ReText (Text Editor For MarkDown Syntax) Now Supports Tabs, Live Previews, More

ReText is a simple text editor for MarkDown syntax that supports some popular formats such as PDF, ODT, HTML and plain text. Using ReText you can even export your documents to Google Docs (but for now, each export creates a new document).

Since our last post about it, ReText got some very interesting new features:

• Tabs support
• "Live preview" (screenshot)
• Ability to select the default font
• Showing Markdown documentation on first run
• "Web-pages generator"
• Better highlighter for HTML
• KDE integration
• Lots of other changes

The ReText wiki provides a short how-to for using the new "web pages generator" feature.


Here are some screenshots featuring the latest ReText 1.0 under GNOME and KDE:

Install ReText 1.0 in Ubuntu

Add the ReText PPA and install the latest ReText 1.0 in Ubuntu 11.04, 10.10 and 10.04 using the commands below:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mitya57
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install retext

Download ReText 1.0 source code.

Thanks to Dmitry Shachnev for the info and second screenshot!

Rapid Photo Downloader 0.4.0 Released, 12.5x Times Faster Than Shotwell

Rapid Photo Downloader is an application for downloading photos from digital cameras, memory cards and portable storage devices.

Features:

• configurable file/folder names
• download photos and videos from multiple devices in the same time
• backup photos/videos as they are downloaded
• very hight speed download
• supported RAW image formats: ARW, CR2, CRW, DCR, DNG, MEF, MOS, MRW, NEF, ORF, PEF, RAF, RAW, RW2, SR2, and SRW
• supported video formats: 3GP, AVI, M2T, MOV, MP4, MPEG, MPG, MOD, and TOD

Rapid Photo Downloader 0.4.0 was released a few days ago, getting a new, cleaner user interface. The new version is also a lot faster, making use of multi-core systems to download and backup photos and videos. Damon Lynch, the Rapid Photo Downloader developer says the Rapid Photo Downloader is about 12.5x faster than Shotwell and 2.5 times faster than F-Spot.

Whether you download thousands of photos every week, or your needs are more modest, Rapid Photo Downloader can make your photographic workflow more reliable and efficient. It is an essential tool for the discerning photographer.

- Damon Lynch

Install Rapid Photo Downloader 0.4.0 in Ubuntu

To add the Rapid Photo Downloader PPA and install the latest 0.4.0 in Ubuntu 11.10, 11.04, 10.10 or 10.04, use the commands below:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:dlynch3/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install rapid-photo-downloader

Download Rapid Photo Downloader for other Linux distributions.

Thanks to Damon Lynch for the tip and all the info!

Indicator-Sensors Displays CPU / Motherboard Temperature On The Panel Using An AppIndicator [Ubuntu]

These days we've got a lot of comments requesting for a temperature monitor applet with Ubuntu AppIndicator support that displays the CPU / Motherboard temperature, Fan speed, etc. on the panel.

Well, great news! Alex Murray has created an Sensors AppIndicator which can display various temperatures and fan speeds as well as the GPU / fan speed for Nvidia graphics cards (if you have installed the "nvidia-settings" package only!).

Indicator-Sensors doesn't have a PPA yet so I've debianized it and uploaded it to the WebUpd8 PPA so you can install it already in Ubuntu 11.04. But please note that Indicator-Sensors is currently in alpha so it may not work for everyone, or you may find bugs. If that happens, report any bugs you may find @ Launchpad.

Install Indicator-Sensors In Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nilarimogard/webupd8
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install indicator-sensors

Once installed, launch Indicator-Sensors from Dash (it's called "Hardware Sensors Indicator"). Then you'll need to configure it: click the appindicator and select "Preferences", then expand the various temperature modules you see in the Preferences dialog and check the box next to the temperature / voltage / fan speed you want to displayed on the panel.

Only one temperature will be displayed on the panel. To see the other temperatures you've enabled in the preferences you must click the appindicator (like you can see in my screenshot above).

To have Indicator-Sensors start automatically when you log in, launch "Startup Applications", add a new item and under command enter: "indicator-sensors".

How To Reset Unity, Launcher Icons Or Compiz In Ubuntu

If you're using Unity and you want to reset Unity to its default settings, want to reset the Unity Launcher icons or you've changed some Compiz settings which have messed up Ubuntu and want to reset everything, here's how to do it.

Reset Unity

If you want to reset Unity (this will only reset the Unity settings in CompizConfig Settings Manager and leave the other CCSM settings intact), open a terminal (or press ALT + F2) and enter:

unity --reset

Reset Unity Launcher icons

If you want to reset the Unity Launcher icons (dock bar on the left) to their initial state, run the following command:

unity --reset-icons

Reset Compiz in Ubuntu 11.04

Resetting Compiz in Ubuntu 11.04 is a bit different then in older Ubuntu versions because its settings in gconf are under /apps/compiz-1 and not under /apps/compiz like before.

Warning: only do this if you really must and have no other option! Use both commands, or else you might not see the Unity launcher and top panel anymore! Use it at your own risk.

To reset all the Compiz settings (this includes all the plugins settings, etc.) to the default values, open a terminal (don't run it with ALT + F2! The top panel and launcher will disappear after running the first command but will show up after the second one so use a terminal) and type:

gconftool-2 --recursive-unset /apps/compiz-1
unity --reset

If something doesn't look right after this, log out and log back in.

Try A Beautiful, NotifyOSD-Like Conky Setup

"notifyOSD Conky" is a simple Conky setup created by BigRZA that displays the CPU usage / temperature, RAM and HDD usage as well as the network traffic.

To use it, download the configuration from DeviantArt, extract the downloaded archive and place the configuration files in your home folder (the archive contains hidden files so press CTRL + H to see them).

Of course, you'll also need Conky so install it if you didn't already:

sudo apt-get install conky

For getting the temperature to work, see step 2 in this post.

The original notifyOSD Conky configuration is partially in German and needs a few other tweaks (there are a few errors) to work properly (at least that was the case on my system). Here's how it looks on my system:

I've translated it to English and removed a few bits including the temperature part and replaced it with 2 more CPU cores (I have 4). If you want my modifications to notifyOSD Conky, get it from here - all credits for this: BigRZA (remember, the files in the archive are hidden so press CTRL + H to see them).

For more Conky configurations, check out our Conky tag.

[via ubuntu.onego.ru; first screenshot in the post thanks to BigRZA]

Possible New Default Applications In Ubuntu 11.10 Oneiric Ocelot

Ubuntu 11.04 has just been released but but work on Ubuntu 11.10 has already started (by the way, the Ubuntu 11.10 repositories are available already) and some very interesting blueprints have been registered on Launchpad.

Important: these are just things that are being considered, it doesn't mean the changes bellow will actually happen. For now this is just a discussion!

Thunderbird considered to be made default instead of Evolution

Thunderbird is considered to be made default instead of Evolution, however Evolution has some advantages:

• Good integration with the desktop already (eg, messaging menu and appmenu)
• Integrated with existing translation infrastructure
• Calendaring functionality by default, and integrated with the desktop
• Support for syncing contacts with U1
• Contacts sync with GMail
• GNOME release process is better aligned with our 6 month cycle
• Exchange support

This were pretty strong arguments to keep Evolution default in Ubuntu 11.04, but Thunderbird is gaining ground - for example it got experimental integration with Unity already (for Thunderbird 3.3 alpha only for now).

On the other hand, Thunderbird seems more actively developed, is more familiar for new users, there are a lot of extensions available and is more intuitive and easy to use (these arguments are via Launchpad too).

So which one will it be? Thunderbird or Evolution? We'll probably find out in a few days @ UDS-O (which is held in Budapest).

Blueprint

Déjà Dup Backup Tool by default

Many users have been complaining about the lack of a backup tool by default in Ubuntu. And honestly, such a tool makes more sense then say an email client by default (now that most people use web email) for example.

The specs propose an "invisible" UI with a coltrol center panel instead of the usual Deja Dup UI. Another interesting specification is that Deja Dup would get Ubuntu One support so you could sync in the cloud without any setup effort for the user.

Deja Dup seems to be the perfect candidate but is there room on the Ubuntu CD for a new default application? We'll see.

Blueprint | Specs

Unity 2D installed by default

Since Ubuntu 11.10 Oneiric Ocelot will come with Qt libraries on the CD it should be a lot easier to include Unity 2D (Qt) too.

Blueprint

LightDM instead of GDM

LightDM might replace GDM starting with Ubuntu 11.10. Want a cool login screen? LightDM supports HTML/CSS/Javascript theming for the greeter so if it's made default, you'll finally be able to easily theme the login screen.

Other reasons why LightDM is considered:

• Simpler code to maintain (GDM is a huge ~50,000 line C program and we carry 36 patches. LightDM is nearer 10,000 lines of C).
• More flexible greeter development - greeters are as easy as X applications to write, which means we can have an Ubuntu specific greeter without branching the rest of the code
• Speed improvements - we can run a greeter without running a full GNOME session
• Display manager can be shared with Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Lubuntu etc but still allow each distro to have their own greeter.

Blueprint

Default browser

Now that both Firefox and Chromium have a somewhat similar release schedule, Chromium has a chance of becoming default in Ubuntu. But does it has what it takes to become default? This is yet another question for which we should get an answer from UDS-O in a few days (starts May 9th).

Blueprint


What do you think?

Many thanks to somloirichard.hu for the Blueprint links and info!

Xubuntu 11.04 Released With Xfce 4.8, Gmusicbrowser Default, New Artwork [Screenshots]

Along with Ubuntu 11.04, Xubuntu, Kubuntu and Lubuntu were also release. In this post I'll try to cover the changes in Xubuntu 11.04 - a very interesting Ubuntu flavor based on Xfce.

Xubuntu 11.04 is truly lightweight, using only 184 MB of RAM on startup (I've only tested it in VirtualBox though). It's not as lightweight as Lubuntu, but it has a lot more features and if you don't like Unity or GNOME Shell, you should really consider it.

New artwork in Xubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal

The latest Xubuntu 11.04 comes with a complete makeover: a new default theme called Greybird (which even though is inspired by Elementary, there are quite a few differences) and updated icons:

(Greybird - new default Xubuntu 11.04 theme)

The reason for switching to Greybird by default:

We took a conscious step from the polarizing and intense blue to something that proves easy on the eyes for everyday work (and also because one focus of the natty-release is accessibility). That's why "greybird" is not as vibrant as Elementary.

There's also a new default wallpaper:

(New default wallpaper)

Some other changes: a re-worked top panel and a new bottom launcher (hidden by default) and of course, Xfce 4.8 (which adds GVFS support for Thunar so it can now browse remote shares using FTP, Windows Shares, WebDav and SSH, XFCE panel improvements and more).

Gmusicbrowser - default music player instead of Exaile

There's also a new default music player: Gmusicbrowser which has replaced Exaile, most probably because it's not actively developed anymore. And to make the transition complete, Gmusicbrowser even has Xubuntu sound menu support:

Xubuntu 11.04 also comes with a new default font: Droid. Which is a bit weird considering Ubuntu now has its own font family.

Default applications in Xubuntu 11.04

Xubuntu 11.04 comes with Thunar 1.2.1 Firefox 4.0, Parole Media Player 0.2.0.2, Xfburn 0.4.3, Gimp 2.6.11, Pidgin 2.7.11, Thunderbird 3.1.9, Abiword 2.8.6, Transmission 2.13.

More Xubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal screenshots

(Firefox notifications in Xubuntu 11.04)

Download Xubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal