Want to measure your application launch time in Linux? There’s an extension can do the job for GNOME desktop.
Meaning Ubuntu, Fedora workstation, and other Linux with GNOME desktop can easily tell how much time it takes for launching an application, which is useful for benchmark and/or software developing purpose.
With the extension enabled, every time you launching an application, an on-screen display pops up shows the loading time in millisecond. Not only for native .deb/.rpm, but also for Snap and Flatpak applications.
How to Install the App Start Time Measure extension
For Ubuntu 22.04, first search for and install “Extension Manager” from Ubuntu Software.
Install Extension Manager in Ubuntu 22.04+
Then launch “Extension Manager” and use it to search & install ‘application start time measure’:
For Ubuntu 20.04, first press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run command to install the agent package:
sudo apt install chrome-gnome-shell
Then, go to extension page in the link below and use ON/OFF switch to install it:
Install the browser extension if prompted via link in that page and refresh if you don’t see the ON/OFF switch.
After installing the extension, it should be enable automatically (verify via ‘Gnome Extensions’ or ‘Extension Manager’). You can then launch something and see the magic!
qBittorrent got a new major release this weekend. Here’s the new features and how to install guide for Ubuntu 22.04
qBittorrent 4.5.0 features new icon theme, new color theme, better startup time, and export torrent support. And, it now uses libtorrent 2.0.x in the default binary packages.
Other changes include:
Add ‘View’ menu option to show/hide filter sidebar.
Add Auto resize columns functionality
Allow to use Category paths in Manual mode
Allow to disable Automatic mode when default “temp” path changed
Add right click menu for status filters
Allow setting the number of maximum active checking torrents
Allow to set working set limit on non-Windows OS
Allow to use POSIX-compliant disk IO type
Add Filter files field in new torrent dialog
Add file name filter/blacklist
Add support for custom SMTP ports
Add ability to run external program on torrent added
Add infohash and download path columns
Allow to set torrent stop condition
Add a Moving status filter
Add a Use proxy for hostname lookup option
Introduce a change listen port cmd option
Implement Peer ID Client column for Peers tab
Add port forwarding option for embedded tracker
As well, there are various bug-fixes in the release. See more in the news page.
How to install qBittorrent 4.5.0 in Ubuntu 22.04
UPDATE: Due to requirement of Qt6 >= 6.5.0, the PPA will no longer update for Ubuntu 24.04, 22.04, and 20.04. For newer releases, see this tutorial for other installation methods.
The software has an official Ubuntu PPA which however updates the latest package so far only for Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 23.10, Linux Mint 21 and their based systems.
1. First, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open a terminal window. When it opens, run command to add the PPA:
Type user password when it asks (no asterisk feedback) and hit Enter to continue.
2. Then, either run software updater (Update Manager) to update the bittorrent client if an old version was installed.
Or install it using command:
sudo apt install qbittorrent
For Linux Mint, either use Software Manager after refreshing package cache, or run sudo apt update before running the command above.
Uninstall/Restore:
Option 1: If you want to downgrade qBittorrent package to stock version in system repository, install ppa-purge tool and purge the PPA by running command in terminal:
Got an application, but you want to make it in-visible from start menu, app grid, app launcher and dock? Here’s how to do the trick in Ubuntu 24.04, Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 20.04, though it should also work in most other Linux.
It’s easy to do the trick by adding a rule into the ‘.desktop’ file for that application. It’s:
NoDisplay=true – hide app icon from app launcher, but still visible from associated files’ “Open With” dialog.
Hidden=true – complete hide the app, unless launching from command line.
For GNOME, the default desktop environment for Ubuntu, there’s also an extension can do the job by adding option to app icon’s right-click menu.
Method 1: Hide App Icon by Configuring the .desktop Shortcut file
1. Locate the .desktop shortcut file
First, you have to find out where and the file-name of the shortcut file for your application.
To do so, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. When terminal opens, run command to install plocate (or mlocate for Ubuntu 20.04):
sudo apt install plocate && sudo updatedb
Then, run command to locate the shortcut file for your app (mpv for example):
locate "*mpv*desktop"
In this command, it will output any file-name that contains “mpv” (change the keyword depends on your app name) in between, and ends with ‘desktop’.
The command may output multiple files, choose one according to file PATH:
for native .deb apps, the shortcut files are usually installed to:
/usr/share/applications
/usr/local/share/applications
or .local/share/applications
for Snap apps, looking for /var/lib/snapd/desktop/applications directory.
for Flatpak apps, they are usually installed to:
/var/lib/flatpak/exports/share/applications/
or .local/share/flatpak/exports/share/applications/
2. One command to hide the app icon
Once you found out the app shortcut file, hide it simply by running command:
replace NoDisplay with Hidden to also hide it from ‘Open With’ dialog.
replace “/usr/share/applications/mpv.desktop” according to last step.
skip sudo for the shortcut located in .local/ sub-directories.
Besides using desktop-file-edit command, you may edit the shortcut file using your favorite text editor, for example, run:
sudo gedit /usr/share/applications/mpv.desktop
Replace gedit with gnome-text-editor for 24.04. Then, add either NoDisplay=true or Hidden=true under “[Desktop Entry]”.
The app icon should disappear a few seconds later. If NOT, try refreshing the database by running command sudo update-desktop-database.
Step 2: Use Extension to Hide App Icon (GNOME Only)
For Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 24.04, and other Linux with GNOME 42 and higher, there’s an extension to make the process easier.
1. First, search for and install “Extension Manager” from either Ubuntu Software or App Center.
Install Extension Manager in Ubuntu Software/App Center
2. Then, launch “Extension Manager”. Navigate to “Browse” tab, then search & install “App Hider” extension.
Other Linux can go to extension web page, and use ON/OFF switch to install it.
3. After installation, right-click on desired app icon in the “Show Applications” screen and select “hide”.
Right-click app icon to hide
For choice, user can launch “Gnome Extensions” or “Extensions Manager” to open the Preferences dialog. There, it lists all hidden apps as well as un-hide options.
For all current Ubuntu releases, including Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 22.10, and their based systems, I’ve made the unofficial package into this PPA repository.
I’ll continue updating this PPA when the stable release is out! And sync the package (stable) with may apps ppa.
1. First, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run command to add the PPA:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/hugin
Type user password (no asterisk feedback) when it asks and hit Enter to continue.
2. Update system package cache for Ubuntu 18.04 and Linux Mint, though it’s done automatically while adding PPA in Ubuntu 20.04+:
sudo apt update
3. Finally, either run the command below in terminal to install the panorama photo stitcher:
sudo apt install hugin
Or, upgrade the software (if an old version was installed) via Software Updater (Update Manager) app:
Uninstall hugin:
To remove the software package, simply run command:
sudo apt remove --autoremove hugin hugin-data
And, remove the PPA either by running command in terminal:
Use Gnome Tweak tool and/or Extensions app frequently? You can add them into top-right corner system menu in Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 22.04, and Ubuntu 24.04.
Meaning you don’t have to search for and launch it every time from ‘Activities’ overview or ‘Show Applications’ screen. Like the built-in ‘Settings’ (Gnome Control Center), just click on top-right corner menu to launch your desired configuration tool.
This is implemented by an extension called “Tweaks & Extensions in System Menu”, which support GNOME version so far up to v46. Sadly, not updated at the moment for GNOME 43 which is default in Ubuntu 22.10 & Fedora 37.
Install the Extension to add system menu options
For Ubuntu 22.04 and higher, first search for and install ‘Extension Manager’ from Ubuntu Software or App Center.
Install Extension Manager in Ubuntu 22.04+
Then launch “Extension Manager” and use it to install the ‘Tweaks in system menu’ extension under ‘Browse’ tab.
Finally, switch back to ‘Installed’ tab, and click on gear button for that extension to open the configuration dialog. Where you can TURN ON/OFF either option and set its position.
For Ubuntu 20.04 and old Ubuntu 18.04 (not tested), first open terminal by press Ctrl+Alt+T shortcut key on keyboard. And, run command:
sudo apt install chrome-gnome-shell
Then, use the ON/OFF switch to install it via the link page below:
Of course, you must have Gnome Tweak tool and Extensions app installed from Ubuntu Software, to make them visible in the system menu.
For Ubuntu 24.04 and Fedora Workstation with default GNOME 43 ~ 46, there’s now an extension to add user’s icon or figure (aka avatar) to the top-right corner system tray menu, which is also known as quick settings.
With it, the ‘Quick Settings’ menu will look like the screenshot below shows you. The avatar can be either in left or right. By clicking on it, will launch System Settings (Gnome Control Center) and automatically navigate to user settings page.
After installing Ubuntu since 22.10 and higher, the dual-boot Windows 10 and other OSes may be disappeared from the startup boot menu. If you run into that issue, here’s the quick tip to fix it.
This is definitely not bug, but a policy change since GNU Grub 2.06. The default boot-loader uses external os-prober tool to discover other operating systems on the same machine. However, the feature is disabled now for security reason due to the manual:
It is disabled by default since automatic and silent execution of os-prober, and creating boot entries based on that data, is a potential attack vector. Set this option to ‘false’ to enable this feature in the grub-mkconfig command.
By reloading the config will prompt your that “Warning: os-prober will not be executed to detect other bootable pertitions“.
Ubuntu 22.04 is the first release uses GRUB 2.06, which however not affected in my case. So I didn’t encounter this issue until trying Ubuntu 22.10 today on dual-boot machine. And, here’s how to fix the the ‘issue’ in 2 ways.
Option 1: Manually re-enable OS-PROBER
As mentioned in the manual, just set the ‘GRUB_DISABLE_OS_PROBER’ option to ‘false’ in Grub configuration will do the trick.
1. First, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open a terminal window. When it opens, run command to edit the Grub config file:
sudo nano /etc/default/grub
Ubuntu 22.10 and higher switched to gnome-text-editor which however does not work along-with sudo from command line. So here I use nano command line text editor instead.
2. When the file opens in terminal window, scroll down and add the new line (or change the value if the line already exists):
GRUB_DISABLE_OS_PROBER=false
After that, save changes by pressing Ctrl+X, type y and hit Enter.
3. Finally, run sudo update-grub to reload the change.
Don’t know why, but Windows OS appears in boot-menu again after I did restart computer twice in my case.
Option 2: Use Grub-Customizer (graphical tool)
For those who prefer using a graphical configuration tool, there’s a third-party Grub-Customizer app available for choice.
1. First, you still need to open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run 3 commands one by one to install the tool from developer’s PPA:
This simple tutorial shows how to reboot your machine into another OS or grub boot menu entry directly from Ubuntu.
Say you have Ubuntu dual- or multi-boot with other operating systems, and want to reboot directly into a specific OS when working done in current Ubuntu. Or you want to reboot with another Kernel or maybe recovery mode without any keyboard press while booting. This tutorial may help.
Method 1: Single command to reboot into another OS
Grub, the default boot-loader for many Linux, has a command line tool grub-reboot, which allows to set the default boot-entry for ONLY next boot.
Along with reboot command, it allows to reboot directly into another entry. For example, reboot into the third menu try with command:
sudo grub-reboot 2 && reboot
NOTE: Grub menu entry counts from 0. Number 2 means the 3rd entry.
Preview Boot Menu without Reboot
You don’t have to reboot and count in the boot-menu for your desired number. There are 2 ways to preview the menu from in Ubuntu.
Option 1. Preview Grub Menu via Grub-Emu
Press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal, and run command to install grub-emu:
sudo apt install grub-emu
Then, run grub-emu command in terminal will open up a window for previewing your boot-loader. And, close the terminal will also close the preview window.
The tool works good in Ubuntu 22.04, but NOT for Ubuntu 24.04 in my case somehow.
Option 2. Use Grub-Customizer
Grub-Customizer is a good alternative, as the preview tool does not work good in my case. To install it, open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run 3 commands below one by one.
The commands will add the software developer’s PPA repository, update cache and finally install it into your system.
After that, search for and open it from either system start menu or ‘Activities’ overview depends on your DE.
As the screenshot shows you, number 2 is for Windows in my case. 1>1 means recovery mode, and 1>2 means the previous kernel entry.
So, run the command below will reboot directly into Windows in my case:
sudo grub-reboot 2 && reboot
To reboot into recovery mode in sub-menu entry (quotation marks required), use:
sudo grub-reboot "1>1" && reboot
And, if you want to use the command in script or bind with a keyboard shortcut, use command:
pkexec grub-reboot 2 && reboot
So, it will pop-up an authentication dialog asks you to type user password, before performing the action.
Method 2: Add Reboot option in top-right system menu
For GNOME 43/44, meaning users of Ubuntu 22.10, 23.04, Fedora 37/38, Arch and Manjaro Linux, there’s an extension to do the job by adding menu entries into system status menu.
By clicking on an entry in the menu, will pop-up password authentication dialog, and then shows you the reboot dialog. When typing correct password and click restart in pop-up dialog, it reboot directly with that entry you just clicked!
How to Install the Extension
For Ubuntu 22.10, first search for and install “Extension Manager” from Ubuntu Software.
Install Extension Manager in Ubuntu 22.04+
Then press Super (the Windows Logo) key to activate overview, search for and open “Extension Manager”. Finally, use the tool to install the “Custom Reboot” extension:
For Fedora 37/38 and other Linux with GNOME 43/44, you may go directly to the extension website and use ON/OFF switch to install it.
GIMP image editor got a new update for its 2.99 development release this Friday. Here’s the new features as well as how to install guide for Ubuntu users.
GIMP 2.99.14 is the 7th development release for the next major 3.0 release. It reworked the Align and Distribute tool to make it easy to use. Target items to align or distribute are now the selected layers and/or paths. For layers in particular, a new option “Use extents of layer contents” is available to align or distribute target layers based on their pixel contents.
The Text tool now has new “outline” and “fill” options, to insert text in different styles. For me, it’s no longer required to use ‘Grow…’ and then ‘Stroke Selection’ to do similar job.
This release also introduced a new ‘Gray‘ theme, as well as “Override icon sizes set by the theme” option to resize icons among small, medium, large and huge.
XCF file support is greatly improved with multi-threading support. Saving with default RLE and zlib is now much faster! And, this release introduced initial Apple Silicon package support for macOS users.
New “Paste as Single Layer” and “Paste as Single Layer in Place” options in the Edit > Paste as submenu.
Moving to GApplication and GtkApplication
Add ‘Root layers only’ option on PDF export.
export PSD images as CMYK(A) support.
Metadata import and export for JPEG-XL support.
Initial support for Apple’s ICNS files.
Add “Show reduced images” option when importing TIFF.
How to Install GIMP 2.99.14:
The image editor has an official download page for the development releases. It offers the official package for Linux as Flatpak, though there’s also an unofficial PPA for Ubuntu users.
Option 1: Install GIMP 2.99.14 as Flatpak
Ubuntu and most other Linux can install the editor as Flatpak that runs in sandbox. For Ubuntu users, they are generally 3 commands for installing it:
Press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. Run command to install the daemon package in case you don’t have it.
sudo apt install flatpak
Then, add the flathub beta repository by running command:flatpak remote-add –user flathub-beta https://flathub.org/beta-repo/flathub-beta.flatpakrepo
Finally, install GIMP beta release via command:
flatpak install --user flathub-beta org.gimp.GIMP
If you already installed the previous GIMP 2.99.12, use flatpak update --user org.gimp.GIMP beta command to update it.
And, if you also have GIMP 2.10 stable release installed as Flatpak, only one of them can be visible in system app launcher. Use either command below to switch between them:
flatpak make-current --user org.gimp.GIMP beta
flatpak make-current --user org.gimp.GIMP stable
NOTE: skip --user flag if you installed the package system wide without this parameter.
Option 2: install GIMP 2.99.14 from PPA
For those who prefer the classic .deb package format, there’s an unofficial PPA contains the package for Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 22.04, and Ubuntu 22.10.
Simply, open terminal from start menu or by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard, then run the commands below one by one to add the PPA, update, and install GIMP 2.99.x:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mati75/gimp30
sudo apt update
sudo apt install gimp
NOTE: If you have GIMP 2.10 stable installed as .deb package, the commands above will upgrade it to the latest development release.
To restore the stock GIMP package in system repository, run command to purge the Ubuntu PPA which also downgrade all installed packages:
UPDATE: This Extension has NOT been updated for almost 1 year! Support ends at GNOME 43. Meaning you can still try it in Debian 12 GNOME.
Want to display digital clock, system memory and CPU load in your Desktop? There’s new circular widget for Ubuntu 22.10, Fedora 37, and other Linux with GNOME 43.
There are quite a few tools to display system load widget in desktop. Here I’m going to introduce the one that has a Conky look alike circular widget for GNOME desktop.
It displays local time, RAM usage and CPU load in 3 separated circular widget. Meaning you can drag moving any one of them to anywhere in your screen. And, it allows to resize the circle, change its color, line width, as well as text color and background, etc to get different look and feel.
Cool, isn’t it? Let me show you how to install it.
Step 1: Install Extension Manager
First, search for and install the “Extension Manager” app from Ubuntu Software, for installing Gnome extensions.
Install Extension Manager in Ubuntu 22.04+
Once installed, search for and launch the tool from ‘Activities’ overview screen.
Step 2: Install the Circular Widgets via Extension Manager
When Extension Manager opens, navigate to ‘Browse’ tab, then search for and install the Circular Widgets extension.
For Fedora 37 user, simply go to this web page and use ON/OFF switch to install it.
Step 3: Configure the widget
After installed the extension, go back to ‘Installed‘ tab in Extension Manager, or install and open ‘Gnome Extensions’ app from GNOME Software for Fedora. There you can open the configuration dialog for each circle widget.
NOTE: For Ubuntu & other Linux using “Desktop Icons NG (DING)” extension, you have to disable it temporarily until being able to drag moving the system load widget.
