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How To Install GNOME 3.20 In Ubuntu GNOME 16.04 (Xenial Xerus)

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Now that Ubuntu GNOME 16.04 (Xenial Xerus) is out, you may want to install the latest GNOME 3.20. I won't get into details about what's new in GNOME 3.20 since I've already covered that.

GNOME 3.20 Ubuntu 16.04

Ubuntu GNOME 16.04 uses GNOME 3.18 for the most part: GTK 3.18, along with GNOME Shell 3.18, GDM 3.18 and the 3.18.x release for most GNOME applications. Exceptions are Nautilus (3.14), GNOME Software and GNOME Calendar (both updated to version 3.20.x).

To upgrade to GNOME 3.20 in Ubuntu GNOME 16.04, you'll have to use the GNOME 3 Staging PPA.

The PPA doesn't have the complete GNOME 3.20 though. On a first look, I can tell you that the following packages weren't updated to version 3.20 in the PPA: Bijiben, Cheese, Epiphany, Evince, Boxes, Disks and probably others.

GNOME 3.20 Ubuntu 16.04

Nautilus (Files), Gedit, Maps, Documents, System Monitor, Terminal and so on, along with GTK+, Settings (Control Center / Settings Daemon), GNOME Shell, and GDM were all updated to version 3.20.

To see all the packages available for Ubuntu (GNOME) 16.04 in the GNOME 3 Staging PPA, click HERE.

GNOME 3.20 Ubuntu 16.04

I've been using GNOME 3.20 in Ubuntu GNOME 16.04 for a few hours and I didn't encounter any major issues however, there might be things I didn't notice. Furthermore, bugs can be introduced with future updates, especially since the PPA packages are not as widely tested as the packages available in the official Ubuntu repositories.

So use the PPA with care and only if you know what you're doing!

Update: pierremichaud points out in a comment below that the GNOME Calendar and Evolution calendar synchronization with Google doesn't work for now.

If something doesn't work the way it's supposed to or you simply don't want to use GNOME 3.20 any more, you can purge the PPA and go back to the default GNOME version (3.18) available in Ubuntu GNOME 16.04. You'll find instructions for how to do this at the end of the article.


How to upgrade to GNOME 3.20 in Ubuntu GNOME 16.04 (Xenial Xerus)


Before proceeding, it's important to mention that you should only use this PPA in Ubuntu GNOME. In Unity for instance, updating GTK and other libraries, along with applications without Unity patches can result in quite a bad desktop experience, crashes, etc.

Also, I recommend switching to the default GNOME theme (Adwaita), to avoid any issues that may occur with a newer GTK+ version and the theme you're using.

To add th GNOME 3 Staging PPA and upgrade to GNOME 3.20 in Ubuntu GNOME 16.04, use the following commands (read the important notice below before running the "dist-ugrade" command):
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:gnome3-team/gnome3-staging
sudo apt update
sudo apt dist-upgrade
Important! Read the output of "apt dist-upgrade" before entering 'Y' to make sure important packages won't be removed! This is up to you to figure out.

For instance, in my test, the "dist-upgrade" command displayed a message saying that "grilo-plugins-0.2-base" was about to be removed. I knew that's ok because "grilo-plugins-0.3-base" was mentioned below, in the section that lets you know about new packages that will be installed:
$ sudo apt dist-upgrade
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Calculating upgrade... Done
The following packages will be REMOVED:
grilo-plugins-0.2-base grilo-plugins-0.2-extra libmutter0g
The following NEW packages will be installed:
gir1.2-geoclue-2.0 gir1.2-grilo-0.3 gir1.2-lokdocview-0.1 grilo-plugins-0.3
grilo-plugins-0.3-base grilo-plugins-0.3-extra libcamel-1.2-57 libgexiv2-2
libgrilo-0.3-0 libgspell-1-1 libjpeg62 libmutter0h libreoffice-gtk3
The following packages will be upgraded:
...................

The same goes for "grilo-plugins-0.2-extra" and "libmutter0g". This is just an example though!

Once the upgrade is completed, it's best to restart your system to avoid running into issues.


How to revert the changes and go back to GNOME 3.18 in Ubuntu GNOME 16.04


If you want to revert the changes and go back to GNOME 3.18 in Ubuntu 16.04 (Xenial Xerus), you can purge the PPA. To purge the PPA, use the following commands:
sudo apt install ppa-purge
sudo ppa-purge ppa:gnome3-team/gnome3-staging

Use WhatsApp On Your Linux Desktop With Whatsie

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Whatsie (beta) is a simple desktop client for WhatsApp Web, available for Linux, Windows and Mac OS X.

WhatsApp Linux Whatsie

WhatsApp Messenger is a popular (with more than one billion users) proprietary instant messaging client for smartphones.

A while back, WhasApp launched WhatsApp Web, a web client that can be used through a web browser by synchronizing the mobile device connection. Whatsie uses WhatsApp Web, and it requires having WhatsApp Messenger installed and configured on your mobile device.

Whatsie features native desktop notifications, themes (besides the default theme, the current version ships with 7 extra themes), spell checker and keyboard shortcuts.

There are some optional features as well, like starting Whatsie on login (with an option to start hidden), the ability to close the application to the tray / AppIndicator or to open links in your default web browser.

Here are a few screenshots with some of the features I mentioned above:

WhatsApp Linux Whatsie

WhatsApp Linux Whatsie


Besides being able to close the app to tray, the tray / AppIndicator icon is also used to notify the user about unread messages:

WhatsApp Linux Whatsie


The application supports automatic but that's not supported in Linux if you install it from a package (deb or rpm). However, you can install Whatsie in Debian, Ubuntu, Linux Mint, and derivatives from a repository, which provides updates via Software Updater. A Fedora repository is also available.

One feature that would make sense in Whatsie would be to display the number of unread messages as a badge on its Unity Launcher icon (feature that's also supported by Plank and Cairo Dock, among others), but that's not implemented right now. 

Such a feature would also mean Unity users wouldn't need to use the Whatsie tray/AppIndicator.

If you can help the developer implement this, see the Whatsie GitHub page.


If you prefer Telegram, see:


Download Whatsie


Download Whatsie
(deb, rpm, dmg, nupkg, Windows setup and source available for download)

Debian, Ubuntu, Linux Mint (and derivatives) users can install Whatsie by using its official repository:

sudo apt-key adv --keyserver pool.sks-keyservers.net --recv-keys 1537994D
echo "deb http://dl.bintray.com/aluxian/deb stable main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/whatsie.list
sudo apt update
sudo apt install whatsie

Note that my instructions above are a bit different than the ones provided on the Whatsie GitHub page - most importantly, I modified the command to add the Whatsie repository to use a separate .list file under /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ instead of using /etc/apt/sources.list.

Fedora users can install Whatsie from a repository.

On Arch Linux, install Whatsie via AUR.

Report any bugs you may encounter @ GitHub.

app seen @ atareao.es (thanks Lorenzo!)

Use Google Hangouts With Extra Features In Pidgin With Purple Hangouts Plugin (Ubuntu PPA)

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Purple Hangouts is a libpurple plugin which adds support for the proprietary protocol that Google uses for its Hangouts service.

Using it, you can get extra Google Hangouts features that aren't available through the XMPP interface in Pidgin and other applications that use libpurple.

Among the extra features (compared to using XMPP) provided by Purple Hangouts are group chats, self messages, synchronized history between devices and SMS support via Google Voice.

To use it (after installing the plugin, obviously - see below) in Pidgin select Accounts > Manage Accounts, click "Add" and from the "Protocol" drop-down, select "Hangouts":


Then enter your username and click "Add".

For authentication, Purple Hangouts uses Google OAuth, and upon adding your username in the Pidgin Hangouts settings and clicking "Add", an authentication box should pop up and a new page should open in your default web browser, asking you to authorize the application with Google.

After authorizing it, a code is displayed in the web browser. Copy this code and paste it into the Pidgin authorization box:


That's it!

Tip: install Unicode Emoji for Pidgin. 

For a complete experience, I recommend installing Unicode emoji for Pidgin. Download unicode-emoji from HERE (click "Download ZIP" in the top right) and extract the downloaded archive in the ~/.purple/smileys/ folder (if it doesn't exist, create it).

Once installed, restart Pidgin, go to Tools > Preferences and on the Themes tab, select "Hangouts" for "Smiley Theme":




Purple Hangouts is not considered stable yet, so you'll find missing or incomplete features and bugs. Report any bugs you may encounter @ BitBucket.


Install Purple Hangouts in Ubuntu via PPA


Ubuntu, Linux Mint (and derivatives) users can install Purple Hangouts by using the main WebUpd8 PPA. To add the PPA and install Purple Hangouts, use the following commands:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nilarimogard/webupd8
sudo apt update
sudo apt install purple-hangouts pidgin-hangouts
If you don't want to add the PPA, grab the deb files from HERE (you'll need both purple-hangouts and pidgin-hangouts).

Purple Hangouts is also available in a Fedora Copr repository. Arch Linux users can install Purple Hangouts via AUR.

See the Purple Hangouts BitBucket page for source and installation instructions for other Linux distributions as well as Windows downloads.
Thanks to Frederik F for the tip!

Streaming And Recording App `OBS Studio` Sees New Release

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OBS Studio 0.14.0 was released today (and 0.14.1 shortly as a hotfix release), adding deinterlacing, full NVIDIA NVENC encoder support, ALSA sound input source on Linux and more.


OBS Studio Ubuntu Xenial

OBS Studio is a free, open source application which allows video recording and live streaming, available for Linux, Windows and Mac OS X. 

The application is popular among game streamers, being used to stream to various popular websites such as Twitch.tv, YouTube, Hitbox.tv, Vaughn Live / iNSTAGIB.tv, DailyMotion, Connectcast.tv, GoodGame.ru, CyberGame.tv, CashPlay.tv along with custom streaming servers.

Among the changes in the latest OBS Studio 0.14.0 / 0.14.1 are:
  • added deinterlacing. Deinterlacing modes can now be used by right-clicking the source and going to "deinterlacing" in the menu to select the deinterlacing options. Deinterlacing only works on sources that support it (video capture device source and media source primarily);
  • added full NVIDIA NVENC encoder. NVENC is supported for windows and linux, and can be used via the simple output mode. (Note: To use NVENC on linux, you must compile or get a version of FFmpeg with NVENC support);
  • added alt-cropping (cropping via the alt-key). This type of crop only affects the specific scene item and does not affect all instances of a source. You can also change the specific crop number values in the source transform dialog;
  • added a 'slide' transition;
  • added a 'fade to color' transition;
  • Added command line parameters: --collection [scene collection name], --profile [profile name], --scene [scene name], --startstreaming, --startrecording;
  • added "snap to other sources" feature (enabled by default, can be disabled in general settings);
  • added "snap to vertical/horizontal center" feature (disabled by default, option to enable is in general settings);
  • Linux: added an option "Use alpha-less texture format" option to window capture that helps capturing certain windows with mesa drivers;
  • Linux: added an ALSA sound input source (currently added like any other source, will be accessible via audio settings as well in the future);
  • various other minor changes and bug fixes.

A complete changelog can be found HERE.

For more information, including how to use OBS Studio to stream to Twitch.tv, see our initial article on OBS Studio.


Install OBS Studio in Ubuntu or Linux Mint via PPA


To be able to use OBS Studio in Ubuntu 14.04, Linux Mint 17.x and derivatives, you'll need FFMpeg, which isn't available in the official repositories for this Ubuntu version. You can install FFMpeg backported from newer Ubuntu versions in Ubuntu 14.04 / Linux Mint 17.x by using a PPA:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:jon-hedgerows/ffmpeg-backports
sudo apt update
sudo apt install ffmpeg

To add the official OBS Studio PPA and install the application in Ubuntu 16.04, 15.10 or 14.04 / Linux Mint 17.x and derivatives, use the following commands:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:obsproject/obs-studio
sudo apt update
sudo apt install obs-studio

OBS Studio for other Linux distributions (unofficial packages): Arch Linux (AUR - git version), openSUSE and Gentoo.

For other Linux distributions, you'll need to build it from source.

Download OBS Studio (includes Mac and Windows binaries)

Enpass Password Manager 5.2 Released With Time-Based One-Time Passwords (TOTP) Support

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Enpass 5.2 for Linux and Windows was released today, bringing support for "Time-based One-time Password Algorithm" (TOTP), along with other improvements.


Enpass is a proprietary cross-platform password manager which uses SQLCipher under the hood, an open source extension to SQLite that provides transparent 256-bit AES encryption of database files.

The app comes with quite a few useful features, including built-in (encrypted) backup/sync to Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, Box, and ownCloud/WebDAV as well as Firefox, Chrome, and Safari extensions, which allow auto-filling username/password and other sensitive information directly from the web browser.

Enpass is available for Linux, Windows and Mac as well as iOS, Android, Windows Phone and BlackBerry. The desktop apps are free to use with no limitations while the mobile apps offer in-app purchases (Android, iOS) or cost 9.99$ (Windows Phone).

The most important change in the latest Enpass 5.2 is the added support for Time-based One-time Password Algorithm (TOTP) logins, a much requested feature. Thanks to TOTP support, you don't have to switch from Enpass to another application to view your time-based one-time passwords and instead, you can do this from Enpass.

For how to use the Enpass TOTP feature, see THIS page.


Other changes in Enpass 5.2 include:
  • you can now set Enpass to start automatically on login
  • added support for importing passwords from 1Password OPVault, Pocket and Password Depot
  • Item details in Extension: you will now be able to see the item details from the Firefox / Chrome / Safari Enpass extension
  • added option to set the system tray / Ubuntu AppIndicator icon color for dark and light themes
  • improvements in importing data from SafeInCloud and Keepass
  • Catalan language added
  • fixed Dropbox Sync issue along with various other minor bug fixes

Also see: Manage Passwords From The Command Line With `Pass`


Download Enpass


Debian and Ubuntu (and other Debian-based Linux distributions) users can install the latest Enpass for both 32bit and 64bit by using its official repository. Add the repository and install Enpass using the following commands:
echo "deb http://repo.sinew.in/ stable main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/enpass.list
sudo apt install wget #in case it's not already installed
wget -O - http://repo.sinew.in/keys/enpass-linux.key | sudo apt-key add -
sudo apt update
sudo apt install enpass

Download Enpass (available for desktops: generic Linux 64-bit binary, Mac OS X and Windows as well as mobile: iOS, Android, Windows Phone and BlackBerry)

To install the Enpass browser extension, see THIS page.

How To Install Cinnamon 3.0 In Ubuntu 16.04 Or 15.10 Via PPA

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Cinnamon 3.0 was released yesterday and it includes improved GTK+ 3.20 support, new accessibility and sound settings and more.

Cinnamon 3.0 Ubuntu

Cinnamon is a GTK3 desktop environment, initially started as a fork of GNOME Shell, which is used by default in Linux Mint Cinnamon edition. Among its features are:
  • panel with a menu, launchers, window list, system tray;
  • support for panel applets and desktop widgets (Desklets);
  • supports desktop animations and transition effects;
  • highly configurable: users can customize the panel (besides applets, the panel supports autohide and the panel layout can be changed: you can use one panel or two panels like the old GNOME 2 layout), easily change themes, customize desktop animations, hot corners, etc.;
  • much more.


Changes in Cinnamon 3.0 include:
  • window management improvements on tiling, mapping and unmapping windows, compositor’s window groups and tracking of full screen windows
  • improved out of the box touchpad support (edge-scrolling and two-finger-scrolling can now be configured independently and are both enabled by default)
  • new accessibility and sound settings (both rewritten as native cinnamon-settings modules)
  • battery powered devices can be renamed
  • different favorite applications can now be set for plain-text, documents and source code files
  • panel launchers now include application actions
  • animation effects are now enabled by default on dialogs and menus
  • favorites and system options can now be disabled in the menu applet
  • the photo-frame desklet now also scans subdirectories
  • improved support for GTK 3.20, Spotify 0.27, Viber

Here are the new Cinnamon accessibility and sound settings:

Cinnamon 3.0 Ubuntu

Cinnamon 3.0 Ubuntu

And the Preferred Applications dialog which now allows settings different applications for opening documents, plain text, and source code files:

Cinnamon 3.0 Ubuntu

Cinnamon 3.0 will be included with Linux Mint 18 Cinnamon edition. It's not yet clear if it will be available for Linux Mint 17.3, but I assume that's pretty difficult to achieve, considering that Linux Mint 17.3 is based on Ubuntu 14.04 which uses a pretty old GTK+ version (3.10).

Update: Clem mentioned in a comment that "versions 3.0, 3.2, 3.4 and 3.6 are targeting Mint 18.x.", so Linux Mint 17.x users won't be getting Cinnamon 3.x.

Note that in the screenshots above, I'm using the new Linux Mint Mint Y GTK and icon themes as well as the Linux Mint Cinnamon theme. You'll find download links for these below, under "Cinnamon 3.0 tweaks for Ubuntu".


Install Cinnamon 3.0 in Ubuntu 16.04 or 15.10 via PPA


Important: if you want to install Cinnamon in Ubuntu and you're using the WebUpd8 Nemo PPA, purge that PPA before proceeding. Also, don't add this PPA if you use Linux Mint.

The PPAs that uses to provide Cinnamon stable weren't updated with the latest Cinnamon 3.0. I did find 2 PPAs with Cinnamon 3.0:

There's also the Cinnamon Nightly Builds PPA, but it's not recommended for regular users because it contains untested / unstable code from Git!

For the instructions below I'm using embrosyn's Cinnamon stable PPA.

To add the PPA and install Cinnamon 3.0 in Ubuntu 16.04 or 15.10, use the following commands:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:embrosyn/cinnamon
sudo apt update
sudo apt install cinnamon blueberry

Once installed, log out and select Cinnamon from the login screen:



Tweaks


1. Themes

In Ubuntu 16.04, Ambiance and Radiance themes have some issues in Cinnamon, like missing shadows for CSD apps. 

However, there are quite a few themes out there that should work properly in Cinnamon, like Numix GTK Theme (available in the official repositories). To install Numix GTK Theme, use the following command:
sudo apt install numix-gtk-theme

You can also download the official Linux Mint themes, including the new Mint Y Theme from Linux Mint 18, by using the links below:

Note: to be able to install "libreoffice-style-mint", you'll need to remove the "libreoffice-style-human" package, which is installed by default in Ubuntu 15.10.

To install them, download the deb files using the links above and place them in a folder - let's call it "deb" -, in your home directory (~/deb). Then use dpkg to install all the packages at once, using the following command:
sudo dpkg -i ~/deb/*.deb


2. Shutdown fix

In my test in Ubuntu 15.10, selecting "Quit" from the Cinnamon menu (which allows you to shutdown the computer) doesn't work properly - the dialog doesn't display any buttons other than "Cancel".

If you have this issue, fix it by using the following commands:
gsettings set org.cinnamon.desktop.session settings-daemon-uses-logind true
gsettings set org.cinnamon.desktop.session session-manager-uses-logind true
gsettings set org.cinnamon.desktop.session screensaver-uses-logind false
... and restart the session (logout or restart the system).

I should also mention that I didn't encounter this issue in Ubuntu 16.04.

Thanks to Kevin @ AskUbuntu for the fix!


How to revert the changes


There are two ways you can revert the changes made by using the PPA above to install Cinnamon: either completely remove Cinnamon 3.0 or you can downgrade the packages installed from the PPA and use the Cinnamon version available in the official Ubuntu repositories.

A) Completely remove Cinnamon 3.0

Firstly remove the PPA:
sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/embrosyn-cinnamon*.list

Then, to completely remove Cinnamon, you can use the following command:
sudo apt purge cinnamon* libcinnamon* nemo* libnemo-extension1 cjs libcjs0e blueberry gir1.2-cinnamondesktop-3.0 gir1.2-meta-muffin-0.0 libmuffin0 muffin-common

You may then use "autoremove" to remove all the depedencies that were installed and are no longer required:
sudo apt autoremove

B) Purge the PPA

By purging the PPA, you can downgrade Cinnamon to the version available in the official Ubuntu repositories. You can do this with PPA Purge:
sudo apt install ppa-purge
sudo ppa-purge ppa:embrosyn/cinnamon

A Quick Look At Budgie Remix 16.04, The Unofficial Budgie Desktop Ubuntu Flavor

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Budgie Remix 16.04, the unofficial Ubuntu flavor that uses Budgie Desktop by default, was released recently.

Ubuntu Budgie Remix

For now, Budgie Remix is an unofficial Ubuntu flavor however, its developers aim at making it an official member of the Ubuntu family. The next step towards this goal is to release Budgie Remix 16.04.1 in three months, followed by a first Budgie Remix 16.10 alpha in July.

Budgie Remix 16.04 is based on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS and it includes the latest Budgie Desktop 10.2.5. Budgie Desktop integrates tightly with the GNOME stack and it features a libmutter-based window manager and a customizable panel which includes an applet, notification, and customization center, called Raven.

I have to note that Budgie Desktop doesn't support AppIndicators and tray icons don't seem to work either, or at least some don't work (I tried Shutter and Transmission in Budgie Remix 16.04 and the tray icon didn't work for either of them), this being my only issue with Budgie desktop.


The new unofficial Ubuntu flavor already includes its own artwork, with custom Plymouth and LightDM theme, and the beautiful Arc GTK and Faba icon themes.

Ubuntu Budgie Remix
Budgie Remix 16.04 LightDM theme

Since Budgie is a shell for GNOME, Budgie Remix 16.04 ships with GNOME Settings (Control Center / Settings Daemon):

Ubuntu Budgie Remix

Furthermore, Budgie Remix 16.04 includes Nautilus 3.18, and not the version available in the official Ubuntu 16.04 repositories, which is 3.14:

Ubuntu Budgie Remix

That's possible because Budgie Remix is not an official Ubuntu flavor, so it uses a PPA by default, which provides not only Nautilus 3.18, but also the whole Budgie Desktop, artwork and so on.

You can use this PPA to try Budgie Desktop in Ubuntu, but keep in mind that it will update Nautilus to a version that doesn't have any Unity patches (you can lock the current Nautilus version to avoid that though).

Other applications included by default with Budgie Remix 16.04 include Plank (0.11.1) dock, which is used on the left of the screen with Intellihide and a beautiful theme called Arc by default, along with:
  • Gedit 3.18
  • GNOME Photos 3.18
  • gThumb 3.4.3
  • Rhythmbox 3.3
  • Totem 3.18
  • Eye Of GNOME (Image Viewer) 3.18
  • GNOME Terminal 3.18
  • LibreOffice 5.1.2
  • Firefox 45
  • Transmission 2.84
  • and various utilities like Calculator, Disks, Calendar and so on.

For installing new software and updates, Budgie Remix uses GNOME Software and Software Updater, just like Ubuntu (with Unity):

Ubuntu Budgie Remix

Under the hood, just like Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, Budgie Remix includes GTK+ 3.18.9, Mesa 11.2.0, Xorg server 1.18.3 and the Ubuntu Linux Kernel 4.4.0-21, based on the upstream 4.4.6 Linux Kernel.


Budgie Remix 16.04 video


To see Budgie Remix 16.04 in action, check out the video below (by Riba Linux):


(direct video link)


Download Budgie Remix 16.04



If you like Budgie Remix, check out its Google+ and Reddit pages.

GNOME Software Update That Fixes Installing Third-Party Deb Files Lands In Ubuntu 16.04 Proposed Repository

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A GNOME Software update that fixes the issue with installing third-party deb files was pushed to the Ubuntu 16.04 Proposed repository a few minutes ago.

GNOME Software Ubuntu

Ubuntu 16.04 shipped with a pretty nasty bug (see here and here): GNOME Software (rebranded as Ubuntu Software in Ubuntu with Unity) doesn't allow installing third-party deb files, like Google Chrome, Google Talk Plugin, the Mega client and so on. 

A fix for this has been pushed to the Ubuntu 16.04 Proposed repository and will be promoted into the main repositories once it's tested.

Other changes available with this GNOME Software update:
  • support for apt:// URLs;
  • increased the number of displayed reviews from 10 to 30;
  • GNOME Software now displays version and size information for non-installed applications;
  • enabled the Snappy backend.

Those interested in testing the latest GNOME Software from the Proposed repository should see THIS page. Note that the Proposed repository is for testing purposes only and may introduce instability! Also, the option to enable the Proposed repository was moved to the "Developer Options" tab in Software & Updates in the latest Ubuntu 16.04.

Until the update is available in the main repositories, you can use GDebi GTK (or dpkg via command line) to install deb files. Check out our Things To Do After Installing Ubuntu 16.04 article for how to install and set GDebi GTK to open deb files, along with other tweaks.

Encrypt Your Cloud Files With Cryptomator (Open Source, Cross-Platform)

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Cryptomator is a free and open source client-side encryption solution for your cloud files, available for Linux, Windows and Mac OS X, as well as iOS. An Android app is currently under development.


Cryptomator is advertised as being especially developed to encrypt your cloud files from services such as Dropbox, Google Drive, Mega and other cloud storage services that synchronize with a local directory. 

Since the encryption is done on the client side, it means that no unencrypted data is shared with any online service.

Furthermore, you can use Cryptomator to create as many vaults as you want, each having individual passwords.

For the encryption, Cryptomator uses AES with 256-bit keys. For an extra layer of security, directory structures, filenames and file sizes get obfuscated, while the passphrase you set for encryption is protected against bruteforce attempts using Scrypt. The Cryptomator security architecture page has more information regarding its encryption / privacy.

I should also mention that Cryptomator uses WebDAV to mount the vaults and this causes some issues on Linux, like not being able to open LibreOffice files directly from the unlocked vault (although this didn't occur in my test under Ubuntu 16.04) - bug report. In the future, Cryptomator may switch to FUSE on Linux and OS X to avoid such issues.


How to use Cryptomator


Let's create your first vault using Cryptomator. Launch the application and click "+" to add a new vault, then browse the location where you want to create it.

For instance, if you want to create a folder called "Encrypted" in your Dropbox directory, select the Dropbox directory and enter "Encrypted" as the vault name, then click "Save":


Then enter a password for the newly created vault and click "Create vault":



That's it!

Now to copy some files in your vault, you'll need to unlock it, so enter your password and click "Unlock vault":


After clicking "Unlock vault", your unlocked vault (which is mounted via WebDAV) should open in the default file manager:


Any files you copy here are synchronized as encrypted with Dropbox (or whatever other cloud storage service you use).

Note that you can't close Cryptomator while a vault is unlocked. If you try to close the application while a vault is unlocked, the app is minimized. To be able to close the application you need to re-lock the vault, by clicking "Lock vault".


Download Cryptomator


(binaries: 64bit only deb for Ubuntu / Debian, Windows and Mac OS X as well as a generic JAR executable)

Note that if you use the JAR file, you'll need to install JRE 8 and the JCE unlimited strength policy files. That's not required if you install the deb, because both JRE8 and the JCE unlimited strength policy files are bundled with the deb.

Arch Linux users can install Cryptomator via AUR.

Cryptomator is also available for iOS. An Android app is in development.

via Reddit

Easily Create Your Own Numix-Based GTK Themes With Oomox

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Oomox is a tool used to generate various color variations of the popular Numix GTK 2/3 theme.

Oomox

The tool features built-in presets, but it also allows changing theme colors individually, and it can even generate random themes. The themes generated using Oomox support GTK3, GTK2 and include Openbox and Xfwm4 themes.

Also, the latest Oomox 0.15, released a few days ago, includes initial support for Unity. What's not included yet is the ability to change the Unity theme image colors and as a result, the window buttons color used by themes generated using Oomox won't change in Unity (so the default Numix color will be used for this).

Oomox Numix
Monovedek Oomox preset (Unity / Ubuntu 16.04)

Note that Numix theme requires GTK 3.16 or newer, so the themes generated with Oomox require the same version.

As far as Ubuntu is concerned, Ubuntu GNOME, Xubuntu, Ubuntu MATE, Lubuntu and Ubuntu (with Unity) are supported. Since it requires GTK 3.16 or newer, than means you need to be using an Ubuntu 15.10 or 16.04 flavor for the themes to work.

An easier way to change theme colors would be GTK Theme Preferences but unfortunately, this tool no longer works with some themes. For instance, in Ubuntu 16.04, GTK Theme Preferences can change both GTK2 and GTK3 theme colors for Ambiance and Radiance themes, but it doesn't work with the Numix GTK3 theme.

Here are a few more screenshots featuring themes generated using Oomox:

Oomox Numix
Oomox Retro/Excelsior preset

Oomox Numix
Oomox GNOME Noble preset

Oomox Numix
Oomox Monovedek preset

Oomox Numix
Oomox Tizix Dark preset

Oomox Numix
Oomox Retro/Next preset (Ubuntu GNOME 15.10)

Oomox Numix
Oomox GNOME Noble preset (Ubuntu 16.04 / Unity)

Oomox Numix
Oomox GNOME Noble Dark preset (Ubuntu GNOME 16.04)


Download and use Oomox


Arch Linux users can install Oomox via AUR.

1. Install the required dependencies

Oomox requires python3-gobject as well as the following executables: glib-compile-schemas, gdk-pixbuf-pixdata and sass, while Numix theme requires the Murrine GTK2 engine. xorg-xrdb and xmllint are optional.

Install them in Ubuntu 15.10 or 16.04 using the following command:
sudo apt install python3-gi libglib2.0-bin libgdk-pixbuf2.0-dev ruby-sass libxml2-utils x11-xserver-utils gir1.2-gtk-3.0 gir1.2-glib-2.0 gtk2-engines-murrine

2. Download and install Oomox

You can download Oomox from HERE.

To download Oomox and install it into /opt/oomox/, you can use the following commands:
sudo apt install wget
cd /tmp
wget https://github.com/actionless/oomox/archive/0.15.1.tar.gz
tar -xvf 0.15.1.tar.gz
sudo mkdir /opt/oomox
sudo cp -r oomox-0.15.1/* /opt/oomox/

That's it.

To run the Oomox GUI, use the following command:
/opt/oomox/gui.sh

Using Oomox is very simple - select the preset you want to use (and optionally change the colors if you want to make your own custom Numix theme) and click "Export theme":


After the theme is generated, it should be available in the ~/.themes folder. You can use a tool like Unity Tweak Tool, GNOME Tweak Tool and so on to change the theme.

Report any bugs related to the generated themes to the Oomox GitHub page. If you think the bugs are Numix theme-related, report them to the Numix GTK Theme GitHub page.

Customize NotifyOSD Notification Bubbles In Ubuntu 16.04 (Xenial Xerus)

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Sukochev Roman's (Leolik) patched NotifyOSD PPA adds extra features on top of the Ubuntu NotifyOSD notifications, like closing the notifications on click, option to move the notifications to a different screen corner, configurable colors for both the notification background and text, and much more.

Ubuntu configurable notification bubble

The PPA was updated recently with packages for Ubuntu 16.04 Xenial Xerus.

Features:
  • change notification position: top-right, middle-right, bottom-right, bottom-left, middle-left and top-left;
  • close notifications on click;
  • enable/disable fading notifications on hover;
  • change the size of various NotifyOSD notification elements, such as the notifications vertical and horizontal gap, icon size, notification width, corner radius, etc.;
  • change notification text and background color, and opacity;
  • change font size, weight, margin, opacity, etc.;
  • the NotifyOSD Configuration tool also allows saving and restoring custom notification settings and restoring the defaults.

Leolik's patched NotifyOSD doesn't come with a GUI to change the notification settings but there's a tool developed by Amandeep Grewal, called NotifyOSD Config, that can be used for this. Since the NotifyOSD Config PPA wasn't updated for Ubuntu 16.04, I uploaded it to the main WebUpd8 PPA.


Here's a quick demo showing Leolik's patched NotifyOSD with NotifyOSDConfig in Ubuntu 16.04 (Xenial Xerus):


(direct video link; for more videos, subscribe to the WebUpd8 Youtube channel)


Install the patched NotifyOSD and Notify OSD Config in Ubuntu


The instructions below should work with Ubuntu 16.04, 15.10, 15.04 and 14.04.

1. Add Leolik's patched NotifyOSD PPA, update notify-osd, install libnotify-bin (for testing the notifications) and restart notify-osd:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:leolik/leolik
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade
sudo apt install libnotify-bin
pkill notify-osd

2. Install NotifyOSD Config by using the WebUpd8 PPA:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nilarimogard/webupd8
sudo apt update
sudo apt install notifyosdconfig

Once installed, open NotifyOSD Configuration from Dash and tweak the NotifyOSD notification settings to your needs. To test the settings, click the "Apply" button and a test notification which uses the new settings should be displayed.

Note that by default, the notifications will use the old color settings (dark grey instead of using the Unity Dash color). To get the patched NotifyOSd to use the Unity Dash color, in NotifyOSD Configuration, on the Bubble tab, enable "Use Unity Dash colour".

Parental Control App Timekpr (Fork) 0.3.6 Released With Ubuntu 16.04 Support

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Timekpr is a parental control application that can be used to track and control the computer usage. Using it, you can limit an user's login time duration and access hours or lock accounts with a click.

Timekpr parental control

The Timekpr development stopped a while back, but it was later continued with a fork, called Timekpr-Revived, which works with recent Ubuntu versions.

Timekpr-Revived features:
  • limit users' daily usage of the computer based on a time access duration and configure times of day when they can or cannot login;
  • option to lock accounts;
  • option to bypass restrictions for today;
  • add time rewards / penalties;
  • client functionality from the original Timekpr app changed to better inform user about time he has left
  • Ubuntu AppIndicator / notifications.

Timekpr parental control

The latest Timekpr-Revived 0.3.6, released recently, adds quite a few changes, including:
  • UI ported to GTK3;
  • speech synth implemented using python-espeak;
  • added speech, first notification options and about menu;
  • added Ubuntu 16.04 support;
  • loginctl now filters only active users;
  • Timekpr now uses DBUS for notifications where it's possible;
  • various cleanup, fixes and reorganization of the project to make it more streamlined.

Note that the version in the official Timekpr-Revived PPA is built with GTK2 for now.

I should also mention that the Ubuntu AppIndicator only shows up after you restart the session (logout/login). From the indicator, you can see the time remaining (clicking "Time left..." in the indicator menu triggers a notification that displays the remaining time), option to enable/disable notifications as well as launch the Timekpr GUI:

Timekpr parental control

Timekpr parental control

Timekpr should work on most Ubuntu flavors, including Ubuntu with Unity, Ubuntu MATE and Xubuntu. Kubuntu 16.04 is not currently supported, according to the Timekpr 0.3.6 release announcement.


Install Timekpr (Revived) In Ubuntu or Linux Mint Via PPA


To add the Timekpr (Revived) PPA and install the latest version of the app in Ubuntu, Linux Mint and derivatives, use the following commands:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mjasnik/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install timekpr
If you don't want to add the PPA, you can download the deb from HERE. For other Linux distributions, you can grab the code from Launchpad.

Report any bugs you may find @ Launchpad.

Markdown And reStructuredText Editor `ReText` Sees New Release

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ReText is an editor for Markdown and reStructuredText which features live preview, tabs, math formulas support and it can export to PDF, ODT and HTML.

ReText

ReText 6.0 was released today includes some useful changes, like automatically scrolling the live preview to match its position in the editor (for Markdown only), improved responsiveness for the editor thanks to markup conversion now being performed in a background process, and more.

ReText

Here's the list of changes in the latest ReText 6.0:
  • the live preview now automatically scrolls to match its position with the editor (only for Markdown);
  • markup conversion is now performed in a background process, improving responsiveness of the editor;
  • images can now be copied and pasted into ReText;
  • added a button to quickly close the search bar;
  • added basic CSS styling for tables;
  • replaced the tags box with the new "Formatting" box for Markdown;
  • hitting return twice now ends the Markdown list;
  • reText now depends on version 2.0 or higher of pymarkups;
  • the QtWebKit dependency is now optional (though still recommended).

ReText is officially supported on Linux only, but it can run on Windows and Mac OS X too, though there are no binaries available for download.

For more information about ReText, including how to enable and use additional Markdown features using Markdown syntax extensions, how to use Math formulas in Markdown with ReText, configuration, table editing mode and more, see the ReText wiki.


Install ReText in Debian, Ubuntu, Linux Mint and derivatives


ReText is already available in the official Ubuntu repositories, but it's an older version (5.3 for Xenial, 5.2 for Wily and 4.1.2 for Trusty). If you prefer to use the version available in the official Ubuntu repositories, install it using the following command:
sudo apt install retext

The latest ReText is not available in a PPA for now so to install it, you can either do it manually by using its source or use Python3 pip.

Using the commands below, you can install the latest ReText in Ubuntu, Debian, Linux Mint and derivatives for the current user, using Python3 pip (and remove ReText if it's already installed from the repositories):
sudo apt remove retext
sudo apt install python3-pip python3-pyqt5
pip3 install retext --user
sed -i "s|Exec=.*|Exec=$HOME/.local/bin/retext %F|" ~/.local/share/applications/me.mitya57.ReText.desktop
sed -i "s|Icon=.*|Icon=$HOME/.local/share/retext/icons/retext.png|" ~/.local/share/applications/me.mitya57.ReText.desktop

The last two commands should fix the ReText desktop file which doesn't have the correct executable and icon path. Once installed, you may need to logout and log back in to get ReText to show up in the menu / Dash.

If later on you want to update ReText via pip, use the following command (simply append "--upgrade" to the install command):
pip3 install retext --user --upgrade

For other Linux distributions, install Python3 pip and PyQt5 and use the same instructions as above, skipping the "apt" part.

Test SMPlayer Version Includes HiDPI Support, Option To Send Video To Extended Display, More

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An article posted on the SMPlayer blog yesterday points out some of the new features that will be available in the next SMPlayer version, like support for high DPI screens, an option to send the video to the second screen while controlling the application from the primary screen and more.

You can try this SMPlayer version right now in Ubuntu, Debian 8, Fedora (22 and 23), openSUSE (13.2, 42.1 and Tumbleweed) and Windows. See the instructions and links below.

SMPlayer testing

SMPlayer is a QT front-end for mplayer and mpv. It features a configurable user interface, playlists support, highly configurable subtitles, it remembers the settings for all the files you play, it can download subtitles, and it can even play YouTube videos, with an optional YouTube browser.

New features available in the latest SMPlayer testing version include:
  • HiDPI support (it requires Qt >= 5.4);
  • tablet mode which makes it easy to control SMPlayer using a touch screen. In tablet mode, SMPlayer changes the following:
    • the font size and buttons are increased;
    • some of the options in the menus are hidden;
    • sliding vertically in the video changes the volume, sliding horizontally seeks in the video;
    • tapping while in fullscreen displays the floating control.
  • dual screen support: when using a second screen (which must be configured as "extended"), you can now use SMPlayer to send the video to the second screen while controlling the application from the primary screen. To use this option, right click on a video and select Video > Send video to screen;
  • global hotkeys: you can now the media keys (play/pause, stop, change the volume and so on) even when SMPlayer is in the background. This option can be enabled from the SMPlayer Preferences > Keyboard and mouse and it requires Qt5;
  • Settings are now remembered for streams too.


Install the latest SMPlayer test version in Ubuntu or Linux Mint via PPA


To install the latest test SMPlayer version in Ubuntu, Linux Mint and derivatives, you can use the official SMPlayer Testing PPA. Note that the PPA now provides SMPlayer built with Qt5, while Ubuntu continues to use Qt4 for its SMPlayer packages.

Add the PPA and install SMPlayer using the following commands:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:rvm/testing
sudo apt update
sudo apt install smplayer smplayer-skins smtube

Debian 8, Fedora (22 and 23), and openSUSE (13.2, 42.1 and Tumbleweed) users can install the latest testing version of SMPlayer by using the openSUSE Build System packages.

Arch Linux users can install the latest SMPlayer from svn via AUR.

For Windows you can download the latest SMPlayer unstable from SourceForge.

How To Get A Global Menu In Xubuntu 16.04 Or Lubuntu 16.04 (Using TopMenu)

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TopMenu (a global menu for MATE, Xfce and LXDE panels) is available in the official Ubuntu 16.04 repositories and it works great in Ubuntu MATE 16.04, but it doesn't work in Xubuntu 16.04 and Lubuntu 16.04 by simply installing the panel applet package.

Here's how to get TopMenu to work in Xubuntu 16.04 and Lubuntu 16.04, using the official packages, with a minor tweak.

Note that TopMenu only works with GTK2 and GTK3 applications. It doesn't work for Qt (4 or 5) applications as well as LibreOffice, Firefox andThunderbird.


How to install and get TopMenu to work in Xubuntu 16.04


global menu topmenu xubuntu 16.04 xenial xerus

1. Install all the required packages

The TopMenu Xfce panel applet package doesn't depend on all the packages required for it to work. To install all the required packages in Xubuntu 16.04, use the command below:
sudo apt install xfce4-topmenu-plugin libtopmenu-client-gtk2-0 libtopmenu-server-gtk2-0 libtopmenu-client-gtk3-0 libtopmenu-server-gtk3-0 topmenu-gtk2 topmenu-gtk3

2. Load TopMenu via /etc/profile.d/

The next step is to create a file, let's call it "topmenu-gtk.sh", in /etc/profile.d/ - I'll use Mousepad (the default Xubuntu 16.04 text editor) below to open an empty file at that location:
pkexec mousepad /etc/profile.d/topmenu-gtk.sh
And in this file, paste the following:
#!/bin/sh
export GTK_MODULES=$GTK_MODULES:topmenu-gtk-module
Then save the file and restart the session (logout/login or restart the system).

3. Add TopMenu to the Xubuntu 16.04 Xfce panel

To add TopMenu to the Xfce panel, right click the panel, select Panel > Panel Preferences and on the "Items" tab, click "+" and add TopMenu, then use the up and down arrows to move the applet to the desired location:

global menu topmenu xubuntu 16.04 xenial xerus

It's important to mention that TopMenu doesn't support panel transparency so if you want Topmenu to have the same backgound as the rest of the panel, set the Xfce panel opacity to 100 by right clicking on the panel and selecting Panel > Panel Preferences, on the Appearance tab (set "Alpha" to 100):

global menu topmenu xubuntu 16.04 xenial xerus


How to install and get TopMenu to work in Lubuntu 16.04


global menu topmenu lubuntu 16.04 xenial xerus

1. Install all the required packages

Just like the Xfce panel applet, installing the LXDE TopMenu panel applet doesn't install all the packages required for the applet to work, so let's install them:
sudo apt install lxpanel-plugin-topmenu libtopmenu-client-gtk2-0 libtopmenu-server-gtk2-0 libtopmenu-client-gtk3-0 libtopmenu-server-gtk3-0 topmenu-gtk2 topmenu-gtk3


2. Load TopMenu via /etc/profile.d/

The next step is to create a file, let's call it "topmenu-gtk.sh", in /etc/profile.d/ - I'll use Leafpad (the default Lubuntu 16.04 text editor) below to open an empty file at that location:
gksu leafpad /etc/profile.d/topmenu-gtk.sh
And in this file, paste the following:
#!/bin/sh
export GTK_MODULES=$GTK_MODULES:topmenu-gtk-module
Then save the file and restart the session (logout/login or restart the system).

3. Add TopMenu to the Lubuntu 16.04 LXDE panel

Top add Topmenu to the LXDE panel, right click the panel, select "Add / Remove Panel Items", click "Add" and select TopMenu:

global menu topmenu lubuntu 16.04 xenial xerus

New Version Of Linux Email Client `Geary` Released [PPA]

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Geary is an email client that uses a simple, modern interface, especially created for GNOME 3. Geary 0.11.0, released today, includes new features, improved server compatibility and network reliability, and various bug fixes.

Geary email client GNOME Shell
Geary 0.11.0 in Ubuntu GNOME (GNOME Shell) 16.04

Geary features include:
  • quick account setup;
  • supports Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, Outlook.com, and popular IMAP servers (Dovecot, Cyrus, Zimbra, etc.);
  • mail organized by conversations;
  • ability to answer directly in conversations or open it in a separate window
  • signature support;
  • full-featured HTML mail composer;
  • fast keyword search with values like from:john;
  • desktop notification of new mail.

After Yorba Foundation, the open source company that developed Geary, stopped its activities, the future of the application was unclear. elementary OS, which was using Geary as its default email client, forked the project back in November 2015, continuing its development under the Pantheon Mail name.

In March 2016, Michael Gratton, an old Geary contributor, became an unofficial maintainer (until he can fulfill the GNOME membership application requirements), posting his patches to GNOME Bugzilla while still requiring Adam Dingle, Yorba founder, to commit them.

More about this @ Wikipedia.

Geary email client Ubuntu Unity
Geary 0.11.0 in Ubuntu (Unity) 16.04

Changes in Geary 0.11.0:
  • added archive special folder support;
  • added is:read, is:unread: is:starred search operators;
  • fixed using multiple search operators - to:, from:, etc.;
  • work around crashes caused by WebKitGTK+ 2.4.10;
  • fixed a crash when searching;
  • fixed images not being displayed in some HTML messages;
  • fixed empty main window when opened from notification;
  • fixed UI freezing when network connections are lost;
  • work better with Cyrus & other servers when network unreliable;
  • enabled the use of custom FTS3 tokeniser in SQLite 3.12 and later;
  • fixed inconsistent Composer 'Detach' button placement;
  • documentation improvements;
  • updated UI translations.


Install Geary in Ubuntu or Linux Mint


Geary is available in the official Debian / Ubuntu / Linux Mint (and derivatives) repositories - tough it's not the latest version -, so to install it, simply use the following command:
sudo apt install geary

The version available in the official repositories is not the latest 0.11.0. To install Geary 0.11.0 in Ubuntu 16.04, 15.10 or 14.04, Linux Mint 18 or 17.x and derivatives, you can use its new official PPA. Add the PPA and install Geary using the commands below:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:geary-team/releases
sudo apt update
sudo apt install geary

Download Geary 0.11.0 source.

Thanks to Michael for the tip!

WebTorrent Desktop 0.4.0 Released With Subtitles Support, More

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WebTorrent Desktop was updated to version 0.4.0 recently, receiving subtitles support, new "Create torrent" page and more.

WebTorrent Desktop Linux

For those not familiar with WebTorrent Desktop, this is a simple open source BitTorrent client that lets you stream torrents to your desktop, as well as to AirPlay, Chromecast and DLNA devices.

The application is available for Linux, Windows and Mac and comes with a very simple user interface that allows dropping a torrent file or pasting a magnet link to start streaming it.

WebTorrent Desktop subtitles

Subtitles support was one of the most requested features and the latest WebTorrent Desktop 0.4.0 includes this feature: you can now load .srt and .vtt subtitles either from the file selector or via drag'n'drop.

The current version doesn't yet support automatically loading subtitles in the same folder (in WebTorrent Desktop's case, in the torrent).

Another new feature in the latest WebTorrent Desktop is the ability to stream to VLC for audio codecs that aren't supported by WebTorrent (for instance when the audio codec used is AC3 or EAC3). Unfortunately there's no option to force WebTorrent Desktop to use VLC so I assume this is only done automatically, but you can manually open the file in VLC.

Other changes in WebTorrent Desktop 0.4.0 include:

  • new "Create torrent" page which allows modifying the torrent comment, trackers and enable/disable the private torrent flag;
  • add "Show in Folder" item in context menu;
  • add a volume slider, with mute/unmute button;
  • use mouse wheel to increase/decrease volume;
  • improve app startup time by 40%;
  • UI tweaks: reduce font size, reduce torrent list item height;
  • add Playback menu for playback-related functionality;
  • Remove OS X-style window menu in Linux and Windows;
  • remove "Add Fake Airplay/Chromecast" menu items;
  • block power save while casting to a remote device;
  • support playing .mpg and .ogv extensions in the app;
  • fix video centering for multi-screen setups;
  • various other minor improvements and bug fixes.

Furthermore, starting with this release, there are 32bit Linux WebTorrent Desktop builds available for download (deb and generic).


Download WebTorrent Desktop


Download WebTorrent Desktop (for Linux, Windows and Mac OS X)

Important: after installing the application in Ubuntu / Linux Mint / Debian using the official deb files, you must run it once from a terminal (simply type "webtorrent-desktop" in a terminal) so it creates a desktop file. After that, you'll be able to run WebTorrent Desktop from the menu / Dash.

Arch Linux users can install WebTorrent Desktop via AUR (packages not updated to the latest 0.4.0 version at the time I'm writing this article).

Limited Time Offer To Get Insync Plus For Free (Unofficial Google Drive Client)

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Insync is an unofficial Google Drive client available for Linux, Window and Mac. The application is not free (well, except for the next 51 hours): it costs $25 per Google account (one-time fee), along with plans for 3 Google accounts and business.

Insync Ubuntu

For the next 51 hours, you can get an Insync Plus account (for one Google account) for free. Simply sign up using THIS link with your @gmail.com or @googlemail.com account. Unfortunately, this doesn't apply to Google apps users.

After signing up, download, install and login using your Gmail account on the Insync app within the next 24 hours to activate your free Insync Plus account.

Note: for Ubuntu 16.04 and 15.10, download the Insync 14.04 deb. If Insync fails to start for you, there's a fix/workaround at the end of the article.

Insync features:
  • nested selective sync (allows you to selectively sinc subfolders and files) and ignore list (allows adding rules for files and folders that you don't want to upload or download);
  • both desktop and command line interfaces (a headless client is also available)
  • symlink, junction and alias support;
  • support for external and network drives;
  • options to convert Google Docs to OpenDocument or Microsoft Office formats (by default it doesn't convert Google Docs)
  • recent changes feed;
  • integrates with most file managers on Linux (Nautilus, Nemo, Caja, Thunar and Dolphin)
  • supports multiple accounts (but using the free promo, you can only use one account with Insync Plus)
  • proxy support, desktop notifications and more

In Ubuntu, Debian, Linux Mint and derivatives, after installing Insync, a repository is automatically added which is used for future Insync updates as well as to install the Insync file manager integration.

After authorizing Insync with your Google account, the application will ask you if you want to install the file manager integration package (Insync tries to detect your desktop environment). 

If this doesn't show up for you or you want to install the Insync file manager integration for another file manager, you can do this manually. Firstly update the software sources:
sudo apt update
And then install the Insync integration for your file manager:
sudo apt install insync-FILEMANAGER
... replacing "FILEMANAGER" with: caja, dolphin, nautilus, nemo or thunar.

Important: in my test, Insync failed to start in Ubuntu 16.04 . To fix it, I renamed (thanks to the Insync AUR package) /usr/lib/insync/libfontconfig.so.1 to /usr/lib/insync/libfontconfig.so.1.old.  To apply this fix/workaround from the command line, use:
sudo mv /usr/lib/insync/libfontconfig.so.1 /usr/lib/insync/libfontconfig.so.1.old
After running the command above, try running Insync - now it hopefully works.

Tip: you can encrypt your Google Drive files using Cryptomator.

Tool To Display Keystrokes In Screencasts `Screenkey` 0.9 Released [PPA]

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Screenkey is a tool which displays key presses on the screen, useful for screencasts.

Screenkey Ubuntu

Screenkey itself can't be used to create screencasts, its use is to display your keystrokes on the screen. To record your Linux desktop, I recommend SimpleScreenRecorder.

Screenkey 0.9 was released a couple of days ago and is available in the main WebUpd8 PPA. Changes in the latest version include:
  • Ctrl+Ctrl detection now works correctly in more scenarios;
  • Ctrl++ (and similar sequences with repeated characters) are now shown as Ctrl+"+" for improved readability;
  • Shift+Backspace is now recognized and shown correctly;
  • Several multimedia keys are now supported. If "FontAwesome" is installed, the correct symbol is also displayed instead of a text abbreviation (in my test, volume up/down and mute/unmute worked while play/pause/next/previous didn't however, other keys like brightness also worked)ge;
  • Visualization of whitespace characters can now be controlled;
  • Repeated key sequences are now abbreviated with a repeat count if above the specified threshold (3 by default).

Screenkey preferences

The original Screenkey was abandoned and the application was forked a while back, received quite a few extra features, like multi-monitor support, configurable font face, size, and position, includes several keyboard translation methods, and more.

Tip: to pause Screenkey at any time, press both Control keys in the same time.

For more information about Screenkey (fork), see our initial article: Display Keystrokes In Your Screencasts With `Screenkey`


Install Screenkey in Ubuntu or Linux Mint via PPA


The latest Screenkey 0.9 is available in the main WebUpd8 PPA. To add the PPA and install the app in Ubuntu, Linux Mint and derivatives, use the following commands:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nilarimogard/webupd8
sudo apt update
sudo apt install screenkey fonts-font-awesome

Arch Linux users can install Screenkey via AUR (not updated to the latest 0.9 version at the time I'm writing this article).

For other Linux distributions, download Screenkey via GitHub.

Report any bugs you may find @ GitHub.

Temporarily Disable Notifications In Ubuntu (w/ Unity 7) With NoNotifications Indicator

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NoNotifications is a simple indicator for Ubuntu (Unity 7) that allows you to temporarily suppress NotifyOSD notifications. The tool is useful for presentations, when working, and so on, to prevent unwanted notifications from getting in your way or distracting you.

Ubuntu Unity do not disturb nonotifications

The NoNotifications indicator offers only two options (and Quit): "Don't disturb", which disables the notifications and changes the indicator icon to red, and "Show notifications", which you've guessed it, enables the notifications, and changes the indicator icon to green.

Ubuntu (with Unity 7) lacks a "Do Not Disturb" mode and while NoNotifications can be useful for temporarily disabling NotifyOSD notifications, it doesn't provide a complete "Do Not Disturb" mode.

A "Do not disturb" mode that also mutes the sound, disables all kinds of popups and allows scheduling when you want to activate this mode would be extremely useful. I'm not sure if the NoNotifications developer is interested in these features but nevertheless, I reported a bug for NoNotifications to include them @ Launchpad.


Install NoNotifications (NoNotifs) in Ubuntu


NoNotifications indicator is available in a PPA for Ubuntu 16.04, 15.10, 15.04 and 14.04. Add the PPA and install the indicator using the following commands:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:vlijm/nonotifs
sudo apt update
sudo apt install nonotifs
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