Run Ubuntu on laptop or other machine with touchscreen? You can enable touch feedback with an extension.
It’s ‘Touch X‘, an extension that support GNOME from version 40 to 44. Meaning for Ubuntu 22.04, 23.04, Debian 12, RHEL 9, Fedora, Arch, Manjaro and other Linux with recent GNOME.
In these systems, it supports ripple feedback where the screen is touched. The feedback looks a bit like the locate mouse pointer function as the screenshot below shows you.
I don’t have a touchscreen device running Ubuntu. However, you can install and try the extension out by following steps one by one.
Install Touch X Extension
Firstly, open Ubuntu Software and use it to search and install the “Extension Manager” app.
Install Extension Manager in Ubuntu 22.04+
Then, click on top-left ‘Activities’ to open overview screen. When it opens, search for and launch “Extension Manager”.
Finally, navigate to ‘Browse’ tab in Extension Manager, search and install “Touch X” extension.
Once installed, switch back to “Install” tab. Then, click on the gear icon for that extension to open configuration page.
There you can change the color and radius of the ripple feedback.
For other Linux with GNOME, go to the extension web page via link below:
MPV media player has reached version 0.39.0. Here’s how to install it for those sticking to the classic .deb package format.
MPV does not provide official packages for Ubuntu Linux. It’s however easy to install the latest version via different sources.
Linux Mint 21/22 can directly search for and install MPV Flatpak package from software manager. And, Ubuntu can install the Snap package from Ubuntu Software. Though, both of them run in sandbox.
For those sticking to the classic .deb package, I’ve upload MPV 0.39.0 into this unofficial PPA. It supports Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 24.04, and Ubuntu 23.10, Ubuntu 20.04 on both x86_64 and arm64/armhf CPU architecture types.
Install MPV 0.39.0 via Ubuntu PPA
NOTE: Ubuntu 22.04 has FFmpeg 4.4.2, but mpv now requires at least v6.1. So, the PPA package for 22.04 now has FFmpeg (7.0) built in bundle. Please leave comment below if there’s any issue due to this change.
1. Add the PPA
Firstly, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open a terminal window. When it opens, paste the command below and hit run:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/mpv
Type user password (no asterisk feedback) when it asks and hit Enter to continue.
2. Update package cache
Since Ubuntu 20.04, it automatically updates the package cache while adding PPA. Though, Linux Mint user needs to do it manually.
To do so, run command in terminal:
sudo apt update
3. Install MPV 0.39.0
Finally, install mpv media player v0.38.0 by running command:
sudo apt install mpv
To verify, run mpv --version command in terminal.
Known Issues
Drag and drop files into mpv app window does not work, due to Wayland. Though, you may right-click on media file to open with mpv.
For hardware video acceleration, first make sure your graphics driver support it, then edit ‘/etc/mpv/mpv.conf‘ file and add hwdec=auto. And, enable classic header bar via gpu-context=x11egl.
Uninstall:
You can choose to purge the PPA repository, which will also downgrade mpv to the stock version in system repository. To do so, open terminal and run command:
The Shotwell photo manager and viewer got a new point release few days ago. Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu 22.04 and 23.04.
The new Shotwell 0.32.2 added .hif file format support. It’s a HEIF variant usually taken by Sony Mirrorless Cameras.
Other changes are mostly bug-fixes, they include:
Fix using wrong data folder when starting profile through browser
Fix sendto in flatpak environment
Fix meta-data being written in a loop
Fix detecting false mtime changes
Fix broken aspect ratio of thumbnail when using external editors
Fix critical when exporting file with no exposure date
Fix minor leak in Flickr and Google authenticators
Enable C&P of paths in profile editor
Translation updates
How to Install Shotwell 0.32.2 in Ubuntu:
Option 1: Flatpak package (Official)
Shotwell provides official package for Linux through universal Flatpak package. Ubuntu user can install the package by running the 2 commands below one by one.
Firstly, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. Run command to make sure flatpak daemon is installed:
sudo apt install flatpak
Then, run command to install Shotwell as Flatpak package:
Type user password (no asterisk feedback) when it asks and hit Enter to continue.
2. Next, launch Software Updater (Update Manager), then install the updates for the software package.
Or, run command in terminal to install/upgrade the Shotwell package:
sudo apt install shotwell heif-gdk-pixbuf
NOTE: Linux Mint user may need to run sudo apt update first to refresh package cache.
Finally, either right-click on your photo images to select open with the photo manager, or search for and launch shotwell from ‘Activities’ overview and enjoy!
Uninstall Shotwell 0.32.2
For any issue, it’s recommended to purge the Ubuntu PPA. Which, will remove PPA and downgrade shotwell to the pre-installed version.
To do so, open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command:
Ubuntu 23.04 and Debian 12 excluded rabbitvcs-nautilus package in their repositories, since RabbitVCS 0.18 does not support the GTK4 version of Nautilus file manager.
Now, RabbitVCS 0.19 is released! Which, added back plugin support for the newer versions of Nautilus.
The new release has been submitted into Debian new packages queue. It should also be included in the next Ubuntu 23.10, which will be released in October.
For current Ubuntu 23.04 users who want to use the version control systems from file context menu, or Ubuntu 22.04 and Ubuntu 20.04 who want to update to RabbitVCS 0.19 with bug fixes and improvements, either build it from source code, or follow the steps below to get it from an unofficial PPA.
Install RabbitVCS 0.19 Nautilus Plugin via Ubuntu PPA
1. Firstly, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open a terminal window. When terminal opens, run command to add the Ubuntu PPA.
Type user password (no asterisk feedback) when it asks and hit Enter to continue.
2. The PPA package also include the Nemo plugin. If you’re doing the steps in Linux Mint, you need also run command to manually update the package cache:
sudo apt update
3. Finally, install the RabbitVCS 0.19 with Nautilus integration by running command:
In the last command, you may replace rabbitvcs-nautilus with rabbitvcs-nemo for Linux Mint Cinnamon, rabbitvcs-caja for MATE, or rabbitvcs-thunar for XFCE desktop.
4. After installed the package, restart your file manager by running command in terminal:
nautilus -q
Or, caja -q, nemo -q depends on your desktop environment.
When done, re-open your file manager and right-click on file/folder to see the new context menu option.
NOTE: Don’t know why, the Nemo file manager do NOT show the RabbitVCS context menu in the first time you right-clicking a file/folder.
Uninstall:
You can purge the Ubuntu PPA, which also downgrade the RabbitVCS plugin to the stock version in system repository.
Want to configure the OSD (on-screen display) pop-up in Ubuntu and other Linux with GNOME? There’s an extension to do the job in GNOME 42 ~ 44.
When changing volume, screen brightness, device status (e.g., Bluetooth), etc via keyboard shortcuts in GNOME, there will be on-screen pop-ups indicate the status changes.
By default, these pop-ups occur in bottom center of screen and hide automatically in 1 seconds.
Linux Mint announced the new 21.2 point release this Sunday!
The new release introduced Cinnamon Desktop 5.8 with built-in gestures support for touchpad and touchscreen. With the touchegg service running in the background, System Settings now provides a ‘Gestures’ option, allowing to configure actions for 3-finger/4-finger swipe, 2-finger/3-finger/4-finger pinch, and activation thresholds.
Another big change is the “Themes” setting page. It now features “Style” option for changing theme, and each style has light, dark, and mixed, as well as accent colors to choose from.
This simple tutorial shows how to enable RDP remote desktop for extended screen in Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 24.04, and Ubuntu 23.10 with default GNOME desktop.
Since Ubuntu 22.04, the default GNOME desktop has built-in RDP support. The function has feature to share screen in ‘extend’ mode.
In this mode, Ubuntu won’t mirror the primary display, but create virtual extended screens for remote access.
Each remote connection is limited to its own virtual screen. You can drag and drop any app windows to that screen, allowing remote users to see and/or manipulate, while keeping sensitive data un-accessible in primary screen.
Or, you can use remote client PC/laptop’s monitor wirelessly to setup multiple screens for the Ubuntu machine. Though, operating in the virtual external monitors will be a bit laggy.
Still looking for an alternative screen recording application for GNOME Desktop? Try this one!
GNOME, the default desktop environment of Ubuntu and Fedora Workstation, lacks good screen recorder after switching to Wayland.
Kooha is a good choice that support recording voice and multiple monitors, which works in both Xorg and Wayland.
In this tutorial I’m going to introduce EasyScreenCast. It’s a free and open-source application for GNOME desktop only.
EasyScreenCast simplifies the use of the video recording function integrated in gnome shell, allows quickly to change the various settings of the desktop recording.
It starts as an indicator applet in the top-right system tray area, by clicking on it will show you the menu to:
Start / Stop recording.
Choose audio source.
Enable webcam recording at the same time.
Select recording area.
Set time delay.
As you can see in the screenshot above, it supports recording full-screen (all desktop), a selected app window.
To record a selected area, just click down and drag to create an rectangle area on screen after clicked ‘Start Recording’. It has option to show a border around the area while recording, though NOT enabled by default.
For multiple monitors, choose “Record a selected monitor” option. Click “start recording” and make some mouse clicks on your desired monitor screen to start.
By enabling webcam recording, it can also record your face and your desktop screen at the same time! Just choose your webcam from the indicator menu, then setup the quality, size, and position in “Options” dialog.
After recording, you video will have a small screen with yourself in bottom right corner. Just like the screenshot below shows.
Other things EasyScreenCast can do include:
Keyboard shortcut.
Run command before and/or after recording.
Configure the video quality.
Record to WebM, MP4, MKV, OGG, with presets or custom resolution.
How to Install EasyScreenCast in Ubuntu & Other Linux
EasyScreenCast is available to install as GNOME Shell extensions. So far, it support GNOME version from 38 to 46.
Meaning, you can install it in Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 24.04, current Fedora 38+, RHEL/Rocky Linux/Alma Linux 9, and Debian 12, Arch, etc with GNOME.
1. First, it requires few gstreamer plugins packages for webcam and encoding support. Ubuntu user can simply press Ctrl+Alt+T to open terminal and run command to install it:
GIMP image editor announced a new development release for next major 3.0 this Sunday!
It’s GIMP 2.99.16, the last release in the 2.99.x series. The release has finished the GTK+3 port. It adds ability to assign several shortcuts for a single action. And, the action search dialog also shows results’ own menu positions.
The GEGL engine has implemented filters as separate modules called “operations”, allowing 3rd party developers added their own filters to menu. And, custom filters (whether or not added to menu) will appear in the action search dialog.
The release also added new ‘Merge menu and title bar‘ option in ‘Preferences -> Image Windows’. This enable Gnome’s Client Side Decoration style that save vertical space.
For those who prefer light theme, there’s an extension now to make all the GNOME Shell components to be light!
Ubuntu so far has light and dark mode options available in the ‘Appearance’ settings page. It can switch the color scheme for system menu, notification, and app windows.
However, other components, such as panel and dock, are always dark!
GNOME developer team has been working on the full light mode support. Before it’s going official, user can try it out via an unofficial extension.
With the extensions, the following part of your desktop will also go light:
Top panel.
Ubuntu Dock (left panel)
OSD (volume down/up pop-up)
Light Shell
Install Light Shell Extension
1. The extension so far supports GNOME 42, 43 and 44. Ubuntu user can first search for and install “Extension Manager” from Ubuntu Software.
Install Extension Manager in Ubuntu 22.04+
2. Then, click on top-left ‘Activities’ to open overview screen. Search for and launch “Extension Manager” tool.
3. When the tool opens, navigate to ‘Browse’ tab. Search for and install ‘Light Shell’ extension.
In case ‘Extension Manager’ does not work for you, go to the extension web page via the link below:
If you don’t see the ON/OFF toggle, install browser extension via link in that page and also press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal and run command:
sudo apt install chrome-gnome-shell
Finally, refresh the web page.
Turn Off or Remove Light Shell
With the extension enabled, the dark mode (via Appearance settings option) will NOT go fully dark.
In the case, you can launch “Extension Manager“. Then either use the ON/OFF switch to disable the extension, or click expand and use “Remove” button to uninstall.
