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Plank 0.11.4 “Eddy” Released! How to Install it via PPA

Last updated: March 28, 2017

Plank 0.11.4, another maintenance release of 0.11.x “Eddy”, was released a dozen hours ago.

The 0.11.4 release of this simplest dock fixed underscores in some menu items not being shown, and plank adding an extra icon when trying to empty trash. See the changelog:

  • Fix underscores not being shown in some menu items (LP: #1662968)
  • Make window-manager aware that empty-trash dialog is part of plank (LP: #1652653)
  • Fix build with -Werror=pointer-to-int-cast, -Werror=format, -Werror=implicit-function-declaration
  • Generate manpage with help2man
  • Update appdata
  • Update translations

How to Install Plank 0.11.4 in Ubuntu via PPA:

The Plank Testing PPA has built the packages for Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 16.10, and Ubuntu 17.04. The testing package works well enough that it shouldn’t be a problem for daily use.

1. Open terminal via Ctrl+Alt+T or searching for “terminal” from start menu. When it opens, run command to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ricotz/docky

2. After typing your password and hitting enter. Run commands to update and install plank:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install plank

Tip: Although the package marked as 0.11.3+bzr1597, it contains all the changes in plank 0.11.4.

How to Remove:

The PPA can be removed by going to Software & Updates -> Other Software tab. And to remove plank, run command:

sudo apt-get remove plank
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Final Beta of Ubuntu 17.04 Zesty Zapus is Available For Download

Last updated: March 24, 2017

The final beta of Ubuntu 17.04 Zesty Zapus has been released earlier today. Features images for Desktop, Server, Cloud, and opt-in flavors, including Kubuntu 17.04, Lubuntu 17.04, Ubuntu Budgie 17.04, Ubuntu Gnome 17.04, UbuntuKylin 17.04, Ubuntu MATE 17.04, Ubuntu Studio 17.04, Xubuntu 17.04.

This Zesty Zapus snapshot includes the v4.10 kernel and Mesa 17. Ubuntu 17.04 download link http://releases.ubuntu.com/17.04/

Kubuntu 17.04 Beta 2 highlights:

  • Plasma 5.9, KDE Applications 16.12.3, KDE Frameworks 5.31
  • Calligra Office Suite updated to Qt/KF5 version 3.0.0.1
  • Krita latest bugfix release – after this popular and advanced digital painting application was split from Calligra.
  • K3B updated to a Qt5/KF5 snapshot of the version to be included in KDE’s next applications release.
  • Okular PDF and document reader is now Qt/KF5 in apps 16.12
  • Kdevelop is now the most recent bugfix release of the new version 5.0.x series.
  • Numerous application and translation updates from KDE.

Ubuntu Budgie 17.04 Beta 2 highlights:

  • latest budgie-desktop stable v10.2.9.
  • GNOME 3.24 applications together with GTK+ 3.24 Mutter window manager
  • latest budgie-welcome app with our browser ballot screen and Material theme makeovers
  • AppIndicator support is now default
  • Terminix is the default terminal
  • Many new GNOME based applications are included by default
  • 17.04 Community Contest Winning Wallpapers
  • Gtk Theme QT apps out of the box.

Ubuntu Gnome 17.04 highlights:

  • Gnome 3.24
  • Night Light feature that automatically reduce the blue light emitted by your computer screen at sunset
  • The Calendar app now has a Week view.
  • Flatpak 0.8 is now installed by default.
  • LibreOffice 5.3

Ubuntu Kylin 17.04 highlights:

  • Gnome Apps updated to 3.24 excluding Nautilus file manager, Terminal, Evolution, and Software.
  • Released foxitreader 1.0.1, available in Kylin Software Center.

Ubuntu MATE 17.04 highlights:

  • MATE Desktop 1.18.0
  • The entire MATE Desktop suite of applications and components is now GTK3+ only!
  • Added full support for libinput
  • Updated version of core apps
  • Dropped 32-bit PowerPC support, completely!

Xubuntu 17.04 highlights:

  • Thunar crash fixes while renaming,copying bugs
  • xfce4-taskmanager has ability to click on window to select process
  • xfce4-notifyd includes persistence support.
  • xubuntu-default-settings include new file templates included – OpenDocument Writer, OpenDocument Spreadsheet

via: fridge.ubuntu.com

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Stellarium 0.15.2 Released! How to Install it in Ubuntu 16.04

Last updated: March 23, 2017

Stellarium, a free and open-source planetarium software, has reached the 0.15.2 release a few days ago with over 100 improvements and bug fixes.

Some new features in Stellarium 0.15.2:

  • an algorithm for DeltaT
  • orbit visualization data for asteroids
  • new option for the InfoString group
  • support for calculating extincted magnitudes of satellites
  • new type of Solar system objects: sednoids
  • read the announcement for more details.

How to Install Stellarium 0.15.2 in Ubuntu / Linux Mint:

The new release has been made into the official PPA, available for Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 16.10, Ubuntu 17.04, Linux Mint 18.

1. Open terminal by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T or searching for “Terminal” from start menu. When it opens, run command to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:stellarium/stellarium-releases

Type in your password (no visual feedback due to security reason) and hit Enter.

2. If you have an existing Stellarium installation, launch Software Updater (Update Manager) and upgrade the software after checking for updates.

Tip: It’s highly recommended to reset the settings when you will install the new version

Or just run commands in terminal to install / upgrade Stellarium:

sudo apt update

sudo apt install stellarium

Uninstall:

You can easily restore Stellarium to the stock version in your Ubuntu main repository by purging the PPA via command:

sudo apt install ppa-purge && sudo ppa-purge ppa:stellarium/stellarium-releases
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Sigil 0.9.8 Released! How to Install it via PPA in Ubuntu

Last updated: March 22, 2017

The Sigil epub editor has reached the 0.9.8 release yesterday. Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 16.10, Linux Mint 18 via PPA.

Sigil 0.9.8 release highlights:

  • PyQt5 support for plugins.
  • New preferences menu to adjust the size of Sigil’s main icons to your liking.
  • An important fix for temp_folder issues on Windows
  • Add manifest properties to Book Browser tooltips and to All Files Reports Widget for epub3
  • Make Sigil’s UI and spellchecker language settings available to plugins
  • Various bug-fixes, read the announcement for details.

Sigil Adjust menu icons’ size

How to Install Sigil 0.9.8 in Ubuntu / Linux Mint:

Sigil does not offer official Linux binaries. Besides building from the source tarball, you may install Sigil 0.9.8 via my personal PPA.

1. Open terminal by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T or searching for “Terminal” from start menu. When it opens, run command to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/sigil

Type in your password (no visual feedback due to security reason) and hit Enter.

2. Then you can upgrade Sigil editor from an existing release via Software Updater:

Or install /upgrade Sigil via commands:

sudo apt update

sudo apt install sigil

In Addition, for Linux libxml2 bug see HERE. Sorry that I can’t build it with DBUILD_PATCHED_LIBXML2=1 option since it requires cloning source from github.com but Launchpad builders do not have internet access.

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Kodi 17.1 Released! How to Install it via PPA in Ubuntu

Last updated: March 21, 2017

Kodi 17.1, the first bug-fix release for the v17 “Krypton”, has been released and made into PPA for Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 16.10, and Linux Mint 17 & 18.

According to the changelog, Kodi 17.1 brings a huge list of fixes and here are some of them:

  • Update Estuary and Estouchy with some bugfixes and improvements
  • Fix EDL skipping
  • Fix slow song smartplaylist
  • Several PVR fixes
  • Update Chorus webinterface
  • Fix addons not being marked broken when they are updated with broken flag
  • Add limiter on random songs which should prevent large memory usage on big libraries
  • Improve keyboard mapping during button mapping
  • Improve analog stick handling
  • Improve plugin performance when building the content list
  • Include RTMP inputstream add-on for Windows

Although the Kodi website does not announced the v17.1 release at the moment, you can now install or upgrade to Kodi 17.1 via following steps:

1. Open terminal by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T or searching for “Terminal” from Unity Dash / Start Menu. When it opens, run command to add Kodi PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:team-xbmc/ppa

Type in your password (no visual feedback due to security reason) and hit Enter.

2. Then upgrade Kodi Media Center from a previous release via Software Updater:

Or run the commands below one by one to install or upgrade Kodi:

sudo apt update

sudo apt install kodi

Once installed, you can either launch Kodi from app launcher or select log in Kodi session at login screen.

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Audacity 2.1.3 Released! Install it in Ubuntu 16.04 & Higher

Last updated: March 18, 2017

After more than one year of development, the Audacity audio editor has reached the 2.1.3 release. Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 16.10, and their derivatives.

Thanks to an upgrade of the PortAudio library, Audacity 2.1.3 now properly supports Windows 10. It also features:

  • Added support for Magic Mouse/Trackpad on mac OS.
  • New Distortion effect, Rhythm Track (was called Click Track) and Sample Data Import. Also effects are no longer grayed-out when in pause.
  • New scrub ruler and ‘pinned’ option so the waveform moves and the recording/playing head stays still.
  • New features in Timer Record.
  • On Mac, audacity.app is now added to /Applications/ directly rather than adding a folder there.
  • Over 60 bugs fixed, including five longstanding bugs.

How to Install Audacity 2.1.3 in Ubuntu via PPA:

The Audacity Team does not offer official builds of DEB packages. Besides building from source, you can install Audacity 2.1.3 from my PPA (unofficial). Ubuntu 14.04 is excluded due to requirement of GCC >= 4.9.

1. Open terminal by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T or searching for “Terminal” from Unity Dash. When it opens, run command to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/audacity

Type in your password (no visual feedback due to security reason) when it asks and hit Enter.

2. After that, upgrade Audacity via the Software Updater (Update Manager) utility:

Or you can run the commands below one by one to install or upgrade the audio editor:

sudo apt update

sudo apt install audacity

Uninstall:

For any reason, you can easily remove the PPA and downgrade Audacity to the stock version in Ubuntu via the ppa-purge tool:

sudo apt install ppa-purge && sudo ppa-purge ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/audacity
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Deluge BitTorrent 1.3.14 Released [Highly Recommended to Upgrade]

Last updated: March 7, 2017

The Deluge BitTorrent client 1.3.14 was release one day ago. Users with previous release installed are highly recommended to upgrade to this release.

For WebUI, Deluge 1.3.14 contains a fix for CSRF vulnerability that has the real potential to compromise your machine. For Windows user, the package now includes libtorrent 1.0.11 which should fix crashing on startup.

  • Fixed ‘Too many files open’ errors.
  • Added support for python-geoip for use with libtorrent 1.1.
  • Fixed a single proxy entry being overwritten resulting in no proxy set.
  • Added tracker_status translation to UIs.
  • [GtkUI] Strip whitespace from infohash before checks.
  • Add missed feature autofill infohash entry from clipboard.
  • Backport bind interface option for server.
  • Security: Fixed WebUI CSRF Vulnerability.
  • [Console] Fix decode error comparing non-ascii (str) torrent name.
  • Fixes for splitting magnets from file.
  • Remove duplicate magnet extension when splitting.

How to Install Deluge 1.3.14 in Ubuntu / Linux Mint:

The new release has been made into the official PPA, available for Ubuntu 12.04, Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 16.10, Ubuntu 17.04, Linux Mint 13, 17, 18, and their derivatives.

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

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:deluge-team/ppa

Type in your password (no visual feedback) and hit Enter

2. Then upgrade Deluge using Software Updater (Update Manager):

Or install it for the first time via commands:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install deluge

How to Restore:

To restore deluge BitTorrent client to the stock version in your Ubuntu main repository, open terminal and run command to purge the PPA:

sudo apt-get install ppa-purge && sudo ppa-purge ppa:deluge-team/ppa
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How to Install Skype 5.0 For Linux Beta in Ubuntu 16.04, 16.10

Last updated: March 1, 2017

Skype 5.0 for Linux has been announced a few hours ago. It’s now in the beta stage.

What’s New in Skype 5.0 for Linux:

  • Calls to mobiles and landlines with Skype credit
  • one-to-one VIDEO CALLS support from Linux to Skype for Android, iOS, Windows, and Mac.
  • View shared screens from other Skype desktop clients
  • Unity launcher now shows the number of unread conversations
  • online contacts in contact list now include Away and Do Not Disturb statuses.

How to Install Skype 5.0 for Linux in Ubuntu / Linux Mint:

The new release can be installed from the Skype apt repository, simply open terminal from Unity Dash, App Launcher, or via Ctrl+Alt+T shortcut key and run following commands one by one:

1. Make sure you have ‘apt-transport-https’ installed by running command:

dpkg -s apt-transport-https > /dev/null || bash -c "sudo apt-get update; sudo apt-get install apt-transport-https -y"

Type in your password (no visual feedback) when it prompts and hit Enter.

2. Download and install Skype GPG key via command:

curl https://repo.skype.com/data/SKYPE-GPG-KEY | sudo apt-key add -

3. Add Skype apt repository to your system via command:

echo "deb [arch=amd64] https://repo.skype.com/deb stable main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/skype-stable.list

4. Finally, install Skype for Linux either via Synaptic Package Manager or by running following commands in terminal:

sudo apt update

sudo apt install skypeforlinux

How to Remove:

For any reason you can remove Skype for Linux either via Synaptic Package Manager or by running the command:

sudo apt remove skypeforlinux && sudo apt autoremove

And you can remove the Skype repository via Software & Updates -> Other Software.

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Ubuntu 17.04 Beta 1 Released for Opt-in Flavors

Last updated: February 24, 2017

The next Ubuntu 17.04 Zesty Zapus has reached the beta 1 release earlier today. The beta 1 features images for Kubuntu, Lubuntu, Ubuntu Budgie, Ubuntu GNOME, Ubuntu Kylin, Ubuntu Studio, and Xubuntu.

This Zesty Zapus snapshot includes the v4.9 kernel and features:

  • Kubuntu 17.04 comes with Plasma 5.9, and KDE Applications 16.12.1
  • Ubuntu Budgie 17.04:
    • budgie-desktop stable release v10.2.9
    • Latest GNOME 3.24 applications (in beta) together with GTK+ 3.22 window manager
    • AppIndicator support is now default
    • Terminix is the default terminal
  • Ubuntu Gnome 17.04 includes GNOME 3.24 Beta, Flatpak 0.8, the Software app 3.22 which now supports Flatpak.

Download Ubuntu 17.04 images:

Xubuntu 17.04: http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/xubuntu/releases/zesty/

Ubuntu Studio 17.04: http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntustudio/releases/zesty/

Ubuntu Kylin 17.04: http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntukylin/releases/zesty/

Ubuntu Gnome 17.04: http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-gnome/releases/zesty/

Ubuntu Budgie 17.04: http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-budgie/releases/zesty/

Lubunu 17.04: http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/lubuntu/releases/zesty/

Kubuntu 17.04: http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/kubuntu/releases/zesty/

Read more:fridge.ubuntu.com

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Blender 2.78b Releaesed! How to Install in Ubuntu

Last updated: February 11, 2017

Blender 2.78b, a 2.78a release-compatible update was announced yesterday with important speedups, especially in Cycles and for Dependency graph.

BLender 2.78b comes with Cycles Speedups that were announced last month. Most notable will be faster rendering of Motion blur with hair, which has a 5-10 time speedup – important for production rendering. Also there are various bug-fixes.

How to Install Blender 2.78b in Ubuntu:

Blender is now available as SNAP package, first install snapd via command sudo apt install snapd in terminal, then you’re able to search for and install blender-tpaw in Ubuntu Software.

For those who don’t like the SNAP version, Blender 2.78b is also available in Thomas Schiex’s PPA, supports for Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 16.10, and derivatives.

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

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:thomas-schiex/blender

Type in your password (no visual feedback) when it prompts and hit enter.

2. Then you can upgrade Blender from an existing version via Software Updater (or Update Manager) after checking for updates.

Or install blender package either via Synaptic Package Manager or via commands:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install blender

Uninstall:

If you installed blender from PPA repository, run the following command in terminal to remove the PPA and downgrade Blender to the stock version available in Ubuntu main repositories.

sudo apt-get install ppa-purge && sudo ppa-purge ppa:thomas-schiex/blender
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