‘Just Perfection’ Finally Fixed Window Height for Low Resolution Displays

Last updated: August 8, 2022 — Leave a comment

The popular Gnome Extension ‘Just Perfection‘ got an update recently, with love for small displays, e.g., 13 inch laptop with 1366 x 768 screen resolution.

For those never heard of the tool, it’s an extension, with lots of configuration options for customizing your Ubuntu, Fedora, or other Linux’s GNOME desktop appearance.

With it, you can hide the top-bar, the dock, ‘Activities’ button; change the position of clock menu; configure panel height, position (top or bottom), panel icon size, padding; change notification bubble size, location, and much more.

And it supports profiles to quickly switch between your pre-defined layouts and behaviors.

However, the app configuration dialog was always bigger than screen height in my case on 1366×768 laptop screen. I have to press Alt + F7 on keyboard, and move the cursor to move the dialog beyond screen top every time when trying to change something. And, use the shortcut again to move the header bar back in screen.

In the most recent 21.0.0 release, the extension now fixed the issue for GNOME 42 (defaut in Ubuntu 22.04, Fedora 36, and Arch / Manjaro Linux) with small as well as scaled displays.

In addition, this release add options to configure the size of “Alt-Tab” window preview and icon. Toggle display the separator in dock that separate favorite and other opened app icons.

‘Alt-Tab’ Window Preview and Icon size is configurable

And, it allows to change the position of OSD display, such as volume and brightness up/down pop-up, and configure the size of looking glass (GNOME Shell’s integrated debugger and inspector tool).

How to Install ‘Just Perfection’:

To install the extension in Ubuntu 22.04 +, firstly search for and install “Extension Manager” via Ubuntu Software.

Next, open the tool, then search for and install ‘Just Perfection’ under ‘Browse’ tab.

For old Ubuntu and other Linux systems, just turn on the slider icon in the link below:

Install Just Perfection

NOTE: Ubuntu has to first run sudo apt install chrome-gnome-shell in terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) to install the agent. And, install browser extension if prompted to make the on/off switch visible.

Finally, open the configuration dialog for “Just Perfection”, either via “Extension Manager” or “Gnome Extensions” app, which are available to install in Ubuntu Software/Gnome Software.

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Kid3 Tag Editor Updates with DSDIFF (DFF) File Support

Last updated: August 6, 2022 — Leave a comment

Kid3, the popular Qt audio tag editor, released version 3.9.2 today. PPA updated for Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 20.04, and Ubuntu 18.04.

The new Kid3 3.9.2 is a bug-fix release. Though, there are new features including .dff support, an audio format developed by Sony and Philips for Super Audio CD (SACD).

New features also include support for chapters in MP4 audio books, importing from URLs containing search results from Discogs and MusicBrainz, and a Norwegian translation.

Other changes in the release include:

  • Allow playlist file name formats to be edited.
  • URLs with search results from web browser can be entered in the import dialogs (Amazon, Discogs, gnudb.org, MusicBrainz).
  • New style for macOS icon.
  • Cli interface adds encoding detection for text file import and export.
  • Set rating as star count with ‘set ratingstars’ (Kid3-cli).
  • Build with latest mp4v2 library.
  • Fix wrong modifications of frames when importing.

How to Install Kid3 3.9.2 in Ubuntu:

The app has an official PPA contains the packages for all current Ubuntu releases, and their based systems, such as Linux Mint, Pop! OS, Zorin OS.

1. First, search for and open terminal either from system start menu or ‘Activities’ overview. When it opens, run command to add PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ufleisch/kid3

2. Then update package cache by running command:

sudo apt update

3. If an old version of the software package exist in system, you can now open “Software Updater” or “Update Manager” to update the tag editor app.

Or, simply run the command below in terminal to install it:

sudo apt install kid3-qt

You may replace kid3-qt with kid3 in the code for KDE desktop, and/or with kid3-cli for the command-line interface.

Uninstall:

To remove the PPA, either use ‘Software Sources’ or ‘Software & Updates’ utility, or run command in terminal:

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

And, remove kid3 tag editor via command:

sudo apt remove --auto-remove kid3 kid3-*
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This Extension Enables Rounded Window Corners in Ubuntu 22.04/Fedora36

Last updated: August 4, 2022 — 1 Comment

Gnome finally has an extension to enable rounded corners for all app windows, and customize the window borders!

Start in Gnome 40, more and more applications use GTK4 toolkit for rendering their user interface. So, you have modern apps with rounded (bottom) corners and classic GTK3 and Qt apps with sharp (bottom) corners.

To make your system apps look consistent, this project is created and works on Ubuntu 22.04, Fedora 35/36, Arch Linux, Manjaro Linux with GNOME.

GTK3 app with rounded corners

The extension provides options for configuring window border width, color, and radius. There can be some applications that are not working well with the extension, so it provides blacklist option. Also, it supports for setting different clip padding on per app basis.

Set border width, color. radius, and blocklist

How to Install the Extension in Ubuntu 22.04

Ubuntu 22.04 user can simply search for and install ‘Extension Manager‘ first in Ubuntu Software.

Then, search for and open ‘Extension Manager’ from Activities overview. Finally, use the tool to search and install “Rounded Window Corners” extension under ‘Browse’ tab:

After installation, you may switch back to “Install” tab in the tool, and click on gear icon to open the settings dialog for the extension.

Configure Extension

Install the Extension in Fedora 35/36 & other Linux

For Fedora and other Linux with GNOME 40+ desktop, simply go to the link button below in your web browser:

Rounded Window Corners

If you don’t see the ON/OFF switch, click the link in that page to install browser extension and refresh.

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How to Install Linux Kernel 5.19 in Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

Last updated: August 1, 2022 — 4 Comments

Linux Kernel 5.19 was released! Ubuntu Mainline PPA has made the packages for testing purpose.

Linus Torvalds announced this kernel release last night:

On a personal note, the most interesting part here is that I did the release (and am writing this) on an arm64 laptop. It’s something I’ve been waiting for for a _loong_ time, and it’s finally reality, thanks
to the Asahi team. We’ve had arm64 hardware around running Linux for a long time, but none of it has really been usable as a development platform until now.

Linux 5.19 Kernel features initial support for LoongArch CPU architecture, Apple M1 NVMe controller and Apple eFuse driver. There are also initial graphics driver for Raptor Lake P (Intel’s 13th generation processors), In-Field Scan (IFS) to circuit level tests on a CPU core, and bug-fix for Intel laptops running hot and draining the battery faster.

Other features include:

  • Zstd compressed firmware support
  • Google Whiskers Touchpad support.
  • Lenovo X12 trackpoint support.
  • Armv9 Scalable Matrix Extension support
  • Big TCP and pureLiFi’s device driver.

How to Install Kernel 5.19 in Ubuntu 22.04:

NOTE: The mainline kernel packages are NOT officially support! You install them ONLY for specific hardware support or testing purpose!

First, go to the PPA web page via the link button below:

Download Kernel 5.19

Select download amd64/build package for modern PC/laptop, arm64/armhf build for ARM devices, or ppc64el/s390x depends on your CPU architecture type. And, install the packages in following order:

  • linux-headers-5.19.0-051900_xxx_all.deb
  • linux-headers-5.19.0-051900-generic_xxx_amd64.deb
  • linux-modules-5.19.0-051900-generic_xxx_amd64.deb
  • linux-image-unsigned-5.19.0-051900-generic_xxx_amd64.deb

Or, open terminal by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard, and run following commands one by one to download and install the Kernel packages (64-bit only).

cd ~/Downloads
wget -c https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v5.19/amd64/linux-headers-5.19.0-051900_5.19.0-051900.202207312230_all.deb
wget -c https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v5.19/amd64/linux-headers-5.19.0-051900-generic_5.19.0-051900.202207312230_amd64.deb
wget -c https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v5.19/amd64/linux-image-unsigned-5.19.0-051900-generic_5.19.0-051900.202207312230_amd64.deb
wget -c https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v5.19/amd64/linux-modules-5.19.0-051900-generic_5.19.0-051900.202207312230_amd64.deb
sudo apt install ./linux-headers-5.19.0*.deb ./linux-image-unsigned-5.19.0*.deb ./linux-modules-5.19.0*.deb

Once installed, restart your computer and verify by running uname -a command in terminal.

For those prefer to use a graphical tool, there’s Ubuntu Mainline Kernel Installer can help to make things easier:

Uninstall Kernel 5.19

To remove the Kernel packages, you need to first restart your computer, select boot an old kernel in “Advanced” sub-menu of Grub boot-loader.

And finally run command in terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) to remove Kernel 5.19:

sudo apt remove linux-headers-5.19.0* linux-modules-5.19.0* linux-image-unsigned-5.19.0*
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Liferea News Reader 1.13.9 Adds Google Reader API Support

Last updated: July 27, 2022 — Leave a comment

The GTK feed reader Liferea released version 1.13.9 recently with generic Google Reader API support, UI improvements, and bug-fixes.

This is the last release of the 1.13 unstable series of Liferea (Linux Feed Reader). It makes possible to import from FeedHQ, FreshRSS, Basquz, and other feed readers using Google Reader API (exclude Miniflux due to this bug).

So now besides manually adding websites, it now supports adding following sources all together:

  • Planet, BlogRoll, OPML.
  • Google Reader API.
  • Reedah.
  • Tiny Tiny RSS.
  • TheOldReader.
  • Miniflux.

Other changes in this release include:

  • Update to Readability.js 0.41 for better image and table handling.
  • Improve HTML5 extraction
  • Hide unused expander space in item list and drop enclosure icon from item list, which saves horizontal space.
  • Improve performance by different check order in itemset merging
  • Subscribing defaulted to HTML5 feeds even when real feeds do exist.

How to Get Liferea 1.13.9:

For Linux with Flatpak support out-of-the-box, e.g., Linux Mint, Pop! OS and Fedora, you may simply search for and install the software package as Flatpak from system package manager.

For Ubuntu based user prefer the classic .deb package, here’s the unofficial PPA contains the package for Ubuntu 20.04 and Ubuntu 22.04.

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

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/apps

2. Next, either update the feed reader from an existing release via “Software Updater” or run command below to install it:

sudo apt install liferea

NOTE: Linux Mint user need to first run sudo apt update to refresh package cache manually.

Uninstall:

For any issue, you may uninstall the PPA repository by running the command below in terminal:

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

And remove the Liferea news reader either via your system package manager or by running command below in terminal:

sudo apt remove --autoremove liferea liferea-data
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Enable Animated Mouse Hover App Icons in Ubuntu 22.04 Dock Panel

Last updated: July 26, 2022 — Leave a comment

For Ubuntu 22.04, there’s now an extension to enable animation when you move mouse pointer over app icons on the left/bottom panel.

It’s a magnifying animation for the dock app icons under mouse cursor. Which, remind me of the old popular Avant Window Navigator.

The extension is called ‘Dash Animator‘ designed for Ubuntu with the default GNOME Desktop. As it requires GNOME 40+, only Ubuntu 22.04 meet the request so far. Though, it should also work on other GNOME based Linux that uses Dash-to-Dock, such as Manjaro Linux.

How to Install the “Dash Animator” Extension in Ubuntu 22.04

1. Firstly, search for and install “Extension Manager” application from Ubuntu Software.

If Ubuntu Software does not work, you may press Ctrl+Alt+T to open terminal, and run the command below to install the tool:

sudo apt install gnome-shell-extension-manager

2. After installed the tool, press Super (the ‘Windows’ logo key) to open Activities overview. Then search for and open it.

3. When it opens, navigate to ‘Browse’ tab, search for “dash to dock animator“, and finally click on “Install” button to install the extension.

Other Linux may simply go to the extension page via the link button below. And, use the ON/OFF switch to install it.

Dash to Dock Animator

Without any configuration, the animation should work immediately after properly installed the extension.

(Optional) To disable or remove the animation, either use Gnome Extensions App or Extension Manager (both available in Ubuntu Software), or turn off the slider in the extension web page (see the button above).

Disable or Remove via Extension Manager

NOTE: removing the extension need restart GNOME (log out and back in) to apply change.

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Findex – A Super Fast Tool to Search & Launch Your Apps in Linux

Last updated: July 25, 2022 — Leave a comment

Looking for an alternative app launching tool for your Linux? Findex is one with highly customizable interface and fast performance.

The app runs silently in the background. Once you hit the shortcut key, a search box pop-up in screen center allows to quickly search and open desired applications.

Findex search apps

The tool is super fast as it focuses on performance. It supports fuzzy searching and allows to configure the following things:

  • Search window width.
  • Minimize and maximize window height.
  • Highlight color for match content.
  • Icon size, result size, and shortcut key

How to Get Findex:

The current 0.6.0 release does not work on Wayland session, though it’s said to bring it back in later version. Which means so far, Ubuntu and Fedora need to switch to ‘Ubuntu on Xorg‘ or ‘Gnome on Xorg‘ from the login screen to be able to use the tool.

1. Firstly, download the tarball from the github release page:

Download Findex (tar.gz)

2. Then extract it in file manager. Right-click on generated folder and select ‘Open in Terminal’ to open that folder as working directory in terminal.

3. Finally, run command in terminal to start it:

./findex

Run it first time to verify if it works!

To verify if it works, just press Shift + Space on keyboard. The search box should prompt up allows to type searching your applications.

4. To make Findex runs automatically at startup, run the commands below one by one in the same terminal window:

  • Move the executable file to system path via command: 
    sudo mv findex /usr/bin
  • Move the services file into systemd folder: 
    sudo mv findex*.path findex*.service /etc/systemd/user/
  • Finally, enable the services: 
    systemctl --user enable findex.service
    systemctl --user enable findex-restarter.path

Copy to PATH, and make it auto-start

5. To configure the keyboard shortcut and search appearance, open terminal and run command:

gedit ~/.config/findex/settings.toml

Replace gedit with your system text editor. After saving changes, you need to restart the service by running command: systemctl --user restart findex.service.

Uninstall:

To disable the service, use command:

systemctl --user disable findex.service
systemctl --user disable findex-restarter.path

Then remove the executable file as well as service files:

sudo rm /usr/bin/findex /etc/systemd/user/findex*
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unlockR – Stupid Simple App to Remove PDF Password in Linux & Windows

Last updated: July 24, 2022 — Leave a comment

For those want to unlock / decrypt PDF files, there’s now a stupid simple graphical tool to do the job in Linux.

It’s easy to encrypt you PDF files in Ubuntu Linux since the built-in LibreOffice office suite has the option on ‘Export as PDF’ dialog. However, there seems no easy way to remove password for PDF file, other than using qpdf command:

qpdf --decrypt --password=<PASSWORD> input.pdf output.pdf

unlockR is a new GTK4 application that use Libadwaita to provide a modern simple user interface to decrypt your PDF files.

It’s so simple that you just need to click ‘Open a File‘ to select your PDF, then type the password, and finally hit ‘Decrypt’. It doesn’t change the original file, but generates a new PDF without password protect.

As the picture shows, it has both light and dark mode that switches automatically according your system color scheme.

NOTE: This app is NOT about to crack password on a PDF file. You need the password to be able to decrypt it.

How to Install unlockR

It is a free open-software software works on both Linux and Windows. For Windows package, just grab the zip from github releases page:

unlockR releases

For Linux, it offers the binary package via universal Flatpak. Ubuntu user need to first press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal, and run command to install the Flatpak daemon:

sudo apt install flatpak

Next, install the app package via command:

flatpak install https://dl.flathub.org/repo/appstream/com.github.jkotra.unlockr.flatpakref

Like normal applications, search for and open it from ‘Activities’ overview (or start menu) after installation.

Uninstall:

To remove the Flatpak package, open terminal and run command:

flatpak uninstall --delete-data com.github.jkotra.unlockr

You may also clear useless runtime libraries via flatpak uninstall --unused.

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Install Tilix Terminal Emulator 1.9.5 in Ubuntu 22.04 via PPA

Last updated: July 22, 2022 — Leave a comment

For those who want to install the latest Tilix terminal emulator 1.9.5 in Ubuntu 22.04 LTS. You can now get it from PPA repository.

Tilix is a popular tiling terminal emulator, that allows to split terminal window horizontally and/or vertically, and drag and drop re-arrange them. It also has many other great features including sync input between terminals, background images, quake mode (drop-down terminal), and custom hyperlinks.

The terminal emulator package is available in Ubuntu repository, but old. Though, the latest v1.9.5 has been released for 5 months. Changes in Tilix 1.9.5 include:

  • Disable advanced paste when there is no linebreak like iTerm2
  • Add environment variable when in quake mode
  • Add possibility to configure always enabled regex
  • And various bug-fixes.

1. Add PPA

The unofficial PPA so far contains the latest package for Ubuntu 22.04 only. Due to dependency issue, it does not build in Ubuntu 20.04.

To add the PPA, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal and run command:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/tilix

2. Update package cache

Ubuntu now automatically refresh the package cache while adding PPA. But, you have to run apt update command manually in some derivatives, e.g., Linux Mint.

sudo apt update

3. Install Tilix

Finally, install the software package by running command in terminal:

sudo apt install tilix

After installation, search for and open Tilix either from start menu or by searching from ‘Activities’ overview, depends on which DE you have.

How to Uninstall:

For any issue, you can install ppa-purge and use the tool to purge PPA. Which will also downgrade all installed packages from that PPA to the stock version in your Ubuntu:

sudo apt install ppa-purge && sudo ppa-purge ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/tilix

And if you need to terminal emulator any more, remove it either from Ubuntu Software or by running command in terminal:

sudo apt remove --autoremove tilix tilix-common
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GNOME 43 to add ‘Device Security’ Settings with Secure Boot status & HSI Level

Last updated: July 21, 2022 — Leave a comment

GNOME announced the first alpha for the next 43 stable series. See what’s new in this popular Linux desktop environments.

GNOME is the default desktop environment for Ubuntu and Fedora Workstation, and optional for Debian, Arch Linux and so forth.

The next v43 is planned for September 21, 2022. So far, it features new “Device Security” sub-settings page of “Privacy” in GNOME Control Center. With it, you can easily find out if “Secure Boot” is enabled in your machine.

Not sure if it’s unfinished or because of running in Virtual Machine. The shield icon has no description text. By clicking on it will show you current HSI security level, as well as options for “Minimal Protection”, “Basic Protection”, and “Extended Protection”. But, all of them shows only blank page for me.

Gnome Software now support for Web Apps. It as well allows swiping back in the shell using touchpad gestures. Gnome Weather now has a new ‘About’ dialog:

Other changes in GNOME 43 include:

  • Gnome Calendar now has a sidebar in main window, and has ability to zoom the Week view.
  • Dconf Editor now has a new app icon.
  • Gnome Text editor now support for opening local STDIN streams

Get GNOME 43 Alpha:

A GNOME OS installer image as well as the news file and source packages are available to download in the announce page below:

Gnome 43 Alpha
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