Order A Free Ubuntu / Kubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat CD Through ShipIt

You could already buy Ubuntu 10.10 CDs, but now you can get one for free through ShipIt.

If you can't afford to buy an Ubuntu 10.10 CD and can't download the ISO, you'll be glad to know ShipIt, a Canonical service which provides free Ubuntu CDs everywhere in the world - is now open and you can already pre-oder a free Ubuntu / Kubuntu 10.10 CD.

As always, remember not to abuse the system and only order a free CD is you can't download the image yourself due to limited internet connectivity.

Get your free CD:

• Ubuntu: https://shipit.ubuntu.com
• Kubuntu: https://shipit.kubuntu.org/

Install UbuntuOne Alpha 1 For KDE In Kubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat

UbuntuOne for KDE is finally ready. Well, sort of - the first "real" alpha has been released and there's an Kubuntu PPA available which will only work with the latest Kubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat.

To install UbuntuOne Alpha 1 in Kubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat, use the following commands:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:apachelogger/ubuntuone-kde
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install ubuntuone-kde

Even though it's in alpha, everything in UbuntuOne for KDE should work but still, expect to find bugs!

Known issue: in case the "ubuntuone-client-gnome" package is installed, make sure you remove it before installing "ubuntuone-kde".

Note: I do not use KDE so I didn't test this!

Image credits & info: Apachelog

Kubuntu Netbook (10.10) Application Menu ("Global Menu") Is Finally Ready!

Kubuntu Netbook (10.10) finally got its application menu integration ready yesterday (turned off panel auto-hiding by default).

As you can see in the screenshot, it's not exactly the same like on Ubuntu Netbook Edition 10.10 maverick Meerkat, but it's built on the same technologies.

The Kubuntu Nebtook "global menu" also works with GTK/GNOME applications (but for now you'll have to install some additional packages for this):

The GIMP application menu in Kubuntu Netbook 10.10

Of course, just like it is with the UNE application menu, the Kubuntu Netbook appmenu also has some bugs so if you plan on testing it, don't forget to submit any bugs you may encounter!

And some old news we didn't post on WebUpd8 (but we shared it on Twitter / Facebook / Google Buzz): Kubuntu Netbook Edition 10.10 is dead. There won't be an Kubuntu Netbook Edition 10.10 Maverick Meerkat ISO, and instead the Plasma Netbook has been added to the standard Kubuntu desktop ISO with some detection to select Desktop or Netbook based on the screen size. More on this, here.

Image credits: skitterman.wordpress.com / News via the Ayatana mailing list.

VLC Default In Kubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat?

It seems the Kubuntu developers aren't big fans of Kaffeine 1.0 and want a new default media player for Kubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat.

The first obvious choice would have been Smplayer, but:

smplayer almost certainly not, mplayer has licencing isues which prevent it being on the CD.

And since Smplayer is a Mplayer front-end, that completely rules it out.

The second choice seems to be VLC for which Kubuntu already ships all the libraries. VLC has a few advantages: it can be compiled without MPEG and alike codecs so the license is not an issue and of course there's also the Phonon back-end, however, there's something the Kubuntu developers don't like: its UI (user interface) which they label as "pretty ugly" (although I believe they are referring to the playlist here, and not the entre UI).

Many say VLC is the best Linux media player but will it make it onto the Kubuntu 10.10 CD? We'll see...

Please note: there is nothing official about this yet. We'll keep you updated once we find out more.

[via Kubuntu devel mailing list; image credits: Marcosbox]

Rekonq Web Browser Getting Extension Support

Rekonq is a webkit browser for KDE which will become default in Kubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat.

Soon, Rekonq will get extensions support through Chrome's extension API which means you'll be able to install Chrome extensions in Rekonq.

Ubuntu's 10.04 repositories currently hold version 0.4.0 but you can install daily builds via a PPA (which are a lot more recent).

Rekonq 0.5 first beta will be released on May 25 with the stable 0.5 release following on June 30 and finally, Rekonq 1.0 should be released on September 12 (with a beta on August 20) which makes the release right in time for Kubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat.

[Via Markus' little blog]

KDE Gets Global Menu Plasmoid With GTK / GNOME Support [Kubuntu]

Aurélien presented at Ubuntu Developer Summit (Maverick) a project he's working on and will be available for Kubuntu 10.10: a DBusMenu-based implementation of a global menu with GTK+ / GNOME support.

This feature was available in KDE 3.x but hasn't been ported to KDE 4.x yet.

What's really nice about this implementation of a global menu bar is that it will support GTK applications running in KDE. The same thing goes for KDE applications running in GNOME.

Here is a video with this global menu in action:

There is also an .ogv version available, HERE.

More info as well as a PPA available @ Aurélien’s room

[Video & image credits: Aurélien]

Kubuntu 10.04 New Branding [Logo]

Kubuntu 10.04 finally got a new branding (logo) to match the new Ubuntu branding:

There should be an update on the Kubuntu Plymouth theme really soon.

[via darkwing duck]

Kubuntu 10.04 Plymouth Theme

Kubuntu just got a new Plymouth theme, however it's not finished yet. Richard Johnson explains that the logo is temporary as the new Kubuntu branding logos are not ready for now, so the theme will be further tweaked.

via Richard Johnson

New Proposed Ubuntu Lucid 10.04 Ubiquity Slideshow

The Ubuntu Ubiquity Slideshow is a project which uses Webkit that provides a slideshow when you install Ubuntu.


Here is how the Ubuntu 10.04 Ubiquity slideshow looks currently:

(the complete slideshow can be found HERE)

The current Kubuntu Ubiquity Slideshow:

(the complete slideshow can be found HERE)

and Xubuntu:

(the complete slideshow can be found HERE)

And here is the AMAZING new proposed Ubiquity Slideshow:

Thanks to Dylan McCall, you can preview the proposed Ubiquity slideshow online. Just click the arrows to navigate back and forward.


The idea is to create a new version for each Ubuntu flavor (including one for Ubuntu Netbook Edition), each beging completely different than the others.

So, what do you think of this new proposed Ubuntu 10.04 Ubiquity Slideshow?

Message from Testking: Using up to date MB2-631 dumps and 642-631 practice test, you will pass your 642-982 exam on first try guaranteed.

Amarok 2.2.2 "Maya Gold" Released

After 8 weeks of development, Amarok 2.2.2 "Maya Gold" has been released.

This is mostly a bug-fix and UI improvements release, but new features have been added too, such as the Custom Labels (these are actually reintroduced) which allow you to add your personal touch to your music. Another new addition is the moodbar, which you can use to change the progress bar to fit with your current mood: normal, angry, frozen or happy:

Other minor additions include:

• Easy lyrics editing edit
• Filter and sort your music by BPM (beats per minute)
• The podcasts section has seen many new features and improvements
• The inline playlist editor now also allows resizing of auto sized items that are invisible because fixed sized items already use up 100% width
• Enhanced the playlist sorting breadcrumb items to separately highlight the order inversion arrow on hover
• The automatic character set detection for tags has been disabled; it caused too many problems with legitimate UTF-8 tags. It can be re-enabled from Settings->Collection
• Dynamic mode is now automatically disabled when replacing the playlist
• The collection search filter now also searches for file names as a fallback

An important note before you upgrade: Amarok now depends on KDE 4.3.x and Qt 4.5 as minimum versions.


The next version of Amarok, 2.2.3 is scheduled to be ready at the beginning of March.

Download Amarok 2.2.2

Ubuntu 9.10 users can already install it from the Kubuntu backports PPA:

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

Smooth Tasks Kubuntu .deb Download

Smooth Tasks (a fork of mbaszczewskis STasks plasmoid) is a taskbar replacement that has window peeking similar to Windows 7 when you use the kwin 'highlite window' effect. Even if this effect is not used you can click the tooltip in order to activate the corresponding window.

Until now you had to compile Smooth Tasks, but thanks to Usoftx, you can use a .deb package for Kubuntu.

Download Smooth Tasks Kubuntu .deb | Smooth Tasks page.

If you are using Gnome, well, you can't use Smooth Tasks but I suggest you try DockBarX which is somewhat similar.

[via ubuntu life]

How To Upgrade To KOffice 2.1 Beta 2 In (K)Ubuntu

KOffice 2.1 Beta 2 was released today, and it features lot of changes which you can see HERE.

To upgrade to KOffice 2.1 Beta 2 in (K)Ubuntu, open a terminal and follow the steps below:

1. Add the Kubuntu Beta PPA:

-For Ubuntu Jaunty:

sudo sh -c "echo 'deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/kubuntu-ppa/beta/ubuntu jaunty main' >> /etc/apt/sources.list"

-For Ubuntu Karmic:

sudo sh -c "echo 'deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/kubuntu-ppa/beta/ubuntu karmic main' >> /etc/apt/sources.list"

2. Add the GPG signature:

sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 8AC93F7A

3. You can now upgrade to KOffice 2.1 Beta 2:

If you alread used Beta 1 of KOffice 2.1

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

or, if not:

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

Install KDE 4.3 In Ubuntu Jaunty 9.04

Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala simply have do an apt-get upgrade to update to the latest KDE 4.3 (which was released yesterday) but (K)Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope users have to add the Kubuntu PPA backports so they can install the latest KDE 4.3.

Here is a video with KDE 4.3 in action:

IMPORTANT NOTE: The packages for Jaunty are not officially supported. KDE 4.3 will be part of Karmic Koala Kubuntu 9.10 which will be officially released in October.

Installing KDE 4.3 in Ubuntu Jaunty 9.04

If you still want to continue, you can add these repositories by running the following command in a terminal:

sudo sh -c "echo 'deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/kubuntu-ppa/backports/ubuntu jaunty main' >> /etc/apt/sources.list"
sudo sh -c "echo 'deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/kubuntu-ppa/staging/ubuntu jaunty main' >> /etc/apt/sources.list"

Then add the GPG key:

sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 8AC93F7A

And finally to upgrade to KDE 4.3:

sudo aptitude update && sudo aptitude dist-upgrade

Or, if you don't have KDE installed already:

sudo aptitude install kubuntu-desktop

It is better to use 'aptitude' because if you don't like your new desktop you can simply uninstall the packages with all its dependencies and you are back to the system state where you were before. That is not possible directly with apt-get (or synaptic etc.) (works with --purge but I find aptitude better, but let's not get into a pointless discussion). But if you normally use apt-get, than use that instead of aptitude!

Removing KDE 4.3 from Jaunty and going back to 9.04 KDE version (4.2.2)

To revert back to the default KDE version in Kubuntu 9.04, you must firstly remove KDE entirely:
If you installed it using aptitude, not apt-get:

sudo aptitude remove kubuntu-desktop

If you installed it using apt-get:

sudo apt-get autoremove kde --purge 

or

sudo apt-get autoremove kubuntu-desktop -–purge

Then remove the newly added repositories press Alt + F2 on your keyboard and enter:

gksu gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

and in this file, search for the 2 added repositories (from the beginning of this post) and remove them (they probably are at the bottom of the file). Then open a terminal and:

sudo aptitude update && sudo aptitude install kubuntu-desktop

[via Ubuntu Life]