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Liferea Feed Reader 1.12 RC1 Released, Switched to WebKit2

Last updated: September 20, 2016

Liferea Feed Reader

The first release candidate for the new stable Liferea 1.12 (Linux Feed Reader) has been released. The new series of the open-source news aggregator now switches to WebKit2.

Main changes since Liferea 1.10 series:

  • Switch to Webkit2
  • Support for Do-Not-Track
  • Improved trayicon plugin
  • Support for Reedah and InoReader.
  • Support for categories in TheOldReader
  • Simplified handling of external browsers

In addition, the RC release adds support for downloading content that cannot be displayed by HTML widget (e.g., PDFs), shows new items count in tray icon and minimize to system tray (Gnome Classic) on window close, there are also some bug fixes and translation updates.

Liferea 1.12 RC1

How to install Liferea 1.12 rc1 in Ubuntu:

Liferea does not provide pre-compiled Linux binaries, however, there are a few unofficial Ubuntu PPAs contain the most recent Liferea packages. And below is how to install Liferea 1.12 rc1 in Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 14.04, or Linux Mint 17, 18 using my personal PPA:

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

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/apps

Type in password (no visual feedback, so just type in mind and hit Enter) when it asks and hit Enter.

Liferea ppa

2. Then launch Software Updater and you’ll be able to upgrade Liferea news aggregator after checking for updates:

upgrade Liferea via Software Updater

Or just run command to install or upgrade to Liferea 1.12 rc1:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install liferea

How to Restore:

To downgrade to the stock version of Liferea in Ubuntu main repository, purge the PPA via ppa-purge:

sudo apt install ppa-purge && sudo ppa-purge ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/apps
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This is the Default Desktop Wallpaper for Ubuntu 16.10

Last updated: September 12, 2016

Ubuntu 16.10 Yakkety Yak

The default desktop wallpaper for Ubuntu 16.10 Yakkety Yak has been unveiled. PNG-8, PNG-24, and the same for greyscale, along with mobile formatted ones are available for download.

The new desktop wallpaper looks not all that different from the previous releases’ wallpapers:

Ubuntu 16.10 Wallpaper

Ubuntu 16.10 Wallpaper

Ubuntu 16.10 Wallpaper Gray version

Ubuntu 16.10 Wallpaper Gray version

Here are the old releases wallpapers:

Ubuntu 16.04 default wallpaper

Ubuntu 16.04 default wallpaper

Ubuntu 15.10 default wallpaper

Ubuntu 15.10 default wallpaper

Ubuntu 15.04 default wallpaper

Ubuntu 15.04 default wallpaper

Download:

All the Ubuntu 16.10 default wallpaper version, provided by Will Cooke, is available for download at Bug #1621413.

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Elementary OS 0.4 Loki Released, Based on Ubuntu 16.04

Last updated: September 10, 2016

elementaryos-logo

The best-looking Linux distro, Elementary OS, has reached the 0.4 release, code name “Loki” and base on Ubuntu 16.04 package system.

The Elementary OS team announced the stable release of Loki last night:


After a little over a year of development, elementary is proud to announce the stable release of elementary OS Loki!

Loki is the newest version of elementary OS, a design-oriented and open source Linux-based operating system for desktops and laptops. It succeeds Freya which was released in April of 2015.

…

Elementary OS Loki

What’s new in Elementary OS Loki:

  • Linux Kernel 4.4 and Ubuntu 16.04 base
  • redesigned indicators change to be dark or light depending on your wallpaper.
  • redesigned audio indicator with more compact set of controls and large icons
  • new network indicator and redesigned network settings, bluetooth indicator
  • A new lid close setting and related behavior
  • Notification center now caches notifications and offers Do Not Disturb toggle
  • use Epiphany as new default web browser.
  • new app store
  • various other improvements, see the release note.

Download Elementary OS Loki at: elementary.io. (pay any dollar amount, or type 0 for free)

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Adobe Resurrect Flash for Linux via 23 Beta [Howto-install]

Last updated: December 15, 2016

adobe-flash-icon245

By releasing the 23 Beta flash, Adobe announced that it starts supporting NPAPI Flash for Linux again.

Today we are updating the beta channel with Linux NPAPI Flash Player by moving it forward and in sync with the modern release branch (currently version 23). We have done this significant change to improve security and provide additional mitigation to the Linux community.

In the past, we communicated that NPAPI Linux releases would stop in 2017. This is no longer the case and once we have performed sufficient testing and received community feedback, we will release both NPAPI and PPAPI Linux builds with their major version numbers in sync and on a regular basis.

Adobe says it will release both the NPAPI and PPAPI (used in Chrome) versions of Flash Player for Linux. However, the NPAPI version will not support or add any advanced features and capabilities, like DRM, GPU acceleration, Stage 3D, etc.

Users who require this functionality are recommended to use Pepper (PPAPI) Flash for Linux.

About Flash 23

Install Adobe Flash 23 Beta for Firefox in Ubuntu:

Flash sucks! But since many websites still use it, we have to use flash to view the content.

So far only 32-bit and 64-bit binaries of the 23 release are available for download at the link below:

Flash Player 23 Beta for Linux (NPAPI)

For Linux, the binary is just a file called: libflashplayer.so. To use it, do:

1. Install Flash Player 11.2 from Canonical Partners repository:

  • Launch Software & Updates, and enable Canonical Partners repository in Other Software tab. Then close it.

    enable canonical partners

  • Open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command to install Adobe-flashplugin: 
    sudo apt update; sudo apt install adobe-flashplugin

2. Move the libflashplayer.so file you just downloaded to /usr/lib/adobe-flashplugin/ folder by running the command:

sudo mv ~/Downloads/libflashplayer.so /usr/lib/adobe-flashplugin/

Finally restart Firefox browser and check your flash version:

Adobe Flash 23 for Firefox

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Twitter App Corebird 1.3.1 Released with some Fixes

Last updated: September 6, 2016

Corebird Twitter Client

The open-source desktop twitter client Corebird has reached the 1.3.1 release with some fixes to 1.3 release. For those who prefer this modern twitter app, it’s available for upgrade in my PPA (unofficial) for Ubuntu 16.04 and Ubuntu 16.10.

Changes in Corebird 1.3.1:

  • Fix muted and/or blocked tweets still showing up in timelines
  • Fix accounts not getting saved when first created
  • Fix retweets of the authenticating user not getting theiry correct seen status
  • Fix profiles descriptions containing ampersand characters and links
  • Fix profile banner fade-in transition
  • Fix doubly-escaped ampersands in link tooltips
  • Fix missing underlines in @screen_names in the profile popover
Corebird 1.3.1

Corebird with Numix GTK theme

How to install Corebird 1.3.1 in Ubuntu:

For Ubuntu 16.04, and/or Ubuntu 16.10, you can either download the .deb binary from the PPA file archive, or run the commands below one by one in terminal to add PPA and install Corebird:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/corebird

sudo apt update

sudo apt install corebird

Tip: The GetDeb repository also maintains Corebird packages for Ubuntu 16.04, now it contains Corebird 1.3 and the 1.3.1 release should be available soon.

With the PPA added, you can upgrade Corebird along with other system updates via Software Updater when a new release is out and uploaded into PPA.

upgrade corebird 1.3.1

And the PPA can be easily disabled or removed via Software & Updates utility under Other Software tab.

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Batch Image Resizer and Converter ‘Converseen’ Ported to Qt5

Last updated: September 2, 2016

converseen batch image resizer

Converseen, a free and open-source batch image resizer and converter, has reached the 0.9.5 a few days ago.

Converseen 0.9.5 is the first Qt5 port release written in C++. It works on Windows, Linux, and FreeBSD. With Magick++ image libraries it supports more than 100 image formats.

Features:

  • Convert an unlimited number of images
  • Create thumbnails to any of the most popular formats
  • Carry out a single or a multiple conversion
  • Resize, compress images.
  • Rotate and flip images.

Converseen 0.9.5

How to install Converseen 0.9.5 in Ubuntu 16.04, 14.04

While Ubuntu offers the 0.9.2 release in its main repository, you can install or upgrade Converseen from an third-party PPA.

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

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/apps

converseen ppa

2. To upgrade from a previous release, launch Software Updater and install available updates after checking for updates:

upgrade converseen

Or just run the commands below in terminal to install or upgrade the software:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install converseen

For those who don’t want to add PPA, grab the .deb package from the file archive.

3. (Optional) To remove converseen image processor, run:

sudo apt remove converseen && sudo apt autoremove

And the PPA can be disabled or removed via Software & Updates utility in Other Software tab.

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The First Beta of Ubuntu 16.10 Yakkety Yak Released

Last updated: September 29, 2017

Ubuntu 16.10 Yakkety Yak

The Ubuntu Team has announced the first beta release of Ubuntu 16.10 Yakkety Yak, feathers images for Lubuntu, Ubuntu GNOME, Ubuntu Kylin, Ubuntu MATE, Ubuntu Studio.

This pre-release includes the v4.4 kernel, LibreOffice 5.2, and a number of software updates that are ready for wider testing. These images are still under development, so you should expect some bugs.

Ubuntu 16.10 Beta 1 Release Highlights:

Lubuntu still uses LXDE since LXQT is still in development.

Ubuntu GNOME 16.10:

  • includes GNOME 3.20
  • Select apps have been updated to their GNOME 3.22 Beta 1 (3.21.90) versions.
  • GTK 3 version of LibreOffice 5.2 by default.
  • GNOME’s Initial Setup utility is included and enabled.
  • Empathy is no longer installed by default for new installs.
  • The new Characters character map utility is installed by default.
  • The experimental wayland session is included.

Ubuntu Kylin 16.04 fixed many internationalization and localization bugs.

Ubuntu MATE 16.10:

  • Migrated to GTK 3.20
  • Updated to MATE Dock Applet 0.74
  • Updated many MATE packages for improved GTK 3.20 support
  • Removed MATE Heads-Up Display (HUD)

Ubuntu Studio 16.04 included dgedit, drumgizmo, gpick, calibre, pdf-shuffler, plume-creator. Replaced recordmydesktop with vokoscreen, and gnome-color-manager with dispcalgui. Also an updated list of packages included.

Future releases for Ubuntu 16.10:

September 22nd Final Beta
October 6th Final Freeze, Release Candicate
October 13th Final release of Ubuntu 16.10
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PyCharm 2016.2.2 Released with Fixes and Performance Improvements

Last updated: August 27, 2016

PyCharm IDE

The PyCharm Team announced the release of PyCharm 2016.2.2 on August 25. Now it’s available in PPA for upgrade in Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 12.04, and derivatives.

The new release fixed several major problems in the debugger and in the code analysis subsystem. It updates bundled JSHint version to 2.9.2, provides better exclude rules for indexing for Node.js, usability, UI, editing performance improvements, and various bug fixes. See the release note for details.

PyCharm IDE 2016.2

How to install PyCharm 2016.2.2 in Ubuntu / Linux Mint:

Both the professional and community version with Unity menu-bar integration are available in Mystic Mirage’s PPA for Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 12.04, and the old Ubuntu 15.10, 15.04.

GetDeb repository also contains the professional version of PyCharm IDE for Ubuntu 16.04 and Ubuntu 14.04.

1. Add the PPA

Open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mystic-mirage/pycharm

PyCharm PPA

2. For those who have a previous release installed, launch Software Updater and upgrade the IDE:

upgrade pycharm IDE

Or install the PyCharm IDE professional via command in terminal:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install pycharm

Replace pycharm with pycharm-community in the code to install the community version.

3. (Optional) To remove PyCharm IDE, simply run command:

sudo apt remove pycharm pycharm-community

And the PPA repository can be removed via Software & Updates utility (Other Software tab).

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How to Install Avidemux 2.6.13 in Ubuntu 16.04

Last updated: April 4, 2019

Avidemux video editor

Avidemux video editor has reached the 2.6.13 release recently with lots of bug-fixes and improvements. Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu 16.04 LTS via PPA.

Changes in Avidemux 2.6.13:

  • updated Toolchain for Win64 and OS X
  • Linux AppImage available (universal linux64 binaries)
  • Update to libav* 3.0.2
  • Improved copy mode for h264/h265 video
  • AAC/ADTS import/export
  • new video filter : ivtcDupeRemover to remove duplicate after 3:2 pulldown
  • Revamped refresh screen
  • ASS/SSA fixes
  • Improved logo filter with alpha channel
  • ShaderLoader, load your openGL shaders as filters
  • Compatibility with newer gcc
  • Partial filter available only for one in/one out video filters
  • Add go fwd/go backward 60 sec buttons

Install Avidemux 2.6.13 in Ubuntu 16.04:

The Qt and CLI version of Avidemux 2.6.13 has been made into the GetDeb Apps repository, available for Ubuntu 16.04 and Linux Mint 18. To install it, do below steps:

For those prefer the GTK version, wait Avidemux 2.6.13 to be made into Thanh Tung Nguyen’s PPA

1. Add GetDeb repository by opening terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and running the command:

sudo sh -c 'echo "deb http://archive.getdeb.net/ubuntu xenial-getdeb apps" >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/getdeb.list'

2. Install the key so to trust the packages from that repository:

wget -q -O- http://archive.getdeb.net/getdeb-archive.key | sudo apt-key add -

GetDeb repository for Ubuntu 16.04

3. Finally update system package index and install Avidemux video editor:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install avidemux2.6-qt

4. (Optional) To remove Avidemux, use command:

sudo apt remove avidemux2.6-qt && sudo apt autoremove

And the GetDeb repository can be removed via Software & Updates utility (Other Software tab).

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Shotwell 0.23.5 Adds Hyperlinks on Tags, Remove Buttom Toolbar Option

Last updated: August 21, 2016

Shotwell Ubuntu 16.04

The Gnome photo management software, Shotwell 0.23.5, was released a few days ago with user experience improvements, bug fixes, and translation updates.

Shotwell 0.23.5 adds an option under View menu allows users to hide the bottom toolbar. Tags below the thumbnails now behave like hyperlinks, so that clicking it brings you to the page with all other photos with that tag.

Shotwell 0.23.5

Other changes in the 0.23.5 release:

  • Remove obsolete files
  • Plugins: Load icons and GtkBuilder files from GResource
  • Fix .desktop file generation
  • Use Gtk.MessageDialog’s printf-style API for strings
  • Add SQL indexes to PhotoTable
  • Add Language headers to po files
  • Update INSTALL file
  • Really remove reference to external hmac_sha1
  • Disambiguate strings for time ranges
  • Implement linked tags
  • Make it more clear that something failed if SSL conncetion was not possible
  • Add option to filter by saved search
  • Explicitly link plugins to their dependencies
  • Fix typo in GSettings schema
  • Re-add –disable-extra-plugins configure option
  • Fix settings migrator and thumbnailer path
  • Bump debian compat for proper –libexecdir parameter

How to install Shotwell 0.23.5 in Ubuntu 16.04:

For Ubuntu 16.04 LTS and derivatives, you can install or upgrade to Shotwell 0.23.5 using Jens Georg’s PPA.

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

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:yg-jensge/shotwell

shotwell-maintainer-ppa

2. Then updated package index and upgrade shotwell:

sudo apt update

sudo apt install shotwell

3. To restore the stock Shotwell 0.22 version, run command to purge the PPA:

sudo apt install ppa-purge && sudo ppa-purge ppa:yg-jensge/shotwell
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