UbuntuHandbook

XBMC Media Center 13.1 Released, Install in Ubuntu via PPA

Last updated: June 7, 2014

XBMC 13.1, the first bug-fix release of XBMC 13 Gotham, was finally announced after released two betas and a release candidate.

This 13.1 release contains only fixes compared to previous 13.0, and no new features. It can be safely installed on top of any previous XBMC releases.

Fix resume point of certain PVR items begin stale on playback.
Fix weirdness when certain TVs query XBMC’s UPnP server and it starts running a bunch of add-ons which cause popups on the XBMC machine.
Fix crash at exit while airplay is playing
Better recovery of VDPAU on errors.
Fixes for cropping of interlaced content using VDPAU.
Fix for FLAC tracks with large embedded images not playing.
Fix for crash if librtmp wasn’t available.
Fix for ffmpeg building on linux using later versions of librtmp.
Fix for broken m4a, mp4 playback with paplayer.
Fix for the hint text not being shown in editcontrols once unfocused.
Fix minor memory leak in PlayMedia builtin function.
Fix albumartist use in song smartplaylists.
Use unique client broadcast UID in the PVR api.

Install XBMC 13.1 in Ubuntu 14.04 / 13.10 / 12.04:

Important notice: 1. It’s always recommended to backup your current userdata before upgrading. 2. Due to changes related to the add-on system and skin improvement, certain plugins, scripts and skins may become incompatible when upgrading from XBMC 12.x.

To install or upgrade, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open the terminal. When it opens, run the commands below one by one:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:team-xbmc/ppa

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install xbmc

In Howtos Ubuntu 12.04, Ubuntu 13.10, Ubuntu 14.04, XBMC media center

Install Telegram (WhatsApp Alternative) in Ubuntu 14.04 / 13.10

Last updated: May 3, 2014

This tutorial is going to show you how to install the cross-platform open-source messaging service Telegram in Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 13.10 and Linux Mint 16 via PPA.

Telegram uses your phone number as your user ID that allows to send messages, photos, videos and files of any type (doc, zip, mp3, etc) to people who are in your phone contacts and have Telegram. Unlike WhatsApp, Telegram is cloud-based and heavily encrypted.

Telegram only provides official applications for Android and iOS. It has an open API so here comes the UNOFFICIAL web application webogram and below will show you how to install this app with Unity integration.

Disclaimer: This is an alpha version of the Telegram UNOFFICIAL web application. It may have undetected security issues, and there is definitely a load of bugs to fix, features to add and so on. So if you want 200% secure and fully functional communication, don’t use this yet! You can always find Telegram official mobile applications here: https://telegram.org

Implemented functionality list:

Sign in by phone number + SMS code, or phone call
View list of existings chats (up-posting) with infinite scrolling
View messages history for each chat/group (bottom-posting) with infinite scrolling
View brief profile info
View/edit group info
View/edit members list
View media in messages: photo, video
Download documents from messages
Emoji display in all browsers (Chrome, non-OSX ones)
Emoji keyboard
Send plain-text messages to user or group
Send files (photos or documents) via attach icon or drag’n’drop
Desktop notifications
Create new group
Edit group participants
Settings
Edit profile/userpic
Contacts
Edit, delete, forward messsages

Unsupported at the moment:

Registration
Contacts add/edit
Secret chats
Search messages
a lot more…

Install the unofficial Telegram app:

Press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open the terminal. When it opens, run the commands below one by one:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:costales/unity-webapps-telegram

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install unity-webapps-telegram

webogram on github.

In Howtos Telegram for Linux, Ubuntu 13.10, Ubuntu 14.04, WhatsApp Aternative

Set Different Colors on Folder Icons in Ubuntu 14.04/13.10/12.04

Last updated: April 27, 2014

Want to change the color of your folders in Nautilus file browser to get a better visual layout? Well, there’s a small extension for Nautilus can do the job in Ubuntu 14.04 Trusty, Ubuntu 13.10 Saucy and Ubuntu 12.04 Precise.

See my file browser:

So far, the tool support following colors: Blue, Light Blue, Pink, Black, Yellow, Violet, Orange (Ubuntu’s default), Green, Gray, Red. Also there’s an option to reset to default.

To install this simple tool, Press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open the terminal. When it opens, run the commands below one by one:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:costales/folder-color

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install folder-color

Don’t like Ubuntu PPA? Download & install the .deb package from launchpad page.

Once installed, restart Nautilus via:

nautilus -q

Finally you’re able to change a folder color in its context menu:

Webpage: https://launchpad.net/folder-color

In Howtos Change folder colors, Ubuntu 12.04, Ubuntu 13.10, Ubuntu 14.04

Install Sticky Notes Indicator in Ubuntu 13.10 Saucy

Last updated: March 21, 2014

Indicator Stickynotes is a simple application similar to Windows Sticky Notes that allows you to jot down thoughts, lists, and reminders.

Indicator Stickynotes is meant for Ubuntu’s Unity interface. It has also been tested on the GNOME Shell, XFCE/Xubuntu, KDE/Kubuntu, MATE/Mint, and Cinnamon/Mint interfaces, but support for these platforms is not guaranteed.

Install Indicator Stickynotes:

This simple app is hosted on Launchpad.net. The developer has created a PPA that provides the app packages for Ubuntu 13.10, Ubuntu 13.04, Ubuntu 12.10 and Ubuntu 12.04.

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

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:umang/indicator-stickynotes

After that, update package lists and install the Sticky Notes Indicator:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install indicator-stickynotes

Once installed, start the app from Unity Dash or Menu and enjoy!

In Howtos sticky notes Ubuntu, Ubuntu 13.10

Install Shotwell 0.18 in Ubuntu 13.10 or Linux Mint 16

Last updated: March 20, 2014

Yorba Team has announced the 0.18 release of its shotwell photo manager recently with various bug fixes and translation updates.

According to the release note, Shotwell 0.18 contains below changes:

Tumblr publishing fixed
Fixed resource leak when importing videos
Improved searching for event comments and diacritics
Various bug fixes
Compile and install translated help files
Updated translations

Install Shotwell:

Yorba’s Stable PPA only provides the update for Ubuntu 13.10 Saucy. To install it, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open the terminal. When it opens, run the commands below one by one:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:yorba/ppa

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install shotwell

For Ubuntu 14.04 and Ubuntu 12.10, besides building it from the source code. You can use the Yorba’s Daily build PPA.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:yorba/daily-builds

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install shotwell

NOTE: As the Daily PPA’s description says, “This PPA contains daily builds of Yorba’s software, including Shotwell Photo Manager and Geary. Because these builds correspond to the current state of the development source tree, they are untested and highly volatile. Us it at your own risk!”

In Howtos shotwell, Ubuntu 13.10, Ubuntu 14.04

Install digiKam 4.0 Beta3 in Ubuntu 13.10 Saucy

Last updated: April 24, 2024

The photo management software digiKam 4.0.0 has reached its third beta release just a few hours ago. There will be also beta4 and RC releases, and the digiKam 4.0.0 final will be released on May 11.

According to the release notes, following new features will be added in this version:

A new tool dedicated to organize whole tag hierarchies. This new feature is relevant of GoSC-2013 project from Veaceslav Munteanu. This project include also a back of Nepomuk support in digiKam broken since a while due to important KDE API changes. Veaceslav has also implemented multiple selection and multiple drag-n-drop capabilities on Tags Manager and Tags View from sidebars, and the support for writing face rectangles metadata in Windows Live Photo format.

A new maintenance tool dedicated to parse image quality and auto-tags items automatically using Pick Labels. This tool is relevant to anotherGoSC-2013 project from Gowtham Ashok. This tool require feedback and hack to be finalized for this release.

Showfoto thumbbar is now ported to Qt model/view in order to switch later full digiKam code to Qt5. This project is relevant to another GoSC-2013 project from Mohamed Anwer.

A lots of work have been done into Import tool to fix several dysfunctions reported since a very long time. For example, The status to indicate which item have been already downloaded from the device is back. Thanks to Teemu Rytilahti and Islam Wazery to contribute. All fixes are not yet completed and the game continue until the next beta release.

This release is now fully ported to Qt4 model-view and drop last Q3-Support classes. The last pending part was Image Editor Canvas ported and completed by Yiou Wang through this GoSC-2013 project. In the future, port to Qt5 will be easy and quickly done, when KDE 5 API will stabilized and released.

Install:
Besides building digiKam 4.0 from the source tarball. Ubuntu 13.10 Saucy users can install the beta release from the third-party PPA.

Press Ctrl+Alt+T on your keyboard to open a terminal window. When it opens, run the commands below to add the digiKam Beta repository:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:msylwester/digikam-beta

There’s also a stable PPA created by the maintainer. It will provide the digiKam 4.0.0 final build for Ubuntu 13.10 Saucy and Ubuntu 14.04 Trusty. To add this PPA, run:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:msylwester/digikam

After adding the PPA, run the commands below to update package lists and install digiKam:

sudo apt-get update 

sudo apt-get install digikam

That’s it. Check out the PPA packages on Launchpad page.

In Howtos digikam, digikam PPA, Ubuntu 13.10, Ubuntu 14.04

KDE 4.12.2 Now Is Available in Kubuntu PPA for Ubuntu 13.10

Last updated: February 18, 2014

KDE 4.12.2 was released two weeks ago. Now it’s available in the Kubuntu Backports PPA for Ubuntu 13.10 Saucy.

KDE 4.12.2 brought more than 20 recorded bugfixes include improvements to the personal information management suite Kontact, the UML tool Umbrello, the document viewer Okular, the web browser Konqueror, the file manager Dolphin, and others. This release also included an updated Plasma Workspaces 4.11.6.

Upgrade / Install KDE 4.12.2:

Press Ctrl+Alt+T one your keyboard to open the terminal. When it opens, run the command below to add Kubuntu PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:kubuntu-ppa/backports

Update package lists and upgrade KDE:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

If you’re going to install Kubuntu Desktop, run below command after updating package lists:

sudo apt-get install kde-standard kubuntu-desktop

Tips: The binary packages will soon be available for Ubuntu 12.04. By then, you can run previous commands to upgrade KDE in Precise.

In Howtos KDE, Ubuntu 12.04, Ubuntu 13.10

Bluefish Editor 2.2.5 Released, Install in Ubuntu 13.10/12.04/12.10

Last updated: February 10, 2014

Bluefish, a powerful editor targeted towards programmers and webdevelopers has reached version 2.2.5. Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu 13.10, Ubuntu 12.04, Ubuntu 12.10, Linux Mint and their derivatives.

According to the changelog:

Bluefish 2.2.5 is a minor bug fix release but has also quite some new features. The syntax scanning engine is faster after small changes to the text. The filebrowser is also much faster with less memory usage, with various fixes and new features. Projects now store the active document and active line numbers. Indenting is improved in auto-completion and the smart indenting. Bookmarks and paste special also have been improved. On OSX there are many improvements, such as Mavericks support, Retina display support, working system hotkeys, native input methods (Japanese, Chinese, etc.), opening files from the finder and Widget bindings on MacOSX are moved to Cmd+C|V|X|A and working. Furthermore almost all syntax highlighting has been improved, most notable jquery in javascript, HTML5, and HTML5 in PHP files. There are also many bug fixes, such as in wrap text on right margin, in the replace engine, the jsmin licence, the split lines feature, the auto-recovery and many obscure bugs. Last bluefish now has an appdata file.

Install Bluefish:

Press Ctrl+Alt+T on your keyboard to open the terminal. When it opens, run the commands below one by one to install Bluefish from PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:klaus-vormweg/bluefish

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install bluefish

You can also install Bluefish compiled against GTK2:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:klaus-vormweg/bluefish-gtk2

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install bluefish

In Howtos Bluefish Editor, Ubuntu 12.04, Ubuntu 13.10

Install the Latest Pidgin 2.10.9 via PPA in Ubuntu 14.04/12.04/13.10

Last updated: December 12, 2014

The instant messaging program Pidgin 2.10.9 has been released recently. It mainly fixed problems logging into some servers including jabber.org and chat.facebook.com.

The default Pidgin versions in Ubuntu universe repositories are quite old (See Pidgin changelog history). The Pidgin Developers PPA provides the most recent version of Pidgin for Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 13.10, Ubuntu 12.10, and Ubuntu 12.04. Here’s how to add the PPA and install / upgrade your Pidgin from it.

To get started, press Ctrl+Alt+T on your keyboard to open the terminal. When it opens, run the command below to add Pidgin PPA to your system:

sudo add-apt-repository -y ppa:pidgin-developers/ppa

After that, update your system package lists and then you’re able to install packages from the PPA:

sudo apt-get update

Now install the Pidgin:

sudo apt-get install pidgin

That’s it. Enjoy!

For the Off-the-Record (OTR) plug-in, which is designed for use with Pidgin ensures authenticated and secure communications between Pidgin users, just search for and install pidgin-otr from Ubuntu Software Center. Finally enable the plugin from Pidgin menu Tools -> Plugins.

In Howtos pidgin ppa, Ubuntu 12.04, Ubuntu 13.10, Ubuntu 14.04

How to Install VLC 2.1.2 in Ubuntu 12.04/12.10/13.04/13.10

Last updated: July 28, 2015

The popular VLC media player has reached version 2.1.x with some fantastic new features, bug fixes and performance improvements. However, the official PPA for Ubuntu 13.10 and earlier is stuck at version 2.0.8.

There’s now a third-party PPA that provides the most recent build of VLC (it’s 2.1.2 so far) to Ubuntu 12.04, Ubuntu 12.10, Ubuntu 13.04, and Ubuntu 13.10 users. The PPA is maintained by djcj

The PPA is not officially endorsed, supported or otherwise backed by the Videolan team. Use it at your own risk!

Press Ctrl+Alt+T on your keyboard to open the terminal. When it opens, run the commands below to add the PPA and install VLC.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:djcj/vlc-stable

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install vlc

If you don’t like the PPAs, directly download & install the DEBs from the launchpad page.

In Howtos install latest vlc Ubuntu, Ubuntu 12.04, Ubuntu 13.04, Ubuntu 13.10, vlc media player

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