Ubuntu Gamer? The Steam Snap Now Runs Better Than Ever
If you’re using Canonical’s Steam snap to game on Ubuntu you may be pleased to hear that a number appreciable performance improvements have begun to filter out. Valve recommend Ubuntu users stick to the official Steam DEB for the best experience but plenty of Ubuntu users prefer the convenience offered by the unofficial Steam snap maintained by Canonical and available to install through App Center. The latest release of snapd, the engine that powers snap apps, includes a couple of changes designed to improve the performance of the Steam snap specifically. Snapd 2.65 notably sees the removal of “all AppArmor 
#News
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2024/10/ubuntu-gamer-the-steam-snap-now-runs-better-than-ever
KDE Plasma 6.2 Released, This is What’s New
A new major update to the KDE Plasma desktop has been released, and it’s jam-packed with new features, enhancements, and performance-focused improvements. Serving as the third release in the new 6.x series, KDE Plasma 6.2 builds on the foundations introduced in earlier this year in KDE Plasma 6.0 and KDE Plasma 6.1 (the latter being the version of KDE shipping out-of-the-box in the new Kubuntu 24.10 release). KDE developers say of the new update: “Plasma 6 has come into its own over the last two releases. The wrinkles that always come with a major migration have been ironed out, and
#News
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2024/10/kde-plasma-6-2-released-this-is-whats-new
Ardour 8.8 (Open Source DAW) Drops Fresh Fixes & Features
Ardour is one of the most popular and powerful open-source digital audio workstations (DAW) around, and a major new update was recently made available. Now, I won’t profess to be some kind of music-making maestro, though I did spend a lot my late teens face-first in FL Studio (formerly Fruity Loops) trying – and failing – to channel my inner Cash Cash (’08 era, before they got big). Ardour 8.8 is the second update to the DAW in 2 weeks because, as the software’s devs explain, “v8.7 was only released a couple of weeks ago, but it turned out to
#News #AppUpdates #Ardour #AudioApps #Daw
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2024/10/ardour-daw-updated-with-new-features
NetworkManager 1.50 Released with Compelling Set of Changes
A new version of NetworkManager – used by most Linux distributions (including Ubuntu) to manage wired and wireless network connections – was released this week. NetworkManager 1.50 won’t be included in Ubuntu 24.10 (that ships with v1.48) but I think some of the changes it makes may be worth knowing about all the same. Notably, NetworkManager 1.50 now formally deprecates support for dhclient in favour of its own internal DHCP client. The former is now no longer be built “…unless explicitely (sic) enabled, and will be removed in a future release.” Will this have a major issue? Unlikely; NetworkManager began
#News #AppUpdates #Networkmanager #Nmcli
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2024/10/networkmanager-1-50-released
Parabolic, The Open-Source Video Download App, Issues Big Update
There are plenty of ways to download videos from well-known video streaming sites on Ubuntu but I find Parabolic the easiest, least hassle option out there. For those yet to hear about it, Parabolic is a GTK4/libadwaita app for Linux (or a Qt one for Windows) that offers what it describes as a ‘basic frontend’ to yt-dlp. All sites supported by yt-dlp are supported in this app. Paste in a URL, validate, and download. Parabolic lets you download multiple videos simultaneously and save them to popular video or audio formats; sign-in with account details (if needed) and see the credentials to
#News #AppUpdates #Parabolic #SnapApps
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2024/10/parabolic-video-downloader-for-linux-updated
Mozilla’s New Branding Looks Even Better Animated
A few months ago I reported that Mozilla is working on a brand revamp that incorporates its original (and rather iconic) dinosaur mascot – although it does kind of look like a flag. An omg! commenter recently pointed me to the website of global design agency Jones Knowles Ritchie, who Mozilla hired to update, refine, and revitalise its brand identity. They’ve worked with all manner of companies, from Burger King to Budweiser – and now web browser maker. Their website has a page showcasing their work on this revamp, and it’s filled with dynamic animations that (I think) showcase the
#News #Design #Mozilla
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2024/10/mozillas-new-branding-looks-even-better-animated
PineNote (a Linux-Powered e-Ink Tablet) is Coming Back
Pine64 has announced plans to make for a new production run of its open-source e-ink tablet. The PineNote was announced in 2021, building on the success of its non-SBC devices like the PinePhone (and later Pro model), the PineTab, and PineBook devices. Like most of Pine64’s devices, software support is largely tackled by the community. But only a small run of developer units have so far been produced, primarily bought by developers within the open-source community with the knowledge and impetus to work on getting a modern Linux OS to run on the hardware, and adapt to the e-ink display.
#Hardware #News #LinuxTablets #Pine64
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2024/10/pinenote-linux-powered-e-ink-tablet-returns
Audacious 4.4.1 Released with Assorted Minor Improvements
A chorus of improvements are on offer in the newest update to the popular open source, cross-platform Audacious music player. Audacious 4.4.1 builds on the changes introduced in Audacious 4.4 (a release that brought GTK3 and Qt6 UI choices, the return of a dedicated lyrics plugin, and better compatibility with PipeWire) rather than adding any huge new features of its own. But that’s no bad thing; finesse, fix ’em ups, and extended support for existing features are as welcome as gaudy new GUI elements to me. Notable changes include: The change-log also says the PulseAudio plugin is now preferred over
#News
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2024/10/audacious-audio-player-updated-with-gtk-wayland-fix
Mozilla Firefox 131 Brings Tab Hover Previews, URL Fragments + More
Mozilla Firefox 131 is now available to download with a small set of improvements in tow. The first change I noticed when opening Firefox 131 is the new icon for the ‘all tabs’ feature1. Previously a small downward pointing arrow, this new—more obvious— icon is a small squarish depiction of a tabbed web browser. The change was made ahead of vertical tabs (upcoming feature) that moves this button to the toolbar if vertical tabs are enabled. Mozilla say “hovering the mouse over an unfocused tab will now display a visual preview of its contents”. Tab hover previews were sort of
#News #AppUpdates #Firefox
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2024/10/mozilla-firefox-131-released
Raspberry Pi’s New $70 AI Camera Works With All Pi Models
If you’re looking to kick the tyres on some AI image processing/recognition tasks and you own an older Raspberry Pi, the new AI Camera add-on may be of interest. While the $70 Raspberry Pi AI Kit only works with a Raspberry Pi 5, the $70 AI camera works with all of the Raspberry Pi boards which boast the relevant camera connector port (spoiler: most, including the Raspberry Pi Zero and Raspberry Pi 400). This product is the fruits of Raspberry Pi’s ongoing partnership with Sony Semiconductor Solutions, using the latter’s IMX500 image sensor and boasting a 12.3 MP resolution that
#Hardware #News #Ai/Ml #RaspberryPi
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2024/09/raspberry-pi-ai-camera-goes-on-sale
Linux Mint Gives First Look at New Cinnamon Theme
As revealed last month, Linux Mint is working on an improved default theme for the Cinnamon desktop – and today we got our first look at what’s coming. The way Cinnamon looks in Linux Mint (the distribution) is not the way it looks if you install the Cinnamon desktop yourself on a different distro. There, assuming a theme pack is isn’t pulled in as a dependency, you’ll see the default built-in Cinnamon theme. And it’s that built-in theme that Linux Mint is currently improving. Mint says “the new default theme [is] much darker and contrasted than before. Objects are rounded
#News #Cinnamon #Design #LinuxMint
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2024/09/linux-mint-new-cinnamon-theme-first-look
Mission Center (Linux System Monitor) Now Reports Fan Info
A major new release of Mission Center, a modern system monitor app for Linux desktops, has been released. Fans of this Rust-based GTK4/libadwaita system monitoring tool (which to address the recurring elephant in the room does have a user interface inspired by—but I’d argue superior to—the Windows system monitor app) will find a lot to like in the latest update. I’m not going to recap all of this tool’s existing features in this post (I’ve covered this app a few times in the past) and instead focus on what’s changed in the latest build, released at the weekend. Mission Center
#News #Amd #AppUpdates #SystemTools
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2024/09/mission-center-linux-app-now-monitors-fans
VirtualBox Update Adds 3D Acceleration for ARM VMs, Multi-Window Layout
Oracle has release a new maintenance update for VirtualBox, its open-source virtualisation software. VirtualBox 7.1.2 is the first such point release since the VirtualBox 7.1 series debuted earlier this month. Naturally, it builds on that major release with a flurry of big fixes, performance finesse, and UI refinements, and adds a few new features. Among them, the latest version adds support for a multi-window layout, gives users the option to choose remote display security method, and fixes for a 3D acceleration-related quirks, including black screens in Windows VMs, and misc rendering issues. A bug fixes ensures virtual machines created using
#News #AppUpdates #Virtualbox
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2024/09/virtualbox-7-1-fixes-3d-acceleration-issues
Ubuntu Patches ‘Severe’ Security Flaw in CUPS
If you’ve cast a half-glazed eye over Linux social media feeds at some point in the past few days you may have caught wind that a huge Linux security flaw was about to be disclosed. And today it was: a remote code execution flaw affecting the CUPS printing stack used in most major desktop Linux distributions (including Ubuntu, and also Chrome OS). With a severity score of 9.9 it’s right at the edge of the most severe vulnerabilities possible. Scared? I am — and so we should be. This nasty flaw enables an attacker to run code (to do all
#News
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2024/09/ubuntu-secuity-fix-cups-vulnerability
COSMIC DE Alpha 2 Released, This is What’s Improved
Chocks away — British saying, don’t stare at me weirdly — as the second alpha of System76’s homegrown COSMIC desktop environment has been released. To make it easy for us all to try out the latest improvements a second alpha build of Pop!_OS 24.04 is also available to download. Those who installed the first Pop!_OS 24.04 alpha don’t need to re-install. All of the improvements in this post are available as software updates via the COSMIC App Store. Not that anyone needs to use Pop!_OS to try the COSMIC. This Rust-based DE is already available to test across a diverse
#News #CosmicDe #Pop!_Os #System76
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2024/09/cosmic-desktop-alpha-2-pop-os-released
Ubuntu 24.10 ARM ISO Supports the ThinkPad X13s
Ubuntu 24.10 supports the Snapdragon-powered Lenovo ThinkPad X13s laptop in the official ‘generic’ ARM64 ISO — a notable change. Although it is possible to use Ubuntu 23.10 on the Thinkpad X13s it requires using of a custom ISO spun-up specifically for this device. Ubuntu 24.04 LTS had no official installer image for this device (it is possible to upgrade to 24.04 from 23.10, albeit with caveats). But with the arrival of Ubuntu 24.10 in October, the standard Ubuntu ARM64 ISO (which works much like a regular Intel/AMD ISO, with a live session and guided installer) will happily boot on this
#News #Arm #ArmLaptops #Snapdragon #Ubuntu24_10
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2024/09/ubuntu-24-10-arm64-iso-now-supports-thinkpad-x13s
How to Disable the ‘Recent’ Files Section in Nautilus
There’s one feature in the Nautilus file manager I use daily: the Recent files shortcut. One-click gives me access to my most recently downloaded, modified, and newly created files together, regardless of the folder they’re in. I find it dead handy – but I can accept that it’s dead revealing too. Which is why not everyone likes this functionality. While individual files can be hidden from view manually, that’s effort. Sensitive documents, secret projects, risqué media with revealing thumbnails (you know I mean) can easily, if accidentally appear on screen. Others simply don’t use the feature and would prefer the
#HowTo #Nautilus #UbuntuBasics
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2024/09/ubuntu-disable-recent-files-nautilus
See Real-Time Power Consumption in Ubuntu’s Top Panel
If you’re looking for a no-fuss way to monitor real-time power consumption on your Ubuntu laptop, a new GNOME Shell extension makes it deliciously easy. “Why would I want to see energy usage?” – anyone asking that question probably doesn’t. This is more for the curious folk, those interested to see the relative power demands of software being run, the tasks performance, hardware settings, devices connected, and so on – think educational rather than essential. Of course, anyone can monitor power consumption on Linux without an extension. Command line tools like upower can do it, as can some system monitors,
#News #GnomeExtensions #Power
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2024/09/gnome-shell-power-monitor-extension
Ubuntu 24.10 Beta is Now Available to Download
A beta of Ubuntu 24.10 ‘Oracular Oriole’ is now available to download, giving developers and enthusiasts the chance to test and assess and the changes before October’s stable release. Developers and non-developers alike can download this beta to sample the new features in Ubuntu 24.10, road-test compatibility, and flag up any snafus for fixing before the stable release takes flight. This is the only beta release that’s planned (a release candidate will follow in few weeks time). If you install the beta you can upgrade to the final release just by installing updates as they come. Chances are know all
#News #Beta #Ubuntu24_10
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2024/09/ubuntu-24-10-beta-is-now-available-to-download
Vivaldi Web Browser is Now Available as a Snap
Vivaldi web browser has arrived on the Canonical Snap Store, officially. This Chromium-based web browser has long been available on Linux, offering a traditional DEB installer for Ubuntu users (which adds an APT repo for subsequent updates). And while you can get Vivaldi on Flathub the package is only semi-official. It is maintained and packaged by a Vivaldi engineer, but it is not a recommended or supported package by Vivaldi – not yet, anyway. So Vivaldi embracing snap is an interesting development. Vivaldi’s CEO Jon von Tetzchner says the team is providing an official Vivaldi snap package because snaps are
#News
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2024/09/vivaldi-web-browser-now-available-as-snap
