Stellarium 0.20.3 Released with Tons of Changes [Ubuntu PPA]

Last updated: September 28, 2020

Free-software planetarium Stellarium 0.20.3 was released a day ago with numerous changes. Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 20.04 via PPA.

Stellarium 0.20.3 fixed nutation and, with it, season beginning times, included many changes in AstroCalc tool, Oculars and Satellites plugins, and updated DSO catalog.

Changes in the new release include:

  • Add B pass band for compute photometric values of nebulae
  • Add show standard magnitude and RCS info for satellites in the GUI of Satellites plugin
  • Add new filters for satellites
  • Add GUI buttons to define object information font color at daylight and for overwrite mode
  • Add 2 new columns for AstroCalc/Positions tool
  • Add editable keyboard shortcut for buttons in AstroCalc tools
  • Add new initial time steps in AstroCalc/Phenomena tool
  • Add option to use on the screen star designations only
  • Add option in the GUI to define color of text in Equation of Time plugin
  • Add new button into Shortcut Editor and Add new tool to restoring defaults
  • Add action to restart trails
  • Add “current vertical” line
  • Add support custom time steps for ephemeris in AstroCalc/Ephemeris tool
  • Add ability to show several objects’ ephemerides in AstroCalc/Ephemeris tool
  • Add using texture for satellite, when he crossing of the Moon or the Sun
  • Add new groups of satellites: all new groups of satellites based on their orbital properties
  • Add pixel grid for sensors to Ocular plugin
  • Add show a binning info for CCD to Oculars GUI Panel
  • Add option into GUI to toggle drawing halo around the Moon
  • Add new names for planetary features
  • Add star names for Western (O. Hlad) sky culture
  • Add CLI option to start Stellarium in scaling GUI mode
  • Add note to S&T sky culture
  • Add support of new type of labels (labelEquatorial) for scripting engine
  • Add 3 new groups of satellites
  • Add buttons to define special colors for satellites in Satellites plugin
  • Add International Designator info into the GUI of Satellites plugin
  • Add epoch of the TLE info into GUI of Satellites plugin

How to Install Stellarium 0.20.3 in Ubuntu:

The official Stellarium PPA contains the latest packages for Ubuntu 18.04 and Ubuntu 20.04

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:stellarium/stellarium-releases

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

2. Then either upgrade Stellarium from an old version with Software Updater utility:

Or run following commands to install or upgrade the software from terminal:

sudo apt update

sudo apt install stellarium

Uninstall:

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

sudo apt-get remove --autoremove stellarium

And remove the PPA via “Software & Updates” utility under Other Software tab.

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Kid3 Audio Tagger 3.8.4 Released with Usability Improvements & Flatpak Support

Last updated: September 27, 2020

Kid3 audio tag editor 3.8.4 was released a day ago with bug-fixes and usability improvements. Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 18.04, and Ubuntu 20.04.

Kid3 3.8.4 release highlights according to the change-log:

  • Ability to customize the section and file list shortcuts
  • Ctrl + Up/Down to activate parent/current folder
  • Left arrow key to go to parent item in file list
  • Header context menu options for custom or automatic column widths.
  • Add flatpak package support.
  • Show more details (type, bits, bitrate) for M4A, FLAC, AIFF, WAV.
  • Other improvements and bug-fixes.

How to Install Kid3 3.8.4 in Ubuntu:

The official Kid3 PPA has been updated with the new packages for all current Ubuntu releases, Linux Mint and derivatives.

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

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ufleisch/kid3

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

2. If an old version was installed, upgrade Kid3 using 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

You may replace kid3-qt with kid3 in the code for KDE integration, or with kid3-cli for the command-line interface

Uninstall

To remove the PPA repository, either open Software & Updates -> Other Software tab, or run command:

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:ufleisch/kid3

To remove the audio tag editor, either use your system package manager or run command:

sudo apt remove --auto-remove kid3 kid3-*
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Calibre E-book App 5.0 Released with Highlighting & Dark Mode

Last updated: October 1, 2020

Calibre, cross-platform open-source comprehensive e-book software, released version 5.0 with some great new features.

Calibre 5.0 features highlighting in the E-book viewer. Simply select text and click the Highlight selection button. It can be colors, underlines, strikethrough, etc. and has added notes. All highlights can be both stored in EPUB files and centrally in the Calibre library.

The new release also feature Dark mode support. On Windows and Mac, it is activated automatically based on OS settings. In Ubuntu Linux, launch the software in dark mode via CALIBRE_USE_DARK_PALETTE=1 environment variable.
Other features in the release include:

  • Python 3 port. Some third-party plugins will no longer work, until they are also ported to Python 3.
  • Support both vertical and right-to-left text.
  • Enhanced search in the E-book viewer
  • Support bookmarking in content server’s in-browser viewer

How to Install Calibre 5.0 in Ubuntu Linux:

Open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command to download & install the official installer script:

sudo -v && wget -nv -O- https://download.calibre-ebook.com/linux-installer.sh | sudo sh /dev/stdin

Once installed, open it from system application launcher and enjoy!

Enable Calibre Dark Mode in Ubuntu:

To temporarily open the e-book reader in dark mode, simply run command:

export CALIBRE_USE_DARK_PALETTE=1 && calibre

To make it permanent, run command to edit the .desktop file and do:

  • add env CALIBRE_USE_DARK_PALETTE=1 at the beginning of the values of “TryExec” and “Exec”.
  • remove --detach flag, or the shortcut icon will disappear.

How to Remove Calibre E-book software in Linux:

To remove the software, open terminal and run command:

sudo calibre-uninstall

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WhatIP – Graphical Tool to Tell Public / Local IP Address, Ports, Local Devices

Last updated: April 24, 2024

Want to check your IP address, listening ports, or local network devices but hate Linux commands? Well, What IP is a simple graphical tool to do the job.

What IP is a free open-source tool written in Python 3 with GTK+ 3 framework. The software features:

  • Display public, local, and a virtual interface’s IP addresses,
  • Display the public IP location,
  • List the ports listening on your system, and check if they’re publicly reachable,
  • List all devices on local network.

display ip address

listening ports

How to Install What IP in Ubuntu:

The software is available as flatpak package in Flathub repository. Open terminal and run following commands one by one to install it in Ubuntu 20.04 (Ubuntu 18.04 needs to add flatpak PPA first).

  • 1.) Install flatpak framework by running command: 
    sudo apt install flatpak
  • 2.) Add flathub repository via command: 
    flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
  • 3.) Finally install the tool via command: 
    flatpak install flathub org.gabmus.whatip

(Optional) To remove What IP flatpak package, run command:

flatpak uninstall flathub org.gabmus.whatip
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Mozilla Firefox 81 Released with New Theme, Media Control via Keyboard

Last updated: September 23, 2020

Mozilla Firefox 81.0 was released a day ago with new features and security fixes.

Firefox 81.0 release highlights:

  • Pause and play audio or video in Firefox from your keyboard or headset
  • New Alpenglow theme
  • Save, manage, and auto-fill credit card information for users in US and Canada.
  • AcroForm support allows to fill in, print, and save supported PDF forms
  • The PDF viewer got a new fresh look.
  • Pocket recommendations for Austria, Belgium and Switzerland users with German version.
  • Important fixes to HTML5 audio/video controls
  • Extended file types support.
  • Picture-in-Picture got new iconography.
  • Security fixes.

How to install Firefox 81 in Ubuntu:

The latest packages will be made into security & updates repositories for all current Ubuntu releases in a few days.

At that time, you can upgrade Firefox through the Software Updater utility:

If you can’t wait, download the Linux package from mozilla website.

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How to Install Emacs 27.1 via PPA in Ubuntu 20.04, 18.04, 16.04

Last updated: April 24, 2024

For those prefer Deb package to the containerized Snap or Flatpak package, Emacs text editor 27.1 now is available to install via an Ubuntu PPA for all the current releases.

GNU Emacs 27.1 was released more than 1 month ago. Thanks to Kevin Kelley, you can now install it in Ubuntu via this PPA repository.

The PPA package features:

  • native support for JSON
  • support for ACLs
  • support for libgmp
  • support for enhanced text rendering through Cairo and HarfBuzz
  • remove ImageMagick support
  • remove xwidgets support for Ubuntu 16.04.

1. Open terminal either from system application launcher or by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard. When it opens, run command to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:kelleyk/emacs

Type user password (no asterisk feedback) if it asks and hit Enter to continue.

2. Then refresh system package cache and install the editor via 2 commands:

sudo apt update

sudo apt install emacs27

If you want, you can install the text-only user interface via sudo apt install emacs27-nox.

The PPA also contains emacs26 and emacs25 packages for choices.

(Optional) To uninstall the PPA, either go to ‘Software & Updater -> Other Software’, or run command:

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:kelleyk/emacs

And remove the Emacs text editor if you want by running command:

sudo apt remove --autoremove emacs27
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Flameshot Screenshot Tool 0.8.0 Released with Counter Tool

Last updated: September 20, 2020

Flameshot, powerful yet simple to use screenshot tool, released version 0.8.0 with new editing tools, improvements, and many fixes.

Flameshot 0.8.0 added the popular requested circle counter tool. It added a button in left-side of screen to open the sidebar, which was previously only accessible by hitting Space on keyboard.

The blur tool has been replaced by pixelate tool. If the “thickness” is 0 or 1, the old blur behavior is preserved. If the thickness is increased past 1 the image will pixelate by the thickness.

Other changes include:

  • Allow enter key to copy image to clipboard
  • Add support for saving as JPG and BMP files.
  • Add line thickness to side panel
  • Add option to close after capture (buggy at the moment.)
  • Add option to auto copy URL after upload
  • Fix capture after pressing ctrl + S during textarea input
  • Add more translations.
  • Add Snap and Flatpak packages

How to Install Flameshot 0.8.0 in Ubuntu 20.04 / 18.04:

Go to the release page at the link below, scroll down, and select download an installer package:

For Ubuntu 20.04, grab the “flameshot_ubuntu_0.8.0-1_amd64.deb” package. Then install it by either GDebi, or running command in terminal:

cd ~/Downloads && sudo apt install ./flameshot_ubuntu_0.8.0-1_amd64.deb

For older Ubuntu releases, grab the .Appimage – single executable to launch the screenshot tool, .snap or .flatpak – universal Linux packages run in sandbox.

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Celluloid (formerly GNOME MPV) 0.20 Released! How to Install

Last updated: September 19, 2020

Celluloid, formerly Gnome MPV, released version 0.20 a few hours ago. Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu 20.04 via PPA.

Celluloid is a simple GTK+ frontend for mpv media player. The latest 0.20 release features:

  • Make it possible to activate context menu when the playlist is empty.
  • Prevent constant resizing of the seek bar due to timestamp label resizing as its value changes.
  • Only show a single error dialog when a large number of errors occurs in rapid succession.
  • Add menu item for opening folders.
  • Adjust position of UI elements of modal dialogs in non-CSD mode to be more consistent with CSD mode.
  • Add support for loading external video tracks.
  • Make playlist shuffle toggleable.
  • Make arrow key bindings work with arrow keys on numpad.

How to Install Celluloid 0.20 in Ubuntu 20.04:

Celluloid media player is available to install via Flatpak package in Flathub repository.

For those prefer apt repository, the formerly Gnome MPV PPA has made the new release packages for Ubuntu 20.04, Linux Mint 20.

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:xuzhen666/gnome-mpv

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

2.) Then install the media player via command:

sudo apt install celluloid

For Ubuntu derivatives, you may need to run sudo apt update to refresh package cache first.

Uninstall Celluloid:

To remove the media player, open terminal and run command:

sudo apt remove celluloid

And remove the PPA repository via command:

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:xuzhen666/gnome-mpv
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VS Code IDE 1.49 Released, How to Install it in Ubuntu

Last updated: September 18, 2020

Visual Studio Code IDE 1.49 was released a few days ago. Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 18.04.

Visual Studio Code 1.49 release highlights include:

  • Format modified text – Limit formatting to just the code you’ve changed.
  • Add support for changing text casing during global Search and Replace.
  • Display pending changes per repository in the Source Control repositories view
  • Debug Console now supports quickly filter and find debugging output.
  • Improved JS debugger Auto Attach – “Smart” Auto Attach to Node.js scripts or test runners.
  • TypeScript optional chaining refactoring – Convert multiple checks to a concise optional chain.
  • JSDoc @deprecated tag support – IntelliSense clearly shows APIs marked as deprecated.
  • Notebook UX updates – Cell Status bar contributions, enhanced notebook diff editor.

How to Install VS Code 1.49 in Ubuntu:

The official .deb package is available to download at the link below:

Grab the deb and install it via either Gdebi package manager or command in terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T):

sudo dpkg -i ~/Downloads/code_*.deb; sudo apt -f install

For those who want to receive updates for VS Code via Software Updater utility, add the Microsoft repository via following steps (64bit only):

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

sudo sh -c 'echo "deb [arch=amd64] https://packages.microsoft.com/repos/vscode stable main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/vscode.list'

2. Download and install the repository key via commands:

curl https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc | gpg --dearmor > microsoft.gpg

sudo mv microsoft.gpg /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/microsoft.gpg

3. Finally install the IDE via command:

sudo apt-get install code

Uninstall Visual Studio Code:

To remove the code editor, either use Synaptic Package Manager or run command:

sudo apt-get remove --autoremove code

And remove the Microsoft repository by launching Software & Updates utility and navigating to Other Software tab.

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Install Oracle Java 15 via PPA in Ubuntu 20.04, 18.04, 16.04

Last updated: September 17, 2020

Oracle Java 15 was released a few days ago. The installer script has been made into PPA for Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 20.04, and their derivatives.

See the release note for what’s new in Oracle Java 15.

The “Linux Uprising” team ppa has made the installer script, which automatically downloads and installs Oracle JDK 15 package, and sets Java 15 as the default Java version (setting JAVA_HOME, etc.) on 64-bit Ubuntu based system.

1.) Open terminal and run command to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:linuxuprising/java

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

2.) After adding PPA, refresh system package cache and install the script:

sudo apt update

sudo apt install oracle-java15-installer

Once the package is installed, you have to accept the license (press Tab to highlight) before starting the download process.

And after installed Oracle Java 15, check via java --version command:

(Optional) To uninstall the PPA repository, run command in terminal:

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:linuxuprising/java

And remove Oracle Java 15 if you want by running command:

sudo apt-get remove oracle-java15-installer
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