Ubuntu / Linux news and application reviews.

Streamlink 0.5.0 Adds Support For Streaming Google Drive / Google Docs Videos

| Date: April 05, 2017 | View Comments | Tags: cli, linux, livestreamer, macosx, streaming, streamlink, ubuntu, windows

Streamlink 0.5.0 was released yesterday, bringing support for streaming videos from Google Drive / Google Docs, along with other improvements.

Streamlink

Forked from Livestreamer, which is no longer maintained, Streamlink is a command line tool (and API) that can be used to stream videos from various streaming services, such as Twitch, YouTube Live and many more, and play them using your favorite video player, be it VLC, mpv, and more.

Automatically Organize Your Downloads Folder In Linux Using `Classifier` (Command Line)

| Date: March 16, 2017 | View Comments | Tags: classifier, cli, linux, organize

My downloads folder is pretty messy but I can't just delete things because I still need most of the stuff I download. To "fix" this, I was looking for an app that can automatically organize my downloads, and I stumbled upon Classifier, an easy to use command line tool that can organize files in any directory.

Here's an example - on the left there's a folder which contains various file types (images, archives, documents, etc.) and on the right it's a folder that contains the exact same files as the folder on the left, but after running Classifier to organize it (into folders):

classifier organize folder

Uber CLI: Quickly Get Uber Time-To-Pickup And Price Estimates From The Command Line

| Date: March 02, 2017 | View Comments | Tags: cli, linux, nodejs, uber, ubuntu

uber logo

Uber CLI is a tool to get time-to-pickup and price estimates for Uber from the command line. The application cannot be used to request Uber rides.

This is useful if you use Uber and the command line a lot, as it's much faster than checking these details on your phone, especially if you create some Bash aliases for your home address and the places you frequently use Uber to get to.

Configure npm To Install Packages Globally Without sudo Using A Script

| Date: March 02, 2017 | View Comments | Tags: cli, linux, nodejs, npm, tweaks, ubuntu

npm logo

npm is the default package manager for Node.js. It consists of a command line client that integrates with a remote registry, and it makes it easy to install, share and distribute code.

If you're using npm installed from a repository in Linux (like the official Ubuntu or Node.js repositories), you may have noticed that you can't install packages globally ("-g") as a regular user. Many websites mention installing npm packages using sudo, but this messes up some permissions and is not recommended.

Argos Lets You Create GNOME Shell Extensions From Scripts (W/ BitBar Plugin Support)

| Date: February 28, 2017 | View Comments | Tags: bash, bitbar, cli, extensions, gnome, gnome shell

Argos is a tool inspired by the BitBar app for Mac, which makes it easy to create your own GNOME Shell extensions, using information provided via scripts.

Being a GNOME Shell extension itself, Argos adds a button with a dropdown on the GNOME Shell top panel. This button can display or expose functionality provided by a script, be it Bash, Python, Ruby, and so on (remember to make it executable or else Argos won't use it).

Here's Argos in action (gif via Argos GitHub page):

Argos GNOME Shell script extension

Rclone Is Now Available As A Snap Package [Quick Update]

| Date: February 16, 2017 | View Comments | Tags: cli, cloud, linux, rclone, snap, sync, ubuntu, utility

cloud storage

[Quick Update] Rclone is now available as a snap package, making it easy to install and update on a wide range of Linux distributions which support Snaps, like Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, Gentoo, Arch Linux, openSUSe and more.

Rclone is a command line tool for synchronizing files and folders to multiple cloud storages (either from your machine or from one cloud storage to another). It supports Dropbox, Google Drive, Amazon S3, Amazon Drive, Microsoft One Drive, Yandex Disk, and more.

Jam: Listen To Google Play Music From The Console

| Date: February 13, 2017 | View Comments | Tags: cli, cloud, google music, google play music, jam, linux, music, music player, ubuntu, windows

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about GPMDP, a Google Play Music desktop application that integrates Google Play Music with the desktop and adds various features on top. If you don't need all those desktop features and all you need is a lightweight, console Google Play Music client, you can try Jam.

Jam Google Play Music console player

Jam is a new Google Play Music console player for Linux and Windows. The application, which is written in Go, had its first alpha release about two weeks ago, and it's currently at version 0.4.0.

Easily Use Free VPNs From VPN Gate In Linux With These 2 Tools

| Date: February 02, 2017 | View Comments | Tags: appindicator, cli, internet, linux, privacy, ubuntu, vpn

Below you'll find 2 tools that make it easy to use free OpenVPN servers from VPN Gate in Linux.

In case you're not familiar with VPN Gate, this is project that offers free VPN servers that are ran by volunteers who use SoftEther. It was designed with the Great Firewall of China in Mind and is sponsored by the University of Tsukuba, Japan.

It's important to note that free VPNs are insecure, and they shouldn't be used for sensitive / important stuff!

6 Cool Internet Radio Players For Linux

| Date: February 01, 2017 | View Comments | Tags: appindicator, cli, gnome shell, internet, linux, radio, ubuntu

There are quite a few Linux applications that can play Internet radio, but I thought I'd make a list of some of the most interesting apps that focus on this.

The list includes lightweight Internet radio players, a fully fledged desktop application, a command line radio browser and player, as well as a GNOME Shell extension.

Install Streamlink (Livestreamer Fork) In Ubuntu Or Linux Mint Via PPA

| Date: October 26, 2016 | View Comments | Tags: cli, linux, livestreamer, streaming, streamlink, twitch, ubuntu

It looks like Livestreamer is no longer maintained, so a fork, called Streamlink, was created recently. There are no Ubuntu packages for the new fork, so I uploaded Streamlink to the main WebUpd8 PPA.

The PPA uses the Livestreamer Debian packaging, renamed for Streamlink, so the packaging credits go to Stefan Breunig, the Livestreamer Debian maintainer.

Streamlink

In case you're not familiar with Livestreamer, this is a command line utility (and API is also available) that pipes video streams from services such as Livestream, Twitch, UStream, Youtube Live and more, to video players like VLC, mpv, and so on.

Get Football (Soccer) Scores, Fixtures, And Standings From The Command Line With Soccer CLI [Updated]

| Date: August 12, 2016 | View Comments | Tags: cli, football, linux

If you prefer working at the command line to using a graphical interface, and you're a football (soccer) fan, Soccer CLI is for you.

soccer cli

The app uses the football-data.org API to provide past and live football scores, standings, upcoming fixtures, and player information. All major European football leagues are supported, including Premier League, La Liga, UEFA Champions League, and more.

Easily Share Files From The Command Line With transfer.sh

| Date: August 04, 2016 | View Comments | Tags: cli, internet, share, tips n tricks

If you prefer doing things from the command line, transfer.sh (no, that's not a script, it's a website) is for you. Using it, you can easily share a file from the command line, without installing anything. Well, cURL or Wget are required, but you probably already have them installed.

The service is free, allows uploading files up to 10 GB in size, and it stores the files for 14 days. In my test, it was also very fast.

Stream Videos To Chromecast From The Command Line Using Stream2Chromecast

| Date: August 01, 2016 | View Comments | Tags: chromecast, cli, linux, video


Stream2Chromecast is a command line Chromecast media streamer for Linux. The tool can transcode unsupported formats in real time and play them on the Chromecast.

How To Safely Remove Old Linux Kernels In Ubuntu Or Linux Mint [Quick Tip]

| Date: July 26, 2016 | View Comments | Tags: cli, customization, linux, tips n tricks, ubuntu

Old Linux kernels can take up a considerable amount of disk space. Apt ("sudo apt-get autoremove") tries to remove uneeded packages, including old Linux kernels, but it may fail to remove all of them.

Apt may fail to remove old Linux kernels when using an Ubuntu version that's under development, if you encounter THIS bug (which still occurs in Trusty), or if you've installed the kernels manually.

Get Weather Information From A Terminal Using Nothing But cURL

| Date: April 14, 2016 | View Comments | Tags: cli, linux, ubuntu, weather, wttr

wttr.in is a web frontent for Wego, a weather app for the terminal. Using nothing but cURL and wttr.in, you can get weather information from a terminal, without having to install anything (well, except for cURL).


Manage Passwords From The Command Line With `Pass`

| Date: March 10, 2016 | View Comments | Tags: cli, linux, password manager, ubuntu

`pass` is a simple, flexible command line password manager that follows the Unix philosophy. The application saves each password in an encrypted GPG file and allows organizing them in various folder hierarchies.

pass command line password manager

How To Change The Mouse Scroll Wheel Speed In Linux Using imwheel [Quick Tip]

| Date: December 09, 2015 | View Comments | Tags: cli, customization, linux, mouse, tweaks, ubuntu

mouse

I've never actually needed to modify the mouse scroll wheel speed until recently, when I got a new mouse and I wanted to change the scroll wheel settings. That's when I noticed there's no such option in Unity / GNOME Control Center.

I searched for ways to change this under Linux and the easiest to use seems to be "imwheel", a command line tool that can be used to tweak the mouse wheel behavior and which, among others, can change the scroll speed of the mouse wheel, and I decided to share the information with you.

Terminal Emulator `Terminator` Sees New Release

| Date: September 08, 2015 | View Comments | Tags: cli, linux, terminal, terminator, ubuntu

Terminator is terminal emulator which includes numerous useful features such as multiple terminals in the same window (split view), notifications, supports saving and restoring custom layouts and much more.

Terminator terminal emulator

Grive2: Grive Fork (Google Drive Linux Client) With Partial Sync Support [PPA]

| Date: May 25, 2015 | View Comments | Tags: cli, cloud, google drive, grive, linux, sync, ubuntu

Grive was an unofficial, open source command line Linux client for Google Drive. I say "was" because the tool no longer works due to Google changing it's API recently and Grive not being maintained any more (there are no commits on its GitHub page since May, 2013).

Grive2

To get Grive up and running again, Vitaliy Filippov forked it and named his fork "Grive2". The fork supports the new Google Drive REST API and it also includes a new feature: partial (directory) sync, along with bug fixes.

mps-youtube Migrates To YouTube API v3, Gets Ubuntu Sound Menu Support

| Date: May 14, 2015 | View Comments | Tags: cli, linux, mps-youtube, ubuntu, youtube

mps-youtube 0.2.4 was released today and with this version, the app was migrated to YouTube API v3. This is an important change because the old v2 API was shut down recently so previous mps-youtube versions no longer work.

Another important change in this release is the addition of MPRIS v2 support, which means that mps-youtube can now make use of Ubuntu's Sound Menu, GNOME Shell Media Player Indicator extension and so on.

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