Ubuntu / Linux news and application reviews.

Fix VirtualBox 5.1.x Focus Issues On GNOME Desktops (Not Being Able To Move VM Windows In GNOME Shell, Clicking On Indicators In Unity)

| Date: March 09, 2017 | View Comments | Tags: fix, gnome shell, linux, tweaks, ubuntu, unity, virtualbox

If you use VirtualBox 5.1.x with a GNOME desktop (GNOME Shell, Unity and possibly other GTK-based desktops as well), you may have noticed that there are some focus-related issues:
  • in GNOME Shell (host), virtual machine windows can't be moved unless clicking on another window, then moving the virtual machine window;
  • in GNOME Shell (host), the Activities Overview can't be accessed if a virtual machine is focused;
  • in Unity (host), clicking on an indicator while a virtual machine is focused results in the indicator menus not being displayed.

Here's a screenshot showing what happens in Unity when indicators are clicked while a VirtualBox 5.1.x virtual machine is focused:

VirtualBox indicators focus bug Unity

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.

Alternative Global Menu For MATE And Xfce: Vala Panel AppMenu [PPA]

| Date: February 16, 2017 | View Comments | Tags: customization, global menu, linux, mate, tweaks, ubuntu mate, vala panel appmenu, xfce, xubuntu

A while back I wrote about TopMenu, a panel plugin that provides global menu (AppMenu) support for MATE, then also included support for Xfce and LXDE.

The problem with TopMenu is that it only partially supports GTK3, it doesn't support LibreOffice, and with Ubuntu 16.04, it doesn't support Qt (4 or 5) applications.

Here's where Vala Panel AppMenu comes in.

Vala Panel AppMenu is a global menu panel applet for Xfce, MATE and Vala panels, which uses unity-gtk-module as its backend, and it works with all the applications supported by Unity's AppMenu.

Global Menu Linux Mint Vala Panel AppMenu

WeatherDesk Changes Your Wallpaper Based On Current Weather Conditions

| Date: February 14, 2017 | View Comments | Tags: customization, linux, macosx, script, tweaks, ubuntu, wallpaper, weather, windows

WeatherDesk is a Python3 tool that allows using a wallpaper that changes based on the weather and optionally, time of day. It supports most Linux desktop environments as well as Windows and Mac.

WeatherDesk weather-based wallpaper Linux

`Dash To Panel` Is A Cool Icon Taskbar For GNOME Shell

| Date: January 27, 2017 | View Comments | Tags: customization, dock, extensions, featured, gnome, gnome shell, linux, tweaks, ubuntu

Dash to Panel is a fairly new GNOME Shell extension that moves the dash into the top bar, to achieve a single panel (combined app launchers and system tray) design similar to that of KDE Plasma or Windows 7+.

Dash To Panel GNOME Shell

The extension provides numerous features, including the ability to move the panel to the top or bottom, change the panel size, live window previews, and more.

Add A Searchable Command Palette To Any GTK3 Application Using Plotinus

| Date: January 18, 2017 | View Comments | Tags: customization, gtk3, hud, linux, tweaks, ubuntu

Plotinus is a library that adds a searchable command palette to any GTK+ 3 application, similar to the Atom and Sublime Text Command Palette feature (or Unity HUD).

Plotinus with Gedit

Switch Between Multiple Lists Of Apps Pinned To Unity Launcher With `Launcher List Indicator` [Updated Again]

| Date: August 24, 2016 | View Comments | Tags: appindicator, customization, tweaks, ubuntu, unity

Launcher List Indicator is a simple AppIndicator that makes it easy to switch between multiple lists of Unity Launcher icons (apps pinned to the launcher).


Launcher List Indicator

How To Completely Disable Mouse Acceleration In Linux

| Date: August 19, 2016 | View Comments | Tags: customization, games, linux, mouse, tweaks, ubuntu

mouse

Some desktop environments don't provide a way to change the mouse acceleration (GNOME and Unity for instance), and even for those that do (like Cinnamon), you can't completely turn it off. Here's how to completely disable mouse acceleration in Linux (for Xorg).

How To Prevent The Super Key From Opening Dash On Top Of Fullscreen Windows (Ubuntu /w Unity Only)

| Date: August 19, 2016 | View Comments | Tags: customization, games, tips n tricks, tweaks, ubuntu, unity

Unity Dash on top of fullscreen game

In Ubuntu (Unity), the Super (Windows) key is used to open Unity Dash. Accidentally pressing the Super key when playing fullscreen games can be quite annoying, because Dash covers quite a bit of the screen, so you can't see what's going on, and it also switches the keyboard input from the game to Unity.

If you've gotten used to using the Super key to open Dash and don't want to change it, you can use a Python script, created by Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy for AskUbuntu, which automatically disables the Super key from opening Unity Dash, if there are any fullscreen windows. Note that the script has only been tested in Ubuntu 16.04.

Add Recently Accessed Files As Quicklists To Apps Pinned To Unity Launcher With `Ubuntu RecentQuicklists`

| Date: August 10, 2016 | View Comments | Tags: customization, quicklists, tweaks, ubuntu, unity

Ubuntu RecentQuicklists is a Python script that adds recently accessed files as quicklists (right click menu) to applications pinned to the Unity Launcher.

Ubuntu RecentQuicklists

How To Create And Edit Keyboard Shortcuts In Lubuntu (Openbox)

| Date: July 29, 2016 | View Comments | Tags: customization, linux, lubuntu, openbox, tweaks

Lubuntu (which uses Openbox as its window manager) doesn't come with any graphical user interface tool to edit or create new keyboard shortcuts, and to do this, you must either edit the configuration file manually, or use xbindkeys.

Obkey keyboard shortcuts Lubuntu (Openbox)

To simplify the process, you can use Obkey, an Openbox key editor. While its user interface is not the most intuitive, it simplifies the process of editing and adding new keyboard shortcuts.

How To Get A Unity-Like HUD (Searchable Menu) In Xubuntu, Ubuntu MATE, Linux Mint, More

| Date: June 24, 2016 | View Comments | Tags: customization, desktop environment, hud, linux mint, menu, tweaks, ubuntu mate, xubuntu

You're probably familiar with the Unity HUD, or Head-Up Display, which lets you search through and application's menu. Thanks to Rafael Bocquet's i3-hud-menu (and J.A. McNaughton's fork), you can use this menu search feature in pretty much any desktop environment (and in any Linux distribution in which you can install unity-gtk-module).

i3-hud-menu allows searching and navigating through an application's menu using the keyboard, with the use of dmenu (dmenu doesn't have mouse support by default). Here's how it looks like in Xubuntu 16.04:

i3-menu-hud Xubuntu

How To Easily Create AppFolders In GNOME Shell Using GNOME AppFolders Manager Or GNOME Software

| Date: June 16, 2016 | View Comments | Tags: customization, gnome, gnome shell, linux, tweaks, ubuntu

By default, the GNOME (Shell) overview displays applications in two views: "all", where all the applications are listed in alphabetic order, and "frequent", in which the frequently used applications are displayed.

GNOME Shell supports grouping applications in app folders, and there are two such predefined folders, "Utilities" and "Sundry". Some might not know how to create custom app folders, so here are two ways of achieving this.


gtk3-nocsd (Module To Disable Client-Side Decorations) Sees New Release

| Date: June 02, 2016 | View Comments | Tags: customization, gtk3, tweaks, ubuntu

gtk3-nocsd is a module used to disable client-side decorations, either globally (for all applications) or only for certain applications.

Temporarily Disable Notifications In Ubuntu (w/ Unity 7) With NoNotifications Indicator

| Date: May 17, 2016 | View Comments | Tags: appindicator, customization, linux, nonotifications, tweaks, ubuntu

NoNotifications is a simple indicator for Ubuntu (Unity 7) that allows you to temporarily suppress NotifyOSD notifications. The tool is useful for presentations, when working, and so on, to prevent unwanted notifications from getting in your way or distracting you.

Ubuntu Unity do not disturb nonotifications

Customize NotifyOSD Notification Bubbles In Ubuntu 16.04 (Xenial Xerus)

| Date: May 04, 2016 | View Comments | Tags: customization, notifications, notify OSD, tweaks, unity

Sukochev Roman's (Leolik) patched NotifyOSD PPA adds extra features on top of the Ubuntu NotifyOSD notifications, like closing the notifications on click, option to move the notifications to a different screen corner, configurable colors for both the notification background and text, and much more.

Ubuntu configurable notification bubble

Things To Do After Installing Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (Xenial Xerus)

| Date: April 21, 2016 | View Comments | Tags: customization, featured, tips n tricks, tweaks, ubuntu, Xenial Xerus

Ubuntu 16.04 will be available for download in a few hours and since many of you will be installing it as soon as it's released, here are some useful things you can do right after the installation.

Ubuntu 16.04 LTS

How To Get Flash And H.264 To Work In Vivaldi Browser (Ubuntu, Linux Mint)

| Date: April 06, 2016 | View Comments | Tags: flash, internet, linux, tweaks, ubuntu, vivaldi

Vivaldi 1.0 stable was released today and if you gave it a try, you might have noticed, at least on a fresh Ubuntu installation, that Flash and H.264 don't work out of the box.

Here's how to get Adobe Flash and H.264 (used, for instance, by the YouTube HTML5 player) to work with Vivaldi browser, in Ubuntu, Linux Mint and derivatives.

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.

`Take A Break` Helps You To Actually... Take A Break From Your Computer

| Date: December 09, 2015 | View Comments | Tags: linux, time tracking, tweaks, ubuntu

`Take a Break` is a small application which can be used to (more or less) force users to take a break after a configurable work time, useful if something like a popup reminder is not effective for you.

Take a Break

License: (cc) BY-NC-SA WebUpd8 | Privacy