Want to send your application shortcut icons onto desktop, so you can click them to launch the corresponding apps? This simple tutorial is going to show you how to do the job in Ubuntu 24.04 with default GNOME Desktop.
As far as I know, there are 2 ways to easily add your app icons to the desktop in Ubuntu. They include:
Manually drag and drop the associated .desktop file on to desktop, add executable permission, and enable allow launching.
Another way is using an extension, which adds “Add to Desktop” context menu option to your app icons.
This simple tutorial is going to show you how to add both flatpak and AppImage package format support, while Ubuntu does not support them out-of-the-box.
Like Snap, Flatpak is an universal Linux package format runs in sandbox. Many software developers provide their app packages for Linux through Flatpak. And, AppImage is a portable Linux package format. Just download the package, and click ‘Run’ (after adding executable permission) will launch the program.
Enable Flatpak Support in Ubuntu
Ubuntu is focusing on the native deb and snap support. The developer team has officially announced that they won’t support Flatpak out-of-the-box.
However, user has the freedom of choice to use any other source sources, including Flatpak.
1. To enable Flatpak support, first press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal, and run command:
sudo apt install flatpak
Type user password (no asterisk feedback) when it asks and hit Enter. In case the command does not work, run sudo apt update first to update package index.
2. (Optional) Then, you can choose to add the Flathub repository, the standard repository that contains tons of applications as Flatpak. To do so, run command:
When done, log out and back in to apply the variable environment change.
3. Finally, you can either go to flathub.org and install any Flatpak application, by running the flatpak install command in the down-arrow menu beside “Install” button.
Or, install a local .flatpak (or .flatpakref) file by running command:
AppImage is a non-install package format for Linux. Like some .exe or .msi files, user can directly click run .AppImage file to launch applications. Though, the ‘allow executing file as program’ option has to be enabled first in file ‘Properties’ dialog.
Ubuntu does NOT support AppImage out-of-the-box, due to switch to fuse3, while the file format requires the classic fuse2.
So enable AppImage is also easy. Just open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command to install the fuse2 library:
sudo apt install libfuse2
After that, right-click on your AppImage file and click ‘Run’ to launch the application after enabled ‘allow executing file as program’ and enjoy!
In Ubuntu, Fedora and other Linux with GNOME desktop, you may found that many applications have child dialogues attached to parent windows.
For example, when opening ‘About’ dialog for Files or adding custom shortcut in System Settings. The parent window will always attach the pop-up child dialog. User can not move it out of the way until close it.
For those who don’t like this feature, it’s easy to detach the child windows. And, this tutorial is going to show you how!
Option 1: Single command to detach child windows
For those who are familiar with Linux command, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open a terminal window.
When terminal opens, run command:
gsettings set org.gnome.mutter attach-modal-dialogs false
It applies the change immediately once you hitting Enter, though it’s for current user only!
Option 2: Use Gnome Tweaks (Graphical)
Gnome Tweaks, the popular graphical configuration tool for GNOME desktop, also has the option to do the similar job.
First, search for and install “Gnome Tweaks” from Ubuntu Software (or Gnome Software):
Then, launch Gnome Tweaks and navigate to “Windows” in left. Finally, turn off the option for “Attach Modal Dialogs” option and done.
The Ubuntu Team announced the Beta release of the Ubuntu 23.04 “Lunar Lobster” today!
Ubuntu 23.04 is a short team release with 9 months support! The final stable release will be available in next few weeks. And, it features Linux Kernel 6.2 and GNOME Desktop 44.
What’s New in Ubuntu 23.04
When trying to install the new Ubuntu release via an ISO image, you’ll see the new installer wizard. The new installer is a Flutter app with fast response and modern user interface.
Lunar new installer wizard
Thanks to GNOME 44, the top-right system menu (Quick Settings) will now display a ‘Background App‘ sub-menu, allowing to manage applications run in background. Though, only Flatpak applications are supported so far.
The “Settings” has redesigned “Mouse & Touchpad”, and “Accessibility” pages, with clean and easy to use configure options. Create Wi-Fi hotspot now displays QR code, and Network settings page now supports for adding WirdGuard VPN. About page is also been updated with more information such as Firmware version.
Paste photo image from clipboard directly into image file.
New Ubuntu fonts.
Ruby 3.1, Python 3.11.2, and more.
The new release also features 10 official flavors. Besides Kubuntu, Lubuntu, Ubuntu Budgie, Ubuntu Kylin, Ubuntu MATE, Ubuntu Studio, Ubuntu Unity, and Xubuntu, there are 2 new flavors: Edubuntu and Ubuntu Cinnamon.
How to Get Ubuntu 23.04
The ISO images for Ubuntu, Server and Netboot install tarball are available to download at the link below:
Ubuntu 22.10 user can upgrade to the development branch of 23.04, by installing all available package updates and then run update-manager -d -c in terminal. Or follow the official guide here.
Blender 3.5, the popular 3D creation software, was released few days ago. Here are the new features and how to install guide for Ubuntu users.
The new release features 26 built-in hair assets, allows to drag and drop to use onto your setups. As well, it allows to do many actions on hair curves, such as generate, duplicate, deform, trim, rotate, roll up, and more.
It also added support for Vector Displacement Maps (VDM) brushes, new GPU-based 3D viewport compositor, many lights sampling for Cycles.
New Natural Drawing Speed timing mode in the Build modifier
Support for Importing and exporting USDZ files.
How to Install Blender 3.5 in Ubuntu
Option 1: Install Blender as Snap
For Ubuntu 20.04 and higher, it’s super easy to install the latest Blender package through the official Snap package.
Simply open Ubuntu Software, search for ‘Blender’ and click install it.
I’m not sure if Ubuntu software in 18.04 has added support for Snap, but user can just press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal and run command to install the daemon & Blender as snap:
And here’s a step by step guide shows how to create app shortcut for the portable package.
Blender is also available to install as Flatpak package. For those prefer the classic .deb package, there’s a third-party PPA, though not updated at the moment of writing.
The Ubuntu design team is working on new Ubuntu fonts and proposes to use as default in the upcoming Ubuntu 23.04.
For testing purpose, the team posted the .deb packages for the new fonts in this thread. User can try it out by installing in all current Ubuntu releases and report any issue in this page.
I’ve tried out the new fonts in Ubuntu 22.04 LTS. The text in system menu and application window becomes a bit thin and compact than before.
And, the document text in text editor looks enlarged, that I even doubted if the font size was changed mistakenly.
How to Install the New Fonts
First, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open a terminal window. When it opens, run single command below to download the 2 font packages:
You can then remove the 2 packages in user home folder. And restart computer to apply changes after installation.
How to Restore original fonts
The stock fonts package version varies on different Ubuntu editions, so I would recommend to first install Synaptic package manager in Ubuntu Software.
Then, open “Synaptic” and do:
Search and highlight “fonts-ubuntu” package.
Go to menu “Package -> Force Version”.
Select the old stock version from pop-up dialog, then click “Force Version” button.
Finally, click “Apply”.
Also, do the previous steps one by one for “fonts-ubuntu-console” package.
The popular Alacritty terminal emulator got a new release few days ago. Here are the new features and how to install guide for Ubuntu Linux.
Alacritty is a free open-source GPU-accelerated terminal emulator written in Rust programming language. It features Vi mode motion and selection via keyboard, Vi search/normal search, hints, etc.
The new 0.12.0 release features fractional scaling support on Wayland session via wp-fractional-scale protocol. It also added touchscreen input support for click, scroll, select, zoom actions.
Other changes include:
Support for horizontal scrolling in mouse mode and alternative scrolling modes
Support for running on GLES context
New window.resize_increments config option, which is disabled by default
New -T flag, short form for --title.
Always use sRGB color space on macOS.
Resize increments are now set on macOS and X11 to resize by cell sizes.
Proper hint about window transparency in Wayland and macOS.
Change window.decorations_theme_variant to use Dark, Light, and None values
They are as well various other changes and bug-fixes, see the Github releases page for details.
How to Install Alacritty terminal emulator in Ubuntu Linux
This app is not available in Ubuntu system repository until the next Ubuntu 23.04. User can install it via 2 methods: cargo package manager, or third-party Ubuntu PPA.
Option 1: Install Alacritty via cargo package manager
Cargo is the command line package manager for Rust, like Pip for Python. User can use the tool to install Alacritty terminal emulator in most Linux, though user needs to MANUALLY setup PATH variable and create shortcut icon.
1. First, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run command to install cargo:
sudo apt install cargo
Type user password (no asterisk feedback) when it asks and hit Enter to continue.
2. Then, install Alacritty for current user only by running command:
cargo install alacritty
3. As mentioned, cargo package does not add PATH variable by default. You can verify by running $PATH command and see if “/home/USERNAME/.cargo/bin” present in the output.
To add it into user PATH, run command nano ~/.profile to edit user profile and add following lines:
if [ -d "$HOME/.cargo/bin" ] ; then
PATH="$HOME/.cargo/bin:$PATH"
fi
When done, press Ctrl+X, type y and hit Enter to save change! NOTE: user PATH changes take effect at next login.
4. The cargo package also does not create shortcut icons. Meaning you need to manually create one by running command:
This simple tutorial shows how to install the Budgie Desktop (10.8 so far) in Ubuntu 22.04 LTS.
Ubuntu Budgie is one of the official Ubuntu flavors features the Budgie desktop. While Ubuntu Budgie 22.04 ships with Budgie Desktop 10.6.1, the latest version has reached v10.9.
For those who want to get the latest features, but don’t want to upgrade the whole system. The developers team maintains an Ubuntu PPA contains the most recent desktop packages for Ubuntu 22.04 LTS.
NOTE: The PPA so far contains Budgie desktop 10.8! According to the PPA description, it will include the latest 10.9 release.
1. First, search for and open “terminal” from application menu. When it opens, run command to add the PPA:
The Ubuntu team announced the 6th point release for Ubuntu 20.04 LTS. According to the release note, Ubuntu 20.04.6 fixed the Secure Boot issue for the amd64 installer:
Unlike previous point releases, 20.04.6 is a refresh of the amd64 installer media after recent key revocations, re-enabling their usage on Secure Boot enabled systems.
The release also includes many security updates, and backports from Ubuntu 22.04 LTS. The “Software & Updates” has been updated to replace Livepatch tab with Ubuntu Pro.
Other changes include:
add meta package to improve support for Lenovo ThinkCentre M70t/M80t Gen 3, Lenovo ThinkPad P14s/T14 Gen 2a, Lenovo ThinkPad T14s/X13 Gen 2a, etc devices.
fix slow refresh rate with AMD GPU Screen output in reverse prime mode.
add GSettings power management keys for AD SYStem integration.
fix samba interoperability with Windows 22H2 client.
fix issue that starting a salted session fails when using an RSA key in FIPS mode
add support for open kernel module or driver in nvidia-515
support EM120/160 firmware update
add sdio firmware for qca9377 wifi module
See the changelog for more changes in Ubuntu 20.04.6.
Download Ubuntu 20.04.6
For earlier version of Ubuntu 20.04, just open Software Updater and install all available updates will bring you to the new Ubuntu 20.04.6. For the .iso image, just go to this page.
The application is a command line tool, though it has a graphical interface for GNOME 42+ (Ubuntu 22.04 / Fedora 35 and higher).
Image borrowed from extension web page, as I don’t have a headset at hand
How to Install the HeadsetControl app
The app so far does not have binary package for Ubuntu Linux, though it’s not hard to build it from source. The following steps is tested and works in my case in Ubuntu 22.04 LTS.
1. First, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open a terminal window. When it opens, run command to install build dependencies:
2. Then, clone the source by running the git command in terminal, and then navigate to the source folder:
git clone https://github.com/Sapd/HeadsetControl && cd HeadsetControl
3. Create ‘build’ sub-folder, navigate to that sub-folder and start building it:
mkdir build && cd build && cmake ../
4. Finally, run make and then make install to build and install the tool:
make -j4
sudo make install
Once successfully installed, it will output that ‘/usr/local/bin/headsetcontrol‘ and ‘/usr/local/lib/udev/rules.d/70-headsets.rules‘ installed.
How to Install the Extension for graphical UI
For Ubuntu 22.04 and higher, first search for and install “Extension Manager” from Ubuntu Software.
Install Extension Manager in Ubuntu 22.04+
Then, use “Extension Manager” to search and install the ‘HeadsetControl’ extension under ‘Browse’ tab.
Once installed, it should show the indicator applet in system tray area immediately with menu options to control your headset! Other Linux can go to this page to use ON/OFF switch to install the extension.
Uninstall:
To remove the extension, either go to the link page above and use ON/OFF switch, or use “Extension Manager” or Gnome Extensions tool.
To remove the command line application, open terminal and run command: