What is the ‘Ubuntu Pro’ Banner in Software Sources About?
A few readers have mailed in to tell me they’ve spotted a new promotion for Ubuntu Pro in the Software & Update apps on Ubunu 20.04 LTS. The banner isn’t a nag screen; you have to open the Software & Updates tool (which is often referred to as the ‘software sources’ utility) and click on the Livepatch tab to see it: Livepatch is Ubuntu’s LTS-only reboot-free kernel update mechanism which is especially handy in situations where rebooting a system (or a fleet of systems) to apply a security update is …unideal. Chances are those looking to enable Livepatch are the 
#News #Canonical #Livepatch #Security #Ubuntu20_04Lts #UbuntuAdvantage #UbuntuPro
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2022/01/ubuntu-pro-banner-in-software-and-updates-tool
OnlyOffice 7.0 Released with Form Filling, Windowed Mode + More
ONLYOFFICE 7.0 is now available to download for Windows, macOS and Linux. As the first major update to this free, open source office suite this year you won’t be surprised to hear it’s a fairly big one with a wide range of tweaks, features, and improvements included. ONLYOFFICE 7.0 (that’s how they stylise the name; it’s not me shouting) inherits all of the improvements in the cloud-side version the suite, such as the ability to create and edit forms (often distributed in the .docxf format). Filled-in forms can be saved as a PDF file to share elsewhere or the native
#Apps #News #AppUpdates #Onlyoffice
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2022/01/onlyoffice-7-0-released-with-form-filling-windowed-mode-more
Wine 7.0 Released with Tons of Improvements, Including a New Theme
Hear that? It’s the sound of a cork popping off the latest release of Wine, the open source compatibility layer that helps Windows apps run on Linux. The new Wine 7.0 release features a year’s worth of development distilled from over 9,000 changes. The goal? To serve a bold bouquet rich in improvements, new features, and advanced capabilities. The official release announcement is a little brief, but the Wine mailing list announcement and the official release notes relay a lot more detail — so much it’s best read with a glass of real wine and some nibbles. So what’s new?
#News #AppUpdates #Wine
GNOME 42 Alpha Arrives With a Lot of GTK4 Ports
The first alpha release of GNOME 42 is now available, so in this post I showcase some of the key changes it brings. Now, this isn’t a fully detailed, commit-by-commit, blow-by-blow rundown of everything that’s been updated, upgraded, or tickled lightly under its chin. Nor is this a rundown of the best new features — it’s way too early for that. What follows is a quick overview of the more visible changes that are likely to interest desktop users. I also have to be boring and remind you that this is an alpha release and that things WILL change. Nothing
#News #Gnome42
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2022/01/gnome-42-alpha-arrives-with-a-lot-of-gtk4-ports
‘Burn My Windows’ GNOME Extension Adds 3 New Effects & Random Mode
A couple of new Star Trek-esque effects have been added to the ‘Burn my Windows’ GNOME Shell extension. If you’ve not yet heard about this bling-tactic add-on, it animates closing windows (and optionally dialogs) in some spectacularly over the top ways — just like Compiz of old. Burn My Windows 8 is available from the GNOME Extensions website and it adds there new effects. ‘Energize A’ disperses your windows in a flurry of sci-fi particles: ‘Energize B’ dispatches your windows and dialogs in a way that reminds of the famous Star Trek transporter: The new ‘Wisp’ effects is described as
#News
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2022/01/burn-my-windows-gnome-extension-adds-3-new-effects-random-mode
GNOME Mulls ‘Cleanup’ of Background Settings in Pursuit of New Features
GNOME devs plan a 'big cleanup' of code related to background wallpaper handling in GNOME Shell, which would result in the removal of several features.
#Dev #News #Gnome #Gnome42 #Wallpapers
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2022/01/gnome-background-settings-removal
‘Rnote’ is an Impressive Freehand Note Taking App Built in Rust & GTK4
Rnote is a seriously impressive freehand note taking app written in Rust and GTK4. I came across it on Flathub this week and, within seconds of installing it, I knew I had to give it a bit of a spotlight. If you’ve got a laptop with a stylus or touch-enabled screen and you use GNOME Shell you have to try it out. Rnote is billed by its developer as a “simple note taking application written in Rust and GTK4”. I spent about 20 minutes playing around with it (albeit with a mouse as primary input) and it’s really quite polished
#Apps #FlathubApps #FlatpakApps #Gtk4 #HandwrittenNotes #NoteTakingApps #Notetaking #Rnote
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2022/01/rnote-frehand-notetaking-app-for-linux-gtk4
‘Nordic’ GTK Theme Brings Nord Color Scheme to Linux Desktops
Nordic is a GTK theme based on the Nord colour scheme. It's available in several variants and a GNOME Shell theme is also included. More details inside.
#Download #Themes #ColourSchemes #EyeCandy #GtkThemes
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2022/01/nordic-is-a-nord-gtk-theme-for-linux
Ubuntu 22.04 Release Date & New Features
Ubuntu 22.04 is due for release on April 21, 2022. In this post we look at the various new features and key changes that are planned for the release. Development of Ubuntu 22.04 is still at a somewhat early stage but we do have a good idea of what to expect from the update developers have codenamed “Jammy Jellyfish”. In this post we rundown everything that’s known so far, from the Ubuntu 22.04 release date to how long it’ll be supported for. And at the very bottom of this article you will find a link to download the Ubuntu 22.04
#News #Ubuntu22_04Lts
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2022/01/ubuntu-22-04-release-features
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS Will Use Linux 5.15 Kernel
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS will come with the Linux 5.15 kernel by default. That’s the current plan according to Canonical’s Sebastien Bacher, who says “the plan is to use 5.15 for the LTS but the oem and hwe variants will get 5.17 as some point”. Surprised? It is a slightly older kernel version than what’s currently available, but there is a logic in using it: Linux 5.15 is a long-term support release. It’s supported by updates until October 2023. Still, many had expected Ubuntu 22.04 to ship either 5.16 or 5.17 as previous Ubuntu LTS releases haven’t always used kernel LTS
#Dev #Kernel #Ubuntu22_04Lts
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2022/01/ubuntu-22-04-lts-will-use-linux-5-15-kernel
Here’s Our First Look at System76’s Rust-Based Desktop Environment
If you’ve been itching to hear some progress about System76’s new desktop environment, you’re in luck! Developer Eduardo Flores went hands on with early development versions of several COSMIC components and written about his findings (with copious amount of screenshots) on his blog. “System76’s objective is to create something that is faster, more customizable, and free of the limitations of the GNOME desktop environment, and let’s face it, we’re all curious as to how this desktop will look like,” Eduardo writes. And hey: he’s not wrong! Do keep in mind that everything you see in his (and this) post is
#News
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2022/01/heres-our-first-look-at-system76s-rust-based-desktop-environment
Ubuntu 22.04 Aims to Ship GNOME 42, But Few GTK4 Apps
GNOME 42 could still feature in Ubuntu 22.04 when it arrives this April — but don’t expect to see too many GTK4 apps with it. Ubuntu developers say they ‘aim’ to include the bulk of GNOME 42 release in Ubuntu 22.04 but are currently tasked with updating the GNOME Shell stack to the latest GNOME 41 released. GNOME 42 is in active development itself ahead of a stable release in March. The first alpha is expected to drop this month and will feature a fair number of apps ported to and/or taking advantage of GTK4 and libadwaita. But Ubuntu isn’t
#Dev #News #Gnome42 #Gtk4 #Libadwaita #Ubuntu22_04Lts
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2022/01/ubuntu-22-04-may-include-gnome-42-but-not-gtk4
Say Hello to Warble, a Wordle Clone for elementary OS
It was inevitable that the popularity of viral word guessing game Wordle would inspire clones, and thus only a matter of time before one of them popped up on Linux. And lo, it has elementary OS gets to call first-dibs with Warble. Built by Andrew Vojak, Warble is described as a “native Linux word-guessing game built in Vala and Gtk for elementary OS.” The aim? Just like Wordle (and the 80s gameshow Lingo) is to figure out what the five letter word is in as few guesses as possible. Letters in the correct place are green, letters in the word but
#Apps #Gaming #News #Elementary #Games
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2022/01/warble-wordle-game-clone-for-elementary-os
KDE Plasma 5.24’s Default Wallpaper is Unveiled
The brand new default wallpaper that will feature in the upcoming release of KDE Plasma 5.24 has been revealed. If you’ve been reading this site for a while you may have noticed that I’m rather fond of desktop wallpapers, particularly the ‘default’ ones used by Ubuntu and related distros, and those shipped by desktop environments like GNOME and KDE Plasma. I don’t profess that wallpapers are interesting or worthy of as much attention as I give them, but hey: we all have our little quirks. That, and I do know that a lot of readers are curious (if not obsessed)
#News #Wallpaper #Kde #KdePlasma #Wallpaper
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2022/01/kde-plasma-5-24-default-wallpaper
This App Makes Installing GNOME Extensions MUCH Easier
Want to install GNOME extensions without using a web browser? Check out the new 'Extension Manager' app. Full details on this super handy tool inside.
#Apps #FlathubApps #FlatpakApps #GnomeExtensions #GtkApps #Gtk4 #Libadwaita
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2022/01/gnome-extension-manager-app-easy-install
Ubuntu Brings Full Desktop to Raspberry Pi 4 2GB RAM
Want to run the full Ubuntu desktop on a Raspberry Pi 4 with 2GB of RAM? Well, now you can. Ubuntu already supports the Raspberry Pi 4 Model B 4GB and 8GB versions (and has done since the Ubuntu 20.10 release). Now the team building the distro plan to go further by supporting the Raspberry Pi 4 2GB model too (which costs around £40, if you’re considering one). However, making Ubuntu run decently on devices with modest amounts of memory is difficult. Enter zswap, Ubuntu’s ‘secret weapon’ in targeting low-memory Pis with the full-blown Ubuntu experience. Most Ubuntu systems come
#Dev #RaspberryPi #RaspberryPi4 #Ubuntu22_04Lts #Zswap
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2022/01/ubuntu-on-raspberry-pi-4-2gb-zswap
PinePhone Pro ‘Explorer Edition’ Pre-Orders Go Live
Pre-orders for the PinePhone Pro 'Explorer Edition' are now live on the Pine Store. The powerful upgrade to the original PinePhone costs from $399.
#Hardware #News #LinuxPhones #Pine64 #Pinephone #PinephonePro
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2022/01/pinephone-pro-available-to-pre-order
Ubuntu 21.04 Support Ends Next Week
The end is nigh for the Hirsute Hippo, as official support for Ubuntu 21.04 ends on January 20, 2022. After this date it will get no further updates.
#News #Eol #Ubuntu21_04
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2022/01/ubuntu-21-04-support-ends-january-2022
Firefox 96 is Available to Download, This is What’s New
We look at what's new in Firefox 96, show a few screenshots, and give you a download link you don't need as Ubuntu comes with Firefox pre-installed.
#News #AppUpdates #Firefox
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2022/01/firefox-96-download-and-new-features
