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[PPA Update] GIMP 2.10.22 with Python Script Support in Ubuntu 18.04

Last updated: January 19, 2021

GIMP extra color palettes

For Ubuntu 18.04 users sticking to the PPA build of GIMP image editor 2.10.22, now the Python Script support is back.

Since old GTK2 and Python 2 libraries being removed from Ubuntu universe repositories, the Python script support was excluded due to lack of dependencies when I was uploading the GIMP packages into PPA.

Ubuntu 18.04 was neglected, though. It meets all the dependencies to build the requested feature. So I added it back. Hope it’s not too late for you :). And the package was totally built via the rules from otto-kesselgulasch’s PPA.

Install GIMP 2.10.22 via PPA in Ubuntu 18.04:

NOTE I do only basic image editing with GIMP, and I can’t go further test for the function though it seems working.

1.) Open terminal from system application launcher. When it opens, run command to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/gimp

Type user password (no asterisk feedback) for sudo prompts and hit Enter to continue.

2.) If an old version of GIMP .deb package was installed, upgrade it via Software Updater (need to install gimp-python manually) utility.

or run apt commands in terminal to install GIMP:

sudo apt update

sudo apt install gimp gimp-gmic gimp-python

If an old version was installed, it’s recommended to run sudo apt upgrade which will also update the required babl, gegl libraries.

How to Restore:

To restore GIMP to the stock version in main Ubuntu repository, run command to purge the PPA:

sudo apt install ppa-purge && sudo ppa-purge ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/gimp
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Scribus 1.5.6.1 Available to Install via PPA in Ubuntu 20.04, 20.10

Last updated: April 24, 2024

For those prefer installing applications via apt method, the desktop publishing software Scribus 1.5.6 is finally made into PPA available for Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 20.10, and Linux Mint 20.

Scribus 1.5.6 was released a few months ago as the latest development release for the next major version 1.6.0. It features:

  • Introduce a context-sensitive Content Palette
  • A new PDF-based output preview
  • Improved dark UI themes support.
  • Support for PDF 1.6 export, including embedded OpenType fonts.
  • And much more.

How to Install Scribus 1.5.6.1 via PPA:

Besides non-install Appimage and community maintained flatpak package, the official PPA now contains the packages for Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 20.10.

1.) Open terminal from system application launcher. When it opens, run command to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:scribus/ppa

2.) Then run command to install the software package:

sudo apt install scribus-ng

Uninstall Scribus:

To remove the scribus package, simply run command in terminal:

sudo apt remove --autoremove scribus-ng

To remove the Ubuntu PPA, either run command in step 1.) with --remove flag, or open Software & Updates and remove relevant line under Other Software tab.

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How to Install Linux Mint’s Cinnamon Desktop 4.8 in Ubuntu 20.04 LTS

Last updated: April 24, 2024

Want to try out the Cinnamon Desktop Environment? Without installing Linux Mint, you can get the desktop packages in Ubuntu via a few commands.

Cinnamon is available in Ubuntu main repositories, though the package version is however a little old. You can simply run the command in step 2 to install it if you don’t stick to the latest features.

The Wasta Linux team maintains an Ubuntu PPA that contains Cinnamon 4.8 packages for Ubuntu 20.04.

1.) Open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command to add the Ubuntu PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:wasta-linux/cinnamon-4-8

2.) After adding the PPA and updating package cache, run command to install the desktop:

sudo apt install cinnamon-desktop-environment

There will be a large list of packages (about 400 MB download) and more disk space usage for installing the DE.

Once installed, log out and select log back with Cinnamon session.

How to Remove Cinnamon Desktop:

If something goes wrong or you just want to remove Cinnamon, paste and run the command below will remove most the components.

sudo apt remove --autoremove blueman brasero brasero-cdrkit cinnamon '~ncinnamon*' cjs desktop-base  five-or-more fonts-noto '~nfonts-noto*' fonts-quicksand four-in-a-row gedit-plugins-common gnome-chess gnome-backgrounds gnome-games gnome-klotski gnome-nibbles gnome-robots gnome-taquin gnome-tetravex gnote hexchat-common hitori hoichess hwdata iagno iso-flags-png-320x240 '~nlibcinnamon*' mate-icon-theme mate-themes muffin muffin-common nautilus-extension-brasero nemo nemo-data nemo-fileroller pidgin-data quadrapassel sound-juicer swell-foop tali vinagre wodim xapps-common

And remove the PPA either via Software & Updates under Other Software tab, or run command in terminal:

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:wasta-linux/cinnamon-4-8
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How to Install RTL8188EU, RTL8723DS or other rtlwifi Driver via PPA in Ubuntu 20.04

Last updated: January 26, 2025

wifi hotspot

Miss Realtek rtlwifi drivers or get ‘No WiFi Adapter Found‘ issue? There’s now an Ubuntu PPA that contains the most recent rtlwifi drivers for Ubuntu, Linux Mint, and derivatives.

Without building from the source code, the “Linux Mint Türkiye” team maintains a PPA that contains the most recent wireless drivers with DKMS support for rtl8723bu, rtl8822bu, rtl8188eu, rtl8188fu, rtl8192cu, rtl8192du, rtl8192ee, rtl8192eu, rtl8192fu, rtl8723au, rtl8723bu, rtl8723de, rtl8723ds, rtl8723du, rtl8812au, rtl8814au, rtl8821ce, rtl8821cu, rtl8822bu devices.

If you have a RealTek USB WiFi Adapter or a laptop / notebook with built-in chipset in the previous list, do following steps may help you install the drivers in Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 24.04, Linux Mint 20/21/22.

1.) First open terminal either from the system application launcher or by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard.

2.) Then run command to add the Ubuntu PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:kelebek333/kablosuz

3.) Then open Synaptic package manager, click Reload button refresh package cache, search either rtl or dkms.

Scroll down to find out the list of driver packages, then right-click on the one for your chipset and select ‘Mark for Installation’, finally click on Apply button to install it.

Or you can run command in terminal to install the driver (replace rtl8723de-dkms in the code):

sudo apt install rtl8723de-dkms

4.) The wireless network should work immediately after you installed the driver. You can manually unload and re-load the kernel module via commands (replace rtl8723de-dkms in the code):

sudo modprobe -r rtl8723de

sudo modprobe rtl8723de

Uninstall the RealTek Wifi Driver:

To remove the driver, either use Synaptic package manager or run apt command in terminal:

sudo apt remove --autoremove rtl8723de-dkms

And remove the Ubuntu PPA via command:

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:linuxmint-tr/wireless-ppa
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How to Install gThumb 3.11.2 in Ubuntu 20.04

Last updated: April 24, 2024

Gnome photo manager and image viewer gThumb 3.11.2 was released a few days ago. Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 20.10, Linux Mint 20, Pop!_OS 20.04 via PPA.

gThumb 3.11.2 features minor UI improvements including:

  • a proportional zoom increment in image viewer
  • keep the same pixel under the pointer after zooming
  • read color profiles from png files as well.
  • Media viewer: use accurate seeking when clicking on the progress bar.
  • Media viewer: show the pointed time when hovering over the progress bar.
  • Browser: added support for back and forward mouse buttons.
  • Preferences: added option to show/hide the statusbar.
  • Rename files: added a button to revert to the last used template.

And there are some bug-fixes, new or updates translations in the release.

How to Install gThumb via PPA in Ubuntu:

The Dariusz Duma’s PPA seems not being updated except for auto-build packages. So again… I uploaded the gThumb 3.11.2 packages into the unofficial PPA, available for Ubuntu 18.04 (not tested), Ubuntu 20.04, and Ubuntu 20.10.

The packages were backported from the Debian Unstable / Ubuntu 21.04 build from this page.

NOTICE: I offer no warranty for any package in this PPA. While they may work for me, you use them at your own risk.

1.) To add the PPA, open terminal and run command:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/apps

2.) You can then either upgrade photo manager from an old version via Update Manager (Software Updater), or run command in terminal:

sudo apt install gthumb

Uninstall gThumb & the Ubuntu PPA

To remove gThumb photo manager and image viewer, run command:

sudo apt remove --autoremove gthumb gthumb-data

To remove the Ubuntu PPA, either run the apt-add-repository command with --remove flag, or use Software & Updates -> Other Software.

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KeePass 2.47 Released! How to Install in Ubuntu 20.04, 20.10

Last updated: April 24, 2024

KeePass2

KeePass password manager 2.47 was released user interface and integration enhancements and minor new features and improvements.

KeePass 2.47 release highlights:

  • Save search parameters as profiles, access via menu ‘Find’->’Search Profiles’.
  • Add ‘XPath expression’ search mode.
  • Add ‘Histop’ option in Find dialog.
  • Add ‘Help’ button in Find dialog.
  • Add auto-type matching option ‘Consider similar dashes as identical’.
  • Add commands ‘Copy Group (Encrypted)’, ‘Copy Group (Unencrypted)’ and ‘Paste Group’.
  • Added {TIMEOTP} placeholder, generates a time-based one-time password.
  • Enhanced XML key file format.
  • Add command ‘Print Key File Backup’.
  • Add command ‘Create Key File’.
  • Add Argon2id key derivation function.
  • Add support for importing Dashlane 6.2039.0 JSON files.
  • Add a few more options in the import/export dialog.
  • Plugins can now disable/enable specific Mono workarounds.

How to Install KeePass 2.47 in Ubuntu via PPA:

Although there’s a Linux native community fork KeePassXC available, KeePass2 is still available to install via an Ubuntu PPA. So far, the PPA supports for Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 20.04, and Ubuntu 20.04.

1.) Open terminal and run command to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/keepass2

2.) Then refresh system package cache via command:

sudo apt update

3.) Finally install the mono based password safe package:

sudo apt install keepass2

Uninstall KeePass2:

To remove the software package, run command in terminal:

sudo apt remove --autoremove keepass2

And remove the Ubuntu PPA via command:

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/keepass2
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How to Install Luminance HDR 2.6.1 in Ubuntu 20.04, Linux Mint 20

Last updated: April 24, 2024

Luminance HDR

Luminance HDR 2.6.1, free and open-source HDR imaging software, is available to install in Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 20.10, Linux Mint 20.

Before it’s officially announced the new release source tarball now is available to download. And Luminance HDR 2.6.1 is a bug-fix release the features:

  • Better UI for last step of HdrWizard
  • Fix highlights glitch
  • Fix save/load response cure even from the command line
  • Fix scrolling of progress area in BatchHDR
  • Some other bug-fixes and translation updates.

How to Install Luminance HDR via Ubuntu PPA:

The Dariusz Duma’s PPA was maintaining the software package. It however seems not being updated except for auto-build packages.

For those sticking to an Ubuntu PPA, there’s an alternative unofficial PPA available for Ubuntu 20.04 only and you can run following steps one by one to get it in your Ubuntu.

1.) Open terminal from system application menu and run command to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/apps

2.) Then install the HDR creator via command:

sudo apt install luminance-hdr

Uninstall:

To remove the software package, simply run command:

sudo apt remove --autoremove luminance-hdr

And to remove the Ubuntu PPA, open Software & Updates navigate to Other Software tab and remove the relevant line.

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How to Install Python 3.10 Final in Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 18.04

Last updated: April 24, 2024

The Python programming language 3.10 is finally released on Oct 6. Here’s how to install it via PPA in Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 18.04, Linux Mint 19.x/20, and derivatives.

Python 3.10 has 18 months support with bug-fix updates until the next 3.11 release. After that, it will be supported with 5 years of security updates until October 2026.

New major features and changes compare to Python 3.9:

  • Deprecate and prepare for the removal of the wstr member in PyUnicodeObject.
  • Allow writing union types as X | Y
  • Parameter Specification Variables
  • Precise line numbers for debugging and other tools.
  • Add Optional Length-Checking To zip.
  • Parenthesized context managers are now officially allowed.
  • Deprecate distutils module.
  • Explicit Type Aliases
  • Structural Pattern Matching
  • Require OpenSSL 1.1.1 or newer
  • Remove Py_UNICODE encoder APIs
  • Add optional EncodingWarning

Install Python 3.10 via Ubuntu PPA:

The ‘Deadsnakes’ Team PPA has build the packages for current 2 Ubuntu LTS. NOTE for Ubuntu 16.04, the package stuck at Python 3.10 alpha 6 due to old SSL library.

1.) Open terminal from system application menu, and run command to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:deadsnakes/ppa

Type user password (no asterisk feedback) for sudo prompts and hit Enter to continue.

2.) Then refresh system package via command:

sudo apt update

3.) Finally install Python 3.10 via command:

sudo apt install python3.10

Once installed, check via python3.10 --version command or just run python3.10 to access the IDE in terminal.

Uninstall Python 3.10:

To remove the programming language, run command:

sudo apt remove --autoremove python3.10

And remove the Ubuntu PPA via Software & Updates utility under Other Software tab.

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How to Check A Software Package Details in Ubuntu Linux

Last updated: April 24, 2024

Looking for detailed information about a software package, e.g., maintainer, dependencies, sources, installed size, etc?

There are a few tools to tell the information of software packages in classic .deb format in Ubuntu Linux. And here I’m going to show you one by one.

1. apt show command:

For all packages in system apt repositories (including enabled PPAs) and manually installed .deb packages, apt show command will output the information about:

  • Package version
  • Maintainer
  • Installed-sized
  • Package dependencies
  • Apt-sources: where the package was installed from, or which source offers the package.
  • And a brief description about the software package.

For example, apt show gnome-feeds command will output something as the picture shows.

If you downloaded the deb binary and installed it manually, there will a line says ‘APT-Manual-Installed: yes‘.

2. Check package details via Synaptic Package Manager

The Synaptic Package Manager offers “Properties” button. After searching for and selecting a software package, you’re able to check details via that button.

Different to apt show command, Synaptic shows both the libraries that the software package depends on and the system packages that depends this package.

As well, it lists all the files the package will install (or installed).

To install Synaptic Package Manager, run command in terminal:

sudo apt install synaptic

3. Gdebi Package Installer

If you just grab a deb package from the web, and want to check all included files and if all dependencies are satisfied, then Gdebi Package Installer is recommended for you.

And the tool can be installed via command:

sudo apt install gdebi

4. Uncompress Deb and check details.

Also for the manually downloaded deb package, you can either open it via “Archive Manager” or extract it.

Usually you’ll see data.tar.xz which includes all files to be installed, and control.tar.xz includes a few scripts to run before/after installing or removing the deb. And there’s a document file called “control” that includes some information about the deb.

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[Ubuntu PPA] How to Install Gnome Feeds in Ubuntu 20.04

Last updated: April 24, 2024

Gnome Feeds, a free and open-source news reader with a neat user interface, now is available to install via Ubuntu PPA for those prefer the classic apt method.

Gnome Feeds is a GTK+3 application written in Python 3. It features a simple responsive user interface based on Purism’s libhandy library. Feeds can be added via URL address and support importing and exporting large feed collection from and to OPML.

The software has been made into main repositories since Ubuntu 20.10 Groovy. For request, I’ve uploaded the latest packages into the unofficial PPA for Ubuntu 20.04, Linux Mint 20, and Ubuntu 20.10, with Ubuntu 18.04 excluded as libhandy requires at least GTK 3.24.

NOTE: It’s recommended to install the official Flatpak package, while the PPA offers unofficial .deb binary package for choice.

1.) Open terminal from your system application launcher, then run command to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/gfeeds

Type user password (no asterisk feedback) for sudo prompts and hit Enter to continue.

2.) While adding PPA will automatically refresh the system package cache, you can then install the feed reader via command:

sudo apt install gnome-feeds

Once installed, launch it from system application launcher and enjoy!

Uninstall Gnome Feeds:

To remove the feed reader, simply run command in terminal:

sudo apt remove --autoremove gnome-feeds

And remove the PPA either using Software & Updates utility under Other Software tab, or run command:

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/gfeeds
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