Ubuntu 21.04 final beta was officially released. Features images for the Ubuntu Desktop, Server, and Cloud products, and also the Kubuntu, Lubuntu, Ubuntu Budgie, UbuntuKylin, Ubuntu MATE, Ubuntu Studio, and Xubuntu flavors.
Ubuntu 21.04 code name “Hirsute Hippo”. As a non-LTS release, it has only 9-month support.
The new Ubuntu edition comes with Linux Kernel 5.11 and GNOME 3.38.x, along with some GNOME 40 core applications, e.g, GNOME Calculator, Gnome Clocks, Gnome Disk Utility.
And it by default logins to Wayland session. If your applications are not so far updated with Wayland support, you can easily switch back to X11 session by clicking the gear button when you’re at the login screen.
Another change is that the time & date menu, system tray menu, notifications, and other top-panel drop-down menus are now in Dark Mode. For those prefer either the standard or light mode, you have to install the User Themes Gnome Shell Extension to change the default theme to light. For details, see this tutorial.
Other changes include:
Use nftables as default backend for the firewall.
Add support for smartcard authentication
Desktop icons now handled by Desktop Icons NG extension with drag’n’drop support.
Deepin, a beautiful Linux distribution based on Debian stable, released version 20.2 a day ago.
Deepin 20.2 features the LTS Kernel 5.10 and stable Kernel 5.11. In Grub boot menu, you can select to boot either Kernel as you want.
The new release now integrates the Debian 10.8 stable package repository. Thanks to code optimization, you will get less memory occupation for core apps, faster response, enhanced system performance, and smoother user experiences.
Also, Deepin 20.2 introduced a Downloader app with multiple download protocols support, including HTTP(s), FTP(s), BT, magnet link, etc. And the downloads are extremely fast.
LibreOffice office suite 7.1.2, the second bug-fix release for the 7.1 series, now is available to install in Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 20.04, Linux Mint 20, Ubuntu 20.10 via its official PPA.
LibreOffice 7.1.2 comes with 61 bug-fixes. Here are some of them according to the changelog:
Paste sometimes deactivated in (context) menu even though text copied to clipboard and CTRL+V functioning.
Writer: wrong header/footer during export to DOCX.
LibreOffice text blurry on Retina displays on macOS 11.
Font rendering display error (skia) and some DejaVu fonts.
Cannot open .docx in writer – format openXML.
Orca no longer reads many options on the sidebar in Linux.
Autocorrect no longer works with Change Tracking enabled.
elementary: New Arrow Style for Undo and Redo.
Crash when importing docx file.
PDF export with buttons won’t work in Adobe Reader.
How to Install LibreOffice 7.1.2 via PPA:
1. Add the PPA.
LibreOffice Fresh PPA has made the packages for all current Ubuntu releases. You can add it to your system by launching terminal and run command:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:libreoffice/ppa
Type user password (no asterisk feedback) when it prompts and hit Enter to continue.
2. Install LibreOffice 7.1.2.
After adding the PPA, you can either update your system packages including the office suite via command:
sudo apt full-upgrade
or launch Software Updater (Update Manager) and select install the package updates:
Uninstall:
To remove the PPA repository, either go to Software & Updates -> Other Software and remove the relevant line.
Before the next major GIMP 3.0, a new maintenance update for the 2.10 series GIMP 2.10.24 now is available to install.
Though it’s not officially announced at the moment of writing, GIMP has provided the 2.10.24 source tarball & Windows exe for downloading in its website.
And both the Flathub repository and unofficial Ubuntu PPA have updated the packages for the new release.
What’s new in GIMP 2.10.24 according to the release note:
Off-canvas point snapping
GeoTIFF metadata support (georeferencing information embedded within a TIFF file used by map makers)
Many improvements in the metadata viewer and editor
Many file format supports improved: HEIF, PSP, TIFF, JPEG, PNG, PDF, DDS, BMP, PSD
New “Negative Darkroom” operation to simulate enlargement prints from scans of photographic negatives.
The RAW image import now handles darktable 3.6 and over
New Kabyle translation
How to Install GIMP 2.10.24 in Ubuntu:
Method 1: Install GIMP via the universal flatpak package:
If you’re OK with the flatpak package which runs in sandbox, open terminal and run following commands one by one to install it:
1. Firstly add PPA for updated Flatpak package (required for Ubuntu 18.04 only):
4. Finally install GIMP flatpak package via command:
flatpak install flathub org.gimp.GIMP
NOTE: as flatpak runs in sandbox, it takes much more disk space for run-time libraries.
5. (Optional) If you want to remove the package, run command:
flatpak uninstall org.gimp.GIMP
Method 2: install GIMP via Ubuntu PPA:
For those prefer the classic .deb packages, the unofficial PPA has made the new release packages for Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 20.10, and Ubuntu 21.04.
Due to compile issue, the package for Ubuntu 18.04 is stuck at v2.10.22 at the moment.
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 (Update Manager) utility.
or run apt commands in terminal to install GIMP:
sudo apt install gimp
If you’re going to upgrade the image editor from command line, I’d recommend to RUN this command instead, so to also install the updated dependency libraries.
sudo apt upgrade
3.) (Optional) To restore GIMP to the stock version in main Ubuntu repository, run command to purge the PPA:
The free and open-source planetarium software Stellarium 0.21.0 was released today. Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu 21.04, Ubuntu 20.10, Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 18.04 via PPA.
The new release completed the work on accurate planet axes, including Lunar libration. It also features visualisation of Earth shadow for Lunar eclipses, the latest algorithms for planet magnitudes. Planets are now scalable and Solar glare switchable for didactic applications.
Other changes include:
Better texture for the Lunar surface.
Enhanced Calendars plugin.
Replaced “arabic” by more accurate “al-Sufi” skyculture.
Added lines for the Invariable Plane and Projected Solar Equator.
Added solar altitude to planetary feature nomenclature.
Added new 4k texture for the Moon (required re-balancing planet shader brightness)
Added more cardinal points.
Added a new sky culture based on Al-Sufi “Book of Fixed Stars” written ~ 964 AD.
Added Old Hindu calendars
Added Islamic (algorithmic) and Hebrew calendar.
Added French Revolution calendar (arithmetic version)
Added Persian (arithmetic) calendar
And much more other changes, see the release note for details.
How to Install Stellarium 0.21.0 via PPA:
The Stellarium developers team maintains an official Ubuntu PPA with the latest packages for all current Ubuntu releases.
1. Open terminal either by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard or by searching for ‘terminal’ from application menu. When it opens, run command to add the PPA:
GNU Emacs text editor 27.2 was released as a new maintenance release.
Emacs 27.2 is a bug-fix release with no new features. According to the changelog, it changed the behavior of the user option ‘resize-mini-frames‘. If set to a non-nil value which isn’t a function, resize the mini frame using the new function ‘fit-mini-frame-to-buffer’ which won’t skip leading or trailing empty lines of the buffer.
Emacs now ignores modifier keys when IME input is used. By default, pressing Ctrl, Shift, and Alt keys while using IME input will no longer apply the modifiers to the produced characters, as there are IMEs which use keys with modifiers to input some characters. Customize the variable ‘w32-ignore-modifiers-on-IME-input’ to nil to get back the old behavior.
And the user option ‘tramp-completion-reread-directory-timeout’ is now obsolete.
How to Install Gnu Emacs in Ubuntu:
For those prefer the classic apt repository, keep an eye on the Kevin Kelley’s PPA, though it’s not been updated at the moment of writing.
Emacs is also available as the containerized Snap package, which is however at version 27.1 at the moment.
The community maintained Flatpak package has built Emacs 27.2 for Linux users. Ubuntu 20.04 and higher users can open terminal and run following commands one by one to install it:
Install flatpak framework if you don’t have it:
sudo apt install flatpak
Add flathub repository which hosts the flatpak packages:
The free and open-source BitTorrent client qBittorrent 4.3.4 was released. Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 20.10 via PPA.
qBittorrent 4.3.4 reworked the sorting logic. To get the old sorting order for the “queue number” column, first sort on the “Completed On” column and then sort on the “#”(queue number) column.
The new release now requires Qt >= 5.12. Ubuntu 18.04 is no longer supported via the official PPA due to outdated system libraries. You can however get it via the flatpak package since it gets most run time libraries bundled.
Add ability to prioritize selected items by shown file order.
Allow tab to escape the text box in “Edit trackers” dialog.
Support sub-sorting in Transferlist.
Expose ToS setting from libtorrent.
Improve tracker entries handling.
Enlarge “speed limit” icon slightly.
Don’t prevent system sleep due to errored torrents.
Use stable sorting in transfer list.
Apply “Hide zero/infinity values” to “Time Active”, “Down/Up Limit” and ETA columns.
Fix potential out-of-bounds access.
Add a 3-Hour graph.
Add option to disable icons in menus.
Improve detection of filename extension of audio/video files.
Various drawing improvements of progress bar.
Raise minimum libtorrent version to 1.2.12, Qt version to 5.12.
How to Install qBittorrent 4.3.4 via PPA:
The official qBittorrent PPA has built the new release packages for Ubuntu 20.04 and Ubuntu 20.10.
1. To add the PPA, open terminal by either pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard or searching for “Terminal” from application menu. When it opens, run command:
Mozilla Firefox 87.0 was released today with further efforts on improving user privacy.
Firefox 87 introduced SmartBlock, a new intelligent tracker blocking mechanism for Private Browsing and Strict Tracking Protection Mode. By providing local stand-ins for blocked third-party tracking scripts, you’ll encounter less website breakage while fully protected from trackers.
As today’s web is on the way to becoming https-only and browsers are taking steps to improve user privacy, the 87 browser release introduced new default HTTP Referrer policy instead of ‘no-referrer-when-downgrade’.
It’s ‘strict-origin-when-cross-origin‘ which will trim user sensitive information like path and query string in the URL to protect privacy.
Other changes in Firefox 87 include:
New locale: Silesian (szl)
Improved “Highlight All” feature on Find in page.
Full support for macOS built-in screen reader, VoiceOver.
Disable the Backspace key for browsing back.
Various security fixes.
How to get Firefox 87 in Ubuntu:
For all current Ubuntu releases, the new Firefox package will be published in Ubuntu security & updates repositories in the next few days.
At that time, you can easily update the web browser through Software Updater (Update Manager)
For those who can’t wait, go to the release page which also includes a download button:
The Vivaldi web browser 3.7 was released a few days ago. Features performance improvements and Apple M1 machines support.
Vivaldi 3.7 gets a series speed boost. By testing on Ubuntu 18.04 PC with 2 GHz Intel Core i3 CPU and 4 GB RAM, the browser tabs open twice as fast, and new windows open 26% faster compare to the previous version.
The new release also adds native support for Apple computers using the new ARM-based M1 processors.
Besides, there are more new features including:
Add support for Kabyle
Add support for configurable document menus
Support Periodic Reload in web panels
Periodic Reload in Web Panels
Declutter a crowded Tab Bar in two clicks
Search highlight priority options
Silent update support for Windows.
Import bookmarks for Chromium Edge
How to Install Vivaldi 3.7 in Ubuntu:
The official Ubuntu .DEB package is available to download at the link below:
Grab the deb matches your OS, then install it via either Ubuntu Software install or Gdebi package installer. Or run command in terminal:
sudo apt install ./Downloads/vivaldi-stable*.deb
Vivaldi also has an official apt repository, with it you can install the browser and get future updates through Software Updater utility.
Open terminal either via Ctrl+Alt+T keyboard shortcut or by searching for terminal from application menu. When it opens, run following commands one by one:
The Audacity audio editor 3.0.0 was release as a new major update a day ago.
Audacity 3.0.0 features .aup3 project format. The audio project was previously saved as large number of small data files, with an ‘.aup’ file to coordinate the lot. Now it saves project as the new all-in-one-file aup3 file format.
Working with the new .aup3 projects editing audio should be a little faster than before, however, finishing and closing a project at the end can be quite a lot slower.
You can open your older .aup projects in the new version, where they will be converted to the new .aup3 format.
