Archives For Howtos

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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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.
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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.


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This tutorial shows how to search and print which files contain your specified text or string in Ubuntu and other Linux in command line, with examples.

Search file or file content is an important skill for Linux administrator. I’ve shown how to use locate command to search files through the keyword in its file-name, path, and file type.

Here I’m going to show you how to search files if you know any text or string they contain.

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Want to beatify your Steam app window in Ubuntu or other Linux. Here’s a free open-source project to do the job in GNOME.

It’s Adwaita for Steam, a skin to make Steam look more like a native GNOME app. With it, the title and tool bars will be merged into a compact GNOME Client-Side Decoration style header bar.

Along with rounded window corners extension, it will look just like a native app.

Steam with Adwaita skin

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