UbuntuHandbook

How to Install Spotify via Official Repository in Ubuntu 13.10

Last updated: October 15, 2013

This tutorial is going to show you how to install the latest Spotify client from its official repository in Ubuntu 13.10 Saucy Salamander & Linux Mint 16 Petra.

Spotify is a very popular music streaming service. Its client works on Android, iOS, Windows Phone, Blackberry, web browser, Mac, Windows, and Linux.

The Spotify client for Desktop has reached v0.9.4 with following changes:

A new app for messages!
this is gradually rolling out, so don’t fret if you don’t see a change right away

When re-starting Spotify your last playlist position will now be available

More languages!

Proxy authentication support for views

Linux only: Media key support in Gnome
Coming soon!

Stability and performance fixes

Fixed a lot of crashes, especially on shutdown/log out

Fixed crash when adding tracks to large playlists

Install Spotify in Ubuntu 13.10:

The Spotify client for Linux can be installed on Ubuntu 13.10, Ubuntu 13.04, Ubuntu 12.04, Ubuntu 12.10, Linux Mint 13/14/15/16, Elementary OS Luna. Below steps show you how:

1. Press Ctrl+Alt+T on your keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, copy and paste below command to add spotify repository:

sudo add-apt-repository "deb http://repository.spotify.com stable non-free"

2. Add the key:

sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 94558F59

3. Now you can install spotify in Ubuntu Software Center after checking for updates. Or you can run below commands instead:

sudo apt-get update; sudo apt-get install -y spotify-client

In Howtos spotify, spotify client, Ubuntu 13.10

How to Install Subsonic Web Music Streamer in Ubuntu 13.10

Last updated: October 13, 2013

This quick tutorial is going to show you how to install Subsonic music streamer 4.8 in Ubuntu 13.10 Saucy Salamander & Linux Mint 16 Petra via getdeb repository.

As you may know, Subsonic is a free, web-based media streamer, providing ubiquitous access to your music. Use it to share your music with friends, or to listen to your own music while at work. You can stream to multiple players simultaneously, for instance to one player in your kitchen and another in your living room.

Subsonic is designed to handle very large music collections (hundreds of gigabytes). Although optimized for MP3 streaming, it works for any audio or video format that can stream over HTTP, for instance AAC and OGG. By using transcoder plug-ins, Subsonic supports on-the-fly conversion and streaming of virtually any audio format, including WMA, FLAC, APE, Musepack, WavPack and Shorten.

Install Subsonic:

1. Press Ctrl+Alt+T on your keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run 2 commands to add getdeb repository:

wget http://archive.getdeb.net/install_deb/getdeb-repository_0.1-1~getdeb1_all.deb

sudo dpkg -i getdeb-repository_0.1-1~getdeb1_all.deb

For Linux Mint, there’s an option under ‘Software & Sources -> Additional repositories’ allows to easily enable / disable this repository.

2. Use synaptic package manager to install Subsonic. Or run commands below instead:

sudo apt-get update; sudo apt-get install -y subsonic

In Howtos music streamer, subsonic, Ubuntu 13.10

How to install Songbird in Ubuntu 13.10 Saucy

Last updated: April 4, 2019

This quick tutorial is going to show beginners how to install songbird music player in Ubuntu 13.10 Saucy Salamander & Linux Mint 16 Petra.

Songbird for Linux has discontinued, but the v2.0 is still available in GetDeb repository for Ubuntu 13.10 Saucy and its derivatives.

To get started installing this web player, first click the link below to download the DEB:

~~Download GetDeb package~~

Then double-click to install the package via pop-up Ubuntu Software Center. It’ll add the get repository to your system.

For Linux Mint 16, there’s an option in ‘Software & Sources -> Additional repositories’ to enable the repository.

After added the repository, use synaptic package manager to install Songbird. Or run below commands in terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T):

sudo apt-get update; sudo apt-get install songbird

In Howtos songbird, Ubuntu 13.10

How to Remove white dots from Ubuntu 13.10 LightDM login screen

Last updated: October 7, 2013

There’re lots of white dots on default LightDM login screen, which is quite annoying. This quick tip shows you how to remove them in Ubuntu 13.10 Saucy.

See the screenshot before and after:

login screen with white dots

login screen without white dots

To get started:

Press Ctrl+Alt+T on your keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run:

1. Run command to allow user lightdm to create a connection to the X server:

sudo xhost +SI:localuser:lightdm

2. Then switch to user lightdm in the terminal window.

sudo su lightdm -s /bin/bash

3. Finally set draw grid (white dots) feature to false:

gsettings set com.canonical.unity-greeter draw-grid false

That’s it.

If you’re not comfortable with command console. You can use Ubuntu-Tweak, it has an option to turn off this feature under Tweaks -> Login Settings -> unlock -> turn off draw grid.

In modify ubuntu lightdm, remove white dots, Ubuntu 13.10

How to Enable Open as Administrator for Ubuntu 13.10 Nautilus

Last updated: October 7, 2013

This quick tip is going to show beginners how to add ‘open as administrator’ or ‘open as root’ into Nautilus context menu in Ubuntu 13.10 Saucy.

With this feature enabled, you can quickly open files and folders in Nautilus with root (super user) privilege. This also works on Linux Mint 16 Petra if you’re using Nautilus 3.8.x.

To get started:

1. Open Ubuntu Software Center, search for and install gksu. It allows graphical programs to ask a user’s password to run program as root / administrator.

2. Open Nautilus file browser, press Ctrl+H to view hidden files & folders. Navigate to USER Home -> .local -> share -> nautilus -> scripts.

Create an empty document under this directory named ‘open-as-administrator’

3. Open this file with Gedit, copy and paste following codes into the file and save.

#!/bin/bash # # this code will determine exactly the path and the type of object, # then it will decide use gedit or nautilus to open it by ROOT permission # # Determine the path if [ -e -n $1 ]; then obj="$NAUTILUS_SCRIPT_SELECTED_FILE_PATHS" else base="`echo $NAUTILUS_SCRIPT_CURRENT_URI | cut -d'/' -f3- | sed 's/%20/ /g'`" obj="$base/${1##*/}" fi # Determine the type and run as ROOT if [ -f "$obj" ]; then gksu gedit "$obj" elif [ -d "$obj" ]; then gksu nautilus "$obj" fi

exit 0

4. Right-click on this file, go to Properties -> Permissions tab. Check the box which says ‘Allow executing file as program’.

Log out and back in, or restart Nautilus by nautilus -q command. Done.

In Howtos open as administrator, open as root, Ubuntu 13.10

Install Cinelerra Video Editor in Ubuntu 13.10, Linux Mint 16

Last updated: October 3, 2013

This tutorial is going to show beginners how to install Cinelerra-CV Video Editor in Ubuntu 13.10 Saucy or Linux Mint 16 Petra.

Cinelerra-CV is the community version of Cinelerra which adds new enhancements to the official source code. So far, the latest is version 2.2 and it’s available in PPA for Ubuntu 13.10 Saucy, Ubuntu 13.04 Raring, Ubuntu 12.10 Quantal, Ubuntu 12.04 Precise, Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid and their derivatives.

Install Cinelerra via PPA:

To get started, hit Ctrl+Alt+T on your keyboard to open terinal. When it opens, run command to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:cinelerra-ppa/ppa

Then update package lists on your system:

sudo apt-get update

Finally install the package:

sudo apt-get install cinelerra-cv

If you’d like to install the official version of cinelerra, download the Debs from this page.

In Howtos cinelerra, cinelerra-cv, Ubuntu 13.10

Disable Guest Account from Ubuntu 13.10 Login Screen

Last updated: October 1, 2013

This quick tip is going to show beginners how to disable the Guest session from Ubuntu 13.10 Saucy LightDM Login Screen.

Guest Session comes default in Ubuntu Unity, which anyone can log into from the login screen without password. You can easily remove it by the steps below:

1.) Press Ctrl+Alt+T on your keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, copy and paste below code and hit Enter.

sudo gedit /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf.d/50-unity-greeter.conf

2.) It opens the config file. All you need to do is add below line into the file and click save.

allow-guest=false

The changes will take effect when you restart your computer. Enjoy!

In Howtos remove guest session, Ubuntu 13.10

Ubuntu 13.10 Quick Tip: How to Disable Apport Error Reporting

Last updated: September 30, 2013

If something goes wrong in Ubuntu Unity, you usually get the error dialog which says ‘Sorry, Ubuntu 13.10 has experienced an internet error’

This helps Ubuntu gather information about issues and create a fix for them. If it annoys you, this tutorial will show you how to easily turn it off.

To get started, press Ctrl+Alt+T on your keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run command to edit the config file:

sudo gedit /etc/default/apport

Change the value to 0 to disable (1 to enable) this feature.

That’s it. Enjoy!

In Howtos error reporting, Ubuntu 13.10

Install Stellarium planetarium softwarevia PPA in Ubuntu 13.10

Last updated: September 29, 2013

This tutorial is going to show you how to install Stellarium in Ubuntu 13.10 Saucy Salamander via PPA.

Stellarium is a free open source planetarium for your computer. It shows a realistic sky in 3D, just like what you see with the naked eye, binoculars or a telescope.

Features:

sky

default catalogue of over 600,000 stars
extra catalogues with more than 210 million stars
asterisms and illustrations of the constellations
constellations for 15 different cultures
images of nebulae (full Messier catalogue)
realistic Milky Way
very realistic atmosphere, sunrise and sunset
the planets and their satellites

interface

a powerful zoom
time control
multilingual interface
fisheye projection for planetarium domes
spheric mirror projection for your own low-cost dome
all new graphical interface and extensive keyboard control
telescope control

visualisation

equatorial and azimuthal grids
star twinkling
shooting stars
eclipse simulation
supernovae simulation
skinnable landscapes, now with spheric panorama projection

customizability

plugin system adding artifical satellites, ocular simulation, telescope configuration and more
ability to add new solar system objects from online resources
add your own deep sky objects, landscapes, constellation images, scripts…

The latest release 0.12.4 fixed:

crash Stellarium 0.12.3 (Ocular)
Render nighttime landscapes without lighting

To install Stellarium in Ubuntu, press Ctrl+Alt+T on your keyboard. When it opens, run below commands one by one:

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

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install stellarium

In Howtos Stellarium, Stellarium PPA, Ubuntu 13.10

Ubuntu 13.10 Quick Tip: Enable Workspaces & Add Show Desktop Icon

Last updated: September 29, 2013

This quick tip is going to show beginners how to enable workspaces and add ‘show desktop’ shortcut icon on Unity Launcher in Ubuntu 13.10 Saucy.

Ubuntu 13.10 Saucy Salamander final is to be released on October 17th. Now it’s in beta 2.

By default, the Unity session only provide one working desktop. You can easily enable multi workspaces by following steps:

1.) Go to Unity Dash. Search for and open Appearance utility.

2.) When it opens, navigate to Behavior tab. Check the box which says “Enable Workspaces”, then you’ll get a shortcut icon on Unity Launcher which provides the ability to show and switch between workspaces.