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Minggu, 04 Juli 2010

Last 2 Weeks Top Posts [Weeks 25, 26 - 2010]

Since this is for 2 weeks, extra:

gThumb 2.11.4 and Subtitle Editor 0.37.0 Available In The WebUpd8 PPA

gThumb 2.11.4 and Subtitle Editor 0.37.0 have been recently released so we've uploaded both of these application versions in the WebUpd8 PPA.

gThumb

gThumb is a photo manager / organizer for GNOME. THe 2.11.x branch is currently in development and it got a lot of useful features such as plugins to export the photos to Flickr, PiacasaWeb, Facebook and a lot more.

The gThumb 2.11.4 package in the WebUpd8 PPA is a GIT version a few days newer than the release of the 2.11.4 tarball due to some bugs because of which the build failed.

Since version 2.11.3, gThumb got a Photobucket export extension, allow to edit the metadata of many files at the same time, in the Crop tool added an optional grid, added ability to select the aspect ratio in the Resize tool and more. A complete list of changes can be found HERE.

To install gThumb 2.11.4 in Ubuntu, use the following commands (Ubuntu Karmic, Lucid and Maverick):

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nilarimogard/webupd8 && sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install gthumb

Remember: gThumb 2.11.x is still in development so there might be bugs!

Subtitle Editor

Subtitle Editor is a tool to edit subtitles for Linux. It can be used for new subtitles or as a tool to transform, edit, correct and refine existing subtitle. This program also shows sound waves, which makes it easier to synchronise subtitles to voices.

The version in the Ubuntu Lucid official repositories is 0.30.0 while Subtitle Editor already reached version 0.37.0.

Version 0.37.0 fixes some very important bugs which you can see here.

To install Subtitle Editor 0.37.0 in Ubuntu Karmic, Lucid or Maverick, use the following commands:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nilarimogard/webupd8 && sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install

Sabtu, 03 Juli 2010

Install Rhythmbox 0.13.0 In Ubuntu

Rhythmbox 0.13.0 "Albatross" has been released yesterday. I've uploaded it to our Rhythmbox backports PPA immediately but only now the package was build (hate you, Launchpad!) so you can install it in Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx.

New in Rhythmbox 0.13.0 (since 0.12.8 stable):

Improved GStreamer codec installation
New metadata fields: comment, BPM, Album artist
MMS and RTSP streams should work properly now
Always visible on startup when started manually
New implementation of the MPRIS D-Bus interface spec
Creates nested folders on MTP devices
Installs header, VAPI and pkg-config files for external plugins
DAAP plugin now uses libdmapsharing*
Library, playlist and podcast syncing for media players
Fixed interaction with Brasero for CD burning
New application icon
Displays HTML podcast episode descriptions using WebKit
Updates for Magnatune's new purchase process
A LOT of bugs fixed which you can see here.

*Important: because the DAAP plugin now uses libdmapsharing which is not available in the Ubuntu and Debian repositories, the plugin does not work for now, but libdmapsharing will probably be available soon!

Install Rhythmbox 0.13.0 in Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/rhythmbox && sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install rhythmbox

Jumat, 02 Juli 2010

Install MintBackup (Linux Mint Backup Tool) In Ubuntu From A PPA

Linux Mint 9 comes with a completely rewritten MintBackup ("Backup Tool") - a great backup tool which is very easy to use.

In case you don't know, Linux Mint is a disto based on Ubuntu which some characterize as "Ubuntu after a week of customizations". But what if you simply don't want to install Linux Mint and just want to use MintBackup in Ubuntu? Well, we've created a PPA for that so you can now easily install (and stay up to date) with MintBackup in Ubuntu Karmic, Lucid and Maverick (though we've only tested it in Lucid, but it should work in Karmic and Maverick too).

But before installing MintBackup in Ubuntu, here's some more info on MintBackup: it can backup and restore files and directories (doh!) but not only that - it can also backup and restore your complete software selection (something you can also easily do via command line, but some are scared by the terminal) so you can install all the packages you had installed when you install a newer Ubuntu version.

Other MintBackup features:

It can check differences in files and perform incremental backups/restorations
It can check the integrity of the files after it copies them
It can backup straight to an archive and compress it on the fly

Since MintBackup is designed for non-geeks mostly, it can only do local backups so if you want something more advanced, I suggest you see what the WebUpd8 readers consider to be the best Linux backup tool.

Install MintBackup In Ubuntu (Karmic, Lucid, Maverick)

To install MintBackup in Ubuntu, simply paste the following commands in a terminal:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/mintbackup && sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install mintbackup

Once installed, you can access MintBackup via System > Administration > Backup Tool.

And speaking of MintBackup - an application which comes by default in Linux Mint -, there's a question I've been asking myself for years: why doesn't Ubuntu come with a backup tool by default? Really now, it's a very important part of every Ubuntu installation (or it should be!) and yet there's no such default application.

See also: Install MintMenu in Ubuntu from a PPA.

Kamis, 01 Juli 2010

Poll Results: The Most Awaited Linux Project Of The Year

For this week, we had a really interesting yet weird poll on WebUpd8: we asked you what is the most awaited Linux project of the year, with the poll options including Opera 10.60 for Linux (released today), Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat, GNOME Shell, Steam, The GIMP 2.8, uTorrent, Chrome OS, VLMC, Blender 2.5 and Firefox 4.0.

If the first place was something we were expecting, there are some interesting results. Read on!

Steam for Linux won the poll with 24.21% (443 votes) and on the second place came GNOME Shell - 13.99% (256 votes). I said it on Facebook and I'll say it again: reading the comments to practically all our GNOME Shell posts, people say they hate Shell yet it seems most people (it's not a majority but considering the many options the poll had, it's still a really big number) can't wait for GNOME Shell to be released. This I don't understand!

Not surprisingly, Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat came in third, Firefox 4.0 on the fourth place with The GIMP 2.8 close behind.

Here are the exact poll results:

Maybe not as interesting as GNOME Shell results, but the number of votes received by uTorrent is also something worth mentioning: 3.44% (63 votes) - only Opera 10.60 and Blender 2.5 getting less votes. So Linux users (at least that's what I though) complain they don't have uTorrent for Linux but don't really want it. I do agree with the number of votes uTorrent got though: we have enough (and at least as good) Bittorrent clients for Linux already.

Among the "Other" answer you entered, there's one which stands out (and got quite a few votes!): Manhattan OS, an Ubuntu based distro which looks astonashing and includes most of the applications and tweaks we post here, at WebUpd8.

Browse all our weekly polls.

Have a poll idea? Let us know in the comments!

Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat Alpha 2 Released (What's New And Screenshots Inside)

If you read WebUpd8 constantly, you're already up to date with everything regarding the Ubuntu 10.10 (both Desktop and Netbook Edition) development so consider this just a recap.

There are no changes to the Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat artwork: no new Light Themes version, wallpaper, no new icons or anything like that - those usually come very late in the development cycle. But there are still some changes since Alpha 1 in Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat and Ubuntu Netbook Edition 10.10 worth mentioning. Read on!

So what's new in Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat Alpha 2?

Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat Alpha 2 comes with 2.6.35-6.7 Kernel based on 2.6.35-rc3, GNOME 2.31 (and Kubuntu with KDE 4.5 RC 1) and of course, the most recent versions for all the applications, imported from Debian.

Ubuntu Software Center

One of the most important change in Ubuntu 10.10 Alpha 2 is a revamped design for the Ubuntu Software Center. Here is how the main USC pane now looks:

ubuntu 10.10 maverick meerkat screenshots

As you can see in the above screenshot, the "Featured" category is now at the bottom and the applications are scrolled automatically. There's also a "What's new" category - empty for now -, which will hold the new applications which will be added to the extras.ubuntu.com (a new repository we talked about last month).

The categories which include subcategories no longer have two panes:

ubuntu software center category ubuntu 10.10 maverick meerkat screenshots

Ubuntu Software Center also got microblogging sharing for applications:

The History tab which Ubuntu Software Center got in Maverick Alpha 1 now also displays upgrades, not just installed applications:

And finally, Ubuntu Software Center also got Launchpad Login integration which was initially enabled by default and later on has been removed and can only be accessed by running "software-center --enable-lp":

This feature does not work for now and is most probably for the applications review system as well as for the new software store which should arrive later in the Maverick development cycle.

The Sound Indicator

The sound indicator applet has finally started to take shape and it now looks like this:

It's not finished, but it's getting closer to how it's supposed to look:

ubuntu 10.10 maverick meerkat sound indicator mockup

Aptitude removed from Desktop

aptitude removed ubuntu 10.10 maverick meerkat

Aptitude has been removed from Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat (Desktop only!) but you can install it via the official repositories. There's been a great debate over this and it seems the main reason is the space Aptitude requires (it comes with a lot of dependencies) and also that it serves the same purpose as apt-get.

BTRFS testing

No screenshots here but this is definetly worth mentioning: BTRFS support has been added to the installer (using the alternate CD). In case you don't know, BTRFS is a new filesystem which supports compression, snapshots and subvolumes (so you can install multiple operating systems on the same partition) among others.

You can't boot from a BTRFS filesystem in Ubuntu 10.10 for now so you'll need to create a separate /boot partition, but this should be solved soon.

EXT4 is still the default filesystem in Ubuntu 10.10 so far and it will probably stay this way as BTRFS is still experimental.

Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat won't run on processors below 686

As a bug on Launchpad points out, Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat won't run on processors below 686. But there's no need to panic! Basically all processors now are 686, even netbooks!

Unclutter

Unclutter has been added to the ubuntu-meta package which means it comes as a default application. It's a small application which makes the mouse disappear when using the keyboard and the mouse is inactive (I'm not sure but I think it's 5 seconds by default) and should be very useful when typing. This solves a 5 year old bug submitted by MPT.

However there are still a lot of issues with Unclutter such as when playing games, Unclutter causes the mouse to jump to the top left of the screen every second or two rendering menus unusable. But it's just Alpha 2 so it will probably be further tweaked to solve such issues.

That's all for Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat Alpha 2. But there are some interesting changes in Ubuntu Netbook Edition 10.10 Maverick Meerkat!

What's new in Ubuntu Netbook Edition 10.10 Maverick Meerkat

All the development fun seems to have moved to the UNE which got some major changes.

Application Menu

The Application Menu comes by default in Ubuntu Netbook Edition 10.10 Alpha 2 - integrated into the panel (which won't support any kind of customization according to Mark Shuttleworth so you'll only be able to use the default applets - nothing will happen when you'll right click the Unity panel) but the default applications menu has not been removed since the Application Menu still has lots of bugs and is sometimes unusable.

Unity launcher / file browser

une unity launcher 10.10 maverick meerkat

Ubuntu Netbook Edition also got an update which brings a new launcher / file browser (I'm not really sure how to call the launcher since the Ubuntu folks insist on calling the new dock - which you see in the left of the screenshots - launcher, and refuse to say it's a dock) to Unity. The launcher is triggered by the Ubuntu logo in the top left corner which up until now was used for an Expose effect.

The Unity file browser uses Zeitgeist to group the files by the time they were last accessed and by file type:

As for the Windicators, there's no news for now but hopefully we'll be able to see them in action until Ubuntu 10.10 MM Alpha 3. Looking for GNOME Shell? It won't be default in Ubuntu 10.10 because it's practically impossible: it will be released on September 27 and then an important bug-fix release will be available on October 27 while Ubuntu 10.10 will be released on 10.10.10 so there's no time to get everything ready for Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat.

Up next:

Alpha 3: August 5
Beta: September 2
RC: 30 September
Ubuntu 10.10: October 10

Update: we also posted a video with the latest changes in Unity, Ubuntu Software Center and the Sound Indicator.

Download Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat Alpha 2

Opera 10.60 Has FINALLY Been Released For Linux, Windows And MacOS X

That's right, "FINALLY" as in screaming because it seems it took them forever (Opera 10.5x was not released for Linux at all - only alpha builds) to release Opera 10.60 for Linux.

Opera 10.60 was released today and this time it includes Linux too, besides the Windows and MacOS X builds.

Opera 10.60 comes with a new version of Opera's rendering engine: Presto 2.6.30 and includes HTML5 fixes such as Geolocation and Offline Applications as well as WebM support. Opera 10.60 is the first final version of a browser that comes with WebM support by default (that's what the Opera devs say, but I don't agree since Epiphany had WebM with no modifications to the browser whatsoever).

There are also lots of Javascript and DOM performance improvements and almost 1000 bugs fixed since Opera 10.54.

As for Opera 10.60 for Linux, this is the first Opera release with the new Javascript engine called Carakan which makes Opera the fastest browser today. But the major change in Opera 10.60 for Linux is that it no longer uses Qt and it now integrates with the KDE and GTK libraries. Opera 10.60 also comes with Opera Unite integrated by default.

Important: if you encounter any issues with the menus (such as black font on black background), crashes on close and so on, completely remove any Opera version and profile and then install Opera 10.60 final.

How is Opera 10.60 working for you? Let us know in the comments!

Download Opera 10.60 final for Linux, Windows and MacOS X