Archives For Howtos

This tutorial shows how to block ads, trackers, and malware domains system-wide in Ubuntu and other Linux desktop using hBlock.

hBlock is a free open-source script that collects a large list of domains that serve ads, tracking scripts and malware from multiple sources. It blocks them by mapping all those domain names to 0.0.0.0 using hosts file, thus it works system-wide.

Continue Reading…

For GnuCash users who prefer the native .deb package format, here I made a new unofficial PPA for all current Ubuntu releases.

GnuCash is a popular personal and small-business financial-accounting software. It’s available in the Ubuntu system repositories, but always old.

I’ve written about how to install the most recent GnuCash 5.10 in Ubuntu in different ways. For those who prefer the .deb package, here’s a new PPA available for choice.

Continue Reading…

Emacs text editor released new major 30.1 version a few days ago. For Ubuntu users who prefer the classic .deb package, here’s unofficial PPA updated for all current Ubuntu releases.

Emacs 30.1 features Android port, improved touchscreen support, new trusted-content option, native JSON support, default app for ‘org-protocol’, ability to set toolbar to bottom, new packages, and more. See the NEWS page for details.

Continue Reading…

This tutorial shows how to enable touchpad 4-finger swipe and pinch gestures in Ubuntu 24.04 and 24.10 with default GNOME Desktop on Wayland.

GNOME since version 40 supports 3-finger swipe gestures to switch between workspaces and trigger overview screen. And, there’s an extension Gesture Improvements to enhance the features with 4-finger and pinch gestures support. However, the extension only supports Gnome from version 40 to 44.

If you want to extend the gestures on recent GNOME 45 ~ 47 (meaning Ubuntu 24.04, Ubuntu 24.10, Fedora Workstation 40-42, etc), there’s now an open-source fork to do the job on Wayland.

Continue Reading…

Want to downgrade the Linux Kernel to the original GA (General Availability) Kernel 6.8 in Ubuntu 24.04? Here’s how to do the job step by step.

Since Ubuntu 24.04.2, the LTS by default ships with HWE kernel 6.11, which will be updated to the newer kernel series for the next point releases. However, the original Kernel 6.8 is always easy to install back.

Continue Reading…

This is a step by step beginner’s guide shows how to install and setup the latest Wireshark network protocol analyzer software in Ubuntu 24.04, Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 20.04, and Linux Mint 22/21.

Wireshark is a popular free open-source software to capture and display real-time details of network traffic. It’s available in Ubuntu system repository, but old.

Continue Reading…

This tutorial shows how to add (or remove) the “proposed” repository to install (or downgrade) the pre-released packages/updates in Ubuntu.

As you may know, Ubuntu has an area called proposed for updates that are being tested before publication. It’s recommended for developers and users who are interested in helping to test updates and provide feedback.

The proposed repository is disabled by default. If you want, here’s how to enable it in all current Ubuntu releases.

Continue Reading…

This is a beginner’s guide shows how to enable the experimental HDR feature in Ubuntu, Fedora Workstation, and other Linux with recent GNOME.

HDR is a technology allowing to transmit high dynamic range videos and images to compatible displays. KDE has HDR support in Plasma 6, and GNOME is going to add HDR toggle option in next v48 release.

GNOME to add HDR toggle option in next v48

Continue Reading…

This is a step by step beginner’s guide shows how to configure Nginx to block certain IPs or IP range from accessing your website, and block all others while only you (and specified IPs) can access the wordpress login pages.

This site was under attack a few days ago. Someone made tens of thousands of constant requests that slowed down the server response. And, here’s what I did to manually block attacker’s IPs and restrict access to the login page.
Continue Reading…

Want to install Kodi home theater software v21.2 “Omega” via native .deb package? Here’s a PPA for Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, though unofficial.

Kodi has an official Ubuntu PPA, which has not been updated for long time. The official package for Linux now is Flatpak that runs in sandbox environment.

For those who don’t like Flatpak or have issue running the software in sandbox, here’s an unofficial PPA available for Ubuntu 24.04 and Linux Mint 22 users.


Continue Reading…