Howtos | UbuntuHandbook

How to Enable Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) in Ubuntu 24.04

Last updated: May 27, 2024 — 1 Comment

This tutorial shows how to enable variable refresh rate (VRR) to get better gaming experience in Ubuntu 24.04 with default GNOME Desktop.

Variable Refresh Rate (VRR), aka adaptive sync, is a feature that allows your monitor to adjust the refresh rate on the fly, so it matches the frame rate of output signal from the graphics card. It’s useful for games to eliminate screen tearing, and can also lowers power consumption since the monitor does not need to always refresh at the highest rate.

GNOME introduced experimental VRR since version 46 in default Wayland. Here I’m going to how to enable this feature.

Requirements:

Before getting started, you need to check something to make sure you meet all the requirements for enabling this feature.
Continue Reading…

In Howtos Gnome

How to Install & Setup PeaZip Archive Manager in Ubuntu 24.04

Last updated: November 25, 2024 — Leave a comment

This tutorial shows how to install PeaZip file archive manager and setup file manager integration in Ubuntu Desktop.

PeaZip is a free open-source archive manager for Windows, Linux, macOS, and BSD. It’s based on open source technologies of 7-Zip, p7zip, Brotli, FreeArc, PAQ, Zstandard, and PEA projects. And, supports over 200 archive types including 7Z / XZ / TXZ, ACE (*), BZ2 / TBZ, Brotli BR, GZ / TGZ, ISO, RAR, TAR, WIM, ZIP, ZIPX, ZPAQ, Zstandard ZST and more.

The free file archiver is easy to install in Ubuntu and other Linux through its official binary package. It provides a GUI window, and integrates well into file manager context menu.

In Howtos archive manager, Peazip

Install & Manage Flatpak Apps with This Full-Featured Tool

Last updated: January 14, 2025 — Leave a comment

Have many Flatpak app packages installed on your Linux desktop or mobile? Here’s an app to install, remove, downgrade, and manage app data with a simple graphical interface.

Flatpak is getting popular in today’s Linux, and some (e.g., Linux Mint, Fedora, and Pop!_OS) even have it support out-of-the-box. User can install (or uninstall) a Flatpak package by either using system package manager or running a Linux command in terminal. And, there’s a popular graphical tool Flatseal to manage permissions for each app package.

For users who want to get more controls for their Flatpak app packages, there’s a free open-source tool warehouse available for choice.

warehouse app window is adaptive

In App Review, Howtos flatpak

Install FFmpeg (7.1 Updated) via PPA in Ubuntu 22.04 | Ubuntu 24.04

Last updated: February 2, 2025 — 2 Comments

FFmpeg announced new major 7.0 release yesterday! Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 24.04, Ubuntu 24.10, Linux Mint 21/22.

The new version of this popular multi-media library came with name “Dijkstra”. It features native decoding support for VVC (aka H.266) through the libavcodec library, though it’s so far experimental.

The libavformat library can now read and write IAMF (Immersive Audio) files. And, a new -stream_group option is added into CLI tool to configure the IAMF structure.

As announced at the end of last year, the CLI (command-line) tool now is multi-threaded. Meaning, the transcoding process now runs in parallel that can be much faster than before.

In Howtos ffmpeg

How to Install & Update Discord in Ubuntu 24.04

Last updated: April 4, 2024 — Leave a comment

This is a step by step guide shows how to install Discord instant messaging app and keep it up-to-date in Ubuntu 24.04 LTS.

Discord is a popular instant messaging and VoIP social platform, that supports voice & video calls, text messaging, media and files. It works in Windows, Linux, macOS, Android, iOS/iPadOS, and web browser.

Discord for Linux so far supports only x86_64 (AMD/Intel CPUs) platform with following packages:

Deb – native for Debian/Ubuntu.
tar.gz – portable package for most Linux.
Flatpak – runs in sandbox for most Linux.
Snap – runs in sandbox for most Linux.

In Howtos Discord

How to Install Google Chrome in Ubuntu 24.04 LTS

Last updated: April 3, 2024 — 3 Comments

This is a step by step guide shows how to install Google Chrome web browser and keep it up-to-date in Ubuntu 24.04 LTS.

Google Chrome is the top popular web browser today. It is a proprietary software free for use. For those who prefer open-source, then Google also offers Chromium browser for choice.

Google Chrome is available to install in Linux on only Intel/AMD platform through 2 ways! They are:

official and native .deb/.rpm package.
unofficial community maintained Flatpak package, runs in sandbox environment.

Here I’m going to show you how to install the browser in both ways. Choose either that you prefer.

In Howtos chrome, google chrome

How to Install Spotify Client in Ubuntu 24.04

Last updated: January 3, 2025 — 2 Comments

This tutorial shows how to install the popular Spotify music app in Ubuntu 24.04, Ubuntu 24.10 though Snap, Deb, or Flatpak packages.

Spotify supports for Linux officially through Snap package which runs in sandbox environment, and Deb package that’s native in Debian and Ubuntu.

For choice, there’s also a community maintained Flatpak package, which also runs in sandbox environment. All of them is available for only x86_64 (Intel/AMD CPUs) platform so far.

Spotify for Linux packages:

Snap package, runs in sandbox and receives updates automatically.
Deb package, the classic package format runs natively in Debian and Ubuntu.
Flatpak package, unofficial community maintained package, runs in sandbox and works in most Linux desktop.

In Howtos Audio, cloud music, spotify

Add Google Gemini AI Chatbot in Ubuntu 24.04/23.10 Panel

Last updated: April 2, 2024 — Leave a comment

Want an AI chatbot in Ubuntu Desktop? There’s now an extension can do the job by adding Gemini AI into GNOME Panel.

Gemini, formerly known as Bard, is an AI chatbot developed by Google. It’s initially released last year in 2023, and available in 239 countries for 46 languages. The AI chatbot is a proprietary software, but available in both free and paid versions.

If you want to try out the Gemini AI, then this is a step by step guide shows you how to do the trick in Ubuntu Desktop.

In Howtos AI Chatbot, Gemini

How to Install Blender 4.3 in Ubuntu 24.04

Last updated: November 22, 2024 — 2 Comments

This is a step by step guide shows how to install Blender app in Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 24.04, and Ubuntu 24.10 Desktop.

Blender is a popular free open-source 3D graphics software works in Linux, Windows, and MacOS.

Ubuntu includes the software package in system repository, but always old as you know. The upside is that it supports all platforms, including x86_64 (AMD/Intel), arm64 (e.g., Raspberry Pi), ppc64el (IBM Power platform), RISC-V 64, and s390x (IBM zSystems and LinuxONE).

For Ubuntu user on x86_64 (AMD/Intel) computers, the latest version can be installed through following packages:

Official Linux Tarball.
Official Snap package (runs in sandbox).
Flatpak package (Community maintained and runs in sandbox).

In Howtos 3D Graphics, blender

How to Install/Remove Flatpak (.flatpakref) in Ubuntu 24.04

Last updated: January 14, 2025 — Leave a comment

This is a step by step beginner’s guide shows how to install (or uninstall) Flatpak App Package, including local .flatpakref file, in Ubuntu 24.04.

Flatpak is an universal package format that can be installed in most Linux with a sandbox environment. It’s a free open-source project developed by Flatpak Team, which has closer relationship to GNOME and Red Hat.

As a competitor, Ubuntu has its own universal Snap package runs in sandbox. Flatpak is NOT supported out-of-the-box in Ubuntu, but easy to enable!