The snap package of VidCutter, a free and open-source video cutting and joining software, now is available.
Which means you can search for and install the software directly from Ubuntu Software app:
Snap package, the universal Linux app packaging format, runs in sandbox and comes with most required libraries bundled. It runs in all current Ubuntu releases.
For Ubuntu 16.04 and Ubuntu 14.04, you need to first install the snapd daemon by opening terminal via Ctrl+Alt+T and running command:
sudo apt install snapd snapd-xdg-open
Then you can install the snap in ALL current Ubuntu releases either via Ubuntu Software or by running command in terminal:
snap install vidcutter
Once installed, launch it from your application launcher and enjoy!
“Like previous LTS series’, 16.04.4 includes hardware enablement stacks for use on newer hardware. This support is offered on all architectures except for 32-bit powerpc, and is installed by default when using one of the desktop images. Ubuntu Server defaults to installing the GA kernel, however you may select the HWE kernel from the installer bootloader.
As usual, this point release includes many updates, and updated installation media has been provided so that fewer updates will need to be downloaded after installation. These include security updates and corrections for other high-impact bugs, with a focus on maintaining stability and compatibility with Ubuntu 16.04 LTS.“
To upgrade from a previous Ubuntu 16.04 release, either run Software Updater and install all available updates or run command in terminal (Ctrl+Alt):
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade
Then check result via command:
cat /etc/issue
How to Install HWE Stacks in previous Ubuntu 16.04:
The new point release ships with an updated kernel and X stack (HWE Stacks) by default for the desktop in its ISO images.
These HWE Stacks were released in the LTS point releases as a means to enable newer platforms and components.
For those upgrading from a previous release, you need to manually install the stacks via command:
Xfce’s Parole media player reached the 1.0 stable series earlier today! Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu 17.10 and Ubuntu 18.04.
Xfce 1.0.0 brings a new feature and following bug-fixes:
Added “Automatic” video output option. This uses the autoimagesink to provide the best available video sink for the environment, eliminating the dreaded ‘Could not initialise Xv output’ error.
Fixed 32-bit crashes when using the MPRIS2 plugin
Fixed crash on “Clear History” button press
Fixed appdata validation
Fixed full debug builds and resolved implicit-fallthrough build warning
Replaced stock icon by freedesktop.org compliant option
How to Install Parole 1.0.0 in Ubuntu 18.04, 17.10:
Ubuntu 18.04 includes the new release package in its main repository archive, just search for and install ‘parole’ in Ubuntu Software.
For Ubuntu 17.10, you can install or upgrade to the new release via an unofficial PPA. No updates for Ubuntu 16.04, since Parole now requires GTK+ >=3.20.
1. Open terminal via Ctrl+Alt+T or by searching for “Terminal” from app launcher. When it opens, run command:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/apps
Type in your password (no visual feedback when typing due to security reason) when it prompts and hit Enter.
2. Then upgrade the media player via Software Updater utility:
or run following commands to install / upgrade it:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install parole
For those who don’t want to add PPA, grab the .deb package from HERE.
Uninstall:
Run following command to purge the PPA repository which also downgrade installed packages to the stock version in your Ubuntu:
Oracle VirtualBox 5.2.8 was released a day ago. For Linux guests, Kernel 4.15 now is supported and black screen issue when 3D enabled is fixed.
Changes in Virtualbox 5.2.8 include:
Added support for FSGSBASE, PCID, INVPCID CPU features for guests
fixed EMM386 issue with detecting suitable page frame base
Linux: prevent VM window from jumping and auto-resizing to tiny size after resizing it on HiDPI screen
Linux: fixed seamless regression caused by wm_class functionality
Front end: switched to https downloads
Fixed crash while opening New machine wizard
Added support for distinguishing recording sources in the PulseAudio mixer on the host when multiple VMs are running
Various fixes for the DirectSound backend
Added better file seeking support and fixed playback of recorded files with certain players (e.g. Firefox)
Various fixes for Windows guest surround setups and HDA emulation
Fixed an issue where the serial port parameters in the emulation and host serial port got out of sync
Fixed overwriting certain INQUIRY data for the DVD/CD drive attached to a AHCI controller
Fixed handling VMDK images created by Amazon EC2 VM export
Fixed PXE boot regression in e1000
Added a workaround for older guests which do not enable bus mastering for the virtio PCI device
3D: add environment variable to configure presenting 3D content on main thread
Windows hosts: fixed indiscriminate binding of NDIS5 bridged driver, that caused PPPOE malfunction
Windows guests: fixed incorrect function error when using shared folders in certain applications
Linux 4.15 support, fixed black screen when 3D enabled in Linux guests
Linux guests: suppress setuid and setgid in shared folders
How to Install Virtualbox 5.2.8 in Ubuntu:
1. If you’re still running with VirtualBox 5.1.x, open terminal via Ctrl+Alt+T or from application launcher. Remove old Virtualbox via command:
sudo apt-get remove virtualbox virtualbox-5.1
2. Download & install the latest Virtualbox package from the link below:
3. If you’ve added the Oracle VBox repository, you can directly install the 5.2 release from Synaptic Package Manager or via apt command, after removing the old version.
To add the repository, do:
Open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command to add the repository:
Free and open-source Matroska software MKVToolNix v21.0.0 was released days ago. The biggest change is that mkvinfo’s GUI portion has been removed.
New features and enhancements in MKVToolNix 21.0.0:
mkvmerge: track statistics tags: the TagDefault element will not be written anymore as it was always set to the default value 1 anyway.
mkvmerge, MKVToolNix GUI: JSON files can now contain C++-style line comments outside of strings (e.g. something like this: // this is ignored). Such comments, even though not part of the official JSON specifications, are now ignored when reading JSON files.
MKVToolNix GUI: chapter editor: opening a Matroska file without chapters in it will now open the file in an empty chapter editor instead of showing an error message.
MKVToolNix GUI: an “info” tool has been added, replacing the functionality of mkvinfo’s GUI. The functionality is not on par yet but will be for release v22.
For the bug-fixes and other changes, see the release note.
How to Install MKVToolNix 21.0.0 in Ubuntu:
The official apt repository offers the latest packages for Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 17.10 so far.
Open terminal via Ctrl+Alt+T or by searching it from app launcher. When it opens, do following steps:
Hugin panorama stitcher has reached the 2018.0.0 release. Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 17.10.
Hugin 2018.0 is mainly a bug fix release and introduce some minor new features.
Several improvements for optimizer tabs:
mark deselected images
allow changing optimizer variables for all selected images at once
option to ignore line cp
hugin_stacker: New tool to stack overlapping images with several averaging modes (e.g. mean, median).
Added option to disable auto-rotation of images in control point and mask editor.
Nona, verdandi and hugin_stacker can now write BigTIFF images (for files >4 GB). The output of BigTIFF has to manually activated on the command line.
Added expression parser to GUI: This allows to manipulate several image variables at once.
Add user-defined assistant and expose it in the GUI. It allows to set up different assistant strategies without the need to recompiling.
How to Install Hugin 2018.0 in Ubuntu:
The new release has been made into Ubuntu 18.04 main archive. For Ubuntu 16.04 and Ubuntu 17.10, you can install it temporarily via following steps while Hugin PPA is not updated.
1. Open terminal either via Ctrl+Alt+T or by searching ‘terminal’ from app launcher. When it opens, run command to add PPA:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/apps
Input your password (no visual feedback while typing) when it prompts and hit Enter to continue.
2. Then run commands to check updates and install Hugin 2018:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install hugin
or upgrade it via Software Updater if a previous release was installed.
Uninstall:
To remove PPA, launch Software & Updates and navigate to ‘Other Software’ tab.
To remove Hugin panorama stitcher, run command in terminal:
Audacity audio editor 2.2.2 was released two days ago with some improvements and several bug-fixes. Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 17.10, and Ubuntu 18.04.
Audacity 2.2.2 release highlights:
Easier zooming in and out with mousewheel, new Zoom Toggle command, and context menu for vertical rulers.
Easy access to change keyboard bindings of menu commands by holding Shift key
Detection of dropout errors while recording with overburdened CPU
The Audacity team does not offer pre-compiled Linux binaries. Other than building from source, a third-party PPA is available with Audacity 2.2.2 packages for Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 17.10, and Ubuntu 18.04.
1. Open terminal via Ctrl+Alt+T or by searching for ‘terminal’ from app launcher. When it opens, run command:
ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors can now be installed in Ubuntu easily via Snap package, the universal Linux app packaging format, though it’s in candidate channel for testing so far.
ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors are free open-source office editors for text documents, spreadsheets and presentations working offline. The software features:
Work with all popular formats – DOC, DOCX, ODT, RTF, TXT, PDF, HTML, EPUB, XPS, DjVu, XLS, XLSX, ODS, CSV, PPT, PPTX, ODP, FODS, FODT, FODP.
View, create and edit documents of any size and complexity.
Extend editing capabilities with the pre-installed plugin set (e.g. insert special symbols, YouTube videos, ClipArt, create templates and more).
Automate your routine activities with macros.
Ability to switch to online mode to collaborate with your teammates in real time.
1. For Ubuntu 16.04 users never installed a snap, you need to install snapd first via command:
sudo apt-get install snapd snapd-xdg-open
Input your password (no visual feedback while typing) when it prompts and hit Enter to continue.
2. To install the office suite, open terminal via Ctrl+Alt+T or by searching it from app launcher, and run command:
SMPlayer media player 18.2.2 was released earlier today. It has been made into PPA repository for all current Ubuntu releases.
SMPlayer 18.2.2 features:
The option Open -> URL can now also load YouTube playlists.
New option in Preferences -> Subtitles to select the opacity of the background of the subtitles (available when the “border style” is set to “opaque box”).
The options to select the preferred number of track for audio and subtitles are back.
(mpv) Now the direct3d is the default video output for Windows, since some users reported problems with the gpu output.
How to Install SMPlayer 18.2.2 in Ubuntu:
For Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 17.10, Ubuntu 18.04, and derivatives, do following steps to install or upgrade SMPlayer via PPA.
1. Search for and launch “terminal” from application launcher. When it opens, run command:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:rvm/smplayer
Input your password (no visual feedback while typing) when it asks and hit Enter.
2. Then upgrade SMPlayer using Software Updater (or Update Manager):
or run commands in terminal to install (or upgrade) the media player:
