VLC media player released version 3.0.5 a few days ago with performance improvements and numerous fixes. Here’s how to install it in all current Ubuntu releases.
Faster and more complete support for the AV1 codec
Compatibility with macOS 10.14 “Mojave”, with native dark mode, and notarization
Improvements for Blu-ray playback, RTP and UDP streams
Improvements for MP4, MKV, CAF and AV1 media
Improvements for HDR support, tone-mapping and native Windows HDR support
Fixes for Chromecast, Direct3D11, Youtube and subtitles rendering
How to Install VLC 3.0.5 in Ubuntu:
Linux Snap package:
The official VLC snap package (containerized software package) has been updated to v3.0.5. For Ubuntu 18.04 and higher, simply install it from Ubuntu Software.
For Ubuntu 16.04, open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command to install the snap package:
sudo apt install snapd && sudo snap install vlc
VLC package for Ubuntu:
Ubuntu comes with VLC package (see previous picture), and offers software updates through updates repository.
NOTE VLC 3.0.5 is not available at the moment of writing. As usual, the new release package will be published in a few days.
For Ubuntu 18.04 and higher, simply install VLC .deb package from Ubuntu Software, and VLC 3.0.5 package will be available via Software Updater once published.
Audacious audio player released version 3.10.1 today with some important bugs fixed. Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 16.04, and Ubuntu 18.10.
Linux Kernel 4.20 was released a few days ago. Linus Torvalds announced:
Let’s face it, last week wasn’t quite as quiet as I would have hoped for, but there really doesn’t seem to be any point to delay 4.20 because everybody is already taking a break.
And it’s not like there are any known issues, it’s just that the shortlog below is a bit longer than I would have wished for. Nothing screams “oh, that’s scary”, though.
And as part of the “everybody is already taking a break”, I can happily report that I already have quite a few early pull requests in my inbox. I encouraged people to get it over and done with, so that people can just relax over the year-end holidays. In fact, I probably won’t start pulling for a couple of days, but otherwise let’s just try to keep to the normal merge window schedule, even if most people hopefully won’t even be back until over the merge window is over.
As to the details of this last week of 4.20 – most of it is networking (drivers, core networking fixes, bpf). There’s a few other non-network driver updates too, and a revert series of some of the x86 inline asm changes that were obviated by upcoming compiler support.
… …
Changes in Linux 4.20 include:
AMD Picasso APU support as well as Raven 2 APU support
Intel DRM driver has full PPGTT support for Haswell/Ivy/Valley View hardware.
The open-source NVIDIA Nouveau driver has initial HDMI 2.0 support.
The NVIDIA Xavier “Tegra194” SoC has initial display support.
Support for the Hygon Dhyana CPUs
Intel 2.5G Ethernet support via the new “IGC” driver.
LG Gram laptop support
File systems improvements, drivers updates, and many other changes.
How to Install Linux Kernel 4.20 in Ubuntu:
For easy way, there are a few third party tools, e.g., UKTools and Ukuu, make it easy to install the latest Kernel in Ubuntu.
You can also manually download the .deb binary packages:
Depends on your OS type, download and install the packages in turns:
Select generic for common system, and lowlatency for a low latency system (e.g. for recording audio), amd64 for 64bit system, i386 for 32bit system, or armhf, arm64, etc for other OS types.
Also you can download and install the kernel binaries via terminal commands (Ctrl+Alt+T):
Restart your machine and select boot with the previous kernel in boot menu ‘Grub2 -> Advanced Option for Ubuntu’. Then run command to remove Linux Kernel 4.20.0:
Automatic placement to resolve potential collisions between elements
System dividers that automatically generate dividers between systems
Temporary and cutaway staves
MuseJazz font
Named noteheads
Tours – get online help automatically
Timeline – navigate using a graphical overview of the music structure
Score comparison tool
Single page mode – vertically scrolling view of your score
Palette search
Timewise note input and editing
Alt+Right/Left shortcuts to navigate through each element of your score
Improved parts facility, Mixer, and Piano Roll Editor, and redesigned Play Panel
How to Install MuseScore 3.0 in Ubuntu:
AppImage:
The software offers official Appimage, non-install executable file to launch MuseScore, which is available for download at the link below:
Once you get it, right-click and go to file Properties to make it executable, and finally run the Appimage to launch MuseScore.
Snap Package:
The official Snap package is on the way. For Ubuntu 18.04 and higher, simply install it from Ubuntu Software. It will automatically update to MuseScore 3.0 once the snap package is published.
or run command in terminal for Ubuntu 16.04 and higher.:
sudo snap install musescore
Ubuntu PPA:
The software also has a stable PPA contains the latest .deb packages for Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 18.04, and Ubuntu 18.10.
NOTE: MuseScore 3.0 is not available in the PPA at the moment of writing.
Kid3 audio tag editor released version 3.7.0 a few hours ago. Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu 18.10, Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 16.04, and Linux Mint 18.x, 19.x.
The most important new feature in Kid3 3.7.0 is a playlist editor. Playlist items can be added, removed and reordered. Improvements include editors for the formats to convert between tags and file names and drop down lists with available tag values when multiple files are selected. The new file list fixes problems with updates when directories are renamed.
Drag image files from file list to embed them in audio files.
Drag files from file list into other applications.
Reload action to refresh file list.
Completions with different values when selecting multiple files.
Option “–dbus” to have a D-Bus interface with kid3-cli.
Code “%{dirname}” to use current directory name when renaming.
Code “%{disk}” as alias for “%{disc number}”.
Edit list of availble formats to set file and directory names
Bug fixes and a few improvements.
How to Install Kid3 3.7.0 in Ubuntu:
The official Kid3 PPA contains the latest software packages for Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 18.04, and Ubuntu 18.10 so far.
Open terminal either via Ctrl+Alt+T keyboard shortcut or by searching for ‘terminal’ from software launcher. When it opens, do following steps one by one.
1. Copy and paste following command in terminal and hit run to add the PPA:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ufleisch/kid3
Type your password (no asterisks feedback due to security reason) when it prompts and hit Enter to continue.
2. Then you can upgrade Kid3 from a previous version via Software Updater:
or run commands one by one in terminal to install or upgrade to the latest tag editor:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install kid3-qt
For KUbuntu, you may replace kid3-qt with kid3 in the last command for KDE integration.
Uninstall
To remove the PPA repository, either open Software & Updates -> Other Software tab, or run command:
RawTherapee RAW image editor released version 5.5 last night with exciting new features. Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu 18.10, Ubuntu 18.04.
RawTherapee 5.5 release highlights:
Filter to remove striping artifacts and banding artifacts for any camera has a PDAF entry in camconst.json.
Ability to specify custom working color spaces through the workingspaces.json file.
Unbounded processing – allows you to decide whether out-of-gamut colors should get clipped.
New Shadows/Highlights tool (replaced previous one).
Contrast threshold mask which divides an image into areas of high and low detail, allowing the effect of certain tools (Sharpening, Post-Resize Sharpening, Microcontrast, Demosaicing) to be focused where it matters most and to mitigate the effect on areas where it would be undesirable.
Dual-demosaic algorithms, making use of the new contrast threshold mask, allowing one to use a combination of demosaicing algorithms where one is best for details and the other best for plain areas.
New color toning methods: Grid and Regions
Support for Blackmagic and Canon Magic Lantern lj92 encoded files.
New Soft Light tool which enhances contrast and saturation by emulating the effect of blending an image with a copy of itself in “soft light” blending mode in GIMP.
New Haze Removal tool to reduce the effects of haze or fog.
The Resize tool allows you to specify whether you want it to upscale or only downscale.
New icon and cursor theme. New cameras support, and new input color profiles.
Other new features, enhancements, and bug fixes.
Download / Install RawTherapee 5.5 in Ubuntu:
The official Linux Appimage, single executable file to launch the software, is available for download at the link below:
Go to file’s properties, allow executable file as program, and finally run it to launch RawTherapee 5.5.
There are also a few PPA repositories that contain RawTherapee packages for Ubuntu. I’ll update the tutorial once the 5.5 release package is available.
UPDATE: For Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 18.10, Linux Mint 19.x, you can install RawTherapee 5.5 via the unofficial PPA.
1. Open terminal either via Ctrl+Alt+T keyboard shortcut or by searching for “Terminal” from app launcher. When it opens, run command:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:dhor/myway
Input your password (no asterisks feedback when typing) 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:
The upgrading process may be kept back if you were installing it from Ubuntu Software.
A workaround is simply running following commands instead to install or upgrade RawTherapee:
sudo apt-get 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”.
Better recommendations: You may see suggestions in regular browsing mode for new and relevant Firefox features, services, and extensions based on how you use the web (for US users only)
Ability to select multiple tabs from the tab bar and close, move, bookmark, or pin them quickly and easily
New Task Manager page (about:performance) lets you see how much energy each open tab consumes and provides access to close tabs to conserve power
Enable link time optimization (Clang LTO) for Mac and Linux.
Add Share web pages option for Windows in the Page Actions menu
Added option to remove add-ons using the context menu on their toolbar buttons
Various security fixes and many other changes.
Install the Latest Firefox in Ubuntu:
The Firefox 64.0 packages for Ubuntu Linux will be available in 2 or 3 days.
At the time, Firefox snap package (available in Ubuntu Software) will automatic update to the 64.0 release.
To upgrade from the default Firefox packge, launch Software Updater and Firefox 64 package will be there once published.
FlightGear 2018.3 was finally released with many exciting new features, enhancements and bugfixes including usability improvements to the launcher, better visuals for AI and MP aircraft.
FlightGear 2018.3 release highlight according to the changelog:
Flightplan loading within the launcher.
Chinese, Russian and Italian translations for the launcher and UI
Improved support for the state of the aircraft depending on starting location
Improved joystick configuration and binding options.
Multiple Levels of Detail (LoD) for MP and AI aircraft. To improve performance, low-detail models are used when the viewer is far from the MP aircraft.
Fallback models to display in the case where a viewer does not have the MP aircraft installed.
Many improvements to AI models including new liveries, timetabled movements
Support for retrieving Canvas images over HTTP.
Improved cloud rendering with stronger Mie scattering on cloud fringes, improved scattering on cirrus clouds
Improved scenery for Hawaii, the default location for this release.
New scenery for Jan Mayen, situated northeast of Iceland. Including the active volcano of Beerenberg (2277m).
FG1000 glass panel display, based on the Garmin G1000
Improved Replay handling of AI aircraft and carriers – judge your own carrier landings.
KC-130 tanker aircraft for air-to-air refueling
Significant Aircraft updates
Download / Install FlightGear in Ubuntu:
For Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 18.04, and higher, FlighGear 2018.3 will be available to install either via Ubuntu PPA, or Flathub repository (run in sandbox).