ and depends only on Qt 5 and PoDoFo.

Right click edit PDF

The software offers official snap (containerised software package) package, so it can be easily installed from Ubuntu Software:

You can also run command in terminal instead to install the snap package:

snap install pdfmixtool

For Ubuntu 16.04, install snapd daemon if previous command does not work.

sudo apt install snapd snapd-xdg-open

In App Review Merge PDF, PDF Mix Tool, Split PDF

Flameshot – Another Great Screenshot Tool for Ubuntu Linux

Last updated: September 3, 2018

Flameshot is a simple yet powerful screenshot tool with annotation feature. Other than Shutter, it’s another of my favorite screen capturing tools for Ubuntu desktop so far.

Flameshot is written by C++ with Qt5 framework. It offers a system tray icon with ‘Take Screenshot’ and ‘Configuration’ menu options.

While selecting a screen area to capture, many editing tool buttons appear at the bottom. And you can press right-click to show color picker, and Space to open the side panel.

Other software features include:

Customizable appearance.
DBus interface.
Upload to Imgur.

How to Install Flameshot in Ubuntu:

The software is available in Ubuntu Software for Ubuntu 18.04 and higher, however, Canonical won’t provide regular update for the package.

For the latest release, grab the .deb package for Ubuntu 18.04 bionic or Ubuntu 16.04 xenial from the link below:

Flameshot releases

then right-click the .deb package -> Open with Other Application -> Gdebi package installer. (install gdebi via command sudo apt install gdebi in terminal).

Uninstall:

To uninstall the tool, open terminal either via Ctrl+Alt+T shortcut key or from software launcher. When it opens, run command:

sudo apt remove --autoremove flameshot

In App Review, Howtos screenshot tool

UKTools – Another Tool to Install the latest Linux Kernels in Ubuntu

Last updated: August 10, 2018

There’s already a graphical tool called Ukuu which make it easy to install the latest Linux Kernels in Ubuntu and Linux Mint.

Today I’m going to show you a new command line tool called UKTools which provides:

uktools-upgrade, one command to install the latest Linux kernel (stable) from kernel.ubuntu.com.
uktools-purge, one command to remove old kernels, the first and the last two are excluded.

The tools also support cron jobs to automatically run upgrade and/or purge scripts.

NOTE that the mainline kernels are provided by Ubuntu Kernel Team for testing and debugging purposes. They are not supported and are not appropriate for production use. You should only install these if they may fix a critical problem you’re having with the current kernel. Read more about mainline kernels.

How to Install UKTools in Ubuntu:

The application does not has any Ubuntu binary at the moment. However, it’s easy to compile it from the source.

1. Open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and clone the source via command:

git clone https://github.com/usbkey9/uktools && cd uktools

2. Then compile and install it via command:

make

The setup runs automatically if it’s installed successfully.

Uninstall:

Keep the uktools folder in your user root directory, so you can re-run UKTools setup, or remove the command line tool via command:

cd ~/uktools/ && make uninstall

In App Review, Howtos Linux Kernel, Ubuntu Kernel Upgrade Utility

4 Best Automatic Wallpaper Changer For Ubuntu 18.04

Last updated: July 14, 2018

Looking for how to create desktop slideshow in Ubuntu 18.04? Here I’ll show you some best wallpaper changing software for Ubuntu Linux.

1. Shotwell

For just the basic automatic wallpaper changing feature, you don’t need to install any software.

Just launch the pre-installed Shotwell photo manager, choose the pictures you need (you may need to import them first), then go to Files -> Set as Desktop Slideshow.

Finally set the time interval in next dialog and done!

2. Wallch

Wallch was my favorite wallpaper changing software though it’s not under active development. Besides changing local wallpapers, Wallch also features:

Display live earth as desktop background.
Download and display picture of the day (wikipedia).
Wallpaper clocks
Live website as desktop background.

Wallch can be easily installed in Ubuntu Software:

3. Variety

Variety is an open-source wallpaper changer that use local images or automatically download wallpapers from Unsplash and other online sources, allows you to rotate them on a regular interval, and provides easy ways to separate the great images from the junk. Variety can also display wise and funny quotations or a nice digital clock on the desktop.

Variety can be easily installed in Ubuntu Software. For the latest release, go to Variety website.

4. Wallpaper Downloader

This is a wallpaper downloading software that automatically downloads pictures from Devianart, Bing daily wallpaper, Wallhaven.cc, etc., with given keywords, resolution, time interval. And of course, it provides ability to change wallpaper every x minute.

Wallpaper Downloader can be installed easily in Ubuntu Software.

These are the applications that I’ve ever used to create desktop slideshows in Ubuntu desktop.

If you know any other great wallpaper changing software, feel free to tell me in the comment.

In App Review desktop slideshow, wallpaper changer, wallpaper downloader

Cronopete: Mac OS Time Machine-like Backup Tool for Linux

Last updated: July 10, 2018

For those looking for Time Machine like backup software, Cronopete is a Linux backup utility modeled after Apple’s time machine.

“The name comes from anacronopete (“who flies through time”), which is a time machine featured in the novel from Enrique Gaspar y Rimbaud, and published in 1887 (eight years before than H.G. Wells’Time Machine).”

Install Cronopete backup tool in Ubuntu:

The software project page so far offers packages for Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 17.10, and other Linux.

Download Cronopete

Grab the package for Ubuntu bionic (for Ubuntu 18.04), or package for Ubuntu artful (for Ubuntu 17.10).

Then install it via:

Install Gdebi package installer from Ubuntu Software.
Right-click on downloaded .deb package, then go to open with Other Application -> Gdebi package installer.
Finally click install the Cronopete package.

Or open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command to install the package:

sudo dpkg -i ~/Downloads/cronopete-*.deb; sudo apt-get -f install

Once installed, open the settings dialog from your system app launcher and enjoy!

Enable store backups in a folder:

When you click ‘Change destination’ button to choose a folder to save backups, you’ll be prompted to enable folder backend. And this can be done by:

Install Dconf Editor via Ubuntu Software.
Launch Dconf Editor and navigate to /org/rastersoft/cronopete
Scroll down and enable enable-folder-backend

Uninstall:

To remove Cronopete backup tool, open terminal via Ctrl+Alt+T and run command:

sudo apt-get remove --autoremove cronopete

In App Review backup, Cronopete, Time Machine

Download and Change Wallpaper Automatically via ‘WallpaperDownload’

Last updated: February 25, 2018

Wallpaper Downloader is a java software to automatically download you favorite wallpapers from internet and set as desktop background every few minutes.

With the software, you can:

Automatically download wallpapers from:
- Wallhaven.cc
- Devianart
- Bing daily wallpaper
- Social Wallpapering
- WallpaperFusion
- DualMonitorBackgrounds.
Download wallpapers with given keywords.
Download wallpapers with given time interval
Changes desktop wallpaper with given time interval.
Single click to move favorite wallpapers to another directory.

How to Install Wallpaper Downloader in Ubuntu:

1. For users (Ubuntu 16.04 only) never installed a snap package, open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command to install snapd:

sudo apt-get install snapd snapd-xdg-open

2. As a snap package, you can search for and install the package in Ubuntu Software:

or run single command to install the snap package:

snap install wallpaperdownloader

(Optional) If you don’t like the software, simply run command to remove the snap:

snap remove wallpaperdownloader

In addition, the software also has an official PPA with traditional deb packages for all current Ubuntu releases.

In App Review, Howtos wallpaper changer, wallpaper downloader

PyRadio – Command Line Internet Radio Player for Ubuntu

Last updated: January 18, 2018

PyRadio is an open-source curses based internet radio player that runs in command console. The software is implemented in Python, and uses mplayer or VLC for media playback.

The community has recently made the snap package for PyRadio to make it easy to install the tool in Ubuntu 16.04 and higher either via Ubuntu Software: