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In Gimp 2.8 a new Single-Window mode were introduced, however it's not enabled by default. It can be enabled selecting Windows > Single-Window Mode . Gimp 2.8 in Single-Window Mode Related Posts Install GIMP 2.8 in Xubuntu 12.04

GIMP 2.8 is the new version of the "GNU Image Manipulation Program" and is equipped with a wealth of new features. Here's some highlights: Single-Window mode Layer Groups On-Canvas Text Editing Brush Dynamics System Improvements Cage Transform Tool Improved UI for tablet users You can also see a video review done by Nixie Pixel: Install Open a terminal window and run: sudo add-apt-repository ppa:otto-kesselgulasch/gimp -y && sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install gimp -y Related Posts Enable Single-Window Mode in Gimp 2.8 Xcf thumbnails for Nautilus References otto06217 - GIMP PPA GIMP 2.8 RELEASE NOTES

If the "Restart" option is missing from the "Action Buttons" on the Xfce panel, read below to get it back. The restart option is missing in the left photo. Fix Open a terminal window and enter these two lines: xfcommand="xfconf-query -c xfce4-panel -p /plugins/plugin-9/items" eval $xfcommand"$(eval $xfcommand | tail -11 | sed 's/-restart/+restart/' | awk '{printf " -t string -s %s", $1}')" Alternatively you can right-click the "Action Buttons" item on the Xfce panel and select properties. And enable the "Restart" option on the following window. Related Posts Replace "Session Buttons" with "Action Buttons" in Xfce panel Restart/Shutdown/Log Out without confirmation in Xubuntu/Xfce

"Xfconf-query is a Command Line Interface (CLI) tool for accessing configuration data stored in Xfconf." If a property is an array of values: xfconf-query -c CHANNEL -p PROPERTY [-n] -t TYPE1 -s VALUE1 -t TYPE2 -s VALUE2 ... References Xfconf-query

In Xubuntu 12.04 when I boot my laptop with the wireless switched off and then try to switch it on while the system is already running, won't work. I click on the network indicator plugin and it says that wireless is disabled by hardware switch, which isn't true. Luckily the solution is quite simple. Fix Open a terminal window and run: sudo rfkill unblock all References Ubuntu 12.04 says Wireless is disabled by hardware switch at askubuntu.com

LateX is a collection of many tools so a few LateX distributions were created to make it easier to find and installed them. For Linux there are two main distributions: Tex Live and teTeX. Since teTeX is declared obsolete [1] , Tex Live is the better option. Ubuntu 12.04 Precise Pangolin ships with the old Tex Live 2009. Below the installation process for the never version, Tex Live 2011, is described. Install There are several ways of installing Tex Live: Get Tex Live on DVD ( more information ) Installing TeX Live over the Internet ( more information ) Downloading one huge ISO file ( more information ) Downloading several big tarballs ( more information ) Mirroring/downloading the TeX Live repository ( more information ) I'll describe the installation method with the collection ISO , because is the one I found to work better. First download the texlive2011.iso from a nearby: CTAN mirror . Mount the iso image using this command (adjust the path to iso)...

Open a terminal window and run (replace sdc with the appropriate device): udisks --unmount /dev/sdc1 && udisks --detach /dev/sdc Tip You can find the device name using the mount point (replace MOUNT_POINT with the appropriate mount point, eg, /media/disk): grep MOUNT_POINT /etc/mtab References command line alternative for "Safely Remove Drive" at Ubuntu Forums

When trying to open a external link in evince (document viewer) I got this message: Unable to open external link Failed to execute child process "exo-open" (Permission denied) It seems that AppArmor is preventing evince from executing exo-open, which would handle the link. Fix Open a terminal window and run (two lines): sudo ln -s /etc/apparmor.d/usr.bin.evince /etc/apparmor.d/disable/usr.bin.evince && sudo service apparmor restart References Evince: "Failed to execute child process" at Ubuntu Forums

When I tried to open remote video files with VLC via a Samba share I got this error message: Your input can't be opened: VLC is unable to open the MRL 'smb://...' It seems that this problem is related to credentials and can be fixed by entering the credentials for the Samba share in the VLC preferences (Tools > Preferences > Input / Codecs > Access Modules > SMB Input): Note: I only experienced this problem when accessing remote files with PCManFM. Related Posts Install PCManFM in Xubuntu Add support for Samba shares to Thunar References VLC with Samba shares at Kubuntu Forums

PCManFM is a lightweight file manager with support for tabs. So is a great alternative to Xfce's file manager, Thunar. I miss the possibility of selecting files that match a pattern (like in nautilus) or finding files (catfish to the rescue), but PCManFM has built-in tools for opening current directory in terminal or as root. Install Open a terminal window and run: sudo apt-get install pcmanfm -y OR Click here to install PCManFM Related Posts No Tabs for Thunar [FIX] VLC is unable to open the MRL (smb://)

"Diodon is a lightweight clipboard manager for Linux written in Vala which "aims to be the best integrated clipboard manager for the Gnome/GTK+ desktop". It lightweight having a small memory footprint." Diodon features include Ubuntu indicator, clipboard sync (primary selection and Ctrl+C / Ctrl+V clipboard) and an option to set the clipboard size. Install Open a terminal window and run: sudo add-apt-repository ppa:diodon-team/stable -y sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install diodon -y Just in case you're running Ubuntu (and Unity), you might also want to install the diodon-plugins package which contains the "Unity Lens" plugin that provides access to clipboard history with the unity dash: sudo apt-get install diodon-plugins -y Footnotes Run diodon pressing Alt+F2 and type diodon before hitting return Access diodon clipboard history with the shortcut Ctrl+Alt+V (it can be changed in the preferences). Diodon will ...

After upgrading to Xfce 4.10 all items on the Xfce panel were align to the left. This happens because in Xfce 4.10 the "Window Buttons" panel item no longer expands, one has to add a separator and set this separator to expand. Fix Open a terminal window and run: xfconf-query -c xfce4-panel -p /plugins/plugin-3/expand -n -t bool -s true Things should be back to normal by now. But if the problem persists, open the panel preferences, check if there's a separator after the "Window Buttons" item and the separator should be set to "expand": Related Posts Install Xfce 4.10 in Xubuntu 12.04 Precise (ppa) References Xfce 4.10 tour

Xfce 4.10 has been released. Just below this paragraph are some highlights (more information is available at Xfce 4.10 tour ). In the "Install" section are instructions for installing Xfce in Xubuntu 12.04 Precise Pangolin. The application finder has been completely rewritten and combines the functionality of the old appfinder and xfrun4 (press Alt+F2 and start typing the name of the application you want to open). The new settings manager groups configuration dialogs in categories and allows you to search for their names or descriptions. The new MIME type editor does just that. It allows you to easily assign a default application to a file type, see your changes and reset them to default settings when necessary. In 4.10 you can drag and drop a tarball with a downloaded theme onto the style or icon list. Xfce will attempt to extract and install the files into th...

To get video thumbnails for Nautilus just follow the procedure on the "Install" section below. Install Open a terminal window and enter the following two lines: sudo apt-get install ffmpegthumbnailer -y wget -q http://goo.gl/KofKV -O- | sudo tee /usr/share/thumbnailers/video.thumbnailer References Thumbnailing...

To set VLC as the default video player for your linux desktop, open a terminal window or press Alt+F2 and enter: exo-open $HOME/.local/share/applications/mimeapps.list Your default text editor should be opened and showing the mimeapps.list file. Look for "[Default Applications]" section (or create it if doesn't exist) and append the following list after the section title: video/msvideo=vlc.desktop video/x-msvideo=vlc.desktop video/x-dv=vlc.desktop video/vnd.mpegurl=vlc.desktop video/x-m4v=vlc.desktop video/quicktime=vlc.desktop video/x-sgi-movie=vlc.desktop video/mp4=vlc.desktop video/mpeg=vlc.desktop video/vnd.mpegurl=vlc.desktop video/quicktime=vlc.desktop video/x-flv=vlc.desktop video/x-ogm+ogg=vlc.desktop video/3gpp=vlc.desktop video/x-mpeg=vlc.desktop video/x-ms-wmv=vlc.desktop video/x-ms-asf=vlc.desktop video/x-matroska=vlc.desktop video/ogg=vlc.desktop Note If some video file type isn't associating with VLC, please tell me so...

Microsoft Compiled HTML Help is a Microsoft proprietary online help format, that consists of a collection of HTML pages and an index. Files in this format are known as CHM files. There are a few options to open this format in Xubuntu: FBReader, xChm and ChmSee. My preference goes to FBReader mainly because it supports other file formats (ePub, fb2, chm, rtf, plucker...). Install - FBReader Open a terminal window and run: sudo apt-get install fbreader Install - xChm Open a terminal window and run: sudo apt-get install xchm Install - ChmSee Open a terminal window and run: sudo apt-get install chmsee References Microsoft Compiled HTML Help

Oracle VM VirtualBox (formerly Sun VirtualBox, Sun xVM VirtualBox and innotek VirtualBox) is an virtualization software package that's installed on an existing host operating system as an application; this host application allows additional guest operating systems, each known as a Guest OS, to be loaded and run, each with its own virtual environment. Install Open a terminal window and run: # 1 sudo sh -c "echo deb http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian `lsb_release -a | egrep -i codename | awk '{print $2}'` contrib > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/virtualbox.list" # 2 wget -q http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian/oracle_vbox.asc -O- | sudo apt-key add - # 3 sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install virtualbox virtualbox-qt virtualbox-guest-additions-iso -y # 4 sudo usermod -a -G vboxusers $USER References VirtualBox 4.1.14 for Linux VirtualBox at Wikipedia Ubuntu – Distribution Agnostic Virtualbox Auto...

By default, when scrolling with the mouse wheel on a window that's on the background, that window is raised becoming the top window. To prevent the window from raising, open a terminal window and run: xfconf-query -c xfwm4 -p /general/raise_with_any_button -s false The same result can also be accomplished with "Settings Editor" (xfce4-settings-editor), selecting the xfwm4 channel and unpicking the raise_with_any_button value.

When I installed Xubuntu 12.04 on my laptop (HP Touchsmart tm2) I noticed that even though I had sound playback and the OSD worked, the sound volume didn't increased/decreased after hitting the proper keyboard keys. This was because the keys were actually adjusting the volume of the HDMI output. This can fixed by changing the value of active-card in the xfce4-mixer settings, but first the correct value must be determined: Open "Sound Settings" (Alt+F2 and type: pavucontrol). Select the "Output Devices" Tab. Annotate the device's name, leaving out spaces and all characters from this list: ()[]-/ Now add "Playback" to the beginning and "PulseAudioMixer" to the end of name annotated in the previous step. For me the correct value is: Playback BuiltinAudioAnalogStereo PulseAudioMixer Now that we possess the correct, lets change the xfce4-mixer settings: Open the "Settings Editor" (Alt+F2 and type: x...

Determine file encoding: file -bi some_file Change file encoding: iconv -f current_encoding -t destination_encoding file > file_new_encoding List known coded character sets: iconv --list Convert with Vim (eg, converting to utf-8): :write ++enc=utf-8 file_name References Stackoverflow - How can I change a file's encoding with vim? Determine and change file character encoding iconv manpage

Problem: Even though pastie is running it doesn't appear on Xfce panel's indicator-plugin. Well, this happens when the icon theme being used doesn't possess a "gtk-paste" icon. And that's what happens with the default Xubuntu 12.04 icon theme (elementary-xfce-dark). Fortunately, all we need to do is borrow a "gtk-paste" icon from the "Humanity" themes (it comes installed by default in Xubuntu 12.04), and this icon will work well in dark and light panels. Install Open a terminal window and run: # Create a symbolic link to the gtk-paste icon in elementary-xfce sudo ln -s /usr/share/icons/Humanity/actions/16/gtk-paste.svg /usr/share/icons/elementary-xfce/actions/16/gtk-paste.svg sudo ln -s /usr/share/icons/Humanity/actions/48/gtk-paste.svg /usr/share/icons/elementary-xfce/actions/48/gtk-paste.svg sudo ln -s /usr/share/icons/Humanity/actions/24/gtk-paste.svg /usr/share/icons/elementary-xfce/actions/24/gtk-paste.svg sudo ln -s /usr...

Pastie is clipboard manager for Linux and a few posts back I talked about installing the deb package for Oneiric in Precise, however I noticed that in some cases the following error occurred: Traceback (most recent call last):   File "/usr/bin/pastie", line 29, in    import pastielib.cli as cli ImportError: No module named pastielib.cli I find out that installing it from source would solve the problem on that cases. Install Open a terminal window and run: # (Only if pastie is installed) Uninstall pastie sudo apt-get remove pastie -y # Install dependencies sudo apt-get install python-gnome2 python-keybinder # Get the sources and extract wget http://goo.gl/Xf2A7 -O - | tar xz # Change to pastie source directory and install pastie cd pastie_* sudo python setup.py install # Clean up by remove the pastie source directory cd .. && sudo rm -rf pastie_*/ Note: If pastie doesn't appear on Xfce panel see this .

MyPaint is a fast and easy open-source graphics application for digital painters. It lets you focus on the art instead of the program. You work on your canvas with minimum distractions, bringing up the interface only when you need it. In the screenshot is the MyPaint interface with some subwindows opened (Brush List Editor, Color Triangle and Layers). Hit tab to hide the subwindows or F11 for fullscreen mode and then it'll be only you, the brush and the canvas :p Please visit my sketch blog (Wilson's Sketch Blog) to see what I've done with MyPaint (besides the portrait of Marion Cotillard in the screenshot). Install Bellow are provided instructions for installing MyPaint via ppa and git. Choose git you want the latest version of MyPaint (I recommended it), but unfortunately you won't get automatic updates, so instruction are provided also for updating. Open a terminal window for typing the following instructions. ppa - Xubuntu 11.10 Ubunt...

Since upgrading vlc to version 2.0, when the subtitles are placed on a subdirectory (like ./Subtitles) vlc doesn't autodetect them. I found out that this is a bug and that it'll be fixed on vlc 2.0.2. In the mean time I created a workaround that consists of a simple shell script that figures out the subtitles path, and then calls the vlc executable with --sub-autodetect-path parameter. Unfortunately, it only works when directly opening a file: vlc2 video_file or opening a video file via file manager. If you try to open a video file on an already running instance (e.g. Ctrl+O) it won't work, but the workaround can be used to open multiple files. Install Open a terminal window and run: wget http://goo.gl/Efwyg -O vlc.desktop wget http://goo.gl/bF6Mg -O vlc2 chmod +x vlc.desktop && chmod +x vlc2 mv vlc.desktop $HOME/.local/share/applications mv vlc2 $HOME/bin # or replace $HOME/bin with one directory that's in your $PATH Usage Via terminal: ...

Pastie is a clipboard manager program. In Oneiric it could be installed by adding a 3rd partie ppa, however at the moment there isn't a Precise build. I tried to manually install the deb package for Oneiric on Precise and it worked. Install First install the python-gnome2 dependency: sudo apt-get install python-gnome2 python-keybinder Then navigate to http://goo.gl/UtNPI and download the deb file (something like pastie_0.6.7.5~ppam1_all.deb). Finally install the deb file, either by opening it with "Ubuntu Software Center" or using a terminal window: sudo dpkg -i pastie*.deb

OpenJDK is the official Ubuntu supported solution for running and compiling Java programs. In this solution separated packages are provided for each need. Install Open a terminal window and run: sudo apt-get install openjdk-7-jre # to be able to run sudo apt-get install openjdk-7-jdk # to be able to compile sudo apt-get install icedtea-7-plugin # to be able to run applets on browser References Ubuntu package information

Oracle Java is the alternative to OpenJDK package, but is not longer available in Ubuntu repositories (due to some change in Java License). Oracle Java remains my choice because I find it to work better with some applications (specially java web applets). If you want to give OpenJDK a try, view here instructions to install it. “WebUpd8” team provides a PPA with one package that automatically downloads and installs Oracle Java JDK/JRE/Plugin 7 from its official website and installs it on your computer. Install Open a terminal window and run: sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/java -y sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install oracle-java7-installer References Web Upd8

As I mentioned on the previous post, HandBrake is a GPL-licensed, multiplatform, multithreaded video transcoder, and it can be installed in Xubuntu 11.10 via ppa. However packages for Precise are yet to be released. Luckily, if you manually download the deb files you'll be able to install them correctly. Install First, open http://goo.gl/zIohH in your web browser and download the version you're interested in (handbrake-gtk is the version with graphical interface and handbrake-cli is the version for command line interface), also make sure you download the correct version (i386 or amd64) for your Xubuntu installation (type uname -m on terminal, if you're unsure). Once downloaded, click the deb files to open and installed them via "Ubuntu Software Center" or open a terminal window and run: sudo dpkg -i handbrake-*.deb References official HandBrake releases for Ubuntu

HandBrake is a GPL-licensed, multiplatform, multithreaded video transcoder. Personally I use it to transcode some videos so that I can see them on my Android smartphone. It has already some presets with enconding settings specific for iPhone, iPad and Android. It includes one with a graphical interface and one with command line interface. I find them both very useful. For instance, even though we can create a queue of jobs with the graphical interface I use the version with the command line interface when I want to automate some other things with a shell script. Install Open a terminal window and run: sudo add-apt-repository ppa:stebbins/handbrake-releases -y && sudo apt-get update If you only want to install the version with graphical interface , type: sudo apt-get install handbrake-gtk If you want to install the version with command line interface , type: sudo apt-get install handbrake-cli If you want to install both versions, type: sudo apt-get instal...

Clementine is my preference for listening and manage my music collection, and one thing that I like about clementine is that it integrates well with my Xubuntu desktop. However the version in the precise repository (1.0.1+dfsg-1ubuntu2) doesn't work with keyboard multimedia keys. I've tried the development version (1.0.1-362-gd34c6e6~precise) and the problem is fixed. Install Open a terminal window and run: sudo add-apt-repository ppa:me-davidsansome/clementine-dev -y && sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install clementine -y References Clementine Development ppa