Open in terminal (Nautilus) ::: Ubuntu 14.04

After a long time being KDE user, I came to Unity. There was, still are, some Dolphin functionalities and I want them in Unity, too. Sincerely, Dolphin is much more customizable and feature-rich than Nautilus, but some of the functions You can add/install in Nautilus.

One of them is Open in Terminal.

You need to install this action:

sudo apt-get install nautilus-open-terminal

Now, log out and log in.

When You right click in Files, You'll see Open In Terminal action in context menu. This action allows You open terminal always in specific folder, current working directory, so You do not have to type whole whole address (location) of a folder where You need to do something. Just open the folder in terminal.

File preview in Nautilus ::: Ubuntu 14.04

As You know, there isn't way to preview files in Nautilus, by default. This feature is especially useful in case of pictures, but it can be used in many other situations, too. Simplest nautilus add-on, gnome-sushi, is an answer.

The add-on allows You to quickly preview musics, pictures, movies and documents. Only thing You need to do is to press SPACE key after You slecet desired file to preview.

You can install it via Ubuntu Software Center or via terminal:

sudo apt-get install gnome-sushi

Enjoy...

How to add restart action in indicator-session menu in Unity

You've probably noticed that there is no restart action in indicator-session menu in Unity, by default. There are  shutdown and logout actions. Button for runing the indicator is placed in top right corner of Your screen, or far right on Unity panel.

By default, when You run shutdown action from the menu, it'll ask You to restart or shutdown Your system. To prevent this, You can add restart action in the menu. After that, when You click on an action, appropriate function will run immediately, without the question.

This can be achieved through GUI or CLI. The first method requires dconf-editor installed. After installation, run the app and navigate to:

apps->indicator-session->suppress-logout-restart-shutdown

and check the box.

Or, You can type this in terminal:

gsettings set com.canonical.indicator.session suppress-logout-restart-shutdown "true"

Create and safely store and keep your passwords in Ubuntu

How often You were listening about how it is important to create strong passwords for Your accounts? Password's strength and way of keeping are essential questions today. In this article I'll present to You my way of creating and keeping passwords.

There are many different ways, so feel free to explore.

 

Create

The tool I'm using to create my passwords is makepasswd. You can install it via Ubuntu Software Center or via terminal:

sudo apt-get install makepasswd

Then, generate random password (i.e. 20 characters):

makepasswd --chars=20

For full list of options, use:

makepasswd --help

Its very important to create random password, with no meaning. If You decide to manualy create Your password, please avoid personal names, phone numbers etc... Use combination of uppercase and lovercase letters, special characters etc...

Store

There are many apps which allow You to store Your passwords. I love KeePassX.

sudo apt-get install keepassx

When You start the app, it'll ask You to create master password for entering. Please, create strong password and keep it on a peace of paper and do not show it to anybody.

I'm using master password in Firefox and Thunderbird, too.
Now You can enter Your accounts and related informations in KeePassX.

Keep

When You finished, You'll need to save it to a file. Make sure to change permissions of the file, so only You can read or write it. You can do this by

right click on the file->Properties->Permissions

and set permissions like this:

Anyway, I prefere to keep the file on USB stick key, not in my computer. Well, its up to You.

Weekly reminder ::: Week 2

Second week is behind me, behind us.

Beginers and new Ubuntu users could learn about:

• Application for tweaking Unity
• Installing new themes
• Installing new icon themes
• Installing new fonts
• Managing update mode

And, of course, You could read about my thoughts related to new Ubuntu, Utopic Unicorn.

Those who are advanced users could remind themselfs about how it was when they were entering in whole new world, world of free software.

I want to thank you all for visiting and reading my blog.

I love you and see you next week.

Stay free...

My thoughts about Ubuntu 14.10

The day has come, Ubuntu Utopic Unicorn is here. Last week or two various blogs wrote about this, in that moment - upcoming, version of Ubuntu. We could read many aspects of view about name, specs, look etc. Some of them were correct, and some were beyond measure as we can see now.

First of all - name. Utopic Unicorn? Come on! That animal even don't exist. Was Canonical try to tell us something through the name? Maybe. Think about that...

Second - good thing about Unicorn was that developers warned us to not expect much from new version of Ubuntu. It's interim version, as all .10 versions are. But then, some official Ubuntu blogs wrote about how to upgrade Trusty Tahr to Utopic Unicorn. To be worse, they claimed how it is safe to do upgrade through System Updater, from running system. Of course, many users did this and now they asking how to downgrade their systems.
Please, do not upgrade to Utopic Unicorn now.

If You are using Your machine for work, stick to the LTS versions. But, if You want to upgrade anyway, do it in another way.

• Download Utopic ISO 
• burn it to DVD or put it on USB 
• create backup of Your Home directory (You must not do that if You have Your Home directory separated from root)
• Do clean install 
• restore backup of Your Home directory

Okey, You can backup some other folders from root directory, too. Create backup for everything You think is important to You, Your settings i.e.

Great things about new Ubuntu release are the new versions of some programs, new kernel... But, my advice to You is wait a bit before You do upgrade to 14.10. Let some things come to their place, and if You must, only if You must, do upgrade.

I didn't try Xubuntu, but I saw screenshots. If that purple colour is now the default colour for highlighted background - it is disaster. If not - take my apology.

And here we come to one of bright points in "Utopic" family - Ubuntu MATE. It's first Ubuntu version with MATE DE, unofficial version. There are rumors that MATE will become official Ubuntu DE in near future. Great look, good old Gnome2. Yeah, we'll see...

Change automatic update mode to manual in Ubuntu 14.04

When we talked about first steps in Ubuntu, I told You that Ubuntu is doing everything for You in case of software update. And that's a true. But, if You don't like that, like I don't, You can change update mode and set it to manual.
In this article I'll show You how to do that.

Open Ubuntu Software Center, go to Edit -> Software Sources... and then to Updates tab. Where it says Automatically check for updates, choose Never.

By this way, you'll prevent Software Updater from automatically launching and checking for available updates. Instead, this job depends on You. By the way, notification will be displayed immediatelly when security updates are available.

From now, You and only You will update Your system. You can do this through Software Updater or Terminal, it's Your choice.

Software Updater

Just press meta key (usually Windows logo key) and type update. Open Software Updater and wait to check for available updates. If there are any, click Install button and wait to finish installation.

Terminal

Open terminal and:

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

If there are any available updates, confirm the process (type Y when prompted), and wait to finish installation.

After update process, restarting computer is probably the best and the safest step.

How to install and change fonts in Ubuntu

Even if Ubuntu brings a bunch of fonts, those users, who work in any program for video/photo/text editing, always need extra fonts. Or you may be ordinary user who wants to make your workspace more beautiful or extraodrinary.

New, extra fonts you can download from many different sites, and here are some of them:

• dafont
• 1001 free fonts
• fonts.com

Download desired font(s) and extract downloaded archive. Now you need to move extracted folder to /usr/share/fonts as root. This can be accomplished through GUI or CLI. If you decide to do it through GUI, read my article about installing and changing new themes in Ubuntu.

CLI way

Open terminal and:

cd /to/folder/where/downloaded/font/archive/is

sudo mv FONT_FOLDER /usr/share/fonts/

I prefere to put .ttf  fonts in /usr/share/fonts/TTF folder and .otf  fonts in /usr/share/fonts/OTF folder, but it's not a rule. It is important, only, to put desired font files in /usr/share/fonts folder.

After that, no matter whether you did it through GUI or CLI, you'll need to refresh your new font cache if you want to use new fonts, and you'll want it. Well:

sudo fc-cache -f -v

New fonts are now available and you can use them in your work. To change default fonts in your system, open Unity Tweak Tool, search for Fonts section and set your favourite fonts.

How to install new icon themes in Ubuntu

Yesterday I wrote about how to install new themes in Ubuntu Unity. Today, I decided to show you how to install new icon themes.

Process of installation is almost same. One thing is different and that is folder where you put downloaded and extracted icon theme folder. Let's take a look...

You decided to change default icon theme. First, visit one of the two sites mentioned in previous article, download desired icon theme, extract downloaded archive and move extracted folder to /usr/share/icons. You must be root user to accomplish this task.

You can do it in GUI or CLI way.

After that, open one of the tools for tweaking Unity, find icons section and select newly installed theme.

Done.

How to install and change themes in Ubuntu

Ubuntu comes with small number of themes and icon themes. Default Ubuntu theme is very beautiful for me, but I want to change it from time to time. Actually, every user want to do this.
There isn't automated way for installation. In example, in KDE user can download and install desired theme in one click. In Unity, you must download desired theme manually, place it in right directory (manually again) and then you can set it as your theme. Well, let's take a tour...

Sites from which you can download themes are:

• Gnome-look
• DeviantArt

Actually, these are the most popular sites with large number of themes, and other stuffs.

Choose desired theme(s), download it and extract it in the same directory. Now you have two options. You may set the theme only for one user (you) or for all users (system wide).

One user

You need to move extracted folder to ~/.themes folder. That folder is hidden and it located in your Home directory (~). To see hidden folders and files, press ctrl+H. Now, simply move or copy extracetd theme folder to the hidden one.

System wide

In this case, you'll need to move theme folder to /usr/share/themes. That folder is located, not in your Home, but in root directory (/). To do whatever in /, you must have administrative privileges, you must be root user. This can be done in two ways, GUI and CLI.

GUI way means that you need to open Nautilus as root and then move or copy theme folder to /usr/share/themes. Let's do this:

Press alt+F2 and type: gksu nautilus; press ENTER; enter your root password when prompted and simply move or copy theme folder to /usr/share/themes.

CLI way means that you'll need to do this from terminal. Open terminal and:

cd /location/of/downloaded/theme/folder
sudo mv THEME_FOLDER /usr/share/themes/ 

Replace THEME_FOLDER with appropriate folder name.

Now you can use one of the tools we mentioned in article about Unity tweaking. Find themes section and installed theme(s) will be in a list of available themes. Just select it and that's all.

Applications for tweaking Unity

Unity Desktop Environment is main environment in Ubuntu since version 10.10 of Ubuntu Linux. When Canonical decided to replace GNOME2 with Unity, that led to big disagreement between users and developers. Users loved good old GNOME2, but developers had vision and Unity was the main part of that vision. Still is.
That reminds me to similar situation about KDE, when there was a big change - transition to KDE4. Many users left KDE and crossover to other DEs. But, hey, KDE is the most used DE today.

Anyway, one of the biggest complaint were very limited possibilities of editing and changing workspace in new Unity. Today is another story about that. You have various apps for personalizing Unity. The most used and the best, for me, is Unity Tweak Tool.
I don't remember if the app comes preinstalled or I added it later. Anyway, you can check in Ubuntu Software Center if the app is installed. If not, install it in one of ways we discussed in post about ways to install software.

As you can see, there are four menus and many submenus. Enter every submenu, see what it gets and tweak your Unity.

There is System Settings in Unity, too. But in there, you can change various aspects about System, Network, Printer, Security, User Accounts and so on. In System Settings, there is just one item, Appearance, where you can change wallpaper, icon size in Launcher, theme and some basic settings about launcher and workspace, just few.

Unity Tweak Tool offers you a wide range of options.

There are other similar apps for that purpose like gnome-tweak-tool, Ubuntu tweak, dconf-editor... And they have almost the same options like unity-tweak-tool, except dconf-editor. It has some additional options. You can try them, too.

4 ways to install additional software in Ubuntu

OK, you "walked" through your fresh installed Ubuntu, saw what it gets, and you want to install new programs. Every user has faourite apps and Ubuntu gives to user opportunity to install what he wants. As I said before, there are nearly 50.000 packages in Ubuntu repositories waiting for you to install it. In that case, you have 4 common ways to install additional software.

Ubuntu Software Center

The most common and easiest way is installation through Ubuntu Software Center.

Search for your favourite program, see More Info about it if you want, read comments from other users, raitings and so on. Click Intall and that's it. Done.

Synaptic Package Manager

Synaptic doesn't come preinstalled and you have to install it manually. Yes, do it through Ubuntu Software Center or wait to see other ways to install additional software.

Synaptic Package Manager is old-school program but very popular even today. You may see screenshot(s) of the program, read ChangeLog. Just check the box before desired program, mark it for installation and click Apply button to start program installation.

apt-get 

Both previous ways allow you to install programs through GUI (Graphical User Interface). But, Linux offers you another way, CLI (Command Line Interface) way for same purpose. It's like CommandPrompt in Windows.

Open Terminal and type:

sudo apt-get install <PROGRAM_NAME>

Replace <PROGRAM_NAME> with desired program. SUDO in front of the command means that you run the command with administrative privileges. That means that you cannot run this command as normal user, only as root.

Full list of posible commands you can get by typing:

apt --help

or

apt-get --help

There will be listed all dependencies and extra packages which will be installed. Also, there will be listed recomended packages you can install, if you want. Just say Y (yes) when prompted and installation begins.

PPA repositories

PPA stands for Personal Package Archive. This is software which is not incorporated in official Ubuntu repositories, but there is big chance to being incorporated. The software is managed and packed by users, not Canonical.

Anyway, it's easier way to install software which is not incorporated in Ubuntu repos then compiling it from source.

In exemple, if you want to install awoken icon theme, you'll find something like this:
https://launchpad.net/~alecive/+archive/ubuntu/antigone

You need to add that repo in your source list adn then you can install awoken icon theme. How to do it? Simple...

sudo add-apt-repository <PPA>

Replace <PPA> with appropriate one. Follow the instructions (there are only two steps). After that update your source list and then install the software:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install <SOFTWARE>

Very first steps in Ubuntu

Hey you, did you install your Ubuntu?

No? Please, read why you should choose Ubuntu. If YES, let's take the first steps in fresh installed free OS.

First of all, you need to update your system. After first update, whenever you take it, you'll have complitely fresh apps. First time, you'll get notification about available updates. Click on it and it takes you step by step through the process. Anyway, app for that purpose is Software Updater. Launch it anytime, and it'll check if there are available updates for your system.

Actualy, the program is set to check for updates every day. So, don't worry, Ubuntu does important jobs for you. You can change this and other options, but some other time about that.

After this step, you'll probably want to install proprietary graphics drivers. Am I right? Launch Additional Drivers program and choose relevant or desired driver for your graphic card.

Now you can play your favourite video games via Steam. Done.

Yes, that's it. Think about wireless driver - check it. It works. Sound? Works, too. Want to watch videos on Youtube? Go a head. It works out of the box. Flash plugin is there. I don't remember if I told you, but Ubuntu is fully equipped operating system. Everything, or almost everything works out of the box.

Ubuntu - Fully equipped OS

None of my friends using Linux. What to tell you, I'm just persuaded my wife to take a tour (I hope for good) on Ubuntu Linux. Some weeks ago, I talked with one guy. Very often system crashes, system installations, searching for apps... are killing him.

Hey, well there is solution! Try Ubuntu!

Ubuntu is fully eqipped, completely functional and stable free operating system, that works just after installation. Ubuntu brings you all of software that you need for every-day use. Also, there are near 50.000 packages in software center. You need something? - take a look out there.

If you like rock stability, LTS (Long Term Support) versions are your goal. You'll have support for five years. If you prefere always new software - head for regular versions that have support for nine months. Canonical announcing LTS versions in a period of 2 years, and regular versions in a period of six months.

For internet use, you have Firefox browser, Thunderbird mail client, Transmission bittorrent client, Empathy internet messaging, Desktop sharing, remote desktop client etc.
Multimedia pack has Rhythmbox music player, Videos video player, Brasero disk burning tool, Cheese (similar to Skype, but free and open sourced).
When we talk about office suite, there is LibreOffice suite that brings you Writer, Calc, Impress, Draw, Math. Well, full suite for office work.
There are some small games like Mines, Sudoku, Solitaire, Mahjongg. Then, whole bunch of programs for customization, System Settings, Software Center, Additional Drivers and so on.

Actually, you don't need to run for drivers over internet. Linux kernel have support for very high percentage of all hardware ever made. Well, just install Ubuntu, restart computer and run your OS.

Bored with restrictions? - Choose Ubuntu

I'm consume "freedom" for about 3-4 years. This period represents my new life. In "previous life"I was a thief. Thief, who used everything that other thieves stole from other "thieves inventors". I didn't know neither how that stuffs works nor what I get. But I used that anyway.

Thief inventor is a person who give to you something "valuable", but put chains on you. Yes, chains. Have you ever feel like you "can" do everything, but always something restrains you, even stops you in your work? And you don't know why. You even have no chance to know, to discover why. 

What thief inventor stoles from you? Freedom... All kinds of freedom. Freedom to choose, freedom to use (as you like), freedom to tell somebody, to give somebody, to work with somebody, solve problems with somebody, share solutions...

He gave to you, actually sold to you a product and lock-up your abilities. You were forced to buy his products, or steal it. Neither of these two solutions aren't good. In the first case, you have to pay a lot of money for almost everything (product, upgraded version of product, programs, upgraded version of program, you are forced to upgrade to newer version, pay for that too, because of that - buy new hardware and so on). In other case, you will get... let's say everything and nothing in the same time. You'll get desired program, but full of things that work something you have no idea. You will, at the end, spend your money or have software full of crap.

One thing is common in the situations. You don't get a source code.

Source code allows you to read a program, to see how it works, to know what it works in your computer. 

Make a change in your life, make your life and computer work easier. Choose freedom - choose Ubuntu.

Ubuntu is the most used operating system powered by Linux kernel. It's free as in beer and free as in speach. Ubuntu have about 50.000 packages you can install with one click. No cracks, no patches... Source code available.

Love games? Who don't. There is Steam client for Ubuntu Linux. Get it and play your favourite games. 

For those interesting in audio and video production - there is a bunch of things waiting to you.

Feel freedom, join to friendly communities and start new life, better life, honest life... Use your system - don't allow to system to use you.