Gnome Files (Nautilus) is adding More Beginner Friendly Options

Last updated: December 31, 2023 — Leave a comment

Gnome Files, aka the default Nautilus file manager in Ubuntu & Fedora workstation, keeps moving with new features!

In the passed few month, there are minor but beginner friendly features merged into this popular file manager. They include “Enter Location” menu option, sidebar toggle button in sidebar, and badge icon to folder icon in ‘properties’ dialog.

NOTE: The new features introduced in this post are merged to master branch but NOT released yet! They may be available in next GNOME versions, backport to current, or even removed!

Continue Reading…

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Alacritty Terminal Emulator Released New Major 0.13.0

Last updated: December 30, 2023 — Leave a comment

Alacritty, the popular free open-source GPU-accelerated terminal emulator, release new major 0.13.0 version few days ago.

The release introduced new features, including persist config option in hints config section, warnings for unused configuration file options, support for keybindings with dead keys, dynamically loading conpty.dll on Windows, as well as:

  • Back/Forward mouse buttons support in bindings
  • Copy global IPC options (-w -1) for new windows
  • Bindings to create and navigate tabs on macOS
  • Support startup notify protocol to raise initial window on Wayland/X11
  • Debug option prefer_egl to prioritize EGL over other display APIs
  • Inline vi-mode search using f/F/t/T
  • window.blur config option to request blur for transparent windows
  • --option argument for alacritty msg create-window
  • Support for DECRQM/DECRPM escape sequences
  • Support for kitty’s keyboard protocol

The release now uses TOML instead of YAML for configuration files. Run alacritty migrate command will automatically convert all the configuration files.

Other changes include:

  • Bundle mode-specific bindings in any mode.
  • Disable OSC 52 paste ability by default.
  • Deprecated draw_bold_text_with_bright_colors, key_bindings, and mouse_bindings.
  • Removed background_opacity, colors.search.bar, mouse.url, mouse.double_click.
  • See the github releases page for more.

How to Get Alacritty:

The Github releases page, provides official packages for Windows, MacOS, and Linux.

Download Alacritty (under ‘Assets’)

For Ubuntu users who are new to this terminal emulator, I’ve a tutorial teaching how to install Alacritty step by step.

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How to Install Alacritty (GPU Accelerated Terminal) in Ubuntu

Last updated: December 30, 2023 — Leave a comment

Alacritty, is a free and open-source terminal emulator, written in Rust programming language. It works in Linux, Windows, MacOS, and uses OpenGL API for GPU hardware acceleration for fast response and high performance.

The terminal emulator features vi mode, allows to move around the viewport and scrollback using the keyboard. And, vi search and normal search for anything in the scrollback buffer.

Option 1: Install Alacritty via Snap package

For Ubuntu users, the easily way to install the terminal emulator is using the Snap package. It’s available in Ubuntu Software (App Center for 23.10), though run in sandbox.

Alacritty terminal emulator in App Center

Or, user can install it by running the command below in terminal:

snap install alacritty --classic

Option 2: Install Alacritty through Cargo (official)

The terminal emulator is also available to install through Cargo, the Rust package manager.

1. Just open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command to install Cargo first:

sudo apt install cargo

2. Then, install the required dependency packages:

sudo apt install cmake pkg-config libfreetype6-dev libfontconfig1-dev libxcb-xfixes0-dev libxkbcommon-dev python3

3. Finally, use cargo to install the terminal package:

cargo install alacritty

When done, run ~/.cargo/bin/alacritty to start the terminal.

4. The cargo package manager does not install the desktop entry for Alacritty. So, you need to manually create one by running command:

nano ~/.local/share/applications/alacritty.desktop

Then, paste following lines in the terminal window:

[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Exec=/home/ji/.cargo/bin/alacritty
Icon=alacritty
Terminal=false
Categories=System;TerminalEmulator;
Name=Alacritty
Comment=A fast, cross-platform, OpenGL terminal emulator
StartupNotify=true
StartupWMClass=Alacritty
Actions=New;

[Desktop Action New]
Name=New Terminal
Exec=/home/ji/.cargo/bin/alacrittyalacritty

NOTE: You need to replace ji to your username in the line above. Then, press Ctrl+S to save, and Ctrl+X to exit.


For the icon to display, run single command below to download img file and save to local icon folder:

wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/alacritty/alacritty/master/extra/logo/compat/alacritty-term.png -O ~/.local/share/icons/alacritty.png

Or, you can download the icon from github web page and manually copy to .local/share/icons directory.

Option 3: Ubuntu PPA

For those who prefer the Ubuntu PPA repository, keep an eye on this launchpad page for all 3rd party PPAs.

Uninstall Alacritty

Depends on how you install the terminal emulator, either remove the Snap package from Ubuntu Software or by command:

snap remove alacritty

Or, run command to uninstall the cargo package:

cargo uninstall alacritty

You may also remove Cargo itself, if there’s no other rust packages installed, as well as some dev dependency libraries to free up some disk space.

sudo apt remove --autoremove cargo cmake pkg-config libfreetype6-dev libfontconfig1-dev libxcb-xfixes0-dev libxkbcommon-dev

Also remove the desktop entry (shortcut file) by running command:

rm ~/.local/share/icons/alacritty.png ~/.local/share/applications/alacritty.desktop
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SMPlayer 23.12 Fixed MPV 0.37, Ubuntu 23.10 & New OpenSubtitles API

Last updated: December 29, 2023 — Leave a comment


SMPlayer media player released version 23.12 few days ago, with important bug-fixes and new API.

The new released fixed the compatibility issues when using MPV 0.37 as backend. They include video playback can not be resumed from pause, as well as the issue getting the audio and video codec on mpv 0.37.

SMPlayer 23.12 also implemented the new OpenSubtitles API. Since, the old API on OpenSubtitles.org is deprecated, and to be turned off by the end of 2023. If you use the service for getting subtitles, then it’s highly recommended to upgrade as soon as possible.

SMPlayer 23.12

For Ubuntu 23.10, the SMPlayer 22.7.0 installed from system repository, either freezes or pops-up following error on video playback:

“Oops, something went wrong. MPlayer/mpv has finished uxexpectedly. Exit code: 1”

The issue has been fixed in my test by installing the new version 23.12.

Other changes in SMPlayer 23.12 include:

  • Fix loading playlists with extension m3u8.
  • Fix video jitter/shudder when clicking on timeline bar.
  • Other bug fixes.

How to Install SMPlayer 23.12

The player provides official .exe for Windows, .dmg for MacOS, and .rpm/.deb/.snap/.flatpak/.AppImage for Linux, which as available to download at Github releases page:

Download SMPlayer

For Ubuntu, user can choose to install the Snap package (run in sandbox), directly from Ubuntu Software or App Center. Or, use the official PPA (with ARM devices support) by running the commands below one by one:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:rvm/smplayer
sudo apt update
sudo apt install smplayer

It somehow does not provide package for Ubuntu 23.10. However, download & install the package for 22.04 works good in my case in 23.10 laptop.

For Debian from version 8 to 12 (Bookworm), SMPlayer is also available to install in both amd64 and i386 through the OBS repository.

Uninstall

For Ubuntu user, depends on which package you installed, either remove Snap from Ubuntu Software.

Or, remove the .deb package by running command in terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T):

sudo apt remove --autoremove smplayer

If the PPA was added, either remove it from “Software & Updates” tool under “Other Software” tab, or run command in terminal:

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:rvm/smplayer
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Install VirtualBox 7.1.x in Ubuntu 22.04/24.04 & Keep Updated

Last updated: September 12, 2024 — Leave a comment

This tutorial shows how to install Oracle VirtualBox in Ubuntu 22.04 and/or Ubuntu 24.04

VirtualBox is a popular free open-source tool for running different operating systems in virtual machines.

The tool is available in Ubuntu system repositories, but old. So, here’s the step by step how to install guide for latest version for beginners.

VirtualBox VM Manager

NOTE: VirtualBox so far only support x86_64 (amd64) CPU architecture type. Meaning for modern Intel & AMD CPUs.

Step 1: Download & Install the .deb package (Optional)

Oracle provides official .deb & .rpm packages for installing the software in Debian/Ubuntu & Fedora based systems.

User can select download the package by going to its website via the link below:

Download VirtualBox for Linux

Next, open the Downloads folder, then either double click on the package or use right-click menu “Open With Other Application” and select open the .deb package you just downloaded via Software Install (or App Center). Finally, click install button to install it.

NOTE: The installing process may fail sometimes due to old package in your system, in the case, just uninstall the old one (go to bottom for how) then try to re-install again.

Once installed, search for and launch it either from start menu or ‘Activities’ overview depends on your desktop environment.

Step 2: Add VirtualBox repository to keep it up-to-date

The .deb package you installed via ‘Step 1’ used to automatically add the repository. However, it does NO longer do the trick in recent versions.

So, here’s how to do it step by step via the new Ubuntu PPA policy.

1. Download & install the key

First, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open up a terminal window.

When it opens, run command to make sure “/etc/apt/keyrings” directory exist:

sudo mkdir -p /etc/apt/keyrings

Then, run command to use wget to download key, dearmor it (so unreadable), and finally save it to that directory:

wget -q -O- https://www.virtualbox.org/download/oracle_vbox_2016.asc | sudo gpg --dearmor --yes --output /etc/apt/keyrings/oracle-virtualbox-2016.gpg

You can finally verify the key file, by running command:

cat /etc/apt/keyrings/oracle-virtualbox-2016.gpg

As the screenshot above shows you, it should outputs unreadable text.

2. Add VirtualBox repository

Before adding the source repository, first run command to get system code name:

cat /etc/os-release

The apt repository so far only support Debian Stable (& old stable), Ubuntu 22.04 & 20.04 LTS (focal, jammy). For all their based systems, use the code-name you got via this command.

Then, in terminal window, run command to create & edit a sources file:

sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list.d/virtualbox.sources

Then in the terminal window, paste following lines:

Types: deb
URIs: https://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian
Suites: jammy
Components: contrib
Architectures: amd64
Signed-By: /etc/apt/keyrings/oracle-virtualbox-2016.gpg

Replace jammy (for 22.04, Mint 21.x) according to last command output, such as noble for 24.04/Mint 22, focal for 20.04/mint20.

When done, press either Ctrl+S or Ctrl+O and hit Enter to save file, then press Ctrl+X to exit.

Finally, verify the sources file by running command:

cat /etc/apt/sources.list.d/virtualbox.sources

It should outputs the content you just added into that file.

3. Update system package cache

After setup the source repository, run command to refresh your system package cache:

sudo apt update

The terminal output should print a line looks like:

“Hit:5 https://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian jammy InRelease”

4. Install or Update Virtualbox

If you skipped the “Step 1”, then you can install it (7.0.x series at the moment) by running command in terminal:

sudo apt install virtualbox-7.1

Finally, when a newer release is out, you’ll be able to update it through Software Updater (Update Manager) tool.

Uninstall

To remove VirtualBox, open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) window and run command:

sudo apt remove --autoremove virtualbox virtualbox-7.1

And, remove the source repository by simply deleting the key & sources files:

sudo rm /etc/apt/keyrings/oracle-virtualbox-2016.gpg /etc/apt/sources.list.d/virtualbox.sources

Also, run sudo apt update to refresh package cache.

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Install & Setup Eye Candy rEFInd Boot Manager in Ubuntu 22.04/24.04

Last updated: May 4, 2024 — 1 Comment

This simple tutorial shows how to install and setup the rEFInd boot manager in your Ubuntu 22.04, and/or Ubuntu 24.04 computer.

Most Linux uses Grub2 as default boot-loader. Though, there’s a good alternative called rEFInd. It’s a free open-source boot manager for EFI/UEFI enabled computers, such as all Intel-based Macs and recent (most 2011 and later) PCs.

rEFInd with Matrix theme

Why rEFInd:

Compare to Grub2, rEFInd has a more eye candy boot interface, and a simple and easy to tweak config file.

No need to update something, it auto-scans for all boot-able systems on every boot, and displays you the OS menu entries from both local disk and removable device, such as USB drive and CD-R.

It’s more reliable at booting Windows with Secure Boot active. And, it provides handy options to shutdown, restart, and/or go to BIOS settings.

How to Install rEFInd:

The boot manager is quite easy to install in Debian, Ubuntu, and Linux Mint, since it’s available in system repositories.

1. First, launch terminal (press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard) and run command to verify if UEFI enabled on your machine:

ls /sys/firmware/efi

The command will list content of ‘/sys/firmware/efi‘. It will show you No such file or directory, if UEFI not enabled.

2. To install rEFInd from system repository, simply run command:

sudo apt install refind

The package in system repository may be old. To install the most recent version, use the official PPA maintained by software developer.

  • Run command to add the PPA: 
    sudo add-apt-repository ppa:rodsmith/refind
  • Update system package index: 
    sudo apt update
  • Finally, re-run apt install command to install the package: 
    sudo apt install refind

Remove duplicate icons in boot menu

After installing rEFInd, you can now restart your machine to see the new boot menu.

In menu, use left/right arrow keys to switch menu entries, hit Enter to boot, or press Tab (or F2) for more options.

For duplicate icons issue, simply use left/right arrow to select the icon (menu entry), and hit Delete key on keyboard, finally answer yes to remove that icon (menu entry). Though, deleting icon may NOT work when 3rd party theme is in use.

Install Themes

The menu interface is easy to tweak by editing the refind.conf file under “/boot/efi/EFI/refind/” directory. Every option has description text telling what does it do and how it works.

To be more straightforward, you can install third-party themes. And, here are some rEFInd themes in Github.

Most themes have how to install steps in Readme file, they are usually:

    • Open “Files”, and navigate to “Other Location -> Computer (or system, root, etc) -> boot -> efi -> EFI -> refind”. (Some Desktop may need to open File Manager as root first!)
    • Create “themes” folder in that directory if not exist.
    • Drag and drop the themes you downloaded (extract & re-name first) into that “themes” folder.

Finally, apply new theme by editing the refind.conf file under “/boot/efi/EFI/refind/“, and adding new line in the end (replace rEFInd-glassy accordingly):

include themes/rEFInd-glassy/theme.conf

NOTE: the theme folder name, rEFInd-glassy in the case, is unique according to the PATH to icons/imgs in ‘theme.conf’ file.

In case the boot menu screen resolution is low, you may also add (or uncomment by removing #) resolution max line to set the maximum available resolution, or use resolution 1024 768 for certain resolution (Note that not all resolutions are supported).

Uninstall:

To uninstall refind in Debian and Ubuntu based systems, open terminal and run command:

sudo apt remove --autoremove refind

Also remove the PPA (if added) by running command:

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:rodsmith/refind

To get rid of the refind boot menu, you also need to remove all the related files:

sudo rm -r /boot/efi/EFI/refind

For more, see rEFInd in its official website.

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HandBrake 1.7.2 Released with Encoding Fixes & Linux Performance Improvement

Last updated: December 25, 2023 — 4 Comments

 

HandBrake, the popular free open-source video transcoder, released a new update for the new 1.7 series yesterday.

The new release fixed encoding issue for AMD VCN, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, NVIDIA NVENC, and VP9 encoders, which could cause the creation of an excessive number of keyframes.

It fixed unintentional automatic pass through of closed caption side data when using NVIDIA NVENC encoder.

For Linux, the release includes performance improvements by removing duplicate graphic assets and reducing file size, as well as fixes to Flatpak file chooser, file destination path, and memory leaks in the graphical interface.

Other changes include:

  • Improved automatic selection of Dolby Vision Level
  • Fixed crash opening an empty folder, and crash using VideoToolbox encoders on Apple Silicon Ultra.
  • Workaround to prevent issues decoding H.264 video on Mac OS.
  • Added Automation Properties to some controls on the audio tab to assist screen readers for Windows.
  • Fixed NVIDIA NVDEC option being ignored in Windows.
  • Miscellaneous bug fixes and improvements

How to Install HandBrake 1.7.2

HandBrake provides official Windows, MacOS, and Linux packages available to download at Github releases page under Assets

Download HandBrake (‘Assets’)

For Linux users, it’s Flatpak package which also available in Flathub repository, though NOT updated at the moment of writing.

For Ubuntu & Linux Mint users who prefer the classic .deb package, I’ve uploaded the package into this unofficial PPA for Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 23.04, and Ubuntu 23.10.

1. First, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run command to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/handbrake

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

2. Linux Mint users need to manually update the system package cache, after adding PPA, by running command:

sudo apt update

3. Finally, install the new HandBrake package via command:

sudo apt install handbrake

For choice, you may also run sudo apt install handbrake-cli to install the command line tool

When installation done, search for and launch the video transcoder from either start/application menu or ‘Activities’ overview depends on your desktop environment.

Uninstall:

To uninstall the Ubuntu PPA, either open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command:

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/handbrake

or, just remove the source line using ‘Software & Updates’ tool under “Other Software” tab.

To remove the HandBrake video transcoder, use command:

sudo apt remove --autoremove handbrake handbrake-cli

That’s all. Enjoy!

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Enlightenment 0.26.0 Released with New Features & Lots Bug-fixes

Last updated: December 25, 2023 — Leave a comment

Enlightenment window manager announced new 0.26.0 release few days ago.

The new release added some new features, including DDC option to backlight control of external monitors, bigger task previews, and watermark to wl mode to indicate E is in experimental wl mode.

Enlightenment 0.26.0 also added new APIs, including new eet disk sync API to ensure config it stored, logind’s lock/unlock dbus apis, API to play sound samples and support in notifications, and new eina API for EFL libraries.

Other changes include:

  • Support action desktop files in EFM to add file actions
  • Add org.freedesktop.ScreenSaver inhibit support
  • Add and enabl watchdog thread by default to detect mainloop hangs
  • Add option to Randr X11 support to use xrandr cmdline not direct API
  • Be agressive about forcing E’s blank settings if apps override them
  • Add params to mixer actions to allow to set amount up/down
  • Add option for input settings for flat accel + hires scrolling
  • Add option to set hidden state in netwm or not

There are also EFL 1.27 changes include JXL Evas loader/saver, QOI Evas image loader/saver, LibreSSL 3.5.x, remove GNUTLS support due to in favor of openssl3, and support ecore exe terminate with parent on windows. See more in the News page.

Get Enlightenment 0.26.0

Besides building from source, there seems no PPA or any 3rd repository for installing new release in Ubuntu.

To download the source, just go to its website via the link below:

Download Enlightenment
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Stellarium 23.4 Added Lens Distortion Estimator Plugin, Tibetan Lunar Mansions

Last updated: December 25, 2023 — Leave a comment

 

Stellarium, the free open-source planetarium software, announced new 23.4 release few days ago.

The new release added experimental support for new plugin: Lens Distortion Estimator, and new sky culture: Tibetan Lunar Mansions.

With new release, user can now change the look of GUI through normalStyle.css config file. For Windows, it added new MESA for Windows packages, and package for ARM64 CPU architecture type.

Other changes include:

  • Support the origins of nomenclature names
  • Performance improvements on macOS with ARM64
  • Add script “Jupiter Moons”
  • Add filter, based on SATCAT Operational Status in Satellites plugin
  • Add AppImage package based on Qt6.
  • more simple calendar-based time steps (esp. for RemoteControl)
  • wrapper for too long star names
  • Temporary workaround for overlapping indicator and text in lists
  • Optional sorting rule for Search Tool
  • Text wrapper for pulsar notes, Modern (H.A. Rey) SC, and long origins of nomenclature names
  • Ability to make observing lists directory configurable via GUI
  • Add dpiAwareness option to manifest and send physical viewport size to Spout
  • Add DSO names
  • Add 2 new time steps for AstroCalc/Ephemeris tool
  • Remote control command to change window size
  • And various bug-fixes. See release note for details.

How to Install Stellarium 23.4

The software provides official packages for Linux, Windows, MacOS, as well as source code, available to download at Github release page:

Download Stellarium (under ‘Assets’)

Ubuntu user can search for and install Stellarium from either Ubuntu Software or App Center (for 23.10), though it’s Snap package runs in sandbox.

For Ubuntu & Linux Mint users who prefer the classic .deb package, the official PPA has built the package for Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 23.04, and Ubuntu 23.10.

1. First, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. 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 asks and hit Enter to continue.

2. Linux Mint users need to manually refresh the package cache after adding PPA:

sudo apt update

3 Finally either update Stellarium using Software Updater (Update Manager) if an old version was installed.

Or, run command in terminal to install it for the first time.

sudo apt install stellarium

Uninstall

To remove the planetarium software software, simply open terminal and run command:

sudo apt install --autoremove stellarium

And, remove the Ubuntu PPA either by running command:

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:stellarium/stellarium-releases

or use “Software & Updates” to remove source line under ‘Other Software’ tab.

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Chatterino – Twitch Chat Client with Enhanced Features [Ubuntu PPA]

Last updated: December 24, 2023 — Leave a comment

This simple tutorial shows how to install Chatterino, a Twitch Chat app with enhanced features, in Ubuntu 22.04, 20.04, 23.10 via PPA.

Chatterino is a free and open-source chat app for Twitch.tv. With it, you can connect as many channels as you like to, either in tabs or in single tab side-by-side.

The client supports features, such as Chat Replies by right-clicking a message and choose “Reply to message”.

Left clicking a user will open dialog for user info, message history, as well as buttons to block, ignore highlight, etc. And, right-click on user allows to @ mention him/her in message.

It supports emotes from BetterTTV, FrankerFaceZ, and 7TV, allows to drag’n’drop image or paste image from clipboard to upload to custom service, such as imgur.com, though not enabled by default.

Other features include:

  • Hotkeys (customizable)
  • Link preview (not enabled by default)
  • Ignore or highlight messages
  • Search, filters, regular expressions
  • And more.

How to Install Chatterino via Ubuntu PPA

The app provides Windows .exe, macOS .dmg, Ubuntu .deb and Linux .AppImage packages for downloading in its Github releases page.

For Ubuntu/Linux Mint users, the official PPA is a better choice to keep the app up-to-date. Which, so far supports Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 23.04, & Ubuntu 23.10 on amd64 (Intel/AMD) and arm64/armhf (Apple M1/M2, Raspberry Pi) devices.

1. First, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. Then, run command to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:chatterino/chatterino2

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

2. Then, run command to install the chat client:

sudo apt install chatterino

Linux Mint user needs to run sudo apt update first to refresh system package cache.

After installation, you can launch the app from start menu, app grid, or Gnome overview depends on your desktop environment. And, use “Software Updater” (Update Manager) to receive updates.

Then, you can join Twitch channel by their names (the part after www.twitch.tv/ in channel URL). And, see the wiki for more usage.

Uninstall:

To uninstall the Twitch chat app, simply open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command:

sudo apt remove --autoremove chatterino

Also remove the Ubuntu PPA, either by running command in terminal:

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:chatterino/chatterino2

Or, use “Software & Updates” to remove source line under “Other Software” tab.

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