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Updated: 9 hours 6 min ago
KDE: Fix KNotes Cannot Create New Note
Recently, I encountered a problem with KNotes --my most frequently used thing on KDE-- in which it refuses to create new note. If I click New Note on its menu, normally it pops up a new yellow box on screen I can write on it, but suddenly it shows nothing. However, simply viewing existed notes works without problem. In short, I fixed it by changing the storage folder of the notes to the one owned by KNotes. To do so, run KNotes > right-click it > Configure > Collections > pay attention to Folders tab > make sure the folder name is Notes under Notes > make sure the folder where the note will be saved pointed to Notes/Notes > OK. Now you should be able to create new note once again. Happy working!
(Correct setup so KNotes can add new note)
This article is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
(Correct setup so KNotes can add new note)
This article is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Comparison of Memory Usages of Ubuntu 19.04 and Flavors in 2019
(The Disco Dingo 2019 chart)
Continuing my previous Mem. Comparison 2018, here's my 2019 comparison with all editions of Ubuntu 19.04 "Disco Dingo". The operating system editions I use here are the eight: Ubuntu Desktop, Kubuntu, Lubuntu, Xubuntu, Ubuntu MATE, Ubuntu Studio, Ubuntu Kylin, and Ubuntu Budgie. I installed every one of them on my laptop and (immediately at first login) took screenshot of the System Monitor (or Task Manager) without doing anything else. I present here the screenshots along with each variant's list of processes at the time I took them. And, you can download the ODS file I used to create the chart below. Finally, I hope this comparison helps all of you and next time somebody can make better comparisons.
Subscribe to UbuntuBuzz Telegram Channel to get article updates directly.On 19.04: Download Links | Install Guide | Upgrade Guide | WTDAI Ubuntu | WTDAI Kubuntu | Recommended Apps | Privacy Tricks | GNOME 3.32
My Specification
I used these setup for all OS editions I installed:
The Chart
Download the document file here (ODS).
1. Ubuntu
The original edition runs on 966MiB of RAM. Its largest processes are gnome-shell (92.5MiB), gnome-software (23.4MiB), and Xorg (21.9MiB).
Please click the picture to enlarge it.
2. Kubuntu
KDE KSysGuard reads it runs at 378MiB of RAM. Its largest processes are plasmashell (105MiB), kwin_x11 (28MiB), and Xorg (22.8MiB).
3. Xubuntu
XFCE Task Manager reads it is 406MiB. Its largest processes are blueman-applet 51.4MiB, xfdesktop (39.5MiB), and Task Manager itself (37.7MiB).
4. Lubuntu
Htop shows it 352MiB.
5. Ubuntu MATE
MATE System Monitor reads it 680MiB. Its largest processes are caja (75.4MiB), Xorg (63.3MiB), and blueman-applet (57MiB).
6. Ubuntu Studio
Ubuntu has two different sessions, the default one (with normal kernel), and the low-latency one (with low-latency kernel). I used the default one here. XFCE Task Manager reads it 487.6MiB. Its largest processes are blueman-applet (61.5MiB), xfdesktop (49.2MiB), and kdeconnectd (47MiB).
7. Ubuntu Kylin
MATE System Monitor reads it 1.9GiB. Its largest processes are plymouthd (1GiB or 1000MiB), ukui-menu.py (43MiB), and blueman-applet (26.6MiB).
8. Ubuntu Budgie
GNOME System Monitor reads it 929.5MiB. Its largest processes are gnome-software (68.8MiB), budgie-wm (20.9MiB), and Xorg (15.9MiB).
Notes
Thank you!
This article is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Continuing my previous Mem. Comparison 2018, here's my 2019 comparison with all editions of Ubuntu 19.04 "Disco Dingo". The operating system editions I use here are the eight: Ubuntu Desktop, Kubuntu, Lubuntu, Xubuntu, Ubuntu MATE, Ubuntu Studio, Ubuntu Kylin, and Ubuntu Budgie. I installed every one of them on my laptop and (immediately at first login) took screenshot of the System Monitor (or Task Manager) without doing anything else. I present here the screenshots along with each variant's list of processes at the time I took them. And, you can download the ODS file I used to create the chart below. Finally, I hope this comparison helps all of you and next time somebody can make better comparisons.
Subscribe to UbuntuBuzz Telegram Channel to get article updates directly.On 19.04: Download Links | Install Guide | Upgrade Guide | WTDAI Ubuntu | WTDAI Kubuntu | Recommended Apps | Privacy Tricks | GNOME 3.32
My Specification
I used these setup for all OS editions I installed:
- Laptop: Acer AspireOne 756
- Processor: Intel Pentium
- RAM: 4GB
- Swap: 1GB
- Root size: 13GB
- Filesystem: EXT2
- Storage media: USB Flash Drive, SanDisk CruzerGlide 3.0 16GB
The Chart
Download the document file here (ODS).
1. Ubuntu
The original edition runs on 966MiB of RAM. Its largest processes are gnome-shell (92.5MiB), gnome-software (23.4MiB), and Xorg (21.9MiB).
Please click the picture to enlarge it.
2. Kubuntu
KDE KSysGuard reads it runs at 378MiB of RAM. Its largest processes are plasmashell (105MiB), kwin_x11 (28MiB), and Xorg (22.8MiB).
3. Xubuntu
XFCE Task Manager reads it is 406MiB. Its largest processes are blueman-applet 51.4MiB, xfdesktop (39.5MiB), and Task Manager itself (37.7MiB).
4. Lubuntu
Htop shows it 352MiB.
5. Ubuntu MATE
MATE System Monitor reads it 680MiB. Its largest processes are caja (75.4MiB), Xorg (63.3MiB), and blueman-applet (57MiB).
6. Ubuntu Studio
Ubuntu has two different sessions, the default one (with normal kernel), and the low-latency one (with low-latency kernel). I used the default one here. XFCE Task Manager reads it 487.6MiB. Its largest processes are blueman-applet (61.5MiB), xfdesktop (49.2MiB), and kdeconnectd (47MiB).
7. Ubuntu Kylin
MATE System Monitor reads it 1.9GiB. Its largest processes are plymouthd (1GiB or 1000MiB), ukui-menu.py (43MiB), and blueman-applet (26.6MiB).
8. Ubuntu Budgie
GNOME System Monitor reads it 929.5MiB. Its largest processes are gnome-software (68.8MiB), budgie-wm (20.9MiB), and Xorg (15.9MiB).
Notes
- The largest one is Ubuntu Kylin.
- The smallest one is Lubuntu.
- Ubuntu original, the GNOME edition, improved a lot from previously 1.2GiB in 2018 to 970MiB in 2019. This is a good thing.
- What makes Ubuntu Kylin runs excessively high is plymouthd service (run by root user account) with 50% CPU and 1GiB RAM. Plymouth is the OS component that handles your booting splash screen, but it's too abnormal to have this service consumes resources in such amount. I guess it is at least an error as normally Plymouth should be killed once the user sees the desktop. If I remove plymouthd service from the memory, I can get Ubuntu Kylin running at 847MiB.
Thank you!
This article is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Mozc and Fcitx for Japanese Writings on Debian 10 "Buster"
(Debian with Mozc active and typing 'konnichiwa!')
Debian 10 GNOME Edition includes Mozc and Fcitx by default. This means you can easily type in Japanese chars (Kanji, Hiragana, Katakana) by utilizing the system tray. This allows you to switch by click between Japanese and Latin (English-US) chars anytime you wish. How to configure them on Debian 10? Here's my setup for English readers. Enjoy!
Subscribe to UbuntuBuzz Telegram Channel to get article updates directly.
On Debian 10: Download Links | Install Guide
On Mozc: Kubuntu+Mozc | Ubuntu MATE+Mozc
About Mozc and Fcitx
Mozc is a tool (called an engine) to process Japanese chars to type on computing. Fcitx is a more generic tool to handle all kind of language chars with any type of engine (Japanese/Mozc is a piece among many of them) on GNU/Linux desktop. Mozc does the actual job, while Fcitx presents it to us in very friendly way. By combining Mozc and Fcitx, a computer user may type everything Japanese everywhere very easily and helped by automatic char suggestions. Mozc and Fcitx are both free software and available on all GNU/Linux distros including Debian. Visit Mozc website here and Fcitx's here.
1. GNOME Extension: Tray Icons
Without tray, we will not see Fcitx, and unfortunately GNOME version 3.30 removed that feature since long ago. To have tray feature once again, install Tray Icons extension from EGO website. Later, we will see Fcitx running as a keyboard icon on the top panel.
(That keyboard icon is Fcitx)
2. Install Required Program
We still need to install fcitx-mozc on Debian 10 GNOME Edition:
$ sudo apt-get install fcitx-mozc
(Installation of fcitx-mozc package on Debian Buster)
3. IM Setup
Debian is an advanced operating system. It is rich with multiple input methods, one among many installed is Fcitx. We need to make sure the input method selected is Fcitx.
(im-config dialog, to switch Debian system to use Fcitx instead of others)
4. Fcitx Setup
Next one, we need to setup Fcitx to appear properly on screen:
(Fcitx configuration dialog)
5. Mozc Setup
Now we need to setup Mozc engine behaviors:
(Mozc setup)
6. Utilize the tray
Right-click Fcitx > Input Method > you should find at least English (US) and Mozc here > select Mozc > keyboard icon turns into orange circle「あ」> typing in Japanese is ready. This is how to switch between Latin and Japanese writing later.
If you wish to change between Hiragana and Katakana, when Mozc is selected, go to Composition Mode > select Hiragana or select Katakana > your keyboard is now ready to type as your selection.
(Composition mode is the switcher between Hiragana and Katakana)
7. Practice
Open your terminal and try to type literally 'konnichiha' then Mozc behind the scene will turn it instantly to 'こんにちは' (pronounced konnichiwa). Now go to LibreOffice and start writing Japanese document you wish. Enjoy!
(Top panel: Mozc's orange logo is active means Japanese typing is ready; Terminal: typing 「こんにちは」very easily)
Enjoy!
References
This article is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Debian 10 GNOME Edition includes Mozc and Fcitx by default. This means you can easily type in Japanese chars (Kanji, Hiragana, Katakana) by utilizing the system tray. This allows you to switch by click between Japanese and Latin (English-US) chars anytime you wish. How to configure them on Debian 10? Here's my setup for English readers. Enjoy!
Subscribe to UbuntuBuzz Telegram Channel to get article updates directly.
On Debian 10: Download Links | Install Guide
On Mozc: Kubuntu+Mozc | Ubuntu MATE+Mozc
About Mozc and Fcitx
Mozc is a tool (called an engine) to process Japanese chars to type on computing. Fcitx is a more generic tool to handle all kind of language chars with any type of engine (Japanese/Mozc is a piece among many of them) on GNU/Linux desktop. Mozc does the actual job, while Fcitx presents it to us in very friendly way. By combining Mozc and Fcitx, a computer user may type everything Japanese everywhere very easily and helped by automatic char suggestions. Mozc and Fcitx are both free software and available on all GNU/Linux distros including Debian. Visit Mozc website here and Fcitx's here.
1. GNOME Extension: Tray Icons
Without tray, we will not see Fcitx, and unfortunately GNOME version 3.30 removed that feature since long ago. To have tray feature once again, install Tray Icons extension from EGO website. Later, we will see Fcitx running as a keyboard icon on the top panel.
(That keyboard icon is Fcitx)
2. Install Required Program
We still need to install fcitx-mozc on Debian 10 GNOME Edition:
$ sudo apt-get install fcitx-mozc
(Installation of fcitx-mozc package on Debian Buster)
3. IM Setup
Debian is an advanced operating system. It is rich with multiple input methods, one among many installed is Fcitx. We need to make sure the input method selected is Fcitx.
- Go to start menu.
- Find IM Setup.
- First page: OK
- Second page: YES
- Third page: fcitx
- Fourth page: OK
(im-config dialog, to switch Debian system to use Fcitx instead of others)
4. Fcitx Setup
Next one, we need to setup Fcitx to appear properly on screen:
- Go to start menu.
- Find Fcitx Configuration (with penguin logo).
- Open the Appearance tab.
- Font size: 10
- Use System Tray Icon: give check mark
- Vertical Candidate Word List: give check mark
- Close the dialog.
(Fcitx configuration dialog)
5. Mozc Setup
Now we need to setup Mozc engine behaviors:
- Go to start menu
- Find Mozc Setup (orange circle logo with「あ」character)
- Input mode: Romaji
- Space input style: Follow input mode
- Keymap style: ATOK
- OK
(Mozc setup)
6. Utilize the tray
Right-click Fcitx > Input Method > you should find at least English (US) and Mozc here > select Mozc > keyboard icon turns into orange circle「あ」> typing in Japanese is ready. This is how to switch between Latin and Japanese writing later.
If you wish to change between Hiragana and Katakana, when Mozc is selected, go to Composition Mode > select Hiragana or select Katakana > your keyboard is now ready to type as your selection.
(Composition mode is the switcher between Hiragana and Katakana)
7. Practice
Open your terminal and try to type literally 'konnichiha' then Mozc behind the scene will turn it instantly to 'こんにちは' (pronounced konnichiwa). Now go to LibreOffice and start writing Japanese document you wish. Enjoy!
(Top panel: Mozc's orange logo is active means Japanese typing is ready; Terminal: typing 「こんにちは」very easily)
Enjoy!
References
- https://blog.id774.net/entry/2016/12/08/941
- https://qiita.com/cielavenir/items/814c2706ec1dda244e51
- https://askubuntu.com/questions/791834/japanese-input-on-16-04-with-fcitx-and-mozc
- https://murase-syuka.hatenablog.com/entry/20171216/1513434983
This article is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
How To Install Debian 10 "Buster" GNOME on USB Flash Drive
(Debian 10 "Buster" with user-friendly installer)
This tutorial explains how to install Debian 10.0 GNU/Linux. With this tutorial, you can either install it on internal or external disk drive, either in single- or dual-boot mode. You will get GNOME, the modern and user friendly desktop, as the user interface. And you will prepare at least 2 blank partitions as main place and swap of the system. This tutorial also includes several instructions for UEFI-based computers (which are sold since 2011 up to today). Total amount of time needed to finish it is about 1 hour. I hope this tutorial works well for you. Finally, happy installing!
Subscribe to UbuntuBuzz Telegram Channel to get article updates directly.
Summary
Selecting Debian Live
Debian 10.0 has more than 7 different editions you can grab. So, to install Debian GNOME with easy and user-friendly installer, grab Debian Live GNOME Edition instead of the standard (install-only) edition. Fortunately, it's available for both 32-bit and 64-bit architectures. This tutorial is based on Debian 10.0 Live GNOME Edition.
(Debian Live editions download page: grab the one pointed by mouse cursor)
My Setup
I practiced the installation with this setup:
For UEFI Computers
For UEFI-based computer, you need to create a 500MB EFI partition on the drive. So if your computer is UEFI-based, you will need 3 partitions, the main one, the swap, and the EFI.
Note: UEFI is the new generation BIOS with completely different ways to work. Most computers sold today since 2011 are UEFI-based. For instance, if you bought your laptop in 2018, we can certainly say it's UEFI based.
1. Starting the installer
Open the start menu by pressing Super key and click the pink Install Debian icon appeared on left side.
The installer is called Calamares and it appears like below.
(Calamares as Debian 10 installer)
Note: to remind you, Calamares is the same installer we found at Manjaro and KDE Neon, as the rival to Ubiquity Installer we found at Ubuntu. As a side note, any other tutorial for other distro as long as it's Calamares actually can be applied to Debian 10 as now Debian uses Calamares.
2. Selecting Language, Keyboard, and Region
First, on the first page of the installer, select the Language you wish. Standard language is American English and this is fine.
Note: if you choose the other, for instance Japanese, then the rest of installation will appear in Japanese and your finished Debian system will be also presented in Japanese.
On the second page, click on the map where you live. For instance, if you choose Indonesia, then your Debian system will use Indonesia's time, dates, currency, and numbers formats.
On the third page, leave the standard option as is (English US+Default), unless you wish to use a specific layout like Arabic, Japanese, Russian, or other.
3. Partitioning
This is the most crucial step. You will create 2 partitions at least, one as main, one more as swap. I strongly suggest you to use EXT2 non-journaling filesystem instead of EXT4 journaling one for media like USB Flash Drive. Here, I formatted my flash drive with one EXT2 13GB as main partition for Debian and another one (2GB) as swap. This way, anywhere you go with the drive you will always have a swap partition even though the computer you will be using has no swap.
i) Selecting the disk drive:
On the top selection list, select the name of USB Flash Drive. My example here is /dev/sdb SanDisk Cruzer Glide 3.0.
Note: if the flash drive does not appear here, while other flash drive appears, you may need to format first that drive and try again here.
ii) Selecting manual partitioning:
Click Manual Partitioning option to enter the advanced partitioner. This is equal to "Something Else" option on Ubiquity installer.
iii) Editing partitions on the drive:
iv) Creating first partition:
v) Creating swap partition:
Special for UEFI: Create EFI Partition:
Take 500MB from the main one and determine File system: FAT32 and Mount Point: /boot/efi. This will create a special EFI Partition in the flash drive. This way, your drive will always have 3 partitions everywhere: main, swap, and EFI.
4. Bootloader & Credentials
Change the bootloader location selection to the name of the flash drive. It's the same drive where your main partition is. My example here is SanDisk Cruzer Glide.
Creating username and password:
This account will be your login account and the password will be your sudo (administrator) password.
Summary:
On the sixth page, carefully read the information at the bottom. Make sure the partition, the filesystem, and number of them are all correct without any mistake. Do not let any mistake occur, for instance, your HDD selected instead of your USB Flash Drive, while you do not wish that. Once verified, press Install button. The real partitioning and installation will go after this and you cannot go back anymore.
5. Waiting & Finish
All you need to do now is waiting the remaining process to be finished. On my practice, this takes up to 1 hour.
Finished installation will show "All done." message. To end this, click Done button and you will be restarted to boot to your Debian system.
Now, your USB Flash Drive has Debian 10 installed and you can run it anywhere you go. Congratulations!
This article is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
This tutorial explains how to install Debian 10.0 GNU/Linux. With this tutorial, you can either install it on internal or external disk drive, either in single- or dual-boot mode. You will get GNOME, the modern and user friendly desktop, as the user interface. And you will prepare at least 2 blank partitions as main place and swap of the system. This tutorial also includes several instructions for UEFI-based computers (which are sold since 2011 up to today). Total amount of time needed to finish it is about 1 hour. I hope this tutorial works well for you. Finally, happy installing!
Subscribe to UbuntuBuzz Telegram Channel to get article updates directly.
Summary
- 1. Starting
- 2. Language
- 3. Partitioning
- 4. Bootloader & Credentials
- 5. Final
Selecting Debian Live
Debian 10.0 has more than 7 different editions you can grab. So, to install Debian GNOME with easy and user-friendly installer, grab Debian Live GNOME Edition instead of the standard (install-only) edition. Fortunately, it's available for both 32-bit and 64-bit architectures. This tutorial is based on Debian 10.0 Live GNOME Edition.
(Debian Live editions download page: grab the one pointed by mouse cursor)
My Setup
I practiced the installation with this setup:
- Flash drive: SanDisk Cruzer Glide 3.0 16GB
- Disk scheme: MBR
- Partitions: one 14GB as EXT2, one 2GB as swap
- Bootloader: installed to the Cruzer Glide
- Total time needed: 1 hour
For UEFI Computers
For UEFI-based computer, you need to create a 500MB EFI partition on the drive. So if your computer is UEFI-based, you will need 3 partitions, the main one, the swap, and the EFI.
Note: UEFI is the new generation BIOS with completely different ways to work. Most computers sold today since 2011 are UEFI-based. For instance, if you bought your laptop in 2018, we can certainly say it's UEFI based.
1. Starting the installer
Open the start menu by pressing Super key and click the pink Install Debian icon appeared on left side.
The installer is called Calamares and it appears like below.
(Calamares as Debian 10 installer)
Note: to remind you, Calamares is the same installer we found at Manjaro and KDE Neon, as the rival to Ubiquity Installer we found at Ubuntu. As a side note, any other tutorial for other distro as long as it's Calamares actually can be applied to Debian 10 as now Debian uses Calamares.
2. Selecting Language, Keyboard, and Region
First, on the first page of the installer, select the Language you wish. Standard language is American English and this is fine.
Note: if you choose the other, for instance Japanese, then the rest of installation will appear in Japanese and your finished Debian system will be also presented in Japanese.
On the second page, click on the map where you live. For instance, if you choose Indonesia, then your Debian system will use Indonesia's time, dates, currency, and numbers formats.
On the third page, leave the standard option as is (English US+Default), unless you wish to use a specific layout like Arabic, Japanese, Russian, or other.
3. Partitioning
This is the most crucial step. You will create 2 partitions at least, one as main, one more as swap. I strongly suggest you to use EXT2 non-journaling filesystem instead of EXT4 journaling one for media like USB Flash Drive. Here, I formatted my flash drive with one EXT2 13GB as main partition for Debian and another one (2GB) as swap. This way, anywhere you go with the drive you will always have a swap partition even though the computer you will be using has no swap.
i) Selecting the disk drive:
On the top selection list, select the name of USB Flash Drive. My example here is /dev/sdb SanDisk Cruzer Glide 3.0.
Note: if the flash drive does not appear here, while other flash drive appears, you may need to format first that drive and try again here.
ii) Selecting manual partitioning:
Click Manual Partitioning option to enter the advanced partitioner. This is equal to "Something Else" option on Ubiquity installer.
iii) Editing partitions on the drive:
- Select the free space.
- Click Create button.
iv) Creating first partition:
- Size: 14GB or 13000MiB
- File System: ext2
- Mount point: /
v) Creating swap partition:
- Size: 2GB or 1900MiB
- File system: linuxswap
Special for UEFI: Create EFI Partition:
Take 500MB from the main one and determine File system: FAT32 and Mount Point: /boot/efi. This will create a special EFI Partition in the flash drive. This way, your drive will always have 3 partitions everywhere: main, swap, and EFI.
4. Bootloader & Credentials
Change the bootloader location selection to the name of the flash drive. It's the same drive where your main partition is. My example here is SanDisk Cruzer Glide.
Creating username and password:
This account will be your login account and the password will be your sudo (administrator) password.
Summary:
On the sixth page, carefully read the information at the bottom. Make sure the partition, the filesystem, and number of them are all correct without any mistake. Do not let any mistake occur, for instance, your HDD selected instead of your USB Flash Drive, while you do not wish that. Once verified, press Install button. The real partitioning and installation will go after this and you cannot go back anymore.
5. Waiting & Finish
All you need to do now is waiting the remaining process to be finished. On my practice, this takes up to 1 hour.
Finished installation will show "All done." message. To end this, click Done button and you will be restarted to boot to your Debian system.
Now, your USB Flash Drive has Debian 10 installed and you can run it anywhere you go. Congratulations!
This article is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Debian 10 "Buster" Released with Download Links, Mirrors, and Torrents
Debian 10 "Buster" released at 6 July 2019 with Long Term Support (LTS) lifespan of 5 years and 7 different desktop environments. Now, the Live Editions are available with Cinnamon, GNOME, KDE, XFCE, LXDE, LXQt, and MATE user interfaces. I listed here only the DVD versions and divided them into two architectures 32-bit and 64-bit. I also listed below the Checksums and where to get the Source Code ISOs. This is a compilation of all Debian 10 official download links including several mirrors and torrents. Happy downloading!
Subscribe to UbuntuBuzz Telegram Channel to get article updates directly.1. Official Downloads
Debian 10.0 comes in two type of installers, Standard Edition (install-only) and Live Edition (live+install). If you want a standard installation ISO, take the Standard Edition below. If you want LiveCD with multiple desktop environments of choices, take the LiveCD Edition below.
Installer edition:
For installing, just DVD1 is enough.
32-bit64-bit
LiveCD edition:
32-bit64-bit
2. Mirrors
Indonesia
Standard Edition mirrors (Poliwangi):
32-bit64-bit
Live Edition mirrors (Datautama):
32-bit64-bit
Japan
Standard Edition mirrors (Jaist):
32-bit64-bitLive Edition mirrors (Jaist):
32-bit64-bit
Brazil
Standard Edition mirrors (University of Sao Paulo):
32-bit64-bitLive Edition mirrors:
32-bit64-bit
South Africa
Standard Edition mirrors (Internet Solutions):
32-bit64-bit
Live Edition mirrors (Internet Solutions):
32-bit64-bit
3. Torrents
I strongly recommend downloading using BitTorrent instead of regular ways above. This way, you help yourself (often, it's far more faster) and help others (it reduces heavy load on Debian's servers).
Standard Edition torrents:
32-bit64-bit
Live Edition torrents:
32-bit64-bit
4. Checksums
These are MD5SUM values of all Debian 10.0 Standard (install-only) Editions:
5206549aab4b54026aa6dcd026f8ffcb debian-10.0.0-amd64-DVD-1.iso
7dde7b1787bd1d628958d915e92c2e0d debian-10.0.0-amd64-DVD-2.iso
edf3256c7504a0694be25d4d9367009d debian-10.0.0-amd64-DVD-3.iso
c2eb3092d9be2b8081f1526b37d6ac6d debian-10.0.0-i386-DVD-1.iso
1d5660465304b25497b991b682419101 debian-10.0.0-i386-DVD-2.iso
a71ad496ebfaa0d6faf6014bcab67299 debian-10.0.0-i386-DVD-3.iso
These are MD5SUM values of all Debian 10.0 Live Editions:
e73b3cf4a3610cd4032d94969edb040a debian-live-10.0.0-amd64-cinnamon.iso
6ad2e9bfd69bb6e348694728a0e75243 debian-live-10.0.0-amd64-gnome.iso
045f0456072179c47f7f20fdb0b845ce debian-live-10.0.0-amd64-kde.iso
bd025c7ac8556055d7766be8cab5b479 debian-live-10.0.0-amd64-lxde.iso
354770ef7e1ea3d02ecb539ab0b16090 debian-live-10.0.0-amd64-lxqt.iso
863b340e57815f6f3cf1b7d46aa57fc1 debian-live-10.0.0-amd64-mate.iso
c4c9ad312a5d1c76241ff17d6e7264ef debian-live-10.0.0-amd64-xfce.iso
226f259e53dcbb073720114ddbe3dde3 debian-live-10.0.0-i386-cinnamon.iso
04fb8e6ab7fe4433bb0e58c2dac59806 debian-live-10.0.0-i386-gnome.iso
3344a2073305624c79b57eb1693f2a3b debian-live-10.0.0-i386-kde.iso
3d45a8eba510a99fe0a4515638cc30c5 debian-live-10.0.0-i386-lxde.iso
d3fdf4d6cf2ccd8f551eb7b54fcc9382 debian-live-10.0.0-i386-lxqt.iso
863bd11f35c08babec04fd5cc1de5d5e debian-live-10.0.0-i386-mate.iso
7305818b4ea1eaffdd6a5a4f64d6337f debian-live-10.0.0-i386-xfce.iso
5. Source Code
As always, Debian 10.0 comes with Source Code ISOs. If you wish to redistribute Debian and comply with GNU GPL requirements, you can grab these to accompany your installer ISOs above.
More about it you can read Selling Free Software is OK! and Compliance Practical Guide.
Debian 10.0 consists of no less than total sixteen DVDs. The only ISOs available are DVD1, DVD2, and DVD3. However, DVD4 to DVD16 are missing. Fortunately, you can download them yourselves by using jidgo program to the links here: https://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/10.0.0/amd64/jigdo-dvd.
Donate to Debian Project
Debian is a giant, worldwide, non-profit project. Many individuals, corporations, and others donate to Debian to support all the amazing works we all benefit from. You can help Debian Project by donating to https://www.debian.org/donations.
This article is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Subscribe to UbuntuBuzz Telegram Channel to get article updates directly.1. Official Downloads
Debian 10.0 comes in two type of installers, Standard Edition (install-only) and Live Edition (live+install). If you want a standard installation ISO, take the Standard Edition below. If you want LiveCD with multiple desktop environments of choices, take the LiveCD Edition below.
Installer edition:
For installing, just DVD1 is enough.
32-bit64-bit
LiveCD edition:
32-bit64-bit
2. Mirrors
Indonesia
Standard Edition mirrors (Poliwangi):
32-bit64-bit
Live Edition mirrors (Datautama):
32-bit64-bit
Japan
Standard Edition mirrors (Jaist):
32-bit64-bitLive Edition mirrors (Jaist):
32-bit64-bit
Brazil
Standard Edition mirrors (University of Sao Paulo):
32-bit64-bitLive Edition mirrors:
32-bit64-bit
South Africa
Standard Edition mirrors (Internet Solutions):
32-bit64-bit
Live Edition mirrors (Internet Solutions):
32-bit64-bit
3. Torrents
I strongly recommend downloading using BitTorrent instead of regular ways above. This way, you help yourself (often, it's far more faster) and help others (it reduces heavy load on Debian's servers).
Standard Edition torrents:
32-bit64-bit
Live Edition torrents:
32-bit64-bit
4. Checksums
These are MD5SUM values of all Debian 10.0 Standard (install-only) Editions:
5206549aab4b54026aa6dcd026f8ffcb debian-10.0.0-amd64-DVD-1.iso
7dde7b1787bd1d628958d915e92c2e0d debian-10.0.0-amd64-DVD-2.iso
edf3256c7504a0694be25d4d9367009d debian-10.0.0-amd64-DVD-3.iso
c2eb3092d9be2b8081f1526b37d6ac6d debian-10.0.0-i386-DVD-1.iso
1d5660465304b25497b991b682419101 debian-10.0.0-i386-DVD-2.iso
a71ad496ebfaa0d6faf6014bcab67299 debian-10.0.0-i386-DVD-3.iso
These are MD5SUM values of all Debian 10.0 Live Editions:
e73b3cf4a3610cd4032d94969edb040a debian-live-10.0.0-amd64-cinnamon.iso
6ad2e9bfd69bb6e348694728a0e75243 debian-live-10.0.0-amd64-gnome.iso
045f0456072179c47f7f20fdb0b845ce debian-live-10.0.0-amd64-kde.iso
bd025c7ac8556055d7766be8cab5b479 debian-live-10.0.0-amd64-lxde.iso
354770ef7e1ea3d02ecb539ab0b16090 debian-live-10.0.0-amd64-lxqt.iso
863b340e57815f6f3cf1b7d46aa57fc1 debian-live-10.0.0-amd64-mate.iso
c4c9ad312a5d1c76241ff17d6e7264ef debian-live-10.0.0-amd64-xfce.iso
226f259e53dcbb073720114ddbe3dde3 debian-live-10.0.0-i386-cinnamon.iso
04fb8e6ab7fe4433bb0e58c2dac59806 debian-live-10.0.0-i386-gnome.iso
3344a2073305624c79b57eb1693f2a3b debian-live-10.0.0-i386-kde.iso
3d45a8eba510a99fe0a4515638cc30c5 debian-live-10.0.0-i386-lxde.iso
d3fdf4d6cf2ccd8f551eb7b54fcc9382 debian-live-10.0.0-i386-lxqt.iso
863bd11f35c08babec04fd5cc1de5d5e debian-live-10.0.0-i386-mate.iso
7305818b4ea1eaffdd6a5a4f64d6337f debian-live-10.0.0-i386-xfce.iso
5. Source Code
As always, Debian 10.0 comes with Source Code ISOs. If you wish to redistribute Debian and comply with GNU GPL requirements, you can grab these to accompany your installer ISOs above.
More about it you can read Selling Free Software is OK! and Compliance Practical Guide.
Debian 10.0 consists of no less than total sixteen DVDs. The only ISOs available are DVD1, DVD2, and DVD3. However, DVD4 to DVD16 are missing. Fortunately, you can download them yourselves by using jidgo program to the links here: https://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/10.0.0/amd64/jigdo-dvd.
Donate to Debian Project
Debian is a giant, worldwide, non-profit project. Many individuals, corporations, and others donate to Debian to support all the amazing works we all benefit from. You can help Debian Project by donating to https://www.debian.org/donations.
This article is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Import Color Palettes (Swatches) for GIMP and Inkscape on Ubuntu
There are many color palettes you can download on the net. The secret is, GIMP palettes are compatible to Inkscape. You can import palettes to both GIMP and Inkscape easily. On GNU/Linux system, you need to put the file with .gpl extension into ~/.config/GIMP/x.y/palettes/ and ~/.config/inkscape/palettes/, respectively. And then restart the app to enable the color swatches. I use Nord Color Palette as example here. See the procedures below and more free palettes ready to download. Happy coloring!
Subscribe to UbuntuBuzz Telegram Channel to get article updates directly.
GIMP
Copy the .gpl file to ~/.config/GIMP/x.y/palettes/ directory (where x.y is the GIMP version number). For instance here, Nord Color Palette file is nord.gpl and I copied it to /home/ubuntu/.config/GIMP/2.9/palettes/ directory as my username is 'ubuntu' and GIMP version is '2.9'.
Run GIMP and click the triangle button > Add Tab > Palettes > then a new palette tab added and the palette (Nord here) should appear there.
Double-click the palette name (Nord here) to show the colors. Example below shows the fifteen Nord colors ready to use on GIMP.
Inkscape
Copy the .gpl file into ~/.config/inkscape/palettes/ directory.
Restart Inkscape and you should find Nord Color Palette among other palettes via bottom palette > triangle button on right > Nord. You can also enable the swatches by pressing Ctrl+Shift+W. Picture below also shows the fifteen Nord colors ready to use on Inkscape.
More Palettes
Fortunately, there are so many color palettes available out there. From Material Design to Pantone color swatches, and more. The procedures to import them are the same as above. You can start from these links.
- http://denilson.sa.nom.br/gimp-palettes
- https://github.com/denilsonsa/gimp-palettes
- https://github.com/KiSSFLOW/gimp-material-design-color-palette
- https://github.com/arcticicestudio/nord
(Denilson's awesome collection of color palettes)
Enjoy!
This article is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Plasma 5.15 and 5.16 on Kubuntu and Other Distros
(Plasma 5.16 on Kubuntu 19.04)
KDE Project released its latest desktop Plasma 5.15 at February and Plasma 5.16 at June this year. This article informs how to install the latest one on Kubuntu Disco 19.04 and --if you cannot upgrade-- what other distros available for you preinstalled with either of both versions. Enjoy!
Subscribe to UbuntuBuzz Telegram Channel to get article updates directly.
Release Notes
Notes Before Upgrading
Do you need newer Plasma? Most people will not need it. But if you want to, I suggest you to do this on a separate experimental system and not on your daily work one.
Kubuntu
For Cosmic 19.04, Plasma 5.15 is preinstalled already.
Plasma 5.16 is available from PPA. To install it:
1) Run command lines:
$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:kubuntu-ppa/backports
$ sudo apt-get install plasma-desktop plasma-workspace plasma-framework
2) Logout.
3) Login. Check start menu > About > it should say Plasma 5.16 now.
(Once upgraded, System Info will say it's 5.16 already)
Note: that three packages should be enough to get a working Plasma 5.16 and the installation costs only +/-20MB data. If you wish to have full upgrade (with larger data required), follow official guide.
Other Distros
If you wish to download a distro with Plasma 5.16 included, see KDE Neon. I suggest to pick the User Edition without hesitation.
Other than that, latest PCLinuxOS released June is now including 5.16 as well.
If you don't want the latest one, the two successors of Mandriva, OpenMandriva Lx 4 (released June) and Mageia 7 (just released today) both include Plasma 5.15. If you want Slackware-based one, have a look at Porteus 5 Release Candidate 1 (also released June). These distros are all LiveCDs so you can instantly use Plasma without installing the OS.
(Websites of Neon, PCLinuxOS, and OpenMandriva)
Last but not least, if you want to manually install latest Plasma on other distros, for example Manjaro or Exherbo, please refer to official information instead.
Happy KDE!
This article is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
KDE Project released its latest desktop Plasma 5.15 at February and Plasma 5.16 at June this year. This article informs how to install the latest one on Kubuntu Disco 19.04 and --if you cannot upgrade-- what other distros available for you preinstalled with either of both versions. Enjoy!
Subscribe to UbuntuBuzz Telegram Channel to get article updates directly.
Release Notes
- Plasma 5.15 (February)
- Plasma 5.16 (June)
- Official Release Video (via PeerTube)
- Kubuntu Project's PPAs of 5.15 and 5.16
Notes Before Upgrading
Do you need newer Plasma? Most people will not need it. But if you want to, I suggest you to do this on a separate experimental system and not on your daily work one.
Kubuntu
For Cosmic 19.04, Plasma 5.15 is preinstalled already.
Plasma 5.16 is available from PPA. To install it:
1) Run command lines:
$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:kubuntu-ppa/backports
$ sudo apt-get install plasma-desktop plasma-workspace plasma-framework
2) Logout.
3) Login. Check start menu > About > it should say Plasma 5.16 now.
(Once upgraded, System Info will say it's 5.16 already)
Note: that three packages should be enough to get a working Plasma 5.16 and the installation costs only +/-20MB data. If you wish to have full upgrade (with larger data required), follow official guide.
Other Distros
If you wish to download a distro with Plasma 5.16 included, see KDE Neon. I suggest to pick the User Edition without hesitation.
Other than that, latest PCLinuxOS released June is now including 5.16 as well.
If you don't want the latest one, the two successors of Mandriva, OpenMandriva Lx 4 (released June) and Mageia 7 (just released today) both include Plasma 5.15. If you want Slackware-based one, have a look at Porteus 5 Release Candidate 1 (also released June). These distros are all LiveCDs so you can instantly use Plasma without installing the OS.
(Websites of Neon, PCLinuxOS, and OpenMandriva)
Last but not least, if you want to manually install latest Plasma on other distros, for example Manjaro or Exherbo, please refer to official information instead.
Happy KDE!
This article is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Upgrade from Windows 7 to Ubuntu Part 1: Intro
(Ubuntu version 18.04 is suitable to replace Windows 7)
Ubuntu is a free, libre, easy to use, secure, popular desktop operating system capable to replace Windows 7. As many people anticipated, soon Windows 7 will cease away just like XP, and this is the time for them to consider switching to GNU/Linux operating system. This article is the first part of my migration guide to Ubuntu for Windows 7 users anywhere. You will find here intro to Ubuntu and its goodness, its user interface, difference to Windows, and its terminology. I'm trying my best to make every part short and easy enough to understand for everybody. Finally, enjoy Ubuntu!
Subscribe to UbuntuBuzz Telegram Channel to get article updates directly.
Welcome to Ubuntu!
Congratulations to all Windows 7 users who planned to switch to Ubuntu! I really prepared this article series to welcome you and to help you knowing Ubuntu more. As we know, Microsoft prepared to end Windows 7 support at 2020 or the year where Ubuntu 20.04 LTS would be released. This very moment is a good chance for you to prepare everything as early as possible. I write this article for beginners and I hope everybody finds it useful. Enjoy and have a successful switch!
(Ubuntu Official Website: a good start to learn Ubuntu is to visit its online page)
Ubuntu in one paragraph
Ubuntu is a popular computer operating system developed by Canonical Ltd., that is free and libre, easy to use, modern and complete with worldwide community and commercial support. Its name comes from ancient African word meaning humanity to others. Ubuntu is capable to replace Windows or macOS in everybody's computing life. Ubuntu first released in 2004 as version 4.10 and reached version 18.04 in 2018. Everybody can obtain Ubuntu gratis at its website www.ubuntu.com.
(The official Ubuntu logo with the famous Circle of Friends)
Index
Full index of this whole series is below. However, I might change this on the way.
Part 1: Intro
Part 2: Releases
Part 3: Applications
Part 4: Installing
Part 5: Using
Part 6: Managing
Part 7: Setting
Part 8: LibreOffice
1. Freedom and Your Rights
Free software movement pioneered by the FSF opened our eyes that every computer software should be free, meaning, fully controlled by the user rather than the developer. Such software is called free software, or, libre software (some call it open source), because the user is on full control (unlimited) over the software. On the contrary, software that is not free is called nonfree, or proprietary software, controlled by the developer not by the user although running on user's computing. Ubuntu is free software, Windows is nonfree software. Ubuntu is one among hundreds of free GNU/Linux operating systems publicly available today.
(GNU Manifesto, published at FSF website, the 1985 milestone of free software movement around the world)
(Ubuntu Mission page: a long page (split on two browser) declaring the mission of Ubuntu Project to bring Free Software and Open Source to widest audience)
i) Using
ii) Copying
iii) Installing
iv) Selling
(Thanks to free software licenses within Ubuntu, we can find people sell Ubuntu CDs online like OSDisc.com, Amazon, etc.)
v) Modifying
vi) Sharing
vii) Obtaining source code
2. Computer and Installation
Today, we can purchase computers and laptops preinstalled with Ubuntu just like those available with Windows 7. Note the brands: Dell, HP, Lenovo, System76, Entroware, Acer, and many more brands certified by Canonical Inc. And when we install Ubuntu on a computer, normally it would detect all hardware automatically and you do not need any "Driver Pack CD".
(A screenshot of Hewlett-Packard website showing their laptops and computers with Ubuntu pre-installed)
((a) Dell XPS 13 endorsed on Ubuntu website (b) Entroware from UK sells laptops with Ubuntu (c) system76 from US sells laptops with Pop!_OS and Ubuntu)
A normal Ubuntu installation would finish in about 15 minutes. This including all device driver so Ubuntu users do not need "Driver Pack CD". The installation procedures are a lot more easier than Windows. You may see Ubuntu 18.04 installation guide with pictures here.
(Installation screen (at initial step) of Ubuntu 18.04)
3. User Interface
Ubuntu user interface is easy to use, simple, yet useful for everybody to run applications and work quickly. To make it a lot more easy for you, actually this desktop resembles Android user interface more than Windows. There are three important things on it: (a) the desktop in general, (b) the start menu, and (c) the overview. First, every application running appears with black titlebar and orange Close button on right side while the application icon resides on the vertical panel on left. Second, start menu is opened by pressing 3x3 dots button on bottom or instead you can type to search installed applications. Third, you can see all running apps in one screen by pressing Super key alone.
((a) Desktop with two applications running (b) Start menu opened showing apps installed (c) Overview to show all currently running apps)
Next thing important is the file manager as its the heart of your desktop computing. On Windows, you live with Explorer. On Ubuntu, you live with Nautilus. One thing you need to know is: Nautilus is very simple and a lot simpler than Explorer. This is Nautilus File Manager you need to know. And one more thing, its search functionality is amazingly fast.
((a) Nautilus viewing folders on Ubuntu (b) It presents files and folders in Detailed View mode (c) Options available to enhance sorting, zooming, etc. as you wish)
Not less important, on Ubuntu you will also find Properties Dialog once you right-click a file and select Properties. A typical Properties Dialog shows information such as icon, file name, file size, folder items, path, permissions, and associated applications.
((a) Information of a folder (b) Access rights and ownership information of a folder (c) Default app associated to open a JPEG file or more famous called "Open With")
4. What you can do with ubuntu
Practically everything you can do with Windows. Ubuntu is suitable for everybody including casual users, students and teachers, designers and programmers, researchers and everybody else.
((a) Ubuntu runs Inkscape and GIMP for graphic designing (b) Geany for programming and GNU Octave to replace MATLAB (c) A funny blocks game and Audacity audio editor)
5. Difference between windows and ubuntu
Every new adopter of Ubuntu needs to know technical differences between it and Windows before switching.
i) Repository:
Ubuntu has software repository, Windows has no such thing. Ubuntu user installs software from a central repository, Windows user installs software from multiple different sources. A repository is a place where software packages collected for a particular Ubuntu version. Ubuntu repository available worldwide as servers (called mirrors) and normally one country has at least one. Repository is one cause a GNU/Linux distro called distro because it distributes software.
(List of Ubuntu repository servers around the world with total of 400+ available today)
ii) LiveCD:
In order to test Ubuntu on your computer, no installation required, no change to your hard disk either, simply run it. This is called LiveCD. On the contrary, to test a version of Windows, Seven for example, you must actually install it hence changing your hard disk. No LiveCD feature on Windows.
(While booting, selecting "Try Ubuntu" enables LiveCD and you may enjoy full system as you please)
iii) Filesystem:
Ubuntu disk filesystem is EXT4 and Windows' is NTFS. Ubuntu can read-write to Windows partitions, but Windows cannot read-write to Ubuntu partitions.
iv) Antivirus:
Ubuntu users do not install antivirus, while Windows users install.
v) Unique desktop:
User interface design of Ubuntu is quite different to Windows' one. The desktop environment has a name, it is GNOME, while Windows has no such separation between the OS and the interface. The taskbar is vertically placed on left, tray on top-right, and start menu button on bottom-left.
(GNOME official website: this is the source where Ubuntu got its awesome user interface)
vi) Add/remove program:
This is the actual biggest difference. Windows has its own way to install software, so that Ubuntu with its own way. On Windows, a user visits multiple websites to download multiple applications separately as files, and later on install them. On Ubuntu, a user runs their Software Center ("Package Manager"), search there, and install applications from there as well. Extension of Windows application is .exe while Ubuntu's is .deb.
vii) Command lines:
Ubuntu user types command lines, Windows user doesn't. It's not either good or bad, easy or not, but it's the way. Do not afraid of command lines, you can learn more with this guide.
6. Virus and antivirus
GNU/Linux is really good news to Windows users as we are living without virus and do not need antivirus. Ubuntu users do not install antivirus. Many users switching to Ubuntu find their happiness as they are finally free from worries caused by virus. See GNU Project's statement "GNU/Linux does not need antivirus software.".
One question always remains about why such good thing happened to GNU/Linux (and Ubuntu in particular) and keep happening. The answer is your rights, it's because the developer has fulfilled every user's rights. On the contrary, Microsoft does not respects rights of all Windows users. What I'm talking here are the rights to understand how the system works (including right to get the source code) and to improve it (including fixing the vulnerabilities) both individually and collectively. Only free operating system enables worldwide people in all countries to keep security together and share fixes to each others.
7. References for you
Yo need to know references Ubuntu users usually visit to get help, support, and --of course-- friends.
(Websites you can read to know more and more about Ubuntu and GNU/Linux)
8. Terminology
(Foldoc, an online dictionary of computing can help you understand more terms)
One of important things for everybody learning Ubuntu is knowing the basic terminology. In Ubuntu community, there are many terms used day by day related to every important tasks. So, knowing frequently used terms are helpful for you to ease you enter this awesome community. I tried to present the most frequently used terms for you as the basics:
free software:
Computer software that the user is free. It means user has unlimited rights to use, study, modify, and share the software with its source code. This term is endorsed by FSF. This is antonym to nonfree software.
open source:
Synonym to free software. This term is published and endorsed by OSI.
nonfree software:
Computer software that the user is not free. Also called proprietary software. It means user is prohibited (his/her rights removed) to use, study, modify, or share the software and mostly without its source code. This is antonym to free software.
kernel:
A part of operating system that is responsible to manage hardware resources.
distribution:
Free software operating system GNU with Linux as its kernel. Every GNU/Linux operating system comes from integrating Linux to GNU. For instance, Ubuntu is GNU/Linux and Windows is not.
i386 and amd64:
Also called 32-bit and 64-bit, respectively. Both are two computer architectures among other computer architectures.
linux:
A free software kernel compatible to Unix developed by Linus Torvalds since 1992 along with the community.
fedora and opensuse and manjaro:
Most popular GNU/Linux operating systems other than Ubuntu among others.
operating system:
A software product which without it a computer cannot operate. Operating system is an integration of certain important programs. For example, Windows and Ubuntu are operating systems.
desktop:
Computer designed to put on a desk; operating system designed with GUI and operated with mouse.
iso:
Operating system as a computer file. The file format is .iso. For example, Ubuntu operating system is available worldwide (can be downloaded) as ISO file.
package manager:
A software tool to help user install software to the operating system. For instance, Ubuntu has APT and Android has Play Store.
checksum:
Mathematical number as ID of an ISO image published on the internet. A corrupt ISO image file (or the fake one) would have different ID number with the ID number published by the original developer.
Some notes
Several things I should also mention here. In fact, although Ubuntu is free GNU/Linux operating system, it still contains nonfree software in the kernel and repository. And we are aware of 2012 criticism by the FSF about spyware in Ubuntu. I'm still recommending Ubuntu, as its the easiest one for widest people possible in my opinion (and once you learn it, using other distro like Trisquel OS is easy), so with this information you can consider and decide.
Next one...
Next part will talk about Ubuntu release versions in short and simple way possible. I hope this first one really helps Windows 7 users to know Ubuntu. See you next time and enjoy!
This article is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Ubuntu is a free, libre, easy to use, secure, popular desktop operating system capable to replace Windows 7. As many people anticipated, soon Windows 7 will cease away just like XP, and this is the time for them to consider switching to GNU/Linux operating system. This article is the first part of my migration guide to Ubuntu for Windows 7 users anywhere. You will find here intro to Ubuntu and its goodness, its user interface, difference to Windows, and its terminology. I'm trying my best to make every part short and easy enough to understand for everybody. Finally, enjoy Ubuntu!
Subscribe to UbuntuBuzz Telegram Channel to get article updates directly.
Welcome to Ubuntu!
Congratulations to all Windows 7 users who planned to switch to Ubuntu! I really prepared this article series to welcome you and to help you knowing Ubuntu more. As we know, Microsoft prepared to end Windows 7 support at 2020 or the year where Ubuntu 20.04 LTS would be released. This very moment is a good chance for you to prepare everything as early as possible. I write this article for beginners and I hope everybody finds it useful. Enjoy and have a successful switch!
(Ubuntu Official Website: a good start to learn Ubuntu is to visit its online page)
Ubuntu in one paragraph
Ubuntu is a popular computer operating system developed by Canonical Ltd., that is free and libre, easy to use, modern and complete with worldwide community and commercial support. Its name comes from ancient African word meaning humanity to others. Ubuntu is capable to replace Windows or macOS in everybody's computing life. Ubuntu first released in 2004 as version 4.10 and reached version 18.04 in 2018. Everybody can obtain Ubuntu gratis at its website www.ubuntu.com.
(The official Ubuntu logo with the famous Circle of Friends)
Index
Full index of this whole series is below. However, I might change this on the way.
Part 1: Intro
- - Freedom and your rights
- - Computers and hardware
- - User interface
- - What you can do with ubuntu
- - What makes Ubuntu different to Windows
- - Virus & antivirus
- - References for you to learn from
- - Terminology
Part 2: Releases
- - History
- - Comparing to Windows releases
- - Debian as upstream
- - LTS and regular
Part 3: Applications
- - Sources
- - Comparison
Part 4: Installing
- - Difference to Windows installation
- - Guide
Part 5: Using
- - Different user's behaviors
- - Knowing the desktop
- - Knowing file manager
- - Knowing archiver
- - Knowing multimedia player
Part 6: Managing
- - Software management
- - Backup
Part 7: Setting
- - Knowing control panel
- - Knowing terminal
- - Knowing system monitor
- - Some important commands
Part 8: LibreOffice
- - Features and formats
- - Social change
- - Writer tricks
- - Impress tricks
1. Freedom and Your Rights
Free software movement pioneered by the FSF opened our eyes that every computer software should be free, meaning, fully controlled by the user rather than the developer. Such software is called free software, or, libre software (some call it open source), because the user is on full control (unlimited) over the software. On the contrary, software that is not free is called nonfree, or proprietary software, controlled by the developer not by the user although running on user's computing. Ubuntu is free software, Windows is nonfree software. Ubuntu is one among hundreds of free GNU/Linux operating systems publicly available today.
(GNU Manifesto, published at FSF website, the 1985 milestone of free software movement around the world)
(Ubuntu Mission page: a long page (split on two browser) declaring the mission of Ubuntu Project to bring Free Software and Open Source to widest audience)
i) Using
- Windows: limited, you are prohibited to do several things and you must agree to an agreement before using it.
- Ubuntu: unlimited, and does not require agreement to use it.
ii) Copying
- Windows: no, you have no right to copy Windows as you wish. Although you have purchased it.
- Ubuntu: yes, you have full right to copy Ubuntu as much as you wish.
iii) Installing
- Windows: limited, only one copy of Windows for one computer for no more than one user. Installing one for multiple computers is prohibited.
- Ubuntu: unlimited, you have full rights to install one Ubuntu for multiple computers, whatever the number is, either with cost or gratis.
iv) Selling
- Windows: no, you are prohibited to sell copies of Windows, modified or not.
- Ubuntu: yes, you have full rights to sell copies of Ubuntu as much as you wish and whatever price you agreed upon with the buyers.
(Thanks to free software licenses within Ubuntu, we can find people sell Ubuntu CDs online like OSDisc.com, Amazon, etc.)
v) Modifying
- Windows: no, you are prohibited to modify Windows code. For example, you are prohibited to change either time limitation or online activation functionality of Windows.
- Ubuntu: yes, you have full right to modify Ubuntu's source code and binary code.
vi) Sharing
- Windows: no, copying is already prohibited and sharing to other people is automatically prohibited as well. Lending and renting Windows CD to friends are also prohibited.
- Ubuntu: yes, you have full rights to copy, share, lend, share Ubuntu to anyone as much as you wish.
vii) Obtaining source code
- Windows: no, you have no right over source code of Windows. Even the license does not mention the existence of that source code at all.
- Ubuntu: yes, Ubuntu serves every user special repository of source code plus ISO images of source code as well for each released version. Ubuntu licenses guarantees every user rights to obtain source code.
2. Computer and Installation
Today, we can purchase computers and laptops preinstalled with Ubuntu just like those available with Windows 7. Note the brands: Dell, HP, Lenovo, System76, Entroware, Acer, and many more brands certified by Canonical Inc. And when we install Ubuntu on a computer, normally it would detect all hardware automatically and you do not need any "Driver Pack CD".
(A screenshot of Hewlett-Packard website showing their laptops and computers with Ubuntu pre-installed)
((a) Dell XPS 13 endorsed on Ubuntu website (b) Entroware from UK sells laptops with Ubuntu (c) system76 from US sells laptops with Pop!_OS and Ubuntu)
A normal Ubuntu installation would finish in about 15 minutes. This including all device driver so Ubuntu users do not need "Driver Pack CD". The installation procedures are a lot more easier than Windows. You may see Ubuntu 18.04 installation guide with pictures here.
(Installation screen (at initial step) of Ubuntu 18.04)
3. User Interface
Ubuntu user interface is easy to use, simple, yet useful for everybody to run applications and work quickly. To make it a lot more easy for you, actually this desktop resembles Android user interface more than Windows. There are three important things on it: (a) the desktop in general, (b) the start menu, and (c) the overview. First, every application running appears with black titlebar and orange Close button on right side while the application icon resides on the vertical panel on left. Second, start menu is opened by pressing 3x3 dots button on bottom or instead you can type to search installed applications. Third, you can see all running apps in one screen by pressing Super key alone.
((a) Desktop with two applications running (b) Start menu opened showing apps installed (c) Overview to show all currently running apps)
Next thing important is the file manager as its the heart of your desktop computing. On Windows, you live with Explorer. On Ubuntu, you live with Nautilus. One thing you need to know is: Nautilus is very simple and a lot simpler than Explorer. This is Nautilus File Manager you need to know. And one more thing, its search functionality is amazingly fast.
((a) Nautilus viewing folders on Ubuntu (b) It presents files and folders in Detailed View mode (c) Options available to enhance sorting, zooming, etc. as you wish)
Not less important, on Ubuntu you will also find Properties Dialog once you right-click a file and select Properties. A typical Properties Dialog shows information such as icon, file name, file size, folder items, path, permissions, and associated applications.
((a) Information of a folder (b) Access rights and ownership information of a folder (c) Default app associated to open a JPEG file or more famous called "Open With")
4. What you can do with ubuntu
Practically everything you can do with Windows. Ubuntu is suitable for everybody including casual users, students and teachers, designers and programmers, researchers and everybody else.
- Operate your computer.
- Making documents.
- Browse the internet and have chat.
- Play audio and video.
- Play video games.
- Access your files, partitions, and disk, including Windows' ones.
- Programming (desktop, game, web, embedded, mobile development).
- Editing audio and video.
- Graphic design, for 2D and 3D, vector and bitmap.
- Run Windows applications (using Wine).
((a) Ubuntu runs Inkscape and GIMP for graphic designing (b) Geany for programming and GNU Octave to replace MATLAB (c) A funny blocks game and Audacity audio editor)
5. Difference between windows and ubuntu
Every new adopter of Ubuntu needs to know technical differences between it and Windows before switching.
i) Repository:
Ubuntu has software repository, Windows has no such thing. Ubuntu user installs software from a central repository, Windows user installs software from multiple different sources. A repository is a place where software packages collected for a particular Ubuntu version. Ubuntu repository available worldwide as servers (called mirrors) and normally one country has at least one. Repository is one cause a GNU/Linux distro called distro because it distributes software.
(List of Ubuntu repository servers around the world with total of 400+ available today)
ii) LiveCD:
In order to test Ubuntu on your computer, no installation required, no change to your hard disk either, simply run it. This is called LiveCD. On the contrary, to test a version of Windows, Seven for example, you must actually install it hence changing your hard disk. No LiveCD feature on Windows.
(While booting, selecting "Try Ubuntu" enables LiveCD and you may enjoy full system as you please)
iii) Filesystem:
Ubuntu disk filesystem is EXT4 and Windows' is NTFS. Ubuntu can read-write to Windows partitions, but Windows cannot read-write to Ubuntu partitions.
iv) Antivirus:
Ubuntu users do not install antivirus, while Windows users install.
v) Unique desktop:
User interface design of Ubuntu is quite different to Windows' one. The desktop environment has a name, it is GNOME, while Windows has no such separation between the OS and the interface. The taskbar is vertically placed on left, tray on top-right, and start menu button on bottom-left.
(GNOME official website: this is the source where Ubuntu got its awesome user interface)
vi) Add/remove program:
This is the actual biggest difference. Windows has its own way to install software, so that Ubuntu with its own way. On Windows, a user visits multiple websites to download multiple applications separately as files, and later on install them. On Ubuntu, a user runs their Software Center ("Package Manager"), search there, and install applications from there as well. Extension of Windows application is .exe while Ubuntu's is .deb.
vii) Command lines:
Ubuntu user types command lines, Windows user doesn't. It's not either good or bad, easy or not, but it's the way. Do not afraid of command lines, you can learn more with this guide.
6. Virus and antivirus
GNU/Linux is really good news to Windows users as we are living without virus and do not need antivirus. Ubuntu users do not install antivirus. Many users switching to Ubuntu find their happiness as they are finally free from worries caused by virus. See GNU Project's statement "GNU/Linux does not need antivirus software.".
One question always remains about why such good thing happened to GNU/Linux (and Ubuntu in particular) and keep happening. The answer is your rights, it's because the developer has fulfilled every user's rights. On the contrary, Microsoft does not respects rights of all Windows users. What I'm talking here are the rights to understand how the system works (including right to get the source code) and to improve it (including fixing the vulnerabilities) both individually and collectively. Only free operating system enables worldwide people in all countries to keep security together and share fixes to each others.
7. References for you
Yo need to know references Ubuntu users usually visit to get help, support, and --of course-- friends.
- getgnulinux.org, sophisticated intro for newbies including a friendly FAQ
- askubuntu.com, where Ubuntu users asking questions and give answers.
- ubuntuforums.org, same as askubuntu, but far older, still the biggest one, and includes other important things (joining in OS development etc.)
- linuxpreloaded.com, information of worldwide vendors selling laptops and computers preinstalled with GNU/Linux or Ubuntu
(Websites you can read to know more and more about Ubuntu and GNU/Linux)
8. Terminology
(Foldoc, an online dictionary of computing can help you understand more terms)
One of important things for everybody learning Ubuntu is knowing the basic terminology. In Ubuntu community, there are many terms used day by day related to every important tasks. So, knowing frequently used terms are helpful for you to ease you enter this awesome community. I tried to present the most frequently used terms for you as the basics:
free software:
Computer software that the user is free. It means user has unlimited rights to use, study, modify, and share the software with its source code. This term is endorsed by FSF. This is antonym to nonfree software.
open source:
Synonym to free software. This term is published and endorsed by OSI.
nonfree software:
Computer software that the user is not free. Also called proprietary software. It means user is prohibited (his/her rights removed) to use, study, modify, or share the software and mostly without its source code. This is antonym to free software.
kernel:
A part of operating system that is responsible to manage hardware resources.
distribution:
- to distribute: to convey software to other person.
- distributor: the person doing the distribution.
- distribution: a GNU/Linux operating system such as Ubuntu that is available as the OS and the repository.
- distro: synonym to distribution.
Free software operating system GNU with Linux as its kernel. Every GNU/Linux operating system comes from integrating Linux to GNU. For instance, Ubuntu is GNU/Linux and Windows is not.
i386 and amd64:
Also called 32-bit and 64-bit, respectively. Both are two computer architectures among other computer architectures.
linux:
A free software kernel compatible to Unix developed by Linus Torvalds since 1992 along with the community.
fedora and opensuse and manjaro:
Most popular GNU/Linux operating systems other than Ubuntu among others.
operating system:
A software product which without it a computer cannot operate. Operating system is an integration of certain important programs. For example, Windows and Ubuntu are operating systems.
desktop:
Computer designed to put on a desk; operating system designed with GUI and operated with mouse.
iso:
Operating system as a computer file. The file format is .iso. For example, Ubuntu operating system is available worldwide (can be downloaded) as ISO file.
package manager:
A software tool to help user install software to the operating system. For instance, Ubuntu has APT and Android has Play Store.
checksum:
Mathematical number as ID of an ISO image published on the internet. A corrupt ISO image file (or the fake one) would have different ID number with the ID number published by the original developer.
Some notes
Several things I should also mention here. In fact, although Ubuntu is free GNU/Linux operating system, it still contains nonfree software in the kernel and repository. And we are aware of 2012 criticism by the FSF about spyware in Ubuntu. I'm still recommending Ubuntu, as its the easiest one for widest people possible in my opinion (and once you learn it, using other distro like Trisquel OS is easy), so with this information you can consider and decide.
Next one...
Next part will talk about Ubuntu release versions in short and simple way possible. I hope this first one really helps Windows 7 users to know Ubuntu. See you next time and enjoy!
This article is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Nordic Theme on Ubuntu Desktop GNOME 3
Nordic is currently ranked #10 most popular GTK3 theme on OpenDesktop.org. This article exposes this theme beauty and explains how to install every component on Ubuntu 18.04. You can practice the installation procedures on other distros as long as it uses GNOME 3 as the user interface. Enjoy!
Subscribe to UbuntuBuzz Telegram Channel to get article updates directly.
About Nordic Theme
- Type: GTK3 theme
- Compatible with: GNOME 3.28 or later
- By: Eliver Lara
- Based on: https://github.com/arcticicestudio/nord
- URL: https://www.opendesktop.org/p/1267246/
- Source code: https://github.com/EliverLara/Nordic
- Donate: https://www.paypal.me/EliverLara
Nordic is a theme created by Eliver Lara based on Nord color palette. Being GTK3, it's compatible with distros using GNOME, MATE, and XFCE. This article will show Nordic on Bionic and how to install it.
(Nordic on OpenDesktop.org)
About Nord Color Theme
Nordic is based on Nord color palette, the 15 arctic, north-bluish colors available freely at GitHub. This color palette is usable with free software image editors like GIMP, Inkscape, and Krita. It is licensed under free, non-copylefted MIT license.
(A screenshot of a part of Nord website)
(GIMP and Inkscape using the same Nord color pallete)
Showcase
This is how Nordic GTK3 theme appears on Ubuntu Bionic Beaver. It includes not only the toolkit theme, but also the Shell theme so we can cover all buttons and workspace appearances.
(A standard Bionic desktop with Nordic GTK3 and Shell themes enabled)
(A normal window with Nordic theme)
How to install
There are several packages of Nordic theme you can download from opendesktop.org/p/1267246 at Files section. What you need to download are basically only two:
- Nordic.tar.gz
- Nordic-Folders.tar.xz
(Download page)
Install content of Nordic.tar.xz to ~/.themes. Install content of Nordic-Folders.tar.xz to ~/.icons. Simply create both directories if they didn't exist.
(File manager showing installed themes on ~/.themes and ~/.icons)
Finally, to enable it, use GNOME Tweaks. What you need to switch are:
- Applications: Nordic
- Icons: Nordic Folder
- Shell: Nordic
Enjoy!
This article is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Enso OS, A Desktop Mix between Xubuntu and elementary OS
(Enso OS desktop with Panther start menu opened on bottom and global menu showing on top and running Firefox browser)
Enso OS is a relatively new GNU/Linux distro based on Ubuntu with XFCE desktop coupled with Gala Window Manager. Looking at Enso is like looking at a mix between Xubuntu and elementary OS. It features a Super key start menu called Panther and a global menu on its top panel, making the interface very interesting to try. This overview briefly highlights the user interface for you. Enjoy!
Subscribe to UbuntuBuzz Telegram Channel to get article updates directly.
1. About Enso OS
Enso PS is a new GNU/Linux distro based on Ubuntu with XFCE and Pantheon combined as its user interface. Thus, made the combination between Xubuntu and elementary OS desktops. The window manager is Gala while the file manager is Thunar. The latest version is 0.3.1, released in 6 June 2019, available in 64-bit architecture only, the ISO size is 1.9GB and serving as LiveCD + installer (just like Ubuntu ISOs). This version codename is Dancing Daisy (perhaps as a play phrase to Disco Dingo). Enso is developed by one man from UK, Nick Wilkins.
Logo:
Slogans:
Important links:
2. Desktop
Enso features a desktop ala elementary OS with a typical top panel and a bottom dock. This desktop is mainly built from XFCE, not Pantheon, with Plank and Gala as exceptions. The top panel for instance, is XFCE4 Panel, not Wingpanel.
(Enso OS first login with a Welcome to Enso! program; providing such welcome is now a trend among Manjaro, Mint, Ubuntu MATE, and other desktop-oriented distros)
(Pressing the Getting Started button opens the five welcoming buttons to help first time users)
3. Start menu
This is Panther, a modification to elementary's Slingshot, the start menu. This start menu features search, list view, and session buttons.
(Left: search function; center: list view; right: Shutdown and Restart buttons)
4. Global menu
Thanks to XFCE panel and the AppMenu applet, Enso features global menu which many elementary OS users looking for. This way, you can work with design graphic application for instance, with its menubar located always at top panel no matter where the current window position is, just like we saw on Unity desktop or macOS.
(Global menu works displaying Thunar menubar; and it also displays the program name "Thunar File Manager" on the top left)
5. Taskbar
It uses Plank Dock as taskbar. The theme used in this is Enso a custom Plank theme developed by Enso team. elementary OS users would feel familiar with this already.
(Bottom taskbar with transparent theme)
6. Workspace switcher
Pressing Super+A enables workspace switcher just like elementary OS. This one is the point where Pantheon works very well with XFCE within Enso.
(The beautiful switcher ala elementary OS)
7. From inside...
Using Task Manager, you can clearly see Gala running on background as Enso's window manager. This window manager is the one responsible drawing every window border we see and the workspace switcher with all animations above. It runs over Xorg and not Wayland. And everything else appearing on desktop is handled by XFCE (xfce4-panel, xfce4-session).
(Task manager shows the top processes)
Some words from me and where to download
Enso OS is clearly a experimental OS right now considering one person acts as the developer. We can see more people contributing in its Gitter chatroom, but it needs a long journey to be a serious GNU/Linux distro like Ubuntu or openSUSE. However, I write this overview to present to everybody the new concept of mixing between XFCE and Pantheon user interface. Honestly, that's the most interesting thing I see on Enso. I hope everybody could appreciate this mixed desktop and help developing it. Last but not least, I encourage elementary OS Juno users who want global menu to try Enso soon. Try it out by downloading here and enjoy!
This article is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Enso OS is a relatively new GNU/Linux distro based on Ubuntu with XFCE desktop coupled with Gala Window Manager. Looking at Enso is like looking at a mix between Xubuntu and elementary OS. It features a Super key start menu called Panther and a global menu on its top panel, making the interface very interesting to try. This overview briefly highlights the user interface for you. Enjoy!
Subscribe to UbuntuBuzz Telegram Channel to get article updates directly.
1. About Enso OS
Enso PS is a new GNU/Linux distro based on Ubuntu with XFCE and Pantheon combined as its user interface. Thus, made the combination between Xubuntu and elementary OS desktops. The window manager is Gala while the file manager is Thunar. The latest version is 0.3.1, released in 6 June 2019, available in 64-bit architecture only, the ISO size is 1.9GB and serving as LiveCD + installer (just like Ubuntu ISOs). This version codename is Dancing Daisy (perhaps as a play phrase to Disco Dingo). Enso is developed by one man from UK, Nick Wilkins.
Logo:
Slogans:
- Believe in greener computing
- An OS for aging computers
Important links:
- Official website
- Download page (Sourceforge)
- Documentation
- News
- Donation (Paypal)
- Source code
- Testing the OS online
- Distrowatch
2. Desktop
Enso features a desktop ala elementary OS with a typical top panel and a bottom dock. This desktop is mainly built from XFCE, not Pantheon, with Plank and Gala as exceptions. The top panel for instance, is XFCE4 Panel, not Wingpanel.
(Enso OS first login with a Welcome to Enso! program; providing such welcome is now a trend among Manjaro, Mint, Ubuntu MATE, and other desktop-oriented distros)
(Pressing the Getting Started button opens the five welcoming buttons to help first time users)
3. Start menu
This is Panther, a modification to elementary's Slingshot, the start menu. This start menu features search, list view, and session buttons.
(Left: search function; center: list view; right: Shutdown and Restart buttons)
4. Global menu
Thanks to XFCE panel and the AppMenu applet, Enso features global menu which many elementary OS users looking for. This way, you can work with design graphic application for instance, with its menubar located always at top panel no matter where the current window position is, just like we saw on Unity desktop or macOS.
(Global menu works displaying Thunar menubar; and it also displays the program name "Thunar File Manager" on the top left)
5. Taskbar
It uses Plank Dock as taskbar. The theme used in this is Enso a custom Plank theme developed by Enso team. elementary OS users would feel familiar with this already.
(Bottom taskbar with transparent theme)
6. Workspace switcher
Pressing Super+A enables workspace switcher just like elementary OS. This one is the point where Pantheon works very well with XFCE within Enso.
(The beautiful switcher ala elementary OS)
7. From inside...
Using Task Manager, you can clearly see Gala running on background as Enso's window manager. This window manager is the one responsible drawing every window border we see and the workspace switcher with all animations above. It runs over Xorg and not Wayland. And everything else appearing on desktop is handled by XFCE (xfce4-panel, xfce4-session).
(Task manager shows the top processes)
Some words from me and where to download
Enso OS is clearly a experimental OS right now considering one person acts as the developer. We can see more people contributing in its Gitter chatroom, but it needs a long journey to be a serious GNU/Linux distro like Ubuntu or openSUSE. However, I write this overview to present to everybody the new concept of mixing between XFCE and Pantheon user interface. Honestly, that's the most interesting thing I see on Enso. I hope everybody could appreciate this mixed desktop and help developing it. Last but not least, I encourage elementary OS Juno users who want global menu to try Enso soon. Try it out by downloading here and enjoy!
This article is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
MX GNU/Linux, A Desktop Mix of Mepis and Antix without Systemd
(MX-18 desktop with start menu and system info opened)
MX is an interesting desktop GNU/Linux based on Debian but without Systemd. It's powered with simple and user friendly interface thanks to XFCE Desktop. It's actually very lightweight, shipped with a lot of MX own tools (including remastering and tweaking ones), available in 32-bit and 64-bit architectures. The latest version, MX-18 "Continuum", equipped with ability to search and install Flatpak applications. Last but not least, MX exists as collaboration between two big communities, Mepis and antiX, hence the name MX since 2008 up to today. I hope you enjoy my overview below introducing several good points of MX. Enjoy!
Subscribe to UbuntuBuzz Telegram Channel to get article updates directly.
1. About MX
MX is a desktop operating system with simple user interface and without Systemd Init based on Debian GNU/Linux and exists as a collaboration project between Mepis and Antix communities. It's available for 32-bit and 64-bit computers with ISO download and repository mirrors available worldwide. Its slogan is "Midweight Simple Stable Desktop OS". Its first version was MX-14 on 2014 and the latest one is MX-18 on 2019. And, it's currently ranked #1 on Distrowatch over Manjaro and Ubuntu. MX website is located at https://mxlinux.org.
(MX official logo)
(Welcome screen appears on LiveCD session of MX-18 showing help and resources for user including username and password of the session)
What's so interesting about MX is not only its Sysvinit, but also its commitment to support 32-bit computers as stated on their FAQ "MX has no plans to discontinue 32-bit releases for the foreseeable future." This is a really good news for old-computer users.
For whom MX is? In my opinion, MX is mostly suitable for people who avoid Systemd looking for a well-maintained desktop GNU/Linux. You see, all desktop GNU/Linux are now using Systemd, just say Ubuntu, Fedora, openSUSE, Manjaro, even Debian itself. On the other hand, non-Systemd distro number is very limited, just say Slackware, Gentoo, and others and at best Devuan (new, just released 2014). MX came since 2008 and is supported by two large and active communities, Mepis and Antix; it's based on Debian which everybody is accustomed to its Synaptic and APT; it focuses solely on desktop with XFCE. Last but not least, as you can see below, MX community is quite active and large, a good place for everybody getting help.
(MX popularity on Distrowatch is now #1 among the big five)
Important links of MX are available here:
2. Desktop
A custom XFCE with unusual taskbar on left and start menu button on bottom. Fortunately, Super key is enabled to open/close the start menu.
MX-18 includes a lot of MX wallpapers. And just like other XFCE distros, like Xubuntu, right-click on desktop shows the long context menu like below.
3. Applications and Flatpak
MX-18 ISO size is 1.4GB for either 32-bit or 64-bit versions. With such size, surprisingly MX includes so many applications. It includes LibreOffice (replacement to Microsoft Office), GIMP (r. to Photoshop), qpdfviewer (r. to Foxit Reader), Swell Foop (amusing game), Geany (r. to Sublime Text), VLC (video player), Clementine (r. to Winamp), Xfburn (r. to Nero Burning), etc.
(Gif animation: MX start menu viewing every one of application installed)
(MX-18 includes the whole LibreOffice version 6.0)
What's interesting is the inclusion of Flatpak on MX-18. And, users can easily search and install any Flatpak application using MX Package Installer. Flatpak, is an alternative method to obtain more software on GNU/Linux regardless the distro. By this inclusion, MX users have direct access to all applications available at Flathub, the central app store of Flatpak for all distros.
(MX Package Installer showing applications with sizes, total items, and repository source (Flathub.org); and I find that it runs very quickly, far beyond Ubuntu Software Center for instance)
(Flathub.org as the main source of Flatpak applications today)
4. Repository and Updates
MX has multiple repositories of MX itself, antiX's, and Debian Stretch's. They are maintained by 3 different communities. All lists are available under /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ directory and unusually, there is no actual /etc/apt/sources.list file. And as an information, MX has additional nonfree software source called various.list which points to Opera Browser and VirtualBox.
To install software, MX users mainly use Synaptic Package Manager. For individual DEB package, users can use GDebi instead. Both are from Debian.
Speaking about mirrors, fortunately MX mirrors are now available worldwide. Go to start menu > MX Repo Manager and you will see full table with country flags. For instance, suppose you live in Indonesia, just choose Indonesia mirror there (or the closest one geographically) and then Reload on Synaptic to change the download source to server in Indonesia. This way, installing software could be faster for everybody.
(List of mirrors available worldwide for MX-18)
5. Tools
MX is special because of it includes a lot of useful tools. Among them are MX Tweak (similar to GNOME Tweaks) and MX Tools (similar to Control Panel). MX Tweak makes it easy to rearrange panel and theming on desktop. MX Tools gives you central place to access all MX settings. To make you more interested, MX even includes a remastering tool called MX RemasterCC.
(MX Tweak allows you to switch panel position, desktop theme, and shadow effects)
(MX Tools is a central place to access all facilities available)
6. Documentation & Community
MX-18 includes 170 pages User Manual in PDF we can access from start menu > MX User Manual. Not only that, for built-in utilities like MX Tools, clicking Manual button views this User Manual.
(PDF as User Manual; this is similar to Manjaro's)
The forum is located at forum.mxlinux.org and it's quite active with total post of 180,000, 15,000 topics, and 6100 members and still counting. As a non-member, I like to see this forum, as everything you see on main page is dated 2019 meaning the discussions are very lively!
(The forum is by number even larger than Antix forum)
7. Init System
Finally, the init system used by default is Sysvinit. Actually, systemd is preinstalled as well but it's not enabled. Some other components comes from systemd but as stated in the documentation, they are merely helpers for compatibility.
(DPKG shows all Sysvinit related packages installed)
(DPKG shows that Systemd is actually installed)
Final Thoughts
Honestly, MX feels lightweight despite it states it's "midweight". Thanks to XFCE desktop, it runs flawlessly on my old laptop (Aspire One Pentium 4GB). I can say to people looking for good non-Systemd distro to try MX as the real alternative to Devuan. And for those looking a distro with a lot of its own tools, MX is a good alternative to either deepin or elementary OS. I like the fact that MX still supports 32-bit so everybody can run latest software on oldest computer possible. And the tool I like the most for now is the Flatpak section in MX Package Installer, as no other distro has such Synaptic-like Flatpak manager, it's really to-the-point in showing name and size of every Flatpak available. With large size community (along with tight collaboration from antiX's as well), everybody will feel at home using MX. I hope you enjoy this overview and try MX now. Enjoy!
This article is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
MX is an interesting desktop GNU/Linux based on Debian but without Systemd. It's powered with simple and user friendly interface thanks to XFCE Desktop. It's actually very lightweight, shipped with a lot of MX own tools (including remastering and tweaking ones), available in 32-bit and 64-bit architectures. The latest version, MX-18 "Continuum", equipped with ability to search and install Flatpak applications. Last but not least, MX exists as collaboration between two big communities, Mepis and antiX, hence the name MX since 2008 up to today. I hope you enjoy my overview below introducing several good points of MX. Enjoy!
Subscribe to UbuntuBuzz Telegram Channel to get article updates directly.
1. About MX
MX is a desktop operating system with simple user interface and without Systemd Init based on Debian GNU/Linux and exists as a collaboration project between Mepis and Antix communities. It's available for 32-bit and 64-bit computers with ISO download and repository mirrors available worldwide. Its slogan is "Midweight Simple Stable Desktop OS". Its first version was MX-14 on 2014 and the latest one is MX-18 on 2019. And, it's currently ranked #1 on Distrowatch over Manjaro and Ubuntu. MX website is located at https://mxlinux.org.
(MX official logo)
(Welcome screen appears on LiveCD session of MX-18 showing help and resources for user including username and password of the session)
What's so interesting about MX is not only its Sysvinit, but also its commitment to support 32-bit computers as stated on their FAQ "MX has no plans to discontinue 32-bit releases for the foreseeable future." This is a really good news for old-computer users.
For whom MX is? In my opinion, MX is mostly suitable for people who avoid Systemd looking for a well-maintained desktop GNU/Linux. You see, all desktop GNU/Linux are now using Systemd, just say Ubuntu, Fedora, openSUSE, Manjaro, even Debian itself. On the other hand, non-Systemd distro number is very limited, just say Slackware, Gentoo, and others and at best Devuan (new, just released 2014). MX came since 2008 and is supported by two large and active communities, Mepis and Antix; it's based on Debian which everybody is accustomed to its Synaptic and APT; it focuses solely on desktop with XFCE. Last but not least, as you can see below, MX community is quite active and large, a good place for everybody getting help.
(MX popularity on Distrowatch is now #1 among the big five)
Important links of MX are available here:
- About MX Project
- Intro to MX with a nice video
- MX Source Code
- MX User Manual
- MX Wiki
- MX Frequently Asked Question
- MX Videos
- MX Forum
2. Desktop
A custom XFCE with unusual taskbar on left and start menu button on bottom. Fortunately, Super key is enabled to open/close the start menu.
MX-18 includes a lot of MX wallpapers. And just like other XFCE distros, like Xubuntu, right-click on desktop shows the long context menu like below.
3. Applications and Flatpak
MX-18 ISO size is 1.4GB for either 32-bit or 64-bit versions. With such size, surprisingly MX includes so many applications. It includes LibreOffice (replacement to Microsoft Office), GIMP (r. to Photoshop), qpdfviewer (r. to Foxit Reader), Swell Foop (amusing game), Geany (r. to Sublime Text), VLC (video player), Clementine (r. to Winamp), Xfburn (r. to Nero Burning), etc.
(Gif animation: MX start menu viewing every one of application installed)
(MX-18 includes the whole LibreOffice version 6.0)
What's interesting is the inclusion of Flatpak on MX-18. And, users can easily search and install any Flatpak application using MX Package Installer. Flatpak, is an alternative method to obtain more software on GNU/Linux regardless the distro. By this inclusion, MX users have direct access to all applications available at Flathub, the central app store of Flatpak for all distros.
(MX Package Installer showing applications with sizes, total items, and repository source (Flathub.org); and I find that it runs very quickly, far beyond Ubuntu Software Center for instance)
(Flathub.org as the main source of Flatpak applications today)
4. Repository and Updates
MX has multiple repositories of MX itself, antiX's, and Debian Stretch's. They are maintained by 3 different communities. All lists are available under /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ directory and unusually, there is no actual /etc/apt/sources.list file. And as an information, MX has additional nonfree software source called various.list which points to Opera Browser and VirtualBox.
To install software, MX users mainly use Synaptic Package Manager. For individual DEB package, users can use GDebi instead. Both are from Debian.
Speaking about mirrors, fortunately MX mirrors are now available worldwide. Go to start menu > MX Repo Manager and you will see full table with country flags. For instance, suppose you live in Indonesia, just choose Indonesia mirror there (or the closest one geographically) and then Reload on Synaptic to change the download source to server in Indonesia. This way, installing software could be faster for everybody.
(List of mirrors available worldwide for MX-18)
5. Tools
MX is special because of it includes a lot of useful tools. Among them are MX Tweak (similar to GNOME Tweaks) and MX Tools (similar to Control Panel). MX Tweak makes it easy to rearrange panel and theming on desktop. MX Tools gives you central place to access all MX settings. To make you more interested, MX even includes a remastering tool called MX RemasterCC.
(MX Tweak allows you to switch panel position, desktop theme, and shadow effects)
(MX Tools is a central place to access all facilities available)
6. Documentation & Community
MX-18 includes 170 pages User Manual in PDF we can access from start menu > MX User Manual. Not only that, for built-in utilities like MX Tools, clicking Manual button views this User Manual.
(PDF as User Manual; this is similar to Manjaro's)
The forum is located at forum.mxlinux.org and it's quite active with total post of 180,000, 15,000 topics, and 6100 members and still counting. As a non-member, I like to see this forum, as everything you see on main page is dated 2019 meaning the discussions are very lively!
(The forum is by number even larger than Antix forum)
7. Init System
Finally, the init system used by default is Sysvinit. Actually, systemd is preinstalled as well but it's not enabled. Some other components comes from systemd but as stated in the documentation, they are merely helpers for compatibility.
(DPKG shows all Sysvinit related packages installed)
(DPKG shows that Systemd is actually installed)
Final Thoughts
Honestly, MX feels lightweight despite it states it's "midweight". Thanks to XFCE desktop, it runs flawlessly on my old laptop (Aspire One Pentium 4GB). I can say to people looking for good non-Systemd distro to try MX as the real alternative to Devuan. And for those looking a distro with a lot of its own tools, MX is a good alternative to either deepin or elementary OS. I like the fact that MX still supports 32-bit so everybody can run latest software on oldest computer possible. And the tool I like the most for now is the Flatpak section in MX Package Installer, as no other distro has such Synaptic-like Flatpak manager, it's really to-the-point in showing name and size of every Flatpak available. With large size community (along with tight collaboration from antiX's as well), everybody will feel at home using MX. I hope you enjoy this overview and try MX now. Enjoy!
This article is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Zorin OS 15, An Overview for First Time Users
(Zorin OS 15 Core with start menu opened and System Info showing its details)
This is my first review for Zorin GNU/Linux operating system ever and this is version 15 released at 5 June 2019. Zorin OS is an Ubuntu-based distro with modified GNOME 3 user interface available in 4 different editions: Ultimate, Core, Lite, and Education. This short overview focuses on the Core Edition: it features very friendly and fast desktop, familiar taskbar, complete desktop applications including LibreOffice and GIMP, and Flatpak and Snap supports built-in. It maintains own repositories and PPAs. Zorin OS is suitable to everybody begins trying GNU/Linux. I hope this short article helps everybody to begin Zorin OS. Enjoy!
Subscribe to UbuntuBuzz Telegram Channel to get article updates directly.
1. About Zorin
Zorin OS is a desktop GNU/Linux distro based on Ubuntu and this version 15 is based on Bionic 18.04. Zorin OS is a LiveCD system with Ubiquity installer, making it available for you to run the whole system completely without installing or install it quickly and very easily to your computer (trust me, it's easier than installing Windows). Its website is located at https://zorinos.com.
Zorin OS is available in 4 editions:
2. Zorin's User Interface
First time I looked at it was when I taught an online lesson and my student was using Zorin 12 at that time. It's a GNOME user interface with KDE style. You know what I mean, it's bottom panel with start menu and system tray. Any Windows 7 user will find it similar to his/her previous OS. To open the start menu, simply press Super key.
(Zorin OS with start menu opened and file manager running)
When a program running, its "task" appears on taskbar as its logo, and there is a tooltip preview and the (X) Close button when mouse cursor hovers over it. This taskbar resembles Windows 7's one a lot nobody will find difficulties to operate it.
(Taskbar showing tooltip preview of a running window with an X Close button)
Opening the start menu and clicking Activities Overview button shows all running programs in a glance with search bar on top and workspace switcher on right.
(And, this one is the original overview from GNOME 3)
The uniqueness of Zorin OS comes from its commitment "A powerful desktop you already know how to use" so that the project develops Zorin Appearance which is useful to turn the interface to mimic either Windows or GNU/Linux. There are 3 styles we can switch to, they are: default, default + icon only taskbar, and unique style. The third option shows floating taskbar, with autohide enabled, and
(The built-in tweak tool of Zorin OS)
3. Zorin's Repository
This is the uniqueness: Zorin maintains Zorin's own repository, Zorin's own PPA repository, and makes use Ubuntu's (just like Mint and elementary does as well). In technical way, this means Zorin has 6 sources.list files:
(There are many repository sources of Zorin OS by default)
4. Apps and LibreOffice
Zorin is the first operating system to ship LibreOffice with the new Notebookbar Tabbed (Ribbon-like) interface by default. When you run Writer, for instance, you see immediately that the toolbars are by default switched to Notebookbar. You see that latest Ubuntu and Fedora do not ship latest LibreOffice with it, even though this feature existed.
(LibreOffice with MS Office 2013 style)
And even it includes Pitivi Video Editor by default. It's an user friendly, simple to use, with a lot of effects video editing tool.
(Pitivi in action)
It also includes GNOME To Do, an easy to use scheduling program.
(Some examples scheduling with To Do)
5. Flatpak and Snap!
Okay, this is interesting: Zorin OS 15 brings both Flatpak and Snap together by default. Zorin is the first GNU/Linux distro to do this. What's this? Simply speaking, Zorin users now have all applications available at Flathub.org and Snapcraft.io, respectively, on their hands, as additions to 50,000 applications they already have on Zorin's native repository. Today Flathub offers more than 700 applications while Snapcraft offers more than 2000, you can install and get updates safely, thanks to Flatpak and Snap application delivery system. If you do not know what is Flatpak and Snap, I strongly suggest you to read Askubuntu in general and Verummeum for more detailed comparison.
(Flathub and Snapcraft sites provide you thousands applications you can install on Zorin OS)
6. Documentation and Forum
Zorin documentation is available at https://zorinos.com/help. To be honest, the documentation is very limited particularly if we compare it to Ubuntu documentation (Help, Wiki). Fortunately, in fact, Zorin Project directs users to ask directly instead on Zorin Forum. The forum has more than 40000 posts and 8000 topics posted up to today.
(Documentation available online at Zorin website)
(Zorin forum)
7. Zorin Ultimate and Why Paying
This one is an interesting topic I often discuss on my online class (in Indonesian) that free software doesn't mean gratis as everybody has a copy has full right to sell it. That's why we call it free software because the user is free (including free to trade copy with money). You see, there is Zorin Ultimate, a paid edition of Zorin in which to download it you are required to pay the developers. The price is $39. As I said, this is OK as GNU GPL guarantees it and further Zorin Project explained it on their page Why Pay. And I would love to quote the Selling is OK! page above: "Distributing free software is an opportunity to raise funds for development. Don't waste it!". I hope this explanation helps everybody to understand this point better.
(Ultimate Edition on the official website)
My Thoughts
This is my first review for Zorin and following are my thoughts. What I like the most is that Zorin OS has its own custom GNOME desktop environment. Second to that, it maintains own repository, not merely using Ubuntu's repository. Its user interface is fast, literally easy to use, and it reduces the need to re-learn everything.
I would like to put Zorin OS between elementary OS and deepin, as both also maintain own DEs and own repositories. You see, elementary struggles to have its own Pantheon DE, and deepin with its own DDE, and enhance everything for desktop purposes. And, to compare Zorin OS to Mint, today, they are closer as each of them has several different editions but Mint owns MintBox computers.
One thing I can consider for Zorin OS is that now it needs to be sold in their own computers, just like Entroware Computer with Ubuntu MATE, or like all Respects You Freedom (RYF) computers with Trisquel. But don't worry, Zorin Project is aware of this, as it planned their Computers on this June. They said "We're partnering with computer manufacturers to provide the best Zorin OS experience out of the box". We're waiting good news coming from this and I wish them luck.
Some improvements I think are appropriate:
References
This article is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
This is my first review for Zorin GNU/Linux operating system ever and this is version 15 released at 5 June 2019. Zorin OS is an Ubuntu-based distro with modified GNOME 3 user interface available in 4 different editions: Ultimate, Core, Lite, and Education. This short overview focuses on the Core Edition: it features very friendly and fast desktop, familiar taskbar, complete desktop applications including LibreOffice and GIMP, and Flatpak and Snap supports built-in. It maintains own repositories and PPAs. Zorin OS is suitable to everybody begins trying GNU/Linux. I hope this short article helps everybody to begin Zorin OS. Enjoy!
Subscribe to UbuntuBuzz Telegram Channel to get article updates directly.
1. About Zorin
Zorin OS is a desktop GNU/Linux distro based on Ubuntu and this version 15 is based on Bionic 18.04. Zorin OS is a LiveCD system with Ubiquity installer, making it available for you to run the whole system completely without installing or install it quickly and very easily to your computer (trust me, it's easier than installing Windows). Its website is located at https://zorinos.com.
Zorin OS is available in 4 editions:
- Ultimate: the paid edition, similar to Red Hat Enterprise OS.
- Core: the flagship edition of Zorin, comparable to Cinnamon edition of Mint.
- Lite: the XFCE edition, available for both 32-bit and 64-bit.
- Education: the school edition, comparable to Edubuntu.
- You computer. Better.
- Easy to use: A powerful desktop you already know how to use.
- Rock solid & reliable.
- Virus resistant.
- Speed: Runs fast of computers old & new.
- ... and more.
- https://github.com/ZorinOS (source code)
- https://twitter.com/ZorinOS (Twitter)
- https://www.facebook.com/ZorinOS (Facebook)
- https://zoringroup.com/blog (News)
- https://zorinos.com/press (Press Kit)
- https://zorinos.com/about (Company info and donation)
2. Zorin's User Interface
First time I looked at it was when I taught an online lesson and my student was using Zorin 12 at that time. It's a GNOME user interface with KDE style. You know what I mean, it's bottom panel with start menu and system tray. Any Windows 7 user will find it similar to his/her previous OS. To open the start menu, simply press Super key.
(Zorin OS with start menu opened and file manager running)
When a program running, its "task" appears on taskbar as its logo, and there is a tooltip preview and the (X) Close button when mouse cursor hovers over it. This taskbar resembles Windows 7's one a lot nobody will find difficulties to operate it.
(Taskbar showing tooltip preview of a running window with an X Close button)
Opening the start menu and clicking Activities Overview button shows all running programs in a glance with search bar on top and workspace switcher on right.
(And, this one is the original overview from GNOME 3)
The uniqueness of Zorin OS comes from its commitment "A powerful desktop you already know how to use" so that the project develops Zorin Appearance which is useful to turn the interface to mimic either Windows or GNU/Linux. There are 3 styles we can switch to, they are: default, default + icon only taskbar, and unique style. The third option shows floating taskbar, with autohide enabled, and
(The built-in tweak tool of Zorin OS)
3. Zorin's Repository
This is the uniqueness: Zorin maintains Zorin's own repository, Zorin's own PPA repository, and makes use Ubuntu's (just like Mint and elementary does as well). In technical way, this means Zorin has 6 sources.list files:
- /etc/apt/sources.list (pointing to Ubuntu Bionic's repo)
- /etc/apt/sources.list.d/zorin.list (pointing to actual Zorin 15 repo)
- /etc/apt/sources.list.d/zorinos-ubuntu-apps-bionic.list
- /etc/apt/sources.list.d/zorinos-ubuntu-drivers-bionic.list
- /etc/apt/sources.list.d/zorinos-ubuntu-patches-bionic.list
- /etc/apt/sources.list.d/zorinos-ubuntu-stable-bionic.list
(There are many repository sources of Zorin OS by default)
4. Apps and LibreOffice
Zorin is the first operating system to ship LibreOffice with the new Notebookbar Tabbed (Ribbon-like) interface by default. When you run Writer, for instance, you see immediately that the toolbars are by default switched to Notebookbar. You see that latest Ubuntu and Fedora do not ship latest LibreOffice with it, even though this feature existed.
(LibreOffice with MS Office 2013 style)
And even it includes Pitivi Video Editor by default. It's an user friendly, simple to use, with a lot of effects video editing tool.
(Pitivi in action)
It also includes GNOME To Do, an easy to use scheduling program.
(Some examples scheduling with To Do)
5. Flatpak and Snap!
Okay, this is interesting: Zorin OS 15 brings both Flatpak and Snap together by default. Zorin is the first GNU/Linux distro to do this. What's this? Simply speaking, Zorin users now have all applications available at Flathub.org and Snapcraft.io, respectively, on their hands, as additions to 50,000 applications they already have on Zorin's native repository. Today Flathub offers more than 700 applications while Snapcraft offers more than 2000, you can install and get updates safely, thanks to Flatpak and Snap application delivery system. If you do not know what is Flatpak and Snap, I strongly suggest you to read Askubuntu in general and Verummeum for more detailed comparison.
(Flathub and Snapcraft sites provide you thousands applications you can install on Zorin OS)
6. Documentation and Forum
Zorin documentation is available at https://zorinos.com/help. To be honest, the documentation is very limited particularly if we compare it to Ubuntu documentation (Help, Wiki). Fortunately, in fact, Zorin Project directs users to ask directly instead on Zorin Forum. The forum has more than 40000 posts and 8000 topics posted up to today.
(Documentation available online at Zorin website)
(Zorin forum)
7. Zorin Ultimate and Why Paying
This one is an interesting topic I often discuss on my online class (in Indonesian) that free software doesn't mean gratis as everybody has a copy has full right to sell it. That's why we call it free software because the user is free (including free to trade copy with money). You see, there is Zorin Ultimate, a paid edition of Zorin in which to download it you are required to pay the developers. The price is $39. As I said, this is OK as GNU GPL guarantees it and further Zorin Project explained it on their page Why Pay. And I would love to quote the Selling is OK! page above: "Distributing free software is an opportunity to raise funds for development. Don't waste it!". I hope this explanation helps everybody to understand this point better.
(Ultimate Edition on the official website)
My Thoughts
This is my first review for Zorin and following are my thoughts. What I like the most is that Zorin OS has its own custom GNOME desktop environment. Second to that, it maintains own repository, not merely using Ubuntu's repository. Its user interface is fast, literally easy to use, and it reduces the need to re-learn everything.
I would like to put Zorin OS between elementary OS and deepin, as both also maintain own DEs and own repositories. You see, elementary struggles to have its own Pantheon DE, and deepin with its own DDE, and enhance everything for desktop purposes. And, to compare Zorin OS to Mint, today, they are closer as each of them has several different editions but Mint owns MintBox computers.
One thing I can consider for Zorin OS is that now it needs to be sold in their own computers, just like Entroware Computer with Ubuntu MATE, or like all Respects You Freedom (RYF) computers with Trisquel. But don't worry, Zorin Project is aware of this, as it planned their Computers on this June. They said "We're partnering with computer manufacturers to provide the best Zorin OS experience out of the box". We're waiting good news coming from this and I wish them luck.
Some improvements I think are appropriate:
- System tray needs to show tray applications like Shutter, Telegram Desktop, Pidgin, etc.
- Context menu on taskbar panel needs to be enabled, no matter if it's actually GNOME or not.
- Drag-and-drop apps to desktop needs to be improved.
References
- https://snapstats.org
- https://forum.snapcraft.io/t/a-year-of-growth-in-numbers/11151/3
- https://kamikazow.wordpress.com/2017/02/09/adoption-of-flatpak-vs-snap
This article is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Zorin OS 15 Core Released with Download Links, Mirrors, and Torrents
ZorinOS 15 Core has been released on 5 June 2019. To be clear, the released edition now is the Core and Ultimate, gratis and paid versions, while the Lite and Education editions has not been released yet. It's released with an awesome video online. Here you can see what download sources available plus SHA256SUM and torrents. Enjoy Zorin!
Subscribe to UbuntuBuzz Telegram Channel to get article updates directly.SHA256SUM
Zorin-OS-15-Core-64-bit.iso bf2233af0f081bca5f3fafedb1ea18dbc53ffe538ccf7debeb12badb6aba157a
Note: this hash checksum is not available on the official download page, nor the mirrors, not even the unofficial torrent provider. This is available on the Upgrade Guide page.
Official Download
The webpage providing them is https://zorinos.com/download/#core. This page also features newsletter subscription for you. You can contribute back to Zorin Project by caring about them.
Official Mirror
If you want to download anyway, obtain it directly from https://sourceforge.net/projects/zorin-os/files/15/.
OSDN Mirror
If Sourceforge server is slow for you perhaps, you can download from OSDN server instead https://osdn.net/projects/sfnet_zorin-os/releases.
Internet Archive (Unofficial)
I uploaded the ISO and SHA5SUM on Internet Archive so everybody can download from worldwide. If you have no idea what is Internet Archive, read this. I hope this mirror helps you a lot.
Torrent Downloads (Unofficial)
There is no torrent download officially available from Zorin Project website. So, community can publish unofficial torrents and you can safely download one as long as valid checksum exists. Always verify the hash checksum of the file you have downloaded to make sure it's valid. You can also contribute by help seeding these torrents to the world.
Happy downloading!
This article is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Subscribe to UbuntuBuzz Telegram Channel to get article updates directly.SHA256SUM
Zorin-OS-15-Core-64-bit.iso bf2233af0f081bca5f3fafedb1ea18dbc53ffe538ccf7debeb12badb6aba157a
Note: this hash checksum is not available on the official download page, nor the mirrors, not even the unofficial torrent provider. This is available on the Upgrade Guide page.
Official Download
The webpage providing them is https://zorinos.com/download/#core. This page also features newsletter subscription for you. You can contribute back to Zorin Project by caring about them.
Official Mirror
If you want to download anyway, obtain it directly from https://sourceforge.net/projects/zorin-os/files/15/.
OSDN Mirror
If Sourceforge server is slow for you perhaps, you can download from OSDN server instead https://osdn.net/projects/sfnet_zorin-os/releases.
Internet Archive (Unofficial)
I uploaded the ISO and SHA5SUM on Internet Archive so everybody can download from worldwide. If you have no idea what is Internet Archive, read this. I hope this mirror helps you a lot.
Torrent Downloads (Unofficial)
There is no torrent download officially available from Zorin Project website. So, community can publish unofficial torrents and you can safely download one as long as valid checksum exists. Always verify the hash checksum of the file you have downloaded to make sure it's valid. You can also contribute by help seeding these torrents to the world.
- From LinuxTracker site there is one Zorin OS 15 Core torrent.
- From my Internet Archive account, there is one torrent you can download.
Happy downloading!
This article is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Differences between Four Linux Mint Editions
(The four Linux Mint editions)
If you look at the web, it's rare to find a resource to explain the differences between all 4 Linux Mint editions (Cinnamon, MATE, XFCE, and Debian). If you are looking for such explanation, then this brief article is for you. I hope you will find edition you love the most from GNU/Linux Mint. Enjoy!
Subscribe to UbuntuBuzz Telegram Channel to get article updates directly.
Four Editions
Talking about Mint is talking about either one of the four editions. These are similar to editions you saw on Windows XP, like, Home Edition and Professional Edition, except Mint distinguishes theirs based on desktop environment.
1. Cinnamon Edition
This is the flagship edition. LMCE is the edition which the desktop environment is developed by Mint developers themselves. If you want to begin with Mint, you are suggested to choose LMCE as your first. LMCE offers Windows-like experience with everything made user friendly, like how the desktop layout is, the context menus, the file manager, the system tray, the theme and colors, and everything.
(Desktop's feature: standard Windows-like layout, Super key start menu, system tray & clock)
(File manager's features: multitabbed, split vertical, tree view, status bar, quick search)
2. MATE Edition
LMME is the second flagship of Mint operating system featuring MATE desktop environment. To give new comers bigger picture: Cinnamon is a GNOME 3 modification, while MATE is a GNOME 2 modification. Using LMCE is like using GNOME Shell system with Windows-like layout while using LMME is like using the old era of Ubuntu but with Windows-like layout. You see, using LMME will be less heavy than using the flagship LMCE.
(LMME with start menu opened)
(LMME's file manager, Caja, with split vertical, multitabs, and list view mode)
3. XFCE Edition
LMXE is the lightweight edition of them all. Many users choose this one after trying out either LMCE or LMME. Just like the other two, LMXE is also heavily tweaked by Mint developers to look Windows-like. You can open the start menu with Super key, and the desktop layout.
(LMXE with start menu opened)
(LMXE's file manager, Thunar, with multitabs and list view (no split vertical feature))
4. Debian Edition
To put it simply, LMDE is Debian Cinnamon with Mint repository. Everything graphical here is the same as LMCE. The user interface is Cinnamon and the file manager is Nemo, nothing different. The only difference is that LMDE is built from Debian source code and does not use Ubuntu's repository. Instead, LMDE uses Debian's repository plus a special Debian-compatible repository maintained by Mint developers. The latest version, LMDE 3, is based on Debian 9 Stretch. You see, the reason behind this edition existence is solely a long-term preparation if someday Ubuntu won't exist anymore.
(The sources.list is clearly different to the other three editions as LMDE based on Debian)
(All Mint editions do not include snap but flatpak instead)
Some Suggestions
To make everything easier for you, consider these:
This article is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
If you look at the web, it's rare to find a resource to explain the differences between all 4 Linux Mint editions (Cinnamon, MATE, XFCE, and Debian). If you are looking for such explanation, then this brief article is for you. I hope you will find edition you love the most from GNU/Linux Mint. Enjoy!
Subscribe to UbuntuBuzz Telegram Channel to get article updates directly.
Four Editions
Talking about Mint is talking about either one of the four editions. These are similar to editions you saw on Windows XP, like, Home Edition and Professional Edition, except Mint distinguishes theirs based on desktop environment.
- Linux Mint Cinnamon Edition, or LMCE here.
- Linux Mint XFCE Edition, or LMXE here.
- Linux Mint MATE Edition, or LMME here.
- Linux Mint Debian Edition, or LMDE here.
1. Cinnamon Edition
This is the flagship edition. LMCE is the edition which the desktop environment is developed by Mint developers themselves. If you want to begin with Mint, you are suggested to choose LMCE as your first. LMCE offers Windows-like experience with everything made user friendly, like how the desktop layout is, the context menus, the file manager, the system tray, the theme and colors, and everything.
- Latest version: 19.1 Tessa
- Desktop environment: Cinnamon
- Download: https://www.linuxmint.com/download.php
- Base distribution: Ubuntu
- Repository: Mint + Ubuntu
- Compatible with PPA: yes
- File manager: Nemo
- Applications: LibreOffice, Firefox, Thunderbird, etc.
- Package manager: (CLI: apt), (GUI: Synaptic, Software Center, Update Manager, Software Sources)
- Alternative package manager: Flatpak
- Backup feature: yes, with TimeShift
(Desktop's feature: standard Windows-like layout, Super key start menu, system tray & clock)
(File manager's features: multitabbed, split vertical, tree view, status bar, quick search)
2. MATE Edition
LMME is the second flagship of Mint operating system featuring MATE desktop environment. To give new comers bigger picture: Cinnamon is a GNOME 3 modification, while MATE is a GNOME 2 modification. Using LMCE is like using GNOME Shell system with Windows-like layout while using LMME is like using the old era of Ubuntu but with Windows-like layout. You see, using LMME will be less heavy than using the flagship LMCE.
- Latest version: 19.1 Tessa
- Desktop environment: MATE (https://mate-desktop.org)
- Download: https://www.linuxmint.com/download.php
- Base distribution: Ubuntu
- Repository: Mint + Ubuntu
- Compatible with PPA: yes
- File manager: Caja
- Applications: LibreOffice, Firefox, Thunderbird, etc.
- Package manager: (CLI: apt), (GUI: Synaptic, Software Center, Update Manager, Software Sources)
- Alternative package manager: Flatpak
- Backup feature: yes, with Timeshift
(LMME with start menu opened)
(LMME's file manager, Caja, with split vertical, multitabs, and list view mode)
3. XFCE Edition
LMXE is the lightweight edition of them all. Many users choose this one after trying out either LMCE or LMME. Just like the other two, LMXE is also heavily tweaked by Mint developers to look Windows-like. You can open the start menu with Super key, and the desktop layout.
- Latest version: 19.1 Tessa
- Desktop environment: XFCE (https://www.xfce.org)
- Download: https://www.linuxmint.com/download.php
- Base distribution: Ubuntu
- Repository: Mint + Ubuntu
- Compatible with PPA: yes
- File manager: Thunar
- Applications: LibreOffice, Firefox, Thunderbird, etc.
- Package manager: (CLI: apt), (GUI: Synaptic, Software Center, Update Manager, Software Sources)
- Alternative package manager: Flatpak
- Backup feature: yes, with TimeShift
(LMXE with start menu opened)
(LMXE's file manager, Thunar, with multitabs and list view (no split vertical feature))
4. Debian Edition
To put it simply, LMDE is Debian Cinnamon with Mint repository. Everything graphical here is the same as LMCE. The user interface is Cinnamon and the file manager is Nemo, nothing different. The only difference is that LMDE is built from Debian source code and does not use Ubuntu's repository. Instead, LMDE uses Debian's repository plus a special Debian-compatible repository maintained by Mint developers. The latest version, LMDE 3, is based on Debian 9 Stretch. You see, the reason behind this edition existence is solely a long-term preparation if someday Ubuntu won't exist anymore.
- Latest version: 3.0 Cindy
- Download: https://www.linuxmint.com/download_lmde.php
- Desktop environment: Cinnamon
- Base distribution: Debian
- Repository: Mint + Debian
- Compatible with PPA: no
- File manager: Nemo
- Applications: LibreOffice, Firefox, Thunderbird, and more
- Package manager: (CLI: apt), (GUI: Synaptic, Software Center, Update Manager, Software Sources)
- Alternative package manager: Flatpak
(The sources.list is clearly different to the other three editions as LMDE based on Debian)
(All Mint editions do not include snap but flatpak instead)
Some Suggestions
To make everything easier for you, consider these:
- If you really do not know which one to choose, choose LMCE.
- If you have problem running LMCE, perhaps you computer is older, choose LMXE instead.
- If you do not like GNOME 3 and want everything from GNOME 2 era back, choose LMME.
- If you love experimenting, choose LMDE.
This article is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
An Overview to deepin 15.10 GNU/Linux
(deepin 15.10 with new feature Auto Merge on desktop)
For users who want to know latest deepin 15.10 before downloading it, this article is for you. In this version, deepin once again fulfills its commitment to be pretty and user friendly, as it brings a lot of new improvements in shapes and performance. Nw it introduces Auto Merge on desktop, along with new control for Sound Effects. The file manager got Advanced Search. It even got a new window manager, called dde-kwin, modified from KDE Kwin. And now it is rebased to Debian Stable instead of Unstable, for the users to get more timely security updates. I hope this short overview gives you enough information to finally try deepin 15.10. Enjoy!
Subscribe to UbuntuBuzz Telegram Channel to get article updates directly.
Obtain deepin 15.10
I have collected the download links official + mirrors + torrents here. Please be aware that it's only available in 64-bit version.
New Feature: Auto-merge
I see this as a new thing, as it reduces number of icons on desktop by their respective categories. To try this, I put some apps and documents and audios, and when Auto Merge is enabled, it hides all icons within 3 icons, and shows them again by click on the icons. I have not found this on either KDE or GNOME. Smart feature to reduce complexity!
Before: all icons shown. Auto Merge disabled.
(On the desktop: there are some MP3s, MP4s, ODTs, and apps)
After: Auto Merge enabled, all icons hidden under respective categories, represented by folders.
(Category icons shown: Pictures, Music, Applications, Videos, and Others)
Explode: click each category icon to show the hidden items in that category. Click all category icons to show all hidden icons.
(Each category icon has down arrow logo)
New: Advanced Search
The file manager got improvements in the search feature. Now, it's with Advanced Options to filter more according to Locations (recursive or not), Size Range (<1MB, +/-10MB, >1GB), Type (Apps, Images, etc.), Time Range (today, yesterday, last month), and Time Modified.
New: Wallpaper Slideshow
Slideshow means we can determine wallpapers to change automatically each a period of time. We can choose between 1 minute to 1 hour.
New: Screensaver
Do you remember screensavers? These things of the past (from CRT monitors era) is now living again on deepin. On the save interface as wallpaper changer, you can select Screensaver page, and enable one you like with choices to activate it between 1 minute and 1 hour. And yes, you can also enable login password to protect your session.
New: Kwin DDE
Deepin Desktop Environment (DDE), the user interface of deepin OS, actually comes with its own window manager. But starting at this 15.10, deepin includes a new window manager, a modified KWin from KDE to empower DDE interface, so the interface may be still gorgeous by reducing CPU/RAM resources. This window manager is named dde-kwin. This is the component responsible for all window borders, transparency, and drop shadow we see at DDE.
(System Monitor presents the process as kwin_x11 along with deepin-wm-dbus and kwin_no_scale)
Speaking about performance, briefly, my position is weak as my hardware is currently very old (Aspire One, Pentium, 4GB) but one thing clear I can say is with KWin-DDE it runs very heavy with default effects but smooth with effects disabled. So heavy that it needs seconds to open the sidebar or switch between running apps.
New: Sound Effects Control
Now we can disable particular sound effects among all of them in the new Sound Effects section on the sidebar. We can, for example, disable Notification and Empty Trash sounds.
Sources.list
The change is very big as the codename is now lion to replace the previous one panda. This is the result of the switch from Debian Unstable (Sid) to Stable (Stretch) as the basis of deepin 15.10. This way, as official release notes said, users will get more frequent security updates and fixes.
EULA
Initially, deepin never came with End User License Agreement (EULA) until it reached version 15.8. This 15.10 comes with a new EULA, updated 10 December 2018, in English and Chinese. To give you bigger picture, this means deepin uses EULA is following Red Hat Enterprise (PDF) and openSUSE (HTML). See also that CentOS (TXT) and Oracle OS (TXT) have EULAs as well. One thing clear to avoid any misunderstanding is: with or without EULA, all the free software within the GNU/Linux system + repository remain free software.
English version:
Chinese version:
To be honest, this practice, placing EULA on a GNU/Linux distro, is a strange thing for me as we know most software distributed within it are licensed as free software (meaning, not gratis, but you are free from agreeing to use it). But, fortunately, for me and everybody who want to know, FSF's explanation about this is very clear on GPL FAQ document section Click Through. I copied the text here:
Final Thought
deepin keeps its commitment to be "... beautiful, easy to use, safe and reliable system for global users..." in 15.10 as it brings more improved interface in both beauty and performance.
This article is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
For users who want to know latest deepin 15.10 before downloading it, this article is for you. In this version, deepin once again fulfills its commitment to be pretty and user friendly, as it brings a lot of new improvements in shapes and performance. Nw it introduces Auto Merge on desktop, along with new control for Sound Effects. The file manager got Advanced Search. It even got a new window manager, called dde-kwin, modified from KDE Kwin. And now it is rebased to Debian Stable instead of Unstable, for the users to get more timely security updates. I hope this short overview gives you enough information to finally try deepin 15.10. Enjoy!
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Obtain deepin 15.10
I have collected the download links official + mirrors + torrents here. Please be aware that it's only available in 64-bit version.
New Feature: Auto-merge
I see this as a new thing, as it reduces number of icons on desktop by their respective categories. To try this, I put some apps and documents and audios, and when Auto Merge is enabled, it hides all icons within 3 icons, and shows them again by click on the icons. I have not found this on either KDE or GNOME. Smart feature to reduce complexity!
Before: all icons shown. Auto Merge disabled.
(On the desktop: there are some MP3s, MP4s, ODTs, and apps)
After: Auto Merge enabled, all icons hidden under respective categories, represented by folders.
(Category icons shown: Pictures, Music, Applications, Videos, and Others)
Explode: click each category icon to show the hidden items in that category. Click all category icons to show all hidden icons.
(Each category icon has down arrow logo)
New: Advanced Search
The file manager got improvements in the search feature. Now, it's with Advanced Options to filter more according to Locations (recursive or not), Size Range (<1MB, +/-10MB, >1GB), Type (Apps, Images, etc.), Time Range (today, yesterday, last month), and Time Modified.
New: Wallpaper Slideshow
Slideshow means we can determine wallpapers to change automatically each a period of time. We can choose between 1 minute to 1 hour.
New: Screensaver
Do you remember screensavers? These things of the past (from CRT monitors era) is now living again on deepin. On the save interface as wallpaper changer, you can select Screensaver page, and enable one you like with choices to activate it between 1 minute and 1 hour. And yes, you can also enable login password to protect your session.
New: Kwin DDE
Deepin Desktop Environment (DDE), the user interface of deepin OS, actually comes with its own window manager. But starting at this 15.10, deepin includes a new window manager, a modified KWin from KDE to empower DDE interface, so the interface may be still gorgeous by reducing CPU/RAM resources. This window manager is named dde-kwin. This is the component responsible for all window borders, transparency, and drop shadow we see at DDE.
(System Monitor presents the process as kwin_x11 along with deepin-wm-dbus and kwin_no_scale)
Speaking about performance, briefly, my position is weak as my hardware is currently very old (Aspire One, Pentium, 4GB) but one thing clear I can say is with KWin-DDE it runs very heavy with default effects but smooth with effects disabled. So heavy that it needs seconds to open the sidebar or switch between running apps.
New: Sound Effects Control
Now we can disable particular sound effects among all of them in the new Sound Effects section on the sidebar. We can, for example, disable Notification and Empty Trash sounds.
Sources.list
The change is very big as the codename is now lion to replace the previous one panda. This is the result of the switch from Debian Unstable (Sid) to Stable (Stretch) as the basis of deepin 15.10. This way, as official release notes said, users will get more frequent security updates and fixes.
EULA
Initially, deepin never came with End User License Agreement (EULA) until it reached version 15.8. This 15.10 comes with a new EULA, updated 10 December 2018, in English and Chinese. To give you bigger picture, this means deepin uses EULA is following Red Hat Enterprise (PDF) and openSUSE (HTML). See also that CentOS (TXT) and Oracle OS (TXT) have EULAs as well. One thing clear to avoid any misunderstanding is: with or without EULA, all the free software within the GNU/Linux system + repository remain free software.
English version:
Chinese version:
To be honest, this practice, placing EULA on a GNU/Linux distro, is a strange thing for me as we know most software distributed within it are licensed as free software (meaning, not gratis, but you are free from agreeing to use it). But, fortunately, for me and everybody who want to know, FSF's explanation about this is very clear on GPL FAQ document section Click Through. I copied the text here:
- Some software packaging systems have a place which requires you to click through or otherwise indicate assent to the terms of the GPL. This is neither required nor forbidden. With or without a click through, the GPL's rules remain the same.
Merely agreeing to the GPL doesn't place any obligations on you. You are not required to agree to anything to merely use software which is licensed under the GPL. You only have obligations if you modify or distribute the software. If it really bothers you to click through the GPL, nothing stops you from hacking the GPLed software to bypass this.
Final Thought
deepin keeps its commitment to be "... beautiful, easy to use, safe and reliable system for global users..." in 15.10 as it brings more improved interface in both beauty and performance.
This article is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Comparing LibreOffice 6.2 Versions: AppImage, Flatpak, and Snap
(LibreOffice 6.2 running on Ubuntu from 3 different universal executable formats: AppImage, Flatpak, and Snap)
LibreOffice for GNU/Linux nowadays is available in 3 different universal formats, as alternative to the native format (DEB and RPM). This is an advancement that benefits us all greatly. Those 3 are AppImage, Flatpak, and Snap formats, sorted alphabetically. We, GNU/Linux users in many different distros, can obtain latest LibreOffice safely from one same source, by using one among these AFS methods. It is interesting for me to compare LibreOffice 6.2, the latest stable version now, by installation procedures, size, execution time, menubar, theme, access rights, and drag-and-drop. To make this comparison, I use Ubuntu 18.04 64-bit installed in Minimum Mode (without LibreOffice). I hope this comparison gives everybody good sight to both LibreOffice (the program) and AFS (the package formats). Let's see!
Subscribe to UbuntuBuzz Telegram Channel to get article updates directly.
Before You Read
If you didn't know about AppImage, Flatpak, and Snap (AFS) on GNU/Linux world, I suggest you to read first Askubuntu discussion for quick reading by table and Philip Vissenaekens' article for more.
1. Obtaining
How to get the software LibreOffice in these 3 formats to install them on Ubuntu? Simply go to www.libreoffice.org and see the Download menu there.
(Download menu on the official webpage of LibreOffice)
The easiest one to install is AppImage as we download the file and run it. Simple, no other program required. But Flatpak or Snap requires us first to have either Flatpak or Snap client program.
AppImage:
Download the file, give it execution right, double-click, it runs. In other words, no installation and no command line required.
Flatpak:
Install flatpak client, install Flathub repository, install LibreOffice, wait all processes to be finished, run LibreOffice.
Command lines:
$ sudo apt-get install flatpak
$ flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
$ flatpak install flathub org.libreoffice.LibreOffice
$ flatpak run org.libreoffice.LibreOffice
Snap:
Run installation command, it downloads the package(s), wait all process to be finished, run LibreOffice.
Command lines:
$ snap install libreoffice
$ snap run libreoffice
2. Size
If we want a clear way to see total size of program file (including the dependencies, of course), AppImage is the best, as it comes in one file so it's quickest to calculate. Flatpak installs LibreOffice by pulling other additional packages, it shows size of each package, but not total size of them all. Snap installs LibreOffice by pulling other packages as well but without even showing total download size.
AppImage is the smallest one by 248MB.
Flatpak is the second biggest one as it needs total 519MB to download.
Snap is surprisingly the largest, it is 543MB.
3. Execution Time
AppImage runs in only 3s. Flatpak runs in 7s. And Snap runs in 13s. The fastest one here is AppImage version. I measured them by using time command line on a fresh booted Ubuntu system.
(Measurement results using command lines)
4. Identity
To see whether a LibreOffice program is AppImage, Flatpak, or Snap, go to menubar Help > About and see the identifier.
For AppImage version, it doesn't say anything at all. No information that this software is built as AppImage or such thing.
For Flatpak version, it says "Flatpak" clearly after OS and before Locale details.
For Snap version, it says "snap" as part of the Build ID.
5. Desktop Menu
Start menu shows all icons in one place without distinction between them. So, Writer from Flatpak looks the same as Writer from Snap. And so on. But for this version, AppImage doesn't give option to put shortcut on start menu.
(We cannot distinguish which one from Flatpak or Snap unless we run it and see Help > About)
6. User Interface (Themes, Menubar, Taskbar)
It is a good thing that all versions present the same user interface. No difference in the themes (either it's dark or light one) menubar, and the Notebookbar. The only difference is how taskbar presents them as here the best one is AppImage.
Theme:
About user interface theme, no significant difference between the three versions on Ubuntu 18.04. See below, between dark and light themes among them.
(Appimage)
(Flatpak)
(Snap)
Menubar:
No difference between all formats' menubars.
(Appimage)
(Flatpak version)
(Snap version)
Tabbed (Ribbon) style menubar:
Also, as the 6.2 is the star or the new Notebookbar user interface (Ribbon-like), the Notebookbar menus looks the same between the three.
(AppImage)(Pay attention to the identifier on top panel: it reads LibreOffice Writer 6.2 with blue Writer logo)
(Flatpak)(See identifier on top panel: it reads LibreOffice with the white logo)
(Snap)(See identifier on top panel: it reads LibreOffice 6.2 with the white logo)
Taskbar:
Vertical panel on Ubuntu will show those three, AFS, running like this GIF animation. Just like the top panel identifier above, it shows the logo and the program name, and the best here is still AppImage.
(From top: Flatpak version, Snap's, and AppImage's)
7. Save As Dialog & Access Rights
How they look are simply the same. But talking about access rights and mounting available partitions is different with Snap version.
Dialogs user interface:
As you can see below, there is no difference in the interface. But AppImage and Flatpak begins the directory at ~/Documents while Snap begins at ~/snap/libreoffice/121/.
(Flatpak)
(AppImage)
(Snap)
Access rights:
AppImage can save to ~/Documents/ and ~/ but cannot save to /home.
Flatpak is the same.
Snap is different, it can save to ~/Documents but cannot save to ~/ and /home as well.
Mounting partitions
AppImage version can access both local folders (~/) and mount partitions by click.
Flatpak version can also access both locations.
Snap version can only access folders manually and cannot mount partitions by click. In other words, we can only save to partitions manually by navigating to /media directory if the partition has already been mounted.
(AppImage)
(Flatpak)
(Snap)
8. Drag And Drop Pictures
Drag-and-drop works perfectly in all formats. I tried to pull pictures from file manager and drop it to Writer, it works, on those three.
(AppImage)
(Flatpak)
(Snap)
Final Words
As an alternative to normal package installation on Ubuntu, these 3 package formats are good things for us all. Through Flatpak or Snap, any user in any GNU/Linux distros can install latest LibreOffice they wish and update them in that particular way. Through AppImage if they wish, it's easier to install and simpler to reuse the file on other computers, but to update the program they will need a separate program called AppImageUpdater.
For Software Developers
For any other developers interested to distribute their free software applications in these 3 formats, follow documentations below. I wish by mentioning these, more free software will be available in AFS formats just like LibreOffice.
Enjoy LibreOffice!
This article is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
LibreOffice for GNU/Linux nowadays is available in 3 different universal formats, as alternative to the native format (DEB and RPM). This is an advancement that benefits us all greatly. Those 3 are AppImage, Flatpak, and Snap formats, sorted alphabetically. We, GNU/Linux users in many different distros, can obtain latest LibreOffice safely from one same source, by using one among these AFS methods. It is interesting for me to compare LibreOffice 6.2, the latest stable version now, by installation procedures, size, execution time, menubar, theme, access rights, and drag-and-drop. To make this comparison, I use Ubuntu 18.04 64-bit installed in Minimum Mode (without LibreOffice). I hope this comparison gives everybody good sight to both LibreOffice (the program) and AFS (the package formats). Let's see!
Subscribe to UbuntuBuzz Telegram Channel to get article updates directly.
Before You Read
If you didn't know about AppImage, Flatpak, and Snap (AFS) on GNU/Linux world, I suggest you to read first Askubuntu discussion for quick reading by table and Philip Vissenaekens' article for more.
1. Obtaining
How to get the software LibreOffice in these 3 formats to install them on Ubuntu? Simply go to www.libreoffice.org and see the Download menu there.
(Download menu on the official webpage of LibreOffice)
- AppImage version: https://www.libreoffice.org/download/appimage/
- Flatpak version: https://www.libreoffice.org/download/flatpak/
- Snap version: https://www.libreoffice.org/download/snap/
The easiest one to install is AppImage as we download the file and run it. Simple, no other program required. But Flatpak or Snap requires us first to have either Flatpak or Snap client program.
AppImage:
Download the file, give it execution right, double-click, it runs. In other words, no installation and no command line required.
Flatpak:
Install flatpak client, install Flathub repository, install LibreOffice, wait all processes to be finished, run LibreOffice.
Command lines:
$ sudo apt-get install flatpak
$ flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
$ flatpak install flathub org.libreoffice.LibreOffice
$ flatpak run org.libreoffice.LibreOffice
Snap:
Run installation command, it downloads the package(s), wait all process to be finished, run LibreOffice.
Command lines:
$ snap install libreoffice
$ snap run libreoffice
2. Size
If we want a clear way to see total size of program file (including the dependencies, of course), AppImage is the best, as it comes in one file so it's quickest to calculate. Flatpak installs LibreOffice by pulling other additional packages, it shows size of each package, but not total size of them all. Snap installs LibreOffice by pulling other packages as well but without even showing total download size.
AppImage is the smallest one by 248MB.
Flatpak is the second biggest one as it needs total 519MB to download.
Snap is surprisingly the largest, it is 543MB.
3. Execution Time
AppImage runs in only 3s. Flatpak runs in 7s. And Snap runs in 13s. The fastest one here is AppImage version. I measured them by using time command line on a fresh booted Ubuntu system.
(Measurement results using command lines)
4. Identity
To see whether a LibreOffice program is AppImage, Flatpak, or Snap, go to menubar Help > About and see the identifier.
For AppImage version, it doesn't say anything at all. No information that this software is built as AppImage or such thing.
For Flatpak version, it says "Flatpak" clearly after OS and before Locale details.
For Snap version, it says "snap" as part of the Build ID.
5. Desktop Menu
Start menu shows all icons in one place without distinction between them. So, Writer from Flatpak looks the same as Writer from Snap. And so on. But for this version, AppImage doesn't give option to put shortcut on start menu.
(We cannot distinguish which one from Flatpak or Snap unless we run it and see Help > About)
6. User Interface (Themes, Menubar, Taskbar)
It is a good thing that all versions present the same user interface. No difference in the themes (either it's dark or light one) menubar, and the Notebookbar. The only difference is how taskbar presents them as here the best one is AppImage.
Theme:
About user interface theme, no significant difference between the three versions on Ubuntu 18.04. See below, between dark and light themes among them.
(Appimage)
(Flatpak)
(Snap)
Menubar:
No difference between all formats' menubars.
(Appimage)
(Flatpak version)
(Snap version)
Tabbed (Ribbon) style menubar:
Also, as the 6.2 is the star or the new Notebookbar user interface (Ribbon-like), the Notebookbar menus looks the same between the three.
(AppImage)(Pay attention to the identifier on top panel: it reads LibreOffice Writer 6.2 with blue Writer logo)
(Flatpak)(See identifier on top panel: it reads LibreOffice with the white logo)
(Snap)(See identifier on top panel: it reads LibreOffice 6.2 with the white logo)
Taskbar:
Vertical panel on Ubuntu will show those three, AFS, running like this GIF animation. Just like the top panel identifier above, it shows the logo and the program name, and the best here is still AppImage.
(From top: Flatpak version, Snap's, and AppImage's)
7. Save As Dialog & Access Rights
How they look are simply the same. But talking about access rights and mounting available partitions is different with Snap version.
Dialogs user interface:
As you can see below, there is no difference in the interface. But AppImage and Flatpak begins the directory at ~/Documents while Snap begins at ~/snap/libreoffice/121/.
(Flatpak)
(AppImage)
(Snap)
Access rights:
AppImage can save to ~/Documents/ and ~/ but cannot save to /home.
Flatpak is the same.
Snap is different, it can save to ~/Documents but cannot save to ~/ and /home as well.
Mounting partitions
AppImage version can access both local folders (~/) and mount partitions by click.
Flatpak version can also access both locations.
Snap version can only access folders manually and cannot mount partitions by click. In other words, we can only save to partitions manually by navigating to /media directory if the partition has already been mounted.
(AppImage)
(Flatpak)
(Snap)
8. Drag And Drop Pictures
Drag-and-drop works perfectly in all formats. I tried to pull pictures from file manager and drop it to Writer, it works, on those three.
(AppImage)
(Flatpak)
(Snap)
Final Words
As an alternative to normal package installation on Ubuntu, these 3 package formats are good things for us all. Through Flatpak or Snap, any user in any GNU/Linux distros can install latest LibreOffice they wish and update them in that particular way. Through AppImage if they wish, it's easier to install and simpler to reuse the file on other computers, but to update the program they will need a separate program called AppImageUpdater.
For Software Developers
For any other developers interested to distribute their free software applications in these 3 formats, follow documentations below. I wish by mentioning these, more free software will be available in AFS formats just like LibreOffice.
- Packaging AppImage: https://github.com/AppImage/AppImageKit
- Packaging Flatpak: http://docs.flatpak.org/en/latest/building.html
- Packaging Snap: https://docs.snapcraft.io/snapcraft-overview
Enjoy LibreOffice!
This article is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Enable Dark Theme on elementary OS
(Dark user interface on elementary OS)
To enable dark theme on elementary OS 5.0 "Juno", simply use Elementary Tweaks and set Prefer Dark Variant on. But there are more ways, using command line instead or install new dark themes. And the is one more thing, that is giving the Plank Dock dark theme as well. I use here themes like Elementary X, Deepin Dark, Flat Remix Yellow to show you several options we have today. Try it and happy working!
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Using Tweak Tool
Go to System Settings and open Tweaks section and turn on Prefer Dark Variant. Then close all running applications and start one. It must be in dark theme right now. If you do not have this tweak tool, install it first.
Using Command Line
Run this command line to switch to dark theme:
$ gsettings set io.elementary.terminal.settings prefer-dark-style true
And run this to revert back to light theme:
$ gsettings set io.elementary.terminal.settings prefer-dark-style false
Running those commands are the same as switching the buttons on the Tweak Tool above.
For Plank
By default, without installing any dock theme, simply switch the built-in theme to Matte. Hold Ctrl > right-click the dock > Preferences > switch it.
If you want custom theme, Elementary Dark by Childishgiant is good. To install it, simply extract the theme into ~/.local/share/plank/themes/ and switch it using dock preferences above.
Theme: Elementary X by Surajmandalcell (GTK3)
https://www.opendesktop.org/p/1231691/
This is the theme I used as the screenshot above. Just download the elementary-x.zip and extract the folder into ~/.themes folder. If the folder does not exist, simply create it. To enable it, go to tweak tool again and switch it to elementary-x-master theme. These installation steps are the same to other themes below.
Theme: Deepin Dark by Umayanga (GTK3)
https://www.opendesktop.org/p/1190867/
This theme is similar to the dark theme of Deepin OS.
Theme: Flat Remix GTK Yellow by Daniruiz06 (GTK3)
https://www.opendesktop.org/p/1293697/
This is one among the colorful theme series. This yellow selection has several different versions and the borderless one is good.
More Themes!
Go to OpenDesktop.org to find more GTK3 themes and also Plank dock themes. You will find many many more themes to try. Enjoy!
This article is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
To enable dark theme on elementary OS 5.0 "Juno", simply use Elementary Tweaks and set Prefer Dark Variant on. But there are more ways, using command line instead or install new dark themes. And the is one more thing, that is giving the Plank Dock dark theme as well. I use here themes like Elementary X, Deepin Dark, Flat Remix Yellow to show you several options we have today. Try it and happy working!
Subscribe to UbuntuBuzz Telegram Channel to get article updates directly.
Using Tweak Tool
Go to System Settings and open Tweaks section and turn on Prefer Dark Variant. Then close all running applications and start one. It must be in dark theme right now. If you do not have this tweak tool, install it first.
Using Command Line
Run this command line to switch to dark theme:
$ gsettings set io.elementary.terminal.settings prefer-dark-style true
And run this to revert back to light theme:
$ gsettings set io.elementary.terminal.settings prefer-dark-style false
Running those commands are the same as switching the buttons on the Tweak Tool above.
For Plank
By default, without installing any dock theme, simply switch the built-in theme to Matte. Hold Ctrl > right-click the dock > Preferences > switch it.
If you want custom theme, Elementary Dark by Childishgiant is good. To install it, simply extract the theme into ~/.local/share/plank/themes/ and switch it using dock preferences above.
Theme: Elementary X by Surajmandalcell (GTK3)
https://www.opendesktop.org/p/1231691/
This is the theme I used as the screenshot above. Just download the elementary-x.zip and extract the folder into ~/.themes folder. If the folder does not exist, simply create it. To enable it, go to tweak tool again and switch it to elementary-x-master theme. These installation steps are the same to other themes below.
Theme: Deepin Dark by Umayanga (GTK3)
https://www.opendesktop.org/p/1190867/
This theme is similar to the dark theme of Deepin OS.
Theme: Flat Remix GTK Yellow by Daniruiz06 (GTK3)
https://www.opendesktop.org/p/1293697/
This is one among the colorful theme series. This yellow selection has several different versions and the borderless one is good.
More Themes!
Go to OpenDesktop.org to find more GTK3 themes and also Plank dock themes. You will find many many more themes to try. Enjoy!
This article is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Publishing Online without WordPress: Instant, Libre, and Gratis
(Write.as is one among simplest online web publishing services powered by free software)
This article presents several website publishing libre software, like Writeas and Hackmdio, with their own gratis services that you can instantly try as alternative to WordPress.com the service. They are instant (very easy to use), the software are libre (source code available in free licenses), and their official services are gratis (no cost to publish everything). As online writer, you may use their services to publish writings just like normal website but easier to access (no registration needed) and more private (you can write anonymously). As learner, you can try to install the software on your Ubuntu system, to tinker with the code. You can try them right now and find which one is the best for you. And further if you wish you can install them on Ubuntu. Happy writing!
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Write.asThe easiest-to-use web publishing service here is Write.as. You can write anything and publish it right now without registration. You do not need to think about domain name or disk space anymore. The free software behind is named Writ:efreely, licensed under GNU AGPL, while the online service is available gratis.
- Service: https://write.as/new
- Software: https://github.com/writeas/writ:efreely
- Software license: GNU AGPL
- Installation guide: https://github.com/writeas/writefreely#quick-start (does not need XAMPP)
Hackmd.io
Want to publish a writing written together by you and friends? Hackmdio is a collaborative writing service so you can write and publish an article together with friends remotely. Just create a new post, share the URL with friends, and start writing together. You can write anything and instantly publish it. The software you can download is named CodiMD, licensed under AGPL, while the online service is gratis without registration.
- Service: https://hackmd.io/new
- Software: https://github.com/hackmdio/codimd
- Software license: GNU AGPL
- Installation guide: Documentation (does not need XAMPP)
Etherpad.netEtherpad is a collaborative publishing tool and Etherpad.net is good service you can use. You can think of Etherpad as simpler alternative to Hackmdio. Create new post, invite your friends with the URL, and start writing together online. Not only it can be used as simple blogging platform, but also it's good for education at school (e.g. together writing an exercise remotely).
- Service: https://etherpad.net
- Software: https://github.com/ether/etherpad-lite
- Software license: Apache 2.0
- Installation guide: https://github.com/ether/etherpad-lite#installation
Jekyllnow
Unlike WordPress, Jekyll is a static CMS, to publish writings in it you must use command lines, so it's not easy for most people. But thanks to Jekyllnow, you can publish writings in Jekyll without touching command lines, just use GitHub/GitLab web interface and commit and go. It's not as instant as Writeas or Hackmdio so I put it here in the last number.
- Service: any Jekyll online service like GitLab Pages and so on
- Software: https://github.com/barryclark/jekyll-now
- Software license: MIT
- Installation guide: https://github.com/barryclark/jekyll-now#quick-start
Worth Mentioning
- Telegra.ph: a blogging service from Telegram which is very similar to but easier to access than Writeas. It is the simplest among all here. The only problem is that the software is not available for download. I hope soon Telegram will release it under AGPL or other free license.
This article is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
ROSA, A Nice KDE4 Distro in 2019
(ROSA R10 with KDE4 desktop running in 2019)
While Ubuntu doesn't have KDE4 anymore, a Mandriva-based GNU/Linux distro named ROSA from Russia continued to ship KDE4 even in 2019. It is ROSA Desktop Fresh R10 released in 2017 and supported until 2020. ROSA is one among three splits of Mandriva, other two are OpenMandriva and Mageia, happened right after 2011. We cannot run KDE4 anymore on Ubuntu today, but we can still run it on ROSA and get support. This article briefly highlights ROSA R10 for you. I wish anybody who wants a good distro with KDE4 in 2019 finally find what he/she wants. Enjoy!
In a nutshell
ROSA R10 KDE4 is a normal release (non-rolling) distro with LiveCD Installer ISO.
ROSA includes this set of software:
Important links regarding ROSA are here:
Download links:
1. Start Menu
The application launcher is in full screen. The shortcut key is Alt+F1 and not Super key. First time I saw it, I admire the icon theme instantly. They're gorgeous and I didn't find such icons on other distros yet.
(ROSA application launcher looks unique compared to Ubuntu's and it's pretty faster)
A little bit talking about performance, the start menu above runs really quicker and responsive than menu on Ubuntu Bionic Beaver. Try it. And ROSA system as a whole runs very smooth on my Pentium 4GB Acer Aspire One laptop.
2. Package Manager
Old Ubuntu ships with Synaptic, while ROSA R10 ships with Rpmdrake, both are GUI package managers. It's still as user friendly as the package manager of Mandriva even today in 2019. To Reload repository information, simply go to menubar File > Update Media > select four Main selections on top > Update > go to menubar File > Reload packages list. After that, search anything and give check mark and press Apply button to install it.
Some most up to date versions of packages in the repository today:
(Rpmdrake Package Manager installing Firefox browser)
3. Workspace
Remember this one? The old, bottom panel Widgets selection. And the transparent folder view, and the translucent clock. And, the handle on right edge of the widget.
(A fresh KDE4 workspace with widgets)
And applications work just fine with this workspace in modern days.
(LibreOffice Writer, Calc, and Impress running with a menubar opened)
And, not to forget the amazing 3D Cube desktop effect. Plus, ROSA still supports different wallpaper and widgets for different desktops, while nowadays Plasma 5 doesn't.
(ROSA 3D desktop with start menu opened in one workspace and System Settings in another workspace)
4. File Manager
It's Dolphin. With everything available on left panel. This file manager can do you F3 (split vertical), Ctrl+I (select by keyword), Ctrl+F (search), Show in Groups, Sort by anything and in descending mode, and more.
(Dolphin file manager running well on ROSA)5. System Settings
It's Configure Your Desktop on start menu. You control panel is still like the golden old times with KDE4. Here you will find many configurations for KDE in general like Desktop Effects plus some system configurations like Firewall and Drakx Services, all are user friendly. We can determine which system component to connect to the network by click, and start/stop any service by click too, just as easy as that. Even we don't find such Firewall and System Services management by default on latest Ubuntu today.
(ROSA System Settings, Firewall manager, and Services manager running)
Difference to UbuntuTo mention brief difference between ROSA and Ubuntu:
Some final words
This short review shows briefly how it looks like and how good looking it is for you. For former KDE4 fans, I believe ROSA will make you happy once again, as it's pretty stable and quick even on old hardware like mine. For users who seek unique yet glossy interface, ROSA is promising one for you, try it first and have a nice day. Just see the desktop effects and icon theme! As Ubuntu users perhaps we can still hope that someday there will be a PPA to provide ROSA desktop (the supported KDE4) available for Ubuntu. Anyway, ROSA is a nice KDE4 distro, which is rare now, in this modern days. Enjoy ROSA R10!
This article is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
While Ubuntu doesn't have KDE4 anymore, a Mandriva-based GNU/Linux distro named ROSA from Russia continued to ship KDE4 even in 2019. It is ROSA Desktop Fresh R10 released in 2017 and supported until 2020. ROSA is one among three splits of Mandriva, other two are OpenMandriva and Mageia, happened right after 2011. We cannot run KDE4 anymore on Ubuntu today, but we can still run it on ROSA and get support. This article briefly highlights ROSA R10 for you. I wish anybody who wants a good distro with KDE4 in 2019 finally find what he/she wants. Enjoy!
In a nutshell
ROSA R10 KDE4 is a normal release (non-rolling) distro with LiveCD Installer ISO.
ROSA includes this set of software:
- KDE4 as desktop environment
- Dolphin as file manager
- Firefox and Chromium as web browser
- LibreOffice as office suite
- GIMP as image editor and Gwenview as image viewer
- Clementine and Rosa Media Player as audio and video player
- SimpleWelcome as start menu (application launcher)
- StackFolder as quick access for files and folders on system tray
- Rpmdrake as graphical package manager
- Audacity and Kdenlive as audio and video editor
Important links regarding ROSA are here:
Download links:
1. Start Menu
The application launcher is in full screen. The shortcut key is Alt+F1 and not Super key. First time I saw it, I admire the icon theme instantly. They're gorgeous and I didn't find such icons on other distros yet.
(ROSA application launcher looks unique compared to Ubuntu's and it's pretty faster)
A little bit talking about performance, the start menu above runs really quicker and responsive than menu on Ubuntu Bionic Beaver. Try it. And ROSA system as a whole runs very smooth on my Pentium 4GB Acer Aspire One laptop.
2. Package Manager
Old Ubuntu ships with Synaptic, while ROSA R10 ships with Rpmdrake, both are GUI package managers. It's still as user friendly as the package manager of Mandriva even today in 2019. To Reload repository information, simply go to menubar File > Update Media > select four Main selections on top > Update > go to menubar File > Reload packages list. After that, search anything and give check mark and press Apply button to install it.
Some most up to date versions of packages in the repository today:
- Firefox 66
- Chromium Browser 73
- LibreOffice 6.0
- GIMP 2.10 and Inkscape 0.92 and Krita 4.0.4
- Kdenlive and Marble 18.12
- Scilab 5.5.1 and GNU Octave 4.2.1
- VLC 3.0.4
(Rpmdrake Package Manager installing Firefox browser)
3. Workspace
Remember this one? The old, bottom panel Widgets selection. And the transparent folder view, and the translucent clock. And, the handle on right edge of the widget.
(A fresh KDE4 workspace with widgets)
And applications work just fine with this workspace in modern days.
(LibreOffice Writer, Calc, and Impress running with a menubar opened)
And, not to forget the amazing 3D Cube desktop effect. Plus, ROSA still supports different wallpaper and widgets for different desktops, while nowadays Plasma 5 doesn't.
(ROSA 3D desktop with start menu opened in one workspace and System Settings in another workspace)
4. File Manager
It's Dolphin. With everything available on left panel. This file manager can do you F3 (split vertical), Ctrl+I (select by keyword), Ctrl+F (search), Show in Groups, Sort by anything and in descending mode, and more.
(Dolphin file manager running well on ROSA)5. System Settings
It's Configure Your Desktop on start menu. You control panel is still like the golden old times with KDE4. Here you will find many configurations for KDE in general like Desktop Effects plus some system configurations like Firewall and Drakx Services, all are user friendly. We can determine which system component to connect to the network by click, and start/stop any service by click too, just as easy as that. Even we don't find such Firewall and System Services management by default on latest Ubuntu today.
(ROSA System Settings, Firewall manager, and Services manager running)
Difference to UbuntuTo mention brief difference between ROSA and Ubuntu:
- It's developed by Russian company LLC NIC IT ROSA, while Ubuntu's developed by United Kingdom-based company Canonical.
- It is based on Mandriva, Ubuntu is based on Debian.
- Its package format is .rpm, Ubuntu's is .deb.
- Its package manager are rpm and urpmi, Ubuntu's are dpkg and apt-get.
- Its user interface is KDE4 (an older version before current KDE5), Ubuntu's are GNOME 3.
Some final words
This short review shows briefly how it looks like and how good looking it is for you. For former KDE4 fans, I believe ROSA will make you happy once again, as it's pretty stable and quick even on old hardware like mine. For users who seek unique yet glossy interface, ROSA is promising one for you, try it first and have a nice day. Just see the desktop effects and icon theme! As Ubuntu users perhaps we can still hope that someday there will be a PPA to provide ROSA desktop (the supported KDE4) available for Ubuntu. Anyway, ROSA is a nice KDE4 distro, which is rare now, in this modern days. Enjoy ROSA R10!
This article is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
What To Do After Installing Kubuntu 19.04
(Welcome to the friendly desktop Kubuntu 19.04!)
Here's once again traditional article to help new users use Kubuntu 19.04 for their first time. This article suggests you some stuffs after you have installed Kubuntu successfully. I divided the materials into 3 parts, about file manager, System Settings, and workspace. You will find here quick guides to setup Dolphin as you wish, create new shortcut keys, and rearrange desktop to your needs, and more. In the end, I added short workaround to lock your folders safely using Kubuntu built-in Plasma Vault. Have fun with Kubuntu. Happy working!
Subscribe to UbuntuBuzz Telegram Channel to get article updates directly.
1. Your File Manager
(Dolphin with sort by type, grouping, list view, globally for all folders)
Show menubar: simply press Ctrl+M. Press it again to hide menubar.
Sorting & grouping: for example, to sort by type and group them, select menubar View > Sort by > Type, and then select menubar View > Show in groups.
Tooltip preview: you may like tooltips just like on Windows Explorer, and you have it on Dolphin as well. Go to menubar Settings > Configure Dolphin > General > Behavior > Miscellaneous > enable Show tooltips > OK. See.
(Tooltip really helps)
Global setup: to make above sorting & grouping applied to all folders, go to menubar Settings > Configure Dolphin > General > Behavior > select Use common properties for all folders > OK.
Quick access: for example, you love your Downloads folder, so drag that folder and drop it under Home shortcut on left panel. Another example, you access Pictures folder often, so drag and drop it under Home on left panel.
2. Your System Settings
(How to change shortcut keys)
Startup applications: go to System Settings > Workspace > Startup and shutdown > Add program > type the name of program, e.g. KMail > select and OK > repeat for other programs you wish to run automatically every start.
Super+D: or you may spell it Win+D, make Show Desktop function
Shift+Printscreen: go to System Settings > Workspace > Shortcuts > Custom Shortcuts > Screenshots > Rectangular Region > there by default you will see Meta+Shift+Printscreen > change it into Shift+Printscreen > Apply > Reassign > OK.
Single-click and double-click: recent Kubuntu places double-click to open file, unlike old Kubuntu did. If you prefer single-click (yes, I also prefer this), go to System Settings > Workspace > Desktop Behavior > Workspace > Click Behaviour > select Single-click > OK.
Disable top-left corner effect: go to System Settings > Workspace > Desktop behavior > Screen edges > Kubuntu places corner by default on top-left, so right-click the top-left box there > select No Action > OK. Now when you push mouse cursor to top-left of screen, no window will "fly" anymore.
Disable compositing: if you wish to disable all animations, drop shadows, and translucency, go to System Settings > Hardware > Display and monitor > Compositor > unmark Enable compositor at startup > OK.
3. Your Workspace
(Kubuntu workspace with icons on desktop, clock widget, and speed monitor panel)
Switch theme from Dark to Light: go to System Settings > Workspace Theme > Desktop Theme > choose Breeze (the light one) > OK.
List-style menu: right-click start menu > Alternatives > Application Menu > Switch.
Icons on desktop: simply drag-and-drop one application to desktop area and choose Link Here and repeat for another application.
Icons on panel: just like above, but put it on area between start menu and task manager.
Language: go to System Settings > Regional Settings > Language > Add languages... > select a language from the choices, e.g. Indonesia > click Add > language added > logout > login > now your user interface should changed into language you selected.
Speed monitor panel: simply create a new empty panel on top > add Network Monitor to it > make it auto-hide.
Holidays on calendar: right-click clock > Configure Digital Clock > Calendar > enable Holidays > now Holidays appeared as new menu > show Holidays > select region (country) you wish, e.g. Indonesia > OK > logout > login > now your calendar should show holidays correctly according to country selected. For example, if you follow this, you should find 17 August to be Indonesian Independence Day ("Hari Proklamasi Kemerdekaan").
(This is interesting, right?)
First-time setup KNotes: run KNotes > create new note > select folder available there > mark it > OK > new note created,
Bonus: Lock Your Folders!
Do you know you can lock folders with password on Kubuntu? See a Lock icon on system tray? That's Plasma Vault for you. The system is simple: create a new Vault folder > place files and folders you want to lock in there > lock it > now everything you put in there is locked and hidden unless you enter the Vault password.
This article is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Here's once again traditional article to help new users use Kubuntu 19.04 for their first time. This article suggests you some stuffs after you have installed Kubuntu successfully. I divided the materials into 3 parts, about file manager, System Settings, and workspace. You will find here quick guides to setup Dolphin as you wish, create new shortcut keys, and rearrange desktop to your needs, and more. In the end, I added short workaround to lock your folders safely using Kubuntu built-in Plasma Vault. Have fun with Kubuntu. Happy working!
Subscribe to UbuntuBuzz Telegram Channel to get article updates directly.
1. Your File Manager
- Ctrl+M menubar
- Sorting & Grouping
- Tooltip preview
- Global setup
- Add folder shortcuts
(Dolphin with sort by type, grouping, list view, globally for all folders)
Show menubar: simply press Ctrl+M. Press it again to hide menubar.
Sorting & grouping: for example, to sort by type and group them, select menubar View > Sort by > Type, and then select menubar View > Show in groups.
Tooltip preview: you may like tooltips just like on Windows Explorer, and you have it on Dolphin as well. Go to menubar Settings > Configure Dolphin > General > Behavior > Miscellaneous > enable Show tooltips > OK. See.
(Tooltip really helps)
Global setup: to make above sorting & grouping applied to all folders, go to menubar Settings > Configure Dolphin > General > Behavior > select Use common properties for all folders > OK.
Quick access: for example, you love your Downloads folder, so drag that folder and drop it under Home shortcut on left panel. Another example, you access Pictures folder often, so drag and drop it under Home on left panel.
2. Your System Settings
- Startup applications
- Show desktop Super+D
- Rectangular Shift+Printscreen
- Single Click and Double Click
- Disable Effects and Compositing
(How to change shortcut keys)
Startup applications: go to System Settings > Workspace > Startup and shutdown > Add program > type the name of program, e.g. KMail > select and OK > repeat for other programs you wish to run automatically every start.
Super+D: or you may spell it Win+D, make Show Desktop function
Shift+Printscreen: go to System Settings > Workspace > Shortcuts > Custom Shortcuts > Screenshots > Rectangular Region > there by default you will see Meta+Shift+Printscreen > change it into Shift+Printscreen > Apply > Reassign > OK.
Single-click and double-click: recent Kubuntu places double-click to open file, unlike old Kubuntu did. If you prefer single-click (yes, I also prefer this), go to System Settings > Workspace > Desktop Behavior > Workspace > Click Behaviour > select Single-click > OK.
Disable top-left corner effect: go to System Settings > Workspace > Desktop behavior > Screen edges > Kubuntu places corner by default on top-left, so right-click the top-left box there > select No Action > OK. Now when you push mouse cursor to top-left of screen, no window will "fly" anymore.
Disable compositing: if you wish to disable all animations, drop shadows, and translucency, go to System Settings > Hardware > Display and monitor > Compositor > unmark Enable compositor at startup > OK.
3. Your Workspace
- Dark theme and Light theme
- Menu list style
- Icons on desktop
- Icons on panel
- Language
- Speed monitor panel
- Holidays on calendar
- KNotes
(Kubuntu workspace with icons on desktop, clock widget, and speed monitor panel)
Switch theme from Dark to Light: go to System Settings > Workspace Theme > Desktop Theme > choose Breeze (the light one) > OK.
List-style menu: right-click start menu > Alternatives > Application Menu > Switch.
Icons on desktop: simply drag-and-drop one application to desktop area and choose Link Here and repeat for another application.
Icons on panel: just like above, but put it on area between start menu and task manager.
Language: go to System Settings > Regional Settings > Language > Add languages... > select a language from the choices, e.g. Indonesia > click Add > language added > logout > login > now your user interface should changed into language you selected.
Speed monitor panel: simply create a new empty panel on top > add Network Monitor to it > make it auto-hide.
Holidays on calendar: right-click clock > Configure Digital Clock > Calendar > enable Holidays > now Holidays appeared as new menu > show Holidays > select region (country) you wish, e.g. Indonesia > OK > logout > login > now your calendar should show holidays correctly according to country selected. For example, if you follow this, you should find 17 August to be Indonesian Independence Day ("Hari Proklamasi Kemerdekaan").
(This is interesting, right?)
First-time setup KNotes: run KNotes > create new note > select folder available there > mark it > OK > new note created,
Bonus: Lock Your Folders!
Do you know you can lock folders with password on Kubuntu? See a Lock icon on system tray? That's Plasma Vault for you. The system is simple: create a new Vault folder > place files and folders you want to lock in there > lock it > now everything you put in there is locked and hidden unless you enter the Vault password.
This article is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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LabPlot has got some beautifying and lots of datasets
Hello everyone! The second part of this year's GSoC is almost over, so I was due to let you know the progress made in the last 3 weeks. I can assure you we haven't lazed since then. I think I managed to make quite good progress, so everything is going as planned, or I could say that even better. If you haven't read about this year's project or you just want to go through what has already been accomplished you can check out my previous post.
So let's just go through the new things step by step. I'll try to explain the respective feature, and also give examples using videos or screenshots.
The first step was to improve the welcome screen and make it easily usable, dynamic, clean and intuitive for users. This step was very important since the welcome screen is what the users will first get in contact with when they start using LabPlot.
| Graphics: Weston 7.0 Reaches Alpha and RadeonSI Gallium3D Driver Adds Navi Wave32 Support
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