LaTex Editor TeXstudio 3.0.0 Released [How to Install]

Last updated: August 25, 2020

TeXstudio 3.0.0, an open-source cross-platform LaTex editor, was finally released after some alpha, beta, and rc tests.

According to the changelog, TeXstudio 3.0.0 features:

  • speed up document parsing, should result in faster document load times
  • spell checking is done asynchronously
  • custom verbatim/math env highlighting abandoned for a cwl based approach
  • better dark-mode support
  • qt4 support abandoned

How to get TeXstudio 3.0.0 in Ubuntu Linux:

The new release source code, as well as Windows, Mac OS, and Linux packages are available to download at:

Download TeXstudio

The official PPA also made the new release packages for Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 20.04, Linux Mint 19.x, 20, and their derivatives.

1. Open terminal either by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard or by searching for ‘terminal’ from software launcher. When it opens, run command:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:sunderme/texstudio

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

2. If an old version was installed in your system, remove the texstudio-doc, texstudio-l10n (if any) package before upgrading the software:

sudo apt-get remove texstudio-doc texstudio-l10n

3. After adding the PPA, you can either upgrade it via Software Updater:

or run commands in terminal to install or upgrade the software:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install texstudio

Uninstall:

To remove the LaTeX editor, run command in terminal:

sudo apt-get remove --autoremove texstudio

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

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4 Nifty Grub Themes for Your Linux Boot Menu

Last updated: April 24, 2024

Grub

Boring with the default boot menu in purple? Try installing some themes for this Grub boot-loader.

There’s an open-source project maintains 4 modern design themes for Grub2. They are Vimix, Stylish, Tela, and Slaze.

First take a look at the screenshots:

It’s easy to install the themes as the maintainer offers an installer script. First go to link below and download the source code:

Download Source Code

Then do following steps to install the grub themes:

1. Go to Downloads folder, extract the source tarball, and go into source folder.

2. Right click on blank area and select ‘Open in Terminal’

3. When terminal opens, run command to install a theme:

sudo ./install.sh --boot --vimix

For another theme, replace --vimix in command with --stylish, --tela, or --slaze.

You may use more flags, e.g.,

  • --white, install white color icons.
  • --ultrawide, install 2560×1080 background image – not available for slaze theme
  • --2k, install 2k(2560×1440) background image
  • --4k, install 4k(3840×2160) background image

Once installed, restart your machine and enjoy!

(Optional) To remove the Grub theme, re-do the first 2 steps and run command:

sudo ./install.sh --remove --vimix

You may replace --vimix in command with --stylish, --tela, or --slaze to remove one of them.

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Free Image Enlarger SmillaEnlarger 0.9.1 Ported to Qt5

Last updated: August 22, 2020

Free open-source image enlarger SmillaEnlarger sees first update in over 10 years.

SmillaEnlarger is small graphical tool, based on Qt, to resize, especially magnify bitmaps in high quality. The used algorithm is an invention of the developer’s own.

SmillaEnlarger 0.9.1 is the first release in over 10 years, features Qt 5 port.

Get SmillaEnlarger:

The source tarball as well as Mac OS package are available to download in the link below:

Download SmillaEnlarge

It’s easy to compile the software, simply do:

  • Grab the source tarball, open Downloads folder and extract the tarball.
  • In file browser, navigate to the source “smillaenlarger-0.9.1” folder.
  • Right-click on blank area and select “Open in terminal”

When terminal opens, run following commands one by one to build the image enlarger:

qmake ImageEnlarger.pro
make

Finally launch the software within the terminal window via command:

./SmillaEnlarger

That’s it.

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Kaidan – Modern XMPP Chat Client for Linux

Last updated: April 24, 2024

Kaidan is a simple, user-friendly chat client that uses the open communication protocol XMPP (Jabber) and runs on Linux, Mac OS, Android, Plasma Mobile and Ubuntu Touch.

The software is written in C++ with Qt and the Qt-based XMPP library QXmpp. Unlike other chat apps, you are not dependent on one specific service provider.

Kaidan features: supported XEPs / RFCs and planned XEPs. The latest release so far is Kaidan 0.5 that contains QR code scanning and generation, message search, and more.

Get Kaidan chat client:

Source code, APK, Appimage, and Mac os packages are available for download at the link below:

Download Kaidan

For Linux, grab the .appimage package, make executable in file’s Properties > Permissions. And finally run it to launch the chat app.

As an alternative, Kaidan is also available in flatpak package:

Kaidan in Flathub

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KeePassXC 2.6.1 Released with Xfce Screensaver Support [PPA]

Last updated: August 20, 2020

KeePassX 2 YubiKey support

KeePassXC, a community fork of KeePassX password manager, released version 2.6.1 today with some new features, improvements, and various fixes.

KeePassXC 2.6.1 release highlights:

  • Add option to Auto-Type just the username or password
  • Automatic database locking with Xfce screensaver.
  • Add command for retrieving current TOTP
  • Add OARS metadata
  • Substitute tilde with USERPROFILE on Windows
  • Change actions for F1, F2, and F3 keys
  • Improve man page, and password generator UI / UX
  • And various bug-fixes, see here for more details.

How to Install KeePassXC 2.6.1 in Ubuntu:

The official upstream PPA has made the packages of the password manager for Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 20.04, and derivatives.

1.) Open terminal either by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard, or by searching for ‘terminal’ from system application launcher.

When terminal opens, run command to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:phoerious/keepassxc

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

2.) Then either update the software package using Software Updater

or run command to install the software:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install keepassxc

Uninstall:

You can run the PPA repository simply by running command in terminal:

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:phoerious/keepassxc

And if you want, remove keepassxc password manger via command:

sudo apt remove --autoremove keepassxc
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Display Current Weather in Clock Menu in Ubuntu 20.04

Last updated: April 24, 2024

Want to get more information in the clock menu underneath the calendar? You can get the current weather condition via an extension.

Weather in the clock is a simple extension based on Gnome Weather that adds an icon representing the current weather condition and the current actual temperature to the clock in the panel.

If you like it, do following steps one by one to install it on Ubuntu 20.04.

1.) First open terminal by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard. When it opens, run command to install Gnome Weather:

sudo apt install gnome-weather

2.) Then search for and launch weather from ‘Show Applications’ menu and setup your location:

3.) Finally install the gnome shell extension.

  • Run command to install chrome-gnome-shell if it’s not installed: 
    sudo apt install chrome-gnome-shell

  • Then go to extensions.gnome.org, turn on the toggle and install the extension.

    If you don’t see the toggle on icon, follow the link to install browser extension, then refresh the web page.

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NVIDIA 450.66 Released with Matrox D1450 D1480 Support

Last updated: August 18, 2020

Nvidia Linux driver

NVIDIA for Linux driver 450.66 was released today as the latest long lived branch version.

NVIDIA 450.66 fixed triple buffering support of Vulkan X11 swapchains when applications are syncing to vblank.

It also added following GPUs support:

  • EIZO Quadro MED-XN31LP
  • EIZO Quadro MED-XN50LP
  • EIZO Quadro MED-XN51LP
  • EIZO Quadro MED-XN70
  • EIZO Quadro MED-XN71
  • EIZO Quadro MED-XN72
  • EIZO Quadro MED-XN90
  • EIZO Quadro MED-XN91
  • EIZO Quadro MED-XN92
  • Matrox D-Series D1450
  • Matrox D-Series D1480

How to Get Nvidia 450.66 in Ubuntu:

The “Graphics Drivers” team PPA is a reliable source that contains most recent Nvidia packages for Ubuntu. Check the PPA link before getting started as it’s not updated to 450.66 at the moment of writing.

1. To add the PPA, open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:graphics-drivers/ppa

Type user password for sudo prompt (no asterisk feedback) and hit Enter to continue.

2. Then launch Additional Drivers utility, choose Nvidia 450 and apply changes.

Sorry I can’t see these drivers as I don’t have a discrete graphics card in my laptop :(

(Optional) To remove the PPA repository, either go to Software & Updates > Other Software, or run command:

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:graphics-drivers/ppa
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Kdenlive 20.08 Released with New Interface Layouts [Ubuntu PPA]

Last updated: August 17, 2020

Kdenlive, KDE Non-Linear Video Editor, released version 20.08 today with nifty new features, stability and interface improvements.

Kdenlive 20.08 release highlights:

  • New interface layouts.
  • Multiple audio stream support
  • A new cache management interface to maintain / control the size of cached and proxied files as well as backup-ed data.
  • Zoom bars in the Clip Monitor and Effects Panel
  • Some new keyboard shortcuts.
  • Performance boost to audio thumbnail generation as well as JPG image sequence playback
  • And miscellaneous improvements

See the video about the new Kdenlive video editor:

How to Install Kdenlive 20.08 in Ubuntu 20.04:

The software offers single executable Appimage which is available in files.kde.org.

For those prefer native .deb packages, the kdenlive team ppa has built the packages for Ubuntu 20.04 and derivatives.

1.) Open ‘terminal’ from your system application menu, and run command to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:kdenlive/kdenlive-stable

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

2. ) If an old version of kdenlive was installed, upgrade it via Update Manager:

Or simply run command in terminal to install the video editor:

sudo apt install kdenlive

NOTE for non-KDE users, Kdenlive will be installed along with a large list of KDE libraries.

Uninstall:

To purge the PPA as well as downgrade Kdenlive package, run command in terminal:

sudo apt install ppa-purge && sudo ppa-purge ppa:kdenlive/kdenlive-stable

To remove the PPA only, run command:

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:kdenlive/kdenlive-stable

And to remove Kdenlive, run command:

sudo apt remove --autoremove kdenlive kdenlive-data
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FetchCord – Display Your System Info as Discord Rich Presence

Last updated: April 24, 2024

FetchCord is a simple tool grabs your system information and displays it as Discord Rich Presence.

FetchCord is written in Python 3 and relies on Neofetch for your basic system information. With the handy tool, you’ll see your system info inside Discord user’s profile.

How to install FetchCord:

1. In Ubuntu 20.04 and Linux Mint 20, first open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command to install Neofetch and python3-pip package:

sudo apt install neofetch python3-pip

2. Then install Fetchcord via pip command:

pip3 install fetchcord

Once installed, run fetchcord command while Discord is running and enjoy!

NOTE: while the software is in very early stage, it may have bugs. For any issue report to the Github page.

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Photoflare – Simple Powerful Image Editor Inspired by PhotoFiltre

Last updated: April 24, 2024

Photoflare is an open-source simple and powerful image editing software inspired by PhotoFiltre.

Photoflare is written in C++ with Qt5 framework. It works on Linux, Windows, and Mac OS, and features basic image editing capabilities, paint brushes, image filters, colour adjustments and more advanced features such as Batch image processing.

Besides the community version, the software also offers studio edition requires to pay for packages.

Features of Photoflare include:

  • Simple but powerful, and very fast to do everything.
  • Works on Linux, Windows, and Mac OS.
  • Basic image editing capabilities
  • Paint brushes
  • Image filters
  • Color adjustments
  • And more advanced features such as Batch image processing.

How to Install Photoflare in Ubuntu:

Option 1: Ubuntu PPA

The software has a stable PPA which so far contains the latest packages for Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 22.04, and Ubuntu 23.10.

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

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:photoflare/photoflare-stable

2.) After adding PPA, update system package cache and install the image editor via commands:

sudo apt update

sudo apt install photoflare

Option 2: Flatpak package

For choice, user can install the software as Flatpak runs in sandbox environment. Meaning even the old Ubuntu 16.04 and Ubuntu 18.04 can install the latest version of this image editing app.

1. (Ubuntu 16.04 and Ubuntu 18.04 only) First, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal, run command to add the Flatpak PPA for old Ubuntu that don’t have the package in system repository:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:flatpak/stable

Type user password when it asks (no asterisk feedback) and hit Enter to continue. Next, run sudo apt update to refresh system package cache.

2. Then, run command to enable Flatpak support:

sudo apt install flatpak

3. Finally, install the app as Flatpak package by running the command below in terminal:

flatpak install https://dl.flathub.org/repo/appstream/io.photoflare.photoflare.flatpakref

Once installed, search for and launch the app either from start menu or ‘Activities’ overview depends on your desktop environment. If app icon not visible, try log out and back in to apply path environment changes.

And for future versions, use the command to check updates:

flatpak update io.photoflare.photoflare

Uninstall Photoflare:

To remove Photoflare image editor, either use your system package manager or run command in terminal:

sudo apt remove photoflare

And remove the PPA either via Software & Updates under Other Software tab, or by running command:

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:photoflare/photoflare-stable

To uninstall the Flatpak package, use command:

flatpak uninstall --delete-data io.photoflare.photoflare

Also run flatpak uninstall --unused to remove useless run-time libraries.

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