Xubuntu Geek

Plank is a lightweight dock that provides simple functionality: launch applications and alternate between running applications. Here's how to install it in Xubuntu via PPA. Install Open a terminal window and run: sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ricotz/docky -y && sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install plank -y Usage Plank can be accessed via Applications Menu > Accessories > Plank or typing the following command: plank . Configure Plank doesn't have a graphical configuration interface, you need to edit the text file: ~/.config/plank/dock1/settings . The configuration file has comments that explain how to configure it. Add launchers to Plank Right-click on a running application and select "Keep in dock". Remove launchers from Plank Drag-and-drop the launcher outside plank. References Plank – The Most Lightweight Dock For Ubuntu Plank: Introduction

On a previous article I wrote about using the Xbox 360 controller as a mouse. The --mouse option is actually a shortcut for a custom button configuration. You can map any button on the controller to any key/combination. In this article I'll layout the basics. Further information can be obtained in the references. There are two ways of providing a custom mapping: Command line options: use ui-buttonmap to map a button and use ui-axismap to map a axis. The syntax consists of assigning a button name to a symbol. Example: ui-buttonmap x=XK_Tab,a=XK_Control_L+XK_a ui-axismap y2=XK_plus:XK_minus . This will map "X" as "Tab", "A" as "Super+a" and the right stick up is "+" and right stick down is "-". Configuration file: use config to provide the path for a configuration file. The config file has a ini format. Use the sections ui-buttonmap and ui-axismap for configuring the mappings. You can...

In this article we'll see how to change the working directory in Guake terminal from Thunar's context menu. Install Add a custom action in Thunar with the following contents: Name: Open Guake Here Command: guake -n NEW_TAB && guake -e "cd %f" && guake -t File Pattern: * Appears if selection contains: Directories Note: This UCA has one problem; if Guake is already visible it'll will hide it. That's because of the --toggle-visibility option.

Thunar allows the user to add custom actions the the file and folder context menu (right-click). Add custom action The easiest way is to learn by example: Open Thunar, then Edit > Configure custom actions... . Enter this data: Name: Add to Playlist Command: gmusicbrowser -cmd AddFilesToPlaylist %F File pattern: * Appears if selection contains: Audio files This will show a menu item when audio files are selected that adds them to gmusicbrowser 's playlist. Thunar's custom actions are added to the XML file: ~/.config/Thunar/uca.xml . Check the references for more examples. In the meanwhile I'll post some of my own. References Custom actions

Some time ago I wrote about installing Tilda in Xubuntu . Now I gave Guake a try (another terminal that slides in from the top of the screen). Guake running on Xubuntu There are some reasons for liking Guake better: The width is set to 100% (Tilda has some problems when changing monitors). The height can be adjusted with the mouse. All key bindings can be customized. The tab bar is quite useful and it's easy to rename tabs. Tilda is still a good program, though, so if you're undecided give them both a try and see which suits you best. Install Open a terminal window and run: sudo apt-get install guake -y Usage Guake can be accessed via Applications Menu > Accessories > Guake Terminal or typing the following command: guake . Guake's preferences editor can be directly accessed using the command: guake-prefs or you can right-click on Guake and select Preferences .

I was using a Sony Vaio SR29VN and when I tried to resume from suspension, the laptop would reboot instead of resuming. I understand that this may affect other models, however, I don't have a list. Luckily it's easy to fix: we need to add acpi_sleep=nonvs kernel option to the grub settings. Fix Edit (with root permissions) the line GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX on the file /etc/default/grub , adding the option acpi_sleep=nonvs . Then run this on the command line: sudo update-grub2 References suspend causes reboot

In this article we'll see how to install Dropbox and Thunar integration in Xubuntu. Thunar Dropbox plugin running on Xubuntu I've tested this procedure in Xubuntu 12.04 and Xubuntu 12.10 (32 and 64 bits). It also works for the newer version of Thunar (1.5.2 at the time of this writing). Install Choose one of the alternatives and run the corresponding command on a terminal window: Alternative #1 - Install both Dropbox and Thunar plugin cd && plat=`uname -m`; if [ $plat != "x86_64" ]; then plat="x86"; deb="i386"; else deb="amd64"; fi; wget -O - "http://www.dropbox.com/download?plat=lnx.$plat" | tar xzf - && wget -O dropbox-thunar-plugin.deb http://packages.crunchbang.org/waldorf/pool/main/thunar-dropbox-plugin_0.2.0-1_$deb.deb && sudo dpkg -i dropbox-thunar-plugin.deb && rm dropbox-thunar-plugin.deb && ~/.dropbox-dist/dropboxd Alternative #2 - Install only t...

After running the system for a while the Linux kernel gets updated and the old versions are kept installed, even though that aren't needed any more. In this article I provide a way to remove automatically any kernel version that is older than the current being used. By the way, I was able to recover more than 1GB of free disk space by running this. Remove Open a terminal window and run: current=`uname -r` && uninstall="" && for version in `dpkg -l linux-image* | grep ii | awk '{ print $2}'`; do if [[ "$version" References Remove Old Kernels in Ubuntu 11.10 (Oneiric ocelot)

xfrun4 is a little Xfce program that allows to run commands, without having to open a terminal window. Since Xfce 4.10 it also works as a application launcher. It is summoned using Alt+F2 , and usually it pops right up, but lately it takes several seconds, sometimes almost a minute, to open. When trying to run it from the terminal, it prints this error: (xfrun4:6232): xfce4-appfinder-CRITICAL **: Failed to open window: Did not receive a reply. Possible causes include: the remote application did not send a reply, the message bus security policy blocked the reply, the reply timeout expired, or the network connection was broken. This bug has been reported and there's a workaround: use the --disable-server option. Fix So to fix this we'll replace the command for the Alt+F2 shortcut with " xfrun4 --disable-server ". Open a terminal window and run: xfconf-query -c xfce4-keyboard-shortcuts -p '/commands/custom/<Alt>F2' -s...

Thunar 1.5.1 has been released and it brings tabs support and fixes many bugs (among them the double volume bug). Here's how to install it using Xubuntu Developers PPA. Thunar 1.5.1 running on Xubuntu 12.04 Note for Xubuntu 12.04 users: the Xfce 4.10 PPA is required and adding it will upgrade Xfce 4.8 to 4.10. Install Open a terminal window and run (tested in 12.04 and 12.10) : if [ $(lsb_release -r -s) == "12.04" ]; then sudo add-apt-repository ppa:xubuntu-dev/xfce-4.10 -y; fi && sudo add-apt-repository ppa:xubuntu-dev/xfce-4.12 -y && sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade -y Finally, log out/log in. Usage Thunar can be accessed via Applications Menu > Accessories > File Manager or typing the following command: thunar . References Xfce 4.12 packages: Xubuntu Developers Team

The new development release of Thunar, the Xubuntu's default file manger, adds support for tabs browsing. Release notes for 1.5.1: Interesting release for a lot of users since this releases introduces the much-requested tabs in Thunar . Furthermore the new side pane has some important bugs fixed, the tool bar had a cleanup and is much more compact now and there is a permanent delete option. There are also various speed optimizations in thumbnail/icon handling and a number of bugs fixed. Here's how to install it in Xubuntu: link . References ANNOUNCE: thunar 1.5.1 released

This information has been rumored and now it's official: there will be no Alpha releases, not even a Release Candidate, for Ubuntu 13.04. However, according to Ubuntu's Release Schedule , Ubuntu flavors will still get a Alpha 1, Alpha 2, Beta 1 and a Beta 2 releases. This includes Xubuntu. The Beta will released on March 28, 2013 and the final release is scheduled to April 25, 2013. References It’s Official: Ubuntu 13.04 Will Drop Alpha Releases