Archives For November 30, 1999

upgrade Ubuntu 14.04.5

The Ubuntu Team has announced the release of Ubuntu 14.04.5 LTS. It’s the fifth and final point release that includes new hardware enablement stack (HWE) from Ubuntu 16.04 LTS.

The Ubuntu team is pleased to announce the release of Ubuntu 14.04.5 LTS (Long-Term Support) for its Desktop, Server, Cloud, and Core products, as well as other flavours of Ubuntu with long-term support.

We have expanded our hardware enablement offering since 12.04, and with 14.04.5, this point release contains an updated kernel and X stack for new installations to support new hardware across all our supported architectures, not just x86.

As usual, this point release includes many updates, and updated installation media has been provided so that fewer updates will need to be downloaded after installation. These include security updates and corrections for other high-impact bugs, with a focus on maintaining stability and compatibility with Ubuntu 14.04 LTS.

Upgrade to Ubuntu 14.04.5:

Ubuntu 14.04 users can easily upgrade to the 14.04.5 point release by running a regular system update via Software Updater.

Or run the commands in terminal:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade

Note that the updated hardware enablement stack, Kernel 4.4 and X graphics stack from 16.04, will be available through the update only for those who installed Ubuntu 14.04 using the 14.04.2 or newer disc image.

Those who installed Ubuntu 14.04 from the original or 14.04.1 disc image will keep the original Trusty stack. Anyone wishing to opt into the new Kernel and X graphics stack may do so by running the command below in terminal:

sudo apt-get install --install-recommends linux-generic-lts-xenial xserver-xorg-core-lts-xenial xserver-xorg-lts-xenial xserver-xorg-video-all-lts-xenial xserver-xorg-input-all-lts-xenial libwayland-egl1-mesa-lts-xenial

For Sever edition, run this command instead:

sudo apt-get install --install-recommends linux-generic-lts-xenial

[Quick Tip] Enable Telnet Service in Ubuntu 14.04

Last updated: December 20, 2014

This is quick tutorial that shows you how to install and setup a Telnet server in Ubuntu 14.04 LTS.

TELNET (TELetype NETwork) is a network protocol used on the Internet or local area network LAN connections. It allows one computer to access a command-line interface on a remote host.

Telnet is insecure because the communication is not encrypted, your password and all other data will be transmitted as clear text. If possible avoid Telnet, and use Secure Shell (SSH) instead.

If you really want to enable the Telnet in Ubuntu, just run the command below in text console (terminal) to install Telnet server:

sudo apt-get install xinetd telnetd

The Telnet service is started automatically once the installation is done. And you can either run telnet serverip or use a Telnet client (PuTTy, SecureCRT, etc.) to access this server.

To change the port (default is 23), edit the /etc/services file with your favorite text editor. Find out and change the number in the line below:

telnet        23/tcp 

To apply changes, you have to restart the service by running the command below:

sudo /etc/init.d/xinetd restart

More configurations, see this document.

Linux Mint Team finally announced the release of 17.1 “Rebecca” Cinnamon and MATE editions, which is a long term support release based on Ubuntu 14.04 that will be supported until 2019.

According to the release note, the Linux Mint 17.1 “Rebecca” comes with updated software and brings refinements and many new features to make your desktop even more comfortable to use.

Linux Mint 17.1 features:

  • Cinnamon 2.4 / MATE 1.8
  • MDM 1.8
  • Out of the box support for Compiz (MATE edition)
  • Linux kernel 3.13
  • Ubuntu 14.04 package base
  • Update Manager now groups packages together according to their source package.
  • Redesigned UI of Language Settings.
  • Redesigned Login Window Preferences.
  • System, Artwork, and Other Improvements.

Both the Linux Mint 17 and 17.1 RC can upgrade to the new release through Updater Manager. For the 17.1 RC release just install any level 1 update you haven’t installed already.

ISO download link: www.linuxmint.com/download.php
Release notes: blog.linuxmint.com/

This quick tutorial shows how to improve your Ubuntu experience by speeding up the Unity Dash (search utility) response in Ubuntu 14.10 or Ubuntu 14.04.

1. Remove undesired search results

By default, the Dash displays Unity lens, scopes, Amazon online search results, and records file and application usage. You can disable some of them via below tips:

  • Disable online search results:

    Launch System Settings and go to Security & Privacy, under “Search” tab turn off the switch which says “When searching in the Dash: include online search results”

  • Stop recording file and app usage:

    Also launch System Settings and go to Security & Privacy, under “Files & Applications” tab first clear records and then turn off the switch:

  • Remove unwanted Unity lens, scopes:

    Open Ubuntu Software Center and search for unity-scope. In the results, check the information of installed scopes and remove the scopes you don’t need.

    Do same to Unity lens by searching unity-lens.

2. Reduce Graphics Settings.

First click the link below to bring up Ubuntu Software Center and click install Compiz Config Settings Manager.

Then launch CCSM from the Unity Dash and do below changes:

  • Go to Ubuntu Unity Plugin page under the Desktop category. Select No Blur from the drop-down box for Dash Blur.

  • Go back and then go to OpenGL settings page under General category. Select Fast from the drop-down box for Texture Filter.

    Note that this change would affect the whole Ubuntu System graphics and not Unity alone.

To apply all the changes, restart your computer. Enjoy!

The open source raw image processing program RawTherapee 4.2 has been released recently with new features and speed, stability and memory usage optimizations.

RawTherapee is an advanced program for developing raw photos and for processing non-raw photos. It is non-destructive, makes use of OpenMP, supports all the cameras supported by dcraw and carries out its calculations in a high precision 32bit floating point engine. RawTherapee supports JPEG, PNG, and TIFF as output format for processed photos.

What’s new in RawTherapee 4.2:

  • RawTherapee-4.2 includes many speed, precision, stability and memory usage optimizations. As such, users of 32-bit operating systems may now find that they can enjoy more stability while using the most memory intensive tools. Of course users of 64-bit systems benefit from this as well. Refer to the full changelog for more information.
  • Powerful color toning tool.
  • Curve control of luminance noise reduction.
  • Median filter in the noise reduction tool.
  • Film simulation tool using Hald CLUT pattern files.
  • Command-line option to define bit depth of output TIFF/PNG file.
  • Multiple improvements to dead/hot pixel handling, see RawPedia.
  • Filename of currently opened image shown in the titlebar.
  • Clip control for the flat-field correction tool.
  • Demosaic method “Mono” for monochrome cameras, and “None” for no demosaicing.
  • Copy/paste processing profile keyboard shortcuts for right-handed users using Ctrl/Shift-Insert.
  • Update to dcraw 9.22 1.467
  • New or improved support for:
    • Canon EOS 7D
    • Canon EOS 7D Mark II
    • Canon PowerShot G7 X
    • Canon PowerShot SX60 HS
    • Fujifilm cameras using the X-Trans sensor
    • Fujifilm X30
    • Hasselblad H4D-31
    • Hasselblad H4D-50
    • Hasselblad H4D-60
    • Hasselblad H5D-40
    • Hasselblad H5D-50c
    • Mamiya Leaf Credo 40
    • Mamiya Leaf Credo 50
    • Mamiya Leaf Credo 60
    • Mamiya Leaf Credo 80
    • Monochrome cameras such as Leica Monochrome
    • Nikon D610
    • Nikon D700
    • Nikon D750
    • Nikon D800E
    • Nikon D810
    • Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ1000
    • Panasonic Lumix DMC-GM5
    • Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX100
    • Phase One IQ250
    • Phase One P40
    • Phase One P65+
    • Sony Alpha ILCE-5100
    • Sony NEX-C3

Install / Upgrade RawTherapee in Ubuntu 14.04:

Thanks to Dariusz Duma, the binary package has been made into PPA, available for Ubuntu 14.04 LTS and Linux Mint 17.

To add the PPA and install RawTherapee 4.2, press Ctrl+Alt+T to open terminal, run the commands below one by one:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:dhor/myway

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install rawtherapee

For those who don’t want to add the PPA, grab the .deb installer directly from the Launchpad Page.

NOTE: This post is outdated. Please read this new tutorial about compiling GNU Emacs from the source.

GNU Emacs has finally reached version 24.4 with many new features and improvements. The most notable is that the text editor brings a built-in web browser.

GNU Emacs is the most popular and most ported Emacs text editor, and it was created by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project.

The latest release Emacs 24.4 was released a few hours ago. The new release features:

  • A built-in web browser (M-x eww)
  • Improved multi-monitor and fullscreen support
  • “Electric” indentation is enabled by default
  • Support for saving and restoring the state of frames and windows
  • Emacs Lisp packages can now be digitally signed
  • A new “advice” mechanism for Emacs Lisp
  • File notification support
  • Pixel-based resizing for frames and windows
  • Support for menus in text terminals
  • A new rectangular mark mode (C-x SPC)

How to Install Emacs 24.4 in Ubuntu:

At the moment of writing this tutorial, there’s no PPA repository that contains Emacs 24.4. Fortunately, it’s not hard to build it from the source tarball. I’ve done it successfully in 64-bit Ubuntu 14.04 LTS. Below steps will show you how:

1. If have the old Emacs 24.3 installed, you may first remove it from Ubuntu Software Center so that you can install the new version over it.

2. Press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal, or open it from the Unity Dash.

3. Run command below to install the build-essential:

sudo apt-get install build-essential

4. Install the required dependencies:

sudo apt-get build-dep emacs

While the installing process, you’ll be asked to configure the Postfix.

5. Now download Emacs 24.4 from its official FTP download page.

6. Extract the source and go into the result folder in terminal:

cd ~/Downloads && tar -xf emacs-24.4.tar.* && cd emacs-24.4

7. Finally compile the package by running commands below one by one.

./configure

make

sudo make install

Once done, you should be able to launch Emacs by running emacs or emacs-24.4 in terminal and lock the shortcut to the Unity Launcher.

To create a launcher for Emacs 24.4. Thanks to Emad Khoury, run command to create a .desktop file and edit it with Gedit text editor:

sudo gedit /usr/share/applications/Emacs-24.desktop

When the file opens, paste below into it and save the file.

[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Name=Emacs-24
Exec=env UBUNTU_MENUPROXY=0 /usr/local/bin/emacs
Terminal=false
Icon=emacs
Type=Application
Categories=IDE
X-Ayatana-Desktop-Shortcuts=NewWindow
[NewWindow Shortcut Group]
Name=New Window
TargetEnvironment=Unity

Depends on where you install Emacs 24, you may replace the value of Exec and Icon to the path to executable and shortcut icon file.

Audacious, the default audio player in Lubuntu, has just reached version 3.5.2 with updated translations and a few bug fixes.

Audacious is a free and open source audio player with a focus on low resource usage, high audio quality, and support for a wide range of audio formats. It contains built-in gapless playback and supports plugins and Winamp 2 skins.

Audacious GTK interface

Audacious Winamp Skin

Audacious 3.5.2 is the final release in 3.5 series. The developers are now working hard on Audacious 3.6. Bug fixes in v3.5.2:

  • Problem with single instance in Windows #457
  • build fails if faad headers are missing #458
  • When adding a SID file with multiple subtunes to playlist, only the first subtune is added. #462

Install / Upgrade Audacious in (L)Ubuntu:

Thanks to Web Upd8 Team, the binary packages have been made into PPA, available for Ubuntu 14.10, Ubuntu 14.04 and their derivatives.

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

sudo add-apt-repository -y ppa:nilarimogard/webupd8

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install audacious audacious-plugins

Stellarium, a free and open source planetarium software, has recently reached version 0.13.1 with new features and a few bug fixes.

Stellarium is a free and open source planetarium software available in Linux, Windows, and Mac OS X. It uses OpenGL to render a realistic projection of the night sky in real time.

The latest Stellarium 0.13.1 was released just hours ago. The new release added:

  • Light layer for old_style landscapes
  • Auto-detect location via network lookup.
  • Seasonal rules for displaying constellations
  • Coordinates can be displayed as decimal degrees
  • Support of multi-touch gestures on Windows 8
  • FOV on bottom bar can be displayed in DMS rather than fractional degrees
  • Oculars plugins support eyepieces with permanent crosshairs
  • Pointer Coordinates Plugin can displayed not only RA/Dec (J2000.0)
  • Angle Measure Plugin can measure positional angles to the horizon now
  • Search tool can search position not only for RA/Dec (J2000.0)

And fixed:

  • Galactic plane renamed to correct: Galactic equator
  • Speed issues when computing lots of comets
  • Spherical mirror distortion work correctly now
  • Location coordinates on the bottom bar displayed correctly now
  • Ecliptic coordinates for J2000.0 and grids diplayed correctly now
  • Rule for select a celestial objects
  • Loading extra star catalogs
  • Creates spurious directory on startup
  • Various GUI/rendering improvements
  • “missing disk in drive “

Install / Upgrade Stellarium in Ubuntu:

The latest binaries have been made into its official PPA, available for Ubuntu 14.10, Ubuntu 14.04, Linux Mint 17.

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

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

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install stellarium

Once installed, open the software from the Unity Dash and you can receive future updates by running regular updates via Software Updater.

Tor Browser 4.0 has been released recently with important security updates to Firefox and SSLv3 disabled due to the POODLE attack.

The first release of the 4.0 series is available from the Tor Browser Project page and also from our distribution directory.

This release features important security updates to Firefox. Additionally, due to the POODLE attack, we have also disabled SSLv3 in this release.

The primary user-facing change since the 3.6 series is the transition to Firefox 31-ESR.

More importantly for censored users who were using 3.6, the 4.0 series also features the addition of three versions of the meek pluggable transport.

via the official announcement

Thanks to Web Upd8 Team, the binary packages have been made into PPA, available for Ubuntu 14.10, Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 12.04 and their derivatives.

To install Tor Browser, press Ctrl+Alt+T to open terminal. When it opens, run the commands below one by one:

sudo add-apt-repository -y ppa:webupd8team/tor-browser 

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install tor-browser

If you don’t want to add the PPA, grab the .deb installer directly from the Launchpad page.

Once installed, open Tor Browser from Unity Dash or menu and enjoy!

0 A.D. Alpha 17 Quercus, an open-source game of ancient warfare, has been released recently. Here’s how to install it from the official PPA and receive future updates.

0 A.D. is a free, open-source, cross-platform real-time strategy game under development by Wildfire Games. It is a historical war and economy game focusing on the years between 500 B.C. and A.D. 500. The game aims to be entirely free and open-source, using the GPL 2+ license for the game engine and the CC-BY-SA for the game art.

0 A.D. Alpha 17 Quercus features a major gameplay rebalance, units on walls, trigger support, improved mod support and more!

For the detailed changes, see the official release note.

How to Install & Upgrade 0 A.D. in Ubuntu:

An official Ubuntu PPA has been created for Ubuntu 14.10, Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 12.04, Linux Mint 13, and Linux Mint 17.

To add the PPA and install 0 A.D., press Ctrl+Alt+T to open terminal and run below commands one by one:

sudo add-apt-repository -y ppa:wfg/0ad

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install 0ad

After that, you can receive future updates by running regular updates via Software Updater utility.