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Archives For November 30, 1999

Linux Mint 20.3 is Out! Full Dark Mode, Theme & XApps Updates

Last updated: January 8, 2022

The third point release of Linux Mint 20 is out! Unlike Ubuntu, it has different code names for each point releases. And, Linux Mint 20.3 codenamed ‘Una’.

The release still has Kernel 5.4 though user may install updated Ubuntu patched Kernels using ‘Update Manager’. And, it features Cinnamon 5.2, MATE 1.26, and XFCE 4.16 for each desktop editions.

XApp Updates:

Linux Mint now has a new Xapp “Thingy“. It’s a Document Manager for user to quick access to favorite and recently opened documents and keeps track of the reading progress.

New Document Manager
‘Thingy’

Hypnotix IPTV Player now defauts to dark mode. And, it features a new search function, and Xtream AIP support.

The Sticky Notes also has a new search function and adds option to control the text size.

Theme updates:

Linux Mint 20.3 features full dark mode support. And some apps including Hypnotix, Celluloid, Pix, Xviewer and Gnome Terminal now default to dark.

The default “Mint-Y” theme now has rounded tittle bar corners and bigger buttons. Accents and feature colors removed on some widgets, and now only left on sliders, checkboxes, radios and the close button.

For those prefer the old look, the original Mint-Y theme is available as “mint-themes-legacy” package in the repositories.

Cinnamon 5.2:

The Cinnamon desktop has been updated to v5.2. It’s calendar applet features multi-calendar events, and online calendars and applications sync with evolution-data-server.

Calendar multi events support

There are also simplified animations, new radial shader effect added to clutter dialogs, new configuration options for windows list, notification and workspace switcher applets, and other improvements.

Other changes in Linux Mint 20.3 include:

  • Proper manga support for Xreader PDF reader.
  • Ctrl-Tab and Ctrl-Shift-Tab to navigate through tabs in Xed text editor.
  • Option to hide the menubar for Xed, Xreader.
  • xreader no longer shows toolbar in full-screen mode.
  • system reports run once a day instead of every hour.
  • WebApp manager shows which browser is used for each app.
  • Turn on/off bluetooth from its tray menu.
  • Sperb collection of new backgrounds.
  • Linux-firmware 1.187 and Flatpak 1.12.
  • HPLIP 3.21.8 and latest versions of ipp-usb and sane-airscan.

Download Linux Mint 20.3:

Linux Mint 20.3 is available to download in the official website below:

Download Linux Mint

User may also upgrade to Linux Mint 20.3 by following this guide.

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LibreOffice 7.2.5 Released! Available to Install via PPA in Ubuntu / Linux Mint

Last updated: January 6, 2022

Ubuntu’s default LibreOffice office suite 7.2.5 was released today. User may install it from the official PPA in Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 21.04, Ubuntu 21.10 and Linux Mint 20.x

LibreOffice 7.2.5 comes with 90 bug-fixes, including many crashes when recent files are not accessible, inserting hidden field over input field, one click and three TAB presses, saving a calc file after delete some columns, and more. See the release note for details.

How to Install the Latest LibreOffice in Ubuntu:

The software is available to install as Snap, Flatpak, and AppImage. Though, I recommend the classic .deb package via its official PPA repository.

1. Add LibreOffice PPA:

Press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, paste and run the command below:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:libreoffice/ppa

Type user password (no asterisk feedback) when it asks and hit Enter to continue.

2. Update package cache:

For Ubuntu 18.04 and some Ubuntu based systems, user needs to manually update system package cache by running command:

sudo apt upgrade

3. Install/Upgrade Libreoffice:

Finally install the office suite via command:

sudo apt install libreoffice

Or upgrade the software package using Software Updater utility:

How to Restore:

To revert back the original office version, run command in terminal to install ppa-purge tool and purge the PPA repository.

sudo apt install ppa-purge && sudo ppa-purge ppa:libreoffice/ppa
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The Extension Displays GNOME Dash as Top Dock When Mouse Hover Top-bar

Last updated: January 5, 2022

There are a few extensions (e.g., Dash-to-dock and Dash-to-panel) to change the Gnome Shell ‘Dash’ appearance and behavior. Here I’m going to introduce the new extension called “Dash from Panel“.

GNOME Shell Dash:

The ‘Dash’ is the bottom bar in GNOME Activities overview screen, that shows favorite apps and running applications. Ubuntu by default uses ‘Dash-to-dock’ extension to bring the Dash out of overview screen as a left panel. And, there’s a ‘Dash-to-panel’ extension for choice to combine it with top-bar into single Microsoft Windows style bottom panel.



Dash from Panel

This is a new gnome shell extension. It does not change the default ‘Dash’, but only let it appear as dock at top when moving the cursor over top bar. So, user may access favorite and running app icons quickly without triggering ‘Activities’ overview.

The extension uses native GNOME Shell Dash to display as “dock”. And, it’s very light. As a new project, Dash from Panel so far lack options to configure the position, dock size and padding etc.

Install Dash from Panel:

The extensions so far support GNOME 40+. Users of Ubuntu 21.10+, Fedora 34+, and Arch Linux may install it via following steps.

1.) For Ubuntu user, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. And run command to install the ‘chrome-gnome-shell‘ package first:

sudo apt install chrome-gnome-shell

2.) Go the extension page in your web browser via the link below and turn on the toggle icon to install it.

Dash from Panel Extension

NOTE for Ubuntu 21.10+, the preinstalled Firefox is a Snap package that so far does not support installing Gnome Extensions. Use another browser or Firefox as Deb.

If you don’t see the toggle icon, install the browser extension and refresh the web page.

The extension works immediately after installation. User may manage the extensions later via ‘Gnome Extensions‘ app, which can be installed via:

sudo apt install gnome-shell-extension-prefs

And other systems may install it from Gnome Software.

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UbuntuDDE Remix 21.10 – Ubuntu with Beautiful Deepin Desktop is Out!

Last updated: January 3, 2022

For those looking for a best looking Linux system, I would recommend Deepin and Zorin OS 16. And, I personally prefer the former one a bit more for the desktop appearance.

Deepin is based on Debian. It’s great, but for those stick to most recent NVIDIA drivers, Ubuntu PPAs, and/or the Ubuntu communities, then UbuntuDDE Remix is a good choice.

UbuntuDDE Remix is a Ubuntu flavor that uses the Deepin Desktop Environment. It includes all the goodies from Ubuntu while having the beautiful desktop appearance.

UbuntuDDE 21.10

The desktop has a blurred panel and start menu, while allowing to adjust the background transparency. Core apps has GTK4 style rounded corners. And it’s has lots of configure options, including ability to toggle between full dark and light mode, and choose an accent color.

DDE Settings

UbuntuDDE Remix 21.10 was released with Ubuntu 21.10 package base, Linux Kernel 5.13, along with the latest DDE desktop and software packages. And, there’s new beautiful impish wallpapers. See the release note for details.

Download UbuntuDDE Remix:

The Ubuntu flavor requires 4GB RAM, 20GB disk space, and 2 GHz processor or better. The ISO image is available to download for 64-bit personal PC or laptop at the link below:

Download UbuntuDDE Remix
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Pinta 2.0 Released with UI Changes (GTK3 Port & .NET6), Improved HiDPI Support

Last updated: January 2, 2022

The Paint.NET inspired bitmap image drawing and editing software Pinta 2.0 was released a few days ago.

Pinta is finally ported to GTK3, though GNOME now is shifting to GTK4. Along with .NET6 the UI now looks more native in Ubuntu:

  • The tab bar looks more native in GNOME.
  • Use the standard GTK font chooser (pop up dialog) instead of drop-down selection for Text tool.
  • Change several tools to use spin buttons rather than editable combo boxes.
  • The position / selection information, zoom, and the color palette now moved to bottom status bar.
  • The tool palette displays in a single column with “>” button in the bottom to reach more tools.
  • The “Open Recent menu” is gone. And, “Add-ins” has been removed.
  • The color palette now remember recently used colors.
  • The primary and secondary palette colors are now saved in the application settings
  • And the canvas can now be panned by clicking and dragging with the middle mouse button

How to Install Pinta 2.0 in Ubuntu Linux:

Pinta is available to install as 3 different package formats: native DEB, universal Flatpak and Snap. You may choose one to install or install all of them side by side (will cause duplicated app icons).

Option 1: Snap

The Pinta snap package is available to install from Ubuntu Software. And, if you already install the package before, it should now update to v2.0 automatically.

Option 2: Flatpak

Like Snap, Flatpak is another universal package format runs in sandbox. It installs updates automatically but takes more disk space.

Ubuntu user may install Pinta as Flatpak by running the commands below one by one:

  • Install Flatpak daemon: 
    sudo apt install flatpak
  • Install Pinta from flathub repository: 
    flatpak install https://dl.flathub.org/repo/appstream/com.github.PintaProject.Pinta.flatpakref

Option 3: Classic Deb package:

For those prefer the native deb packages, Pinta has a stable PPA though NOT updated at the moment.

User may press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal, and run command to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:pinta-maintainers/pinta-stable

Once the PPA is updated, Pinta 2.0 will be available to upgrade along with other system packages in Software Updater.

Uninstall Pinta:

To remove Pinta Snap and Deb packages, use Ubuntu Software or run one of the commands below:

sudo snap remove --purge pinta
sudo apt remove --autoremove pinta

And remove the PPA using “Software & Updates” tool under “Other Software” tab.

For the Flatpak package, use command:

flatpak uninstall --delete-data com.github.PintaProject.Pinta

And clear useless run-time libraries via flatpak uninstall --unused.

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Hugin 2021 Released! How to Install via PPA in Ubuntu 20.04, 21.10

Last updated: December 31, 2021

Hugin panorama stitcher finally released version 2021. Here’s how to install it via PPA in Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 21.04, Ubuntu 21.10, and Linux Mint 20.

Changes in Hugin 2021 include:

  • Fast preview window can be panned in zoomed state with middle mouse button.
  • New overview mode: inside panorama sphere (similar to a interactive panorama viewer)
  • Updated build system for OpenEXR3.
  • Several bug fixes.

Install Hugin 2021 in Ubuntu:

I’ve upload the package into the unofficial PPA for all current Ubuntu releases and their based systems. It seems working good though still missing ‘COPYING.txt’ file when opening about dialog.

1. Add the PPA:

Press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open a terminal window. When it opens, run the command below to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/apps

Type user password (no asterisk feedback) when it asks and hit Enter to continue.

2. Update package cache:

For Ubuntu 18.04 and some Ubuntu based systems, user may need to manually update the system package cache via command:

sudo apt update

3. Install / Upgrade Hugin:

After adding the PPA, either install the package via command:

sudo apt install hugin

Or upgrade the package using “Software Updater” utility.

How to Remove or Downgrade Hugin:

For any issue, user may purge the PPA repository which also downgrade the package to the stock version in Ubuntu repository:

sudo apt install ppa-purge && sudo ppa-purge ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/apps

Or, remove the panorama stitcher directly by running command in terminal:

sudo apt remove --autoremove hugin

And, user may remove the PPA instead of purging it via “Software & Updates” utility.

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How to Install Side-Scroller SuperTux 0.6.3 via PPA in Ubuntu 20.04/18.04/21.10

Last updated: December 31, 2021

Many free open-source apps got new releases before new year 2022. The side-scrolling game SuperTux 0.6.3 is one of them!

The Super Mario Bros look like game added many exciting new features in v0.6.3, including:

  • WASM compilation to play in browser.
  • Swimming
  • Wall jumping
  • Autotiles
  • New snow tiles, objects
  • Add-on creator
  • Optional integration with Discord
  • Official binaries for FreeBSD, Linux 32-bit and Ubuntu Touch
  • Custom particles, in-game progress statistics, skippable cutscenes.
  • Updated animations, rework of the Revenge in Redmond worldmap.

How to Install SuperTux via PPA in Ubuntu:

The game offers official Linux packages via universal Flatpak, non-install AppImage, and 32-bit portable tarball. They are available to download at the link below:

Download SuperTux

For those prefer the native DEB package for Ubuntu based systems. I’ve uploaded the packages into this unofficial PPA for Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 21.04, Ubuntu 21.10, and Linux Mint 20, etc.

Besides 64-bit package for modern PC and 32-bit for old PC (Ubuntu 18.04 only), there are also armhf/arm64 packages for devices such as Apple Silicon and Raspberry Pi.

1. Add the Ubuntu PPA:

To add the PPA, firstly press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal (or search from start menu). When it opens, run command:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/supertux

Type user password (no asterisk feedback) when it asks and hit Enter to continue.

SuperTux also has an official daily PPA which builds the game packages almost every day. You may use the PPA instead for the bleeding edge version:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:supertux-dev/daily

2. Update package cache:

For Ubuntu 18.04 and some Ubuntu based systems, user may need to manually update the system package cache via command:

sudo apt update

3. Install / Upgrade SuperTux:

The package in PPAs is a little bit different. The stock versions in Ubuntu repository built the package into supertux and supertux-data. Apology for being lazy, the PPA packages built into single supertux.

Which means, upgrading from the stock Supertux version to v0.6.3 using “Software Updater” may not work. Instead, user need to run the command in terminal to install or upgrade the game package:

sudo apt install supertux

How to Remove or Downgrade SuperTux:

For any issue, user may purge the PPA repository which also downgrade the game package to the stock version in Ubuntu repository (change PPA name depends which one you use):

sudo apt install ppa-purge && sudo ppa-purge ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/supertux

Or, remove the game package directly by running command in terminal:

sudo apt remove --autoremove supertux

And, user may remove the PPA instead of purging it via “Software & Updates” utility.

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Install Avidemux 2.8.1 via PPA in Ubuntu 24.04, 22.04 & 20.04

Last updated: April 22, 2024

The Avidemux video editor released version 2.8.1 few days ago. Here’s what’s new and how to install in Ubuntu via PPA.

The new Avidemux 2.8.1 release improved HiDPI displays support by updating the icon set, and using OpenGL for rendering on-the-fly preview in video filter dialog.

It also introduced new filters: 3D LUT, Decimate, and Arbitrary Rotate, new video encoder: VideoToolbox HEVC for macOS users, and support for decoding 8-bit VP9 on Windows using DXVA2 and Linux using VDPAU with graphics card that features a VP9 decoder.

There are other features, such as temporarily disable active filters in Video Filter Manager and reverse video by exporting selection as JPEG images and loading in reverse order.

Avidemux video editor

Other changes in Avidemux 2.8.0 include:

  • ‘Peek Original’ button to quickly compare filtered and unfiltered inputs.
  • Add blend and motion interpolation options to ‘Resample FPS’ filter.
  • Mark cut points on navigation slider.
  • “Resample FPS” and “Change FPS” filters can handle up to 1000 fps.
  • Translucent green masking for “Crop” filter’s preview
  • “Resize” filter output up to 8192×8192 resolution.
  • Improved HiDPI scaling in previews.
  • x264 video encoder plugin allows to specify color properties.
  • Replace PulseAudioSimple with PulseAudio in Linux.

How to Install Avidemux 2.8 in Ubuntu:

The “xtradeb packaging” team is maintaining some apps and games, including Avidemux, in its PPA repositories. The maintainer comes from the old GetDEB team. And, Avidemux website refers to the PPA for Ubuntu users in the download page.

1. Remove old Avidemux package:

If you’ve installed Avidemux 2.7 packages from my unofficial PPA, remove it first!! The name now changes from avidemux2.7 to avidemux. No version number in package name anymore.

Firstly, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, paste the command below to remove it:

sudo apt remove --autoremove avidemux2.7-*

2. Add the new ‘official’ PPA

The xtradeb apps PPA contains Avidemux along with many other app packages for Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 21.04, and Ubuntu 21.10 so far.

Open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command below to add it to your system:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:xtradeb/apps

Type user password (no asterisk feedback) when it asks and hit Enter to continue.

For those still using Ubuntu 18.04, my unofficial PPA is available for choice:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/avidemux

3. Update package cache:

While adding Ubuntu PPA, it updates system cache automatically since Ubuntu 20.04. However, Ubuntu 18.04 and some Ubuntu based systems need to run the command to do it manually:

sudo apt update

4. Install Avidemux 2.8:

Finally, install the video editor as well as its dependencies via command:

sudo apt install avidemux-qt avidemux-jobs-qt

After installation, open the video editor by searching from ‘Activities’ overview screen and enjoy!

How to Remove Avidemux video editor:

To remove the video editor, simply run command:

sudo apt remove --autoremove avidemux-qt avidemux-jobs-qt

It removes all the packages and useless dependency libraries, though personal data left in ‘.avidemux6‘ folder (hidden folder, press Ctrl+H to display) in user home directory.

To remove the Ubuntu PPA, open ‘Software & Updates‘ and remove the relevant line under Other Software tab.

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Easily Create Encrypted Folder to Safely Store Files in Ubuntu 20.04/21.10 via Vaults

Last updated: December 28, 2021

This simple tutorial shows how to easily create encrypted vaults in which you may store files safely in Ubuntu and Debian based systems.

1. Install gocrytfs and cryfs:

In this tutorial, gocrytfs or cryfs will be used as backend. Both use file-based encryption that is implemented as a mountable FUSE filesystem. The encrypted files can be stored in any folder in hard disk, a USB stick or even inside Dropbox folder. And, encrypted files can be synchronized efficiently using standard tools like Dropbox or rsync. Also, the size of the encrypted filesystem is dynamic and only limited by the available disk space.

Gocrytfs is written in Go programming language, it’s fast. CryFS is written in C++. It’s said to be apparently slow and take more disk space than Gocrytfs. You may see here for the comparison. And, install either one or both as you prefer.

Press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal, and run the command below to install the software:

  • Install gocryptfs via command: 
    sudo apt install gocryptfs
  • Install cryfs via command: 
    sudo apt install cryfs

2. Install Vaults:

Vaults is a graphical tool provides a stupid simple user interface for creating encryption folders. Only downside could be that the app is available to install as Flatpak package. Some users do not like it.

a.) Open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command to install flatpak daemon if you don’t have it:

sudo apt install flatpak

b.) Next, install the Vaults app via command:

flatpak install https://dl.flathub.org/repo/appstream/io.github.mpobaschnig.Vaults.flatpakref

Or use the command in picture after adding the Flathub repository. Vaults is a GTK4 app. It requires separated Gnome 41 platform which takes a few hundred MB disk space if you don’t have it.

3. Create and Use Encrypted Folders:

Now, search for and open ‘Vaults’ from Activities overview screen.

Launch Vaults

When the app opens, click on ‘+‘ icon on top left and select ‘New Vault‘.

Click ‘+’ to create new encrypted folder

Next, type a name for your new folder and select the encryption software: gocryptfs or cryfs.

Type a name for your folder

Set password in next page which will be used to mount and access the encrypted folder.

Set password for it

Finally, set the folder location. The default directories are OK. But, as mentioned you may store the data in USB stick or even in Dropbox folder.

  • Encrypted Data Directory is the folder that stores your files. Files there are encrypted and un-readable.
  • To decrypt and access your files, you have to mount the Data Directory to the “Mounted Directory” folder.

Set data folder and mount folder

The encrypted folders you created will list in the app window. Click the little lock icon and type the password you set will mount it. (Make sure “Mounted Directory” is empty before unlocking)

Mount encrypted folders

After that, open the file manager. You’ll see the folders in left pane. Create or paste your files into that folder. These files will be encrypted and inaccessible once you unmount the folder (right-click folder in left pane and select unmount)

Put your files into mounted folder and store them safely

Uninstall:

To remove the Vaults app, open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command:

flatpak uninstall --delete-data io.github.mpobaschnig.Vaults

NOTE: The command will remove all your encrypted files if you’re using the default ‘Encrypted Data Directory’! Please make a backup first.

And remove the useless Flatpak runtime library via flatpak uninstall --unused command.

To remove the encryption backend, use command:

sudo apt remove --autoremove cryfs gocryptfs

And, remove the mount directory ‘Vaults‘ folder in user home after all.

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How to Compile GNU Emacs from Source in Ubuntu 20.04 / 21.10

Last updated: December 27, 2021

For those hating the Flatpak and Snap packages, here’s how to compile GNU Emacs editor (v27.2 tested) from the source tarball while the Kevin Kelley’s PPA seems NOT to be updated anymore.

Before getting started, it’s recommended to remove old Emacs (if any) by running command in terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T):

sudo apt remove --autoremove emacs emacs-common

Install build dependencies:

Firstly, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open a terminal window. When it opens, run command to install build-essential package:

sudo apt install build-essential

Next, search for and open ‘Software & Updates‘ from Activities overview screen. In the first tab, enable ‘Source code’ by ticking the checkbox.

Finally, refresh package cache and use apt build-dep command to install build depends:

sudo apt update && sudo apt build-dep emacs

Download Emacs source tarball:

The source tarball is available to download at the link below. So far the latest is ’emacs-27.2.tar.xz’:

Download GNU Emacs

Next, extract the tarball. Right-click on source folder and select ‘Open in Terminal‘ to open a terminal with that folder as working directory.

Build & Install Emacs:

After opening source folder in terminal, run autogen.sh script to generate configure scripts:

./autogen.sh

And, configure the source via command:

./configure

If no error outputs, build Emacs via command:

make bootstrap -j4

NOTE: here I use -j4 to start 4 threads to speed up make process. Depends on how many CPU cores in your machine, you may use -j8 or -j16 or just skip it.

When everything’s done successfully, install the editor via command:

sudo make install

Finally, try launching the app via emacs command.

Create app shortcut icon:

By default, it installs the executable binary as ‘/usr/local/bin/emacs‘. However, it does not create app icon for launching from start menu.

To create one, run command in terminal:

sudo gedit /usr/share/applications/emacs.desktop

It will create and opens the config file in Gedit text editor. When it opens, paste the following lines and save it.

[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Name=Emacs (GUI)
GenericName=Text Editor
Comment=GNU Emacs is an extensible, customizable text editor - and more
MimeType=text/english;text/plain;text/x-makefile;text/x-c++hdr;text/x-c++src;text/x-chdr;text/x-csrc;text/x-java;text/x-moc;text/x-pascal;text/x-tcl;text/x-tex;application/x-shellscript;text/x-c;text/x-c++;
TryExec=/usr/local/bin/emacs
Exec=/usr/local/bin/emacs %F
Icon=emacs
Type=Application
Terminal=false
Categories=Utility;Development;TextEditor;
StartupWMClass=Emacs
Keywords=Text;Editor;

Just like the package in Ubuntu repository, you may also create a shortcut icon for launching Emacs in command line:

sudo gedit /usr/share/applications/emacs-term.desktop

Paste the previous content but change the “Name“, “Exec” (use /usr/local/bin/emacs -nw %F instead), and set “Terminal = true”.

When everything’s done, search for and open ‘Emacs’ from Activities overview and enjoy!

How to Remove Emacs that compiled from source:

Until you removed the source folder, you may run command (open folder in terminal) in terminal from that folder to uninstall Emacs:

sudo make uninstall

If you’ve already removed the source. You may also re-download it, extract, open in terminal, and run the previous command to do the job.

And, remove the app shortcuts using command:

sudo rm /usr/share/applications/emacs*.desktop

That’s all. Enjoy!

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