Archives For November 30, 1999

Gscan2pdf, GTK tool to produce PDF / DjVu from scanned document, released version 2.5.6 with stability improvements. Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu.

Gscan2pdf 2.5.6 release highlights according to the changelog:

  • Prevent Negate from changing the alpha channel.
  • Avoid image corruption with colour images when applying WhiteThreshold after BlackThreshold.
  • Extended edit profile functionality in scan dialog to current scan options, when no profile selected.
  • Don’t try to compress log file if it wasn’t created.
  • Don’t blacklist empty device name
  • Improve layout of multiple message dialog.
  • Don’t use tiff2pdf to create temporary PDF to check for pdftk.
  • Fix --import option.
  • Fix updating extended page numbering on scan dialog after changing document
  • Fix printing.
  • Set “wait” cursor while scan options are being loaded and “progress” cursor while scanning.
  • Use gtk-3 cursors for ImageView widget
  • Ghost scan button while scan options are being loaded and scanning.
  • Fix bug storing responses from multiple message window when no responses had been stored before.

How to Install gscan2pdf 2.5.6 in Ubuntu:

The official Ubuntu PPA has made the new release packages for Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 19.04 and their derivatives.

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:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:jeffreyratcliffe/ppa

Type user password (no asterisk feedback due to security reason) when it prompts and hit Enter.

2. For those who have a previous release installed, upgrade it through Software Updater:

For the first time, you can either install it via Synaptic Package Manager or by running following commands in terminal:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install gscan2pdf

How to Remove:

To remove gscan2pdf, either use your system package manager or run command:

sudo apt-get remove --autoremove gscan2pdf

And the PPA can be removed via Software & Updates utility, under Other Software tab.

Free raw image processing software RawTherapee 5.7 was released a day ago. Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 19.04, and derivatives.

RawTherapee 5.7 release highlights:

  • Film Negative tool
  • Support for reading “rating” tags from Exif and XMP
  • Updated CMake, GTK+, and other library requirements
  • Hundreds of bug fixes, speed optimizations and raw format support improvements.

Download / Install RawTherapee 5.7 in Ubuntu:

The official Linux Appimage, single executable to launch the software (non-install), is available for download in the previous link

For Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 19.04, Linux Mint 19.x, you can also install RawTherapee 5.7 via this unofficial PPA.

1. Open terminal either via Ctrl+Alt+T keyboard shortcut or by searching for “Terminal” from application menu. When it opens, run command:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:dhor/myway

Type user password (no asterisk feedback due to security reason) when it prompts and hit Enter to add the PPA.

2. After that, upgrade the software via Software Updater if a previous version was installed:

or run commands one by one in terminal to install RawTherapee:

sudo apt update

sudo apt install rawtherapee

How to Remove:

To uninstall the free raw developer, run command in terminal:

sudo apt-get remove --autoremove rawtherapee

And remove the PPA via Software & Updates utility under Other Software tab, by removing the line says “http://ppa.launchpad.net/dhor/myway/ubuntu”.

KeePass password manager 2.43 was released today with user interface and integration enhancements. All users of version 2.x are recommended to upgrade to the new 2.43 release.

Changes in KeePass 2.43 include:

  • Added option ‘Remember password hiding setting in the main window’
  • Added yellow intermediate step in password quality progress bars.
  • Added trigger events ‘Synchronizing database file’ and ‘Synchronized database file’.
  • Enhanced the Password Agent import module to support XML files created by version 3.
  • KeePass now excludes itself from Windows Error Reporting.
  • Added workaround for .NET initial focus bug.
  • Auto-Type improvements.
  • Improved main window state handling.
  • Improved construction and updates of the main menu and the group/entry context menus.
  • Main menu items can now be deselected by pressing the Esc key.
  • Improved performance of automatic scrolling in the main entry list.
  • Various other improvements.

How to Install KeePass 2.43 in Ubuntu:

KeePass2 website only offers source tarball for downloading at the link below:

Julian Taylor’s PPA now contains the 2.43 packages for Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 19.04, and Ubuntu 19.10,

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

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/keepass2

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

2. Then upgrade KeePass password safe via Software Updater if you have a previous version installed:

Or run commands to install / upgrade the software:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install keepass2

Uninstall:

The PPA repository can be removed via Software & Updates utility under Other Software tab. To remove KeePass password safe, simply run command:

sudo apt-get remove --autoremove keepass2

Mumble, open source low latency and high quality voice chat utility, released new major 1.3.0 released a day ago. Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 16.04, and even Ubuntu 14.04.

Mumble 1.3.0 is the new major release that features over 3000 changes. Release highlights include:

  • New Lite and Dark themes
  • Individual user volume adjustment (local)
  • Dynamic channel filtering
  • Attenuate other users while talking as Priority Speaker.
  • An optional clock (current time) in the overlay
  • Overlay: support for DirectX 11
  • Improved user management, banlist, avatar handling for administrators.

And there are many many other changes, see the announcement for details.

How to Install Mumble 1.3.0 in Ubuntu 18.04, 16.04:

Mumble Team PPA has built the new release package for Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 18.04, and even Ubuntu 14.04.

1. Open terminal either from application menu or by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard. When it opens, paste below command and hit Enter:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mumble/release

Type user password (no asterisk feedback) when it prompts and hit Enter to continue adding the PPA.

2. If an old release was installed, simply upgrade Mumble via Software Updater:

Or run commands one by one in terminal to check updates and install the chat utility for gamer:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install mumble mumble-server

Uninstall Mumble:

You can purge the PPA which also downgrade the VoIP chat app to the stock version via command:

sudo apt-get install ppa-purge && sudo ppa-purge ppa:mumble/release

To simply remove mumble, either use system package manager or run command in terminal:

sudo apt-get remove mumble mumble-server

Ubuntu’s default office suite LibreOffice released version 6.3.1 a few days ago. Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 19.04, and their derivatives.

LibreOffice 6.3 “Fresh” is a major new release that features:

  • Writer and Calc performance improvements.
  • The Tabbed Compact NotebookBar UI now available for Writer, Calc, Impress and Draw
  • Export as PDF improved with the support for the standard PDF/A-2 document format,
  • Export support for DOTX and XLTX, import of charts from DOCX, import/export of SmartArt from PPTX files

And LibreOffice 6.3.1 is the first minor release of the LibreOffice 6.3 family, that brings a large list of bug-fixes and a key security improvement.

How to Install LibreOffice 6.3.1 in Ubuntu:

1. Open terminal either from application menu or by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on keboard. When it opens, run command to add the LibreOffice Fresh PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:libreoffice/ppa

Type user password (no interisk feedback) when it prompts and hit Enter to continue.

2. Then launch Software Updater (Update Manager) and install updates for new LibreOffice packages:

or simply run commands in terminal after adding the PPA:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install libreoffice

Uninstall:

To remove the LibreOffice PPA only, run command in terminal:

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:libreoffice/ppa

To remove the PPA as well as downgrade LibreOffice to the pre-installed version:

sudo apt install ppa-purge && sudo ppa-purge ppa:libreoffice/ppa

Oracle Virtualbox 6.0.12 was released a few days ago as new maintenance release for the 6.0 series. Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 18.04, and higher.

Virtualbox 6.0.12 release highlights:

  • OCI export: handle empty disk image correctly
  • API: fix potential crash when using the medium I/O functionality
  • VBoxManage: fixed documentation of VBoxManage modifyvm uarttype documentation
  • Network: scrub inbound TCP URG pointer, working around incorrect OOB handling
  • USB: Improved identification of power-saved devices on Windows hosts
  • Audio: in the AC97 work around buggy guest drivers which reprogram the sampling rate, breaking audio in and/or audio out
  • Windows host: fixed crashes on startup with software trying to inject code into a VM process
  • Linux host and guest: fix kernel module build for SLES 12 SP4 kernel
  • 3D: fixed state saving and loading when the VBoxVGA graphics adapter is used with 3D enabled
  • Windows guests: fixed mouse cursor visibility updating
  • Windows guests: fixed graphics corruption in Windows 10 search menu with VBoxSVGA adapter
  • Windows guests: fixed dwm.exe crashes related to the WDDM driver for VBoxSVGA adapter when the VM has lots of RAM
  • MacOS Guest Additions fail to start in 6.0.10
  • Windows guests: fixed crashes when using shared folders
  • Linux guests: unprivileged users unable to create files inside shared folders
  • Linux guests: improve compatibility of vboxvideo.ko kernel module build logic

How to Install Virtualbox 6.0.12 in Ubuntu:

For all current Ubuntu releases, you can either download the official .deb binary from the link below:

or install VBox from its official apt repository by running following steps:

1. Open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T), paste below command and run to add the repository:

sudo sh -c 'echo "deb [arch=amd64] http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian $(lsb_release -sc) contrib" >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/virtualbox.list'

For Linux Mint, you HAVE to replace $(lsb_release -sc) in the command with bionic for Mint 19.x, or xenial for Mint 18.x.

2. Then download and install the repository key via command:

wget -q https://www.virtualbox.org/download/oracle_vbox_2016.asc -O- | sudo apt-key add -

3. Refresh system package cache via command:

sudo apt update

4. Finally install Virtualbox 6.0.12:

sudo apt install virtualbox-6.0

Uninstall:

To remove it, simply run command in terminal:

sudo apt remove --autoremove virtualbox-6.0

And go to Software & Updates -> Other Software to remove apt repositories.

PDF Split and Merge 4.0.4 Released (How to Install)

Last updated: September 6, 2019

PDF Split and Merge (PDFsam) is an open-source and easy-to-use desktop application to extract pages, split, merge, mix and rotate PDF files.

PDFsam is available in Ubuntu universe repository. However, it’s always old and won’t receive future software updates.

The latest release at the moment of writing is PDFsam 4.0.4 released a day ago with following changes:

  • Upgraded PDF engine (Sejda) to latest version (3.2.84)
  • Upgraded AdoptOpenJDK to latest version (11.0.4)
  • Upgraded translations
  • Drag and drop of directories now asks the user if he wants to also add PDFs in subdirectories
  • Numerical sort of file names starting with digits
  • Fixed a couple of bugs

How to Install PDF Split and Merge 4.0.4 in Ubuntu:

The software offers official .deb package for 64-bit Ubuntu available to download at the link below:

Grab the pdfsam_x.x.x_amd64.deb package and install it either via Gdebi (install it from Ubuntu Software) or just by double-clicking.

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

Warzone 2100, an open-source real-time strategy game, released 3.3.0 a few days ago with an enormous amount of changes. Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 18.04, and higher.

Changes Warone 2100 3.3.0 include:

  • Reinstated secondary orders Pursue, Guard, and Hold
  • Reinstated range orders Optimum, Short, and Long range
  • Improved window resizing and display scaling
  • Support for more graphics driver workarounds and platform compatibility
  • Fixed very slow map/mod transfer when vertical sync is enabled
  • Disable PIE SHADERS directive support
  • Fixed loading OpenGL on older Intel chipsets on Windows 10
  • Fix of shooting through walls, and many other changes.

How to Install Warzone 2100 3.3.0 in Ubuntu:

For Ubuntu 18.04 and higher, simply search for and install ‘warzone 2100’ in Ubuntu Software.

NOTE there are two warzone 2100 packages in Ubuntu Software. Check the package details before installing the package.

For Ubuntu 16.04, open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command to install snapd:

sudo apt-get install snapd

Then install the game via command:

sudo snap install warzone2100

(Optional) To remove Warzone 2100, either use Ubuntu Software utility or run command in terminal:

sudo snap remove warzone2100

Kodi media center 18.4 was released today as another bug-fix release for Kodi 18 “Leia”. Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 19.04.

Kodi 18.4 release highlights:

  • FFmpeg: Bump to 4.0.4-Leia-18.4
  • Load program from stream property without using streaminfo (video)
  • Fix initialization of AVD3D11VAContext structure (video, Windows)
  • Fix TS resume point, related to PR16314 (video)
  • Fixed memory leak, fixed segfault (video, Linux)
  • Fix PAPlayer to handle passthrough for TrueHD (audio)
  • Fix file times for vfs addons
  • And many interface and general fixes.

How to Install Kodi 18.4 in Ubuntu:

The Kodi stable PPA has made the new release packages for Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 19.04, and their derivatives.

1. Open terminal either via Ctrl+Alt+T keyboard shortcut or from application menu. When it opens, paste below command and hit run:

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

Type user password (no asterisk feedback) when it prompts and hit Enter to continue.

2. Then either upgrading Kodi from an existing version via Software Updater:

or refresh system package cache and install Kodi 18.4 via commands:

sudo apt update

sudo apt install kodi

For Ubuntu 18.04 and higher, you can skip the apt update command as it’s done automatically in step 1.

Uninstall:

To remove the Kodi PPA repository, simply open Software & Updates -> Other Software.

To remove Kodi, run command:

sudo apt remove --autoremove kodi kodi-data kodi-bin

The new development version Wine 4.15 was released one day ago. Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu 19.04 and/or Ubuntu 18.04.

Wine 4.15 release highlights:

  • Initial implementation of the HTTP service.
  • Stack unwinding support on ARM64.
  • Better multi-monitor support on macOS.
  • RichEdit control optimizations.
  • Various bug-fixes, including fixes to Dragon Age, World of Warcraft 7, Need For Speed, etc.

How to Install Wine 4.15 in Ubuntu:

1. Open terminal either via Ctrl+Alt+T keyboard shortcut or by searching for ‘terminal’ from application menu. When it opens, run following commands to download and install the key:

wget -nc https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/winehq.key && sudo apt-key add winehq.key

Type user password (no asterisk feedback) when it prompts and hit Enter.

2. Then add Wine repository for Ubuntu 19.04:

sudo apt-add-repository 'deb https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/ubuntu/ disco main'

For other Ubuntu releases, replace disco in the code with:

  • bionic for Ubuntu 18.04, Linux Mint 19.x

3. Install unmet dependence: faudio

The wine devel package requires libfaudio0 library which is not available in Ubuntu repositories.

As a workaround, run command to add the third-party PPA, which offers the packages for Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 19.04.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:cybermax-dexter/sdl2-backport

4. Finally run command to install Wine 4.14, which will automatically install the required libfaudio0 libraries.

sudo apt install --install-recommends winehq-devel

Once installed, run winecfg to bring up the configuration window and check Wine version.

Uninstall:

Open Software & Updates and navigate to Other Software tab. Then remove the PPA, and Wine apt repository lines.

To remove Wine devel package, run command:

sudo apt remove --auto-remove winehq-devel