Linux Mint 21.3 Beta Released, Available to Download
Eager to get your hands on the next Linux Mint release? You can, as a beta build is now available to download. Linux Mint 21.3 beta isn’t production ready (it’s a beta) so in theory you shouldn’t be installing this as your main OS. However, chances are some of you will, and as this beta is still based on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, a mature code base, and the stable Linux Mint 21.3 release is due in a few weeks… As the third major update in the Linux Mint 21.x series, this edition includes a couple of headline-grabbing capabilities, plus some 
#News #Cinnamon #LinuxMint
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2023/12/linux-mint-21-3-beta-released
GNOME Shell 45.2 Update Rolling out to Ubuntu 23.10
The first point release to GNOME Shell 45 only hit Ubuntu 23.10 at the end of last month, and now a second one is already on its way! GNOME Shell 45.2 was released upstream at the start of December, now Ubuntu’s developers have packaged it up and pushed it out to users of Ubuntu 23.10. It hit the mantic-proposed repo today so assuming no unexpected issues are found in the coming days the update will be pushed out to all users through the regular update channel in the coming week or two. Think of it as an early Christmas treat
#News #Ubuntu23_10
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2023/12/gnome-shell-45-2-ubuntu-23-10
Calibre eBook App Now Supports Audio ePubs & Custom Notes
If Calibre, the popular open-source ebook manager, was a book itself it’d surely be a perennial bestseller, thanks to an exhaustive, multi-faceted feature set. And in the latest Calibre 7 release, the feature set expands yet further. The latest version introduces a clutch of new capabilities to the manager’s existing roster of ebook conversion, syncing, reading, and editing options. To me, the standout addition in Calibre 7.0 is the ability to store notes linked to various book attributes within your Calibre library. You can stash notes related to authors, publishers, book series, and more so you can keep track of
#News #AppUpdates #Calibre #Ebooks
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2023/12/calibre-ebook-manager-now-supports-audio-epub-notes
Double-Clicking on Apple Docs in Ubuntu 23.10 Now iWorks
Ubuntu ships with LibreOffice because it’s a powerful open-source office suite compatible with document made in rival software, such as Microsoft Office and Apple’s iWork. Thing is, while LibreOffice can open files made in Apple’s Pages (a word processor, saves as .pages) and Numbers (a spreadsheet app, saves as .numbers) the shared-mime-info package in Ubuntu 22.04 LTS misattributes both formats as ZIP archives: So if a user double-clicks on either document in Ubuntu 22.04 the Archive Manager tool is launched, rather than LibreOffice. Thankfully, this bug was fixed upstream last year, and the fix included in the shared-mime-info 2.2 release,
#News #Apple #Libreoffice #Papercuts
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2023/12/open-apple-pages-documents-ubuntu-fixed
Meta and IBM Assemble Open-Source AI Super Team
Development of open-source AI models just got a major boost with the launch of the AI Alliance, a super-team made up of companies, developers, scientists, academics, and spearheaded by Meta and IBM, owners of Red Hat. While governments around the world wrestle with ways to regulate AI to ensure development is safe, responsible, and not in going to lead to any sci-fi-esque doomsday scenarios, the newly-announced AI Alliance is aiming to offer an industry-led answer. The Ai Alliance says it is “focused on fostering an open community and enabling developers and researchers to accelerate responsible innovation in AI while ensuring
#News #Ai #Chatgpt #RedHat
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2023/12/meta-ibm-assemble-open-source-ai-alliance
Zorin OS 17 Beta is Now Available to Download
Ahead of the Zorin OS 17 release (due later this month), a beta version is available for download and testing. Zorin OS 17 rebases on top of Ubuntu 22.04 LTS and the Linux 6.2 kernel but, interestingly, ships with GNOME 43 and not GNOME 42, which is the default in Ubuntu 22.04. Given the substantial leap from GNOME 3.38 used in previous Zorin OS releases, this version offers much improved performance and several major user experience changes, such as a horizontal workspace switcher, interactive screenshot tool, and button-based Quick Settings menu. Zorin OS 17 builds out from those solid foundations
#News #Distros #ZorinOs
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2023/12/zorin-os-17-beta-released
Use Reco to Record System Audio & Microphone Input in Ubuntu
Looking to record system sounds and your microphone at the same time on Ubuntu, and save it to a single audio file? Reco is a free, open-source audio recording app for Linux, written in Vala and GTK. Although it’s designed for elementary OS it works well on Ubuntu and other Linux distributions, and doesn’t look too conspicuous on the modern GNOME desktop, either. Better still, Reco is available to install from Flathub. Being able to capture your voice and your system’s audio output (be it game audio, software, music, someone talking in a broadcast) simultaneously is useful for content creation,
#Apps #AudioApps #Reco #Sound
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2023/12/reco-record-system-audio-microphone-same-time-ubuntu
Mozilla Firefox Beta & Developer Edition Now Available as Debs via APT Repo
Mozilla now provides Deb builds of Firefox Beta and Firefox Developer Edition for Debian-based Linux distributions (y’know, like Ubuntu) Just like the Firefox Nightly Debs Mozilla announced back in October, Debian packages of Firefox beta and Developer Edition are available to install from a dedicated APT repository that is maintained by Mozilla developers. Mozilla says its Deb packages offer better performance and security compared to other Firefox builds available in distro repos and on other app stores. This is due to custom compiler optimisations, hardened binaries with all security flags enabled, and the fact Mozilla can issue updates to users
#News
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2023/12/mozilla-firefox-beta-developer-edition-debs
Switch Workspaces in Ubuntu 22.04 Using Buttons with This Extension
Looking for a quick way to switch workspaces in Ubuntu 22.04 LTS using your mouse? You’ll already known you can click on the Activities button in the top bar. That opens the overview screen which shows all active workspaces. You click on a workspace to go straight to it. Not a hardship, granted, but a bit more effort than just switching instantly. So can hold the super key and scroll on your mouse scroll wheel to cycle between workspaces too. But that assumes you’re using a mouse with a scroll wheel (and still involves keyboard shortcuts; you can press super
#News #GnomeExtensions
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2023/12/workspace-switch-buttons-gnome-extension
Ayaneo Retro Mini PC
Outside of single-board computers like the Raspberry Pi, small form-factor desktop PCs aren’t super common — a market gap gaming hardware company Ayaneo hopes to fill. They’ve unveiled the Ayaneo Retro Mini PC AM01, an AMD-powered desktop computer housed inside a 5-inch box designed to look as much like a beige Macintosh from the 1980s as it can, without being sued by Apple. The front is brazenly embellished with a six-colour rainbow logo (magnetic, and removable), and the faux display bears a phoney Finder face on it. Ayaneo is a profiling maker of handheld gaming PCs, so it’s not surprise
#Hardware #News #Amd #Ayaneo
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2023/11/ayaneo-retro-mini-pc-supports-ubuntu
Varia is a Brand New Download Manager for Linux
Varia is a new, open-source download manager for Linux based on Aria2, a powerful command-line download utility. As the user interface is built with GTK 4 and libadwaita, Varia looks perfectly in-keeping with other modern GTK apps Ubuntu offers: Of course, it’s 2023 and we all (apparently) live in a world of blazing fast internet connections, where giant files download in seconds, and everything else gets streamed or accessed on-demand. Are dedicated desktop download managers still useful? If you need to download a large file over an unreliable internet connection (or if your computer dies mid-way through said transfer) most
#Apps #News #DownloadManager #GtkApps #Varia
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2023/11/varia-new-download-manager-for-linux
Notepad++ Marks 20th Anniversary with New Release
The open-source text editor Notepad++ is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a new release filled with some neat new features. In Notepad++ 8.6 (the 238th release since 2003, for those keeping count) the Windows-based code tool adds to its extensive feature set with an improved multi-edit feature. Now, I’m not a developer. I dip into a bit of basic PHP for the omg! sites on occasion, but it doesn’t require a bespoke coding environment. I don’t know how this feature adds to or adjust what was (apparently) available in earlier versions of the app. A few 3rd-party plugins for Notepad++
#News #AppUpdates #Notepad++ #Texteditor
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2023/11/notepad-plus-plus-20th-anniversary-update
Blue Recorder, Linux Screencast App, Ported to GTK4
GNOME Shell’s built-in screen recording feature is perfect at capturing short clips but when you need to record longer sessions you should use a dedicated screen recording app. Such tools give you greater control over video quality, output format, sound capture, frame rate, and so on — all vitally important if you’re looking to create high-quality screencast content for videos, social media, or really helpful bug reports. Amongst the surfeit of Linux screen recording software that’s readily available is Blue Recorder. Blue Recorder is an improved, Rust-based rewrite of Green Recorder, which was an open-source screen recording tool popular circa
#News #AppUpdates #ScreenRecorders
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2023/11/blue-recorder-linux-app-ported-to-gtk4
Musique Music Player Ported to Qt 6, Refreshes UI
It’s been a long time since I last wrote about Musique, a desktop music player for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Amazingly, the app is still going as it just got its first major update in nearly 3 years. “This Musique update is the first Qt 6-based release I do. The main effort has been modernizing the look of the app: a more flat and clean style, with rounded artist pics and a nicer toolbar,” writes its developer, Flavio Tordini, on the project website. Musique is a music player in the traditional mould: you point it at a folder full of
#News #AppUpdates #Musicplayers #Musique #QtApps
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2023/11/musique-music-player-ported-to-qt6
GNOME Shell 45.1 Now Rolling Out to Ubuntu 23.10
The recent GNOME Shell 45.1 update is now rolling out to users of Ubuntu 23.10. As the first point release to GNOME Shell since the GNOME 45 release in September, plenty of miscellaneous bug fixes, code cleanups, and crash solution are included. Among specific fixes mentioned in the official upstream changelog: The latter fix for the calendar pop up addresses a quirk where clicking on a date in the bottom row makes the entire applet shrink. Chances are you never noticed this bug as it does not occur if a date in any row above the final one is clicked
#News #Ubuntu23_10
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2023/11/gnome-shell-45-1-now-rolling-out-to-ubuntu-23-10
Pano Clipboard Manager Now Works in Ubuntu 23.10
In the world of Linux clipboard managers few can match the panache of Pano, a GNOME Shell extension I first wrote about last year. Pano offers an interactive, visually-rich dashboard from which to store, search, and organise your clipboard history. It’s similar to the popular macOS app Paste but arguably better since it’s free, open-source software and works on Linux. Well, I’m pleased to report that this flashy productivity aid (which can be navigated entirely from the keyboard, if you want) now supports GNOME 45 and Ubuntu 23.10. Better yet, the add-on now lets you choose where on screen it
#News #ClipboardManager #GnomeExtensions #Pano
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2023/11/pano-linux-clipboard-extension-gnome-45
Firefox 120 Released with Enhanced Privacy, PIP Snapping, and More
Mozilla Firefox 120 has landed, bringing with it a flurry of new features and improvements. Firefox 120 now supports corner snapping for Picture-in-Picture (PIP) mode on Windows and Linux. This will put a PIP window back in a corner after it’s been moved elsewhere. To try it, hold the ctrl key and move a PIP window in the direction of any corner, and bam—it’ll snap. Firefox also adds a ‘Copy Link Without Site Tracking’ open to the context menu when right-clicking on links. This option ensures links copied to your clipboard do not contain any tracking information, source tags, or
#News #AppUpdates #Firefox
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2023/11/firefox-120-released-tracking-protection
Inkscape 1.3.1 Released as ‘Biggest Bug Fix’ Update Ever
Inkscape, a free and open-source vector graphics editor, has released a new version which its developers say is the ‘biggest bug fix’ update they’ve ever shared! Alongside 40 bug fixes there are over 30 crash/freeze fixes included in Inkscape 1.3.1, with remedies to address workflow-wrecking behaviour during PDF import, or while using the the Live Path effect. Other changes in Inkscape 1.3.1: Two nifty new features have also been added: In all, a decent uplift to this design essential. For an avalanche more detail on every bug fixes and feature buff this update offers I highly recommend reading the Inkscape
#News #AppUpdates #Inkscape
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2023/11/inkscape-1-3-1-biggest-bug-fix-update-ever
SystemStatsPlus GNOME Extension
We’re not short of system monitoring tools for Ubuntu, with an array of desktop apps, extensions, widgets, Conky scripts, and command-line tools readily available to us. But if you’re keen to keep an eye firmly fixed on system resource usage the newly launched SystemStatsPlus GNOME extension will appeal (though only if you use Ubuntu 23.10, as this only supports GNOME 45 atm). SystemStatsPlus provides “real-time visualization of key system resources”, and described itself as “an essential tool for anyone looking to keep a close eye on their system’s performance”. Once installed, this extension embeds live, updating resource graphs in the
#News #GnomeExtensions #Systemapps
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2023/11/systemstatsplus-system-monitor-gnome-extension
Use GDM Settings to Customise Ubuntu’s Login Screen
Ubuntu, like other Linux distributions uses the GNOME Display Manager (GDM) as its, well, display manager, though most of us tend to think of or refer to it as the login screen. To customise the Ubuntu login screen, such as setting a different theme or icon set, changing the login screen background image or colour, or getting night light to apply when viewing it, you can use a 3rd-party tool called GDM Settings. The app is written in Python and uses libadwaita for its UI, so it looks great on the modern Ubuntu desktop and adapts gracefully when resizing the
#Apps #Customization #Gdm
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2023/11/gdm-settings-customise-ubuntu-login-screen
