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Ubuntu Repositories: VirtualBox

September 9th, 2009

Here’s the PPA to get the latest VirtualBox:

Importing the GPG Key:

wget -q http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian/sun_vbox.asc -O- | sudo apt-key add -

Adding the repository:

. /etc/lsb-release

echo deb http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian\ `lsb_release --short --codename` non-free | \

sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/virtualbox.list

Update the sources list:

sudo apt-get update

Source: VirtualBox Downloads

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Ashok TT - Linux, TechTalk ,

Ubuntu Repositories: GNUCash

August 3rd, 2009

GnuCash is personal and small-business financial-accounting software, freely licensed under the GNU GPL and available for GNU/Linux, BSD, Solaris, Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows. It is very easy to use, yet powerful and flexible. It
allows you to track bank accounts, stocks, income and expenses. I’ve been using it from the days of my Windows, It is very quick and intuitive to use as a checkbook register, and is based on
professional accounting principles to ensure balanced books and
accurate reports.

Here’s the PPA to get the latest GNUCash:

Importing the GPG Key:

sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 2FAD1E8D

Adding the repository:

. /etc/lsb-release

echo deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/gnucash/ppa/ubuntu\ `lsb_release --short --codename` main | \

sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/gnucash.list

Update the sources list:

sudo apt-get update

Source: GNUCash Wiki

Ashok TT - How To, TT - Linux, TechTalk ,

Downloading from Scribd

July 20th, 2009

Scribd is a pretty much popular document sharing site which has been around since a couple of years. Some fans state Scribd is for documents like what Youtube is for videos. But Scribd is sometimes disrupted due to javascript/adobe flash player restrictions on the client side. Viewing & downloading documents at such times becomes impossible. Here’s a shortcut to download documents from Scribd when you are logged in to the site:

Add the following to the end of the document url:

?autodown=pdf

For example, the following is the URL for opening a Scribd document:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/6366850/DocTitle

Add the autodown parameter and open this url in your browser.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/6366850/DocTitle?autodown=pdf

This will start downloading the document in pdf format. You need to be logged in to the Scribd for this to work. This will work even if Javascript is disabled, or Flash player is not available.

Ashok TT - How To, TT - Tips n Tricks, TechTalk ,

Ubuntu Repositories: VLC Player

July 9th, 2009

VLC Player is a popular media player which requires no introduction. It is absolutely worth of every praise in the reviews all over the web. Here’s the PPA to get the latest VLC:

Importing the GPG Key:

sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 7613768D

Then run the following code:

. /etc/lsb-release

echo deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/c-korn/vlc/ubuntu\ `lsb_release --short --codename` main | \

sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/vlc.list

Update the sources list:

sudo apt-get update

Source: VideoLAN

Ashok TT - How To, TT - Linux, TechTalk ,

Ubuntu Repositories: File Browser Applet

July 7th, 2009
File Browser Applet is an applet for the GNOME Panel. It lets you browse and open files in your computer directly from the panel, without having to open a file manager. It is not intended as replacement to proper file managers like nautilus. Sometimes you just want to open a file and don’t want to have to open a file manager, browse to and open the file, then close the file manager. This Applet just saves you couple of clicks.
Importing the GPG Key:
sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys D05E4B27

Run the following lines to add the source:

. /etc/lsb-release

echo deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/file-browser-applet-dev/ppa/ubuntu\ `lsb_release --short --codename` main | \

sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/filebrowser.list

Update the sources list:

sudo apt-get update

Source: File Browser

Ashok TT - How To, TT - Linux, TechTalk ,

Ubuntu PPAs: GNOME Do Repositories

July 5th, 2009

The steps for adding the official GNOME Do repositories:

Importing the GPG Key:

sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 77558DD0
sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 6E80C6B7

Adding to sources list:

echo -e “#GNOME Do Software Repository\ndeb http://ppa.launchpad.net/do-core/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main\ndeb http://ppa.launchpad.net/banshee-team/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main” | \
sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/gnomedo.list

Update Synaptic.

sudo apt-get update

Repository link from: Do.davebsd.com

Ashok TT - How To, TT - Linux, TechTalk ,

Intel graphics restored on Ubuntu Jaunty.. Compiz works!

June 23rd, 2009

With the new Intel drivers on Ubuntu Jaunty, the Compiz was prone to crash frequently. The Ubuntu developers had pushed certain Intel chipsets into blacklist, hence no compiz or the desktop effects for Intel users on Jaunty. There were a couple of workarounds to enable the compiz effects (See my post here), but they are workarounds - each one having it’s own pros and cons.

Today Ubuntu team pushed new updates, and one of the update related to the Intel graphics. The blacklist entries have been removed now, and the new Intel graphics driver works flawlessly with Compiz and the desktop effects. Waiting for this from a long time, Thanks a lot Ubuntu team!

Ashok TT - Linux, TechTalk , , ,

Ubuntu Repositories: Google Linux Repositories

June 9th, 2009

The official google linux repositories contain Google Chrome, Picasa for Linux and Google Desktop Linux applications. The steps for adding the repository:

Importing the GPG Key:

sudo wget -q -O - https://dl-ssl.google.com/linux/linux_signing_key.pub | apt-key add -

Adding to sources list:

echo -e “#Google Software Repository\ndeb http://dl.google.com/linux/deb/ stable non-free main” | \
sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google.list

Update Synaptic.

apt-get update

Repository link from: Google

Ashok TT - How To, TT - Linux, TechTalk ,

Ubuntu Repositories: Pidgin Instant Messenger

June 9th, 2009

Ubuntu ships Pidgin but does not update it after a release (except for
security issues). For those users– who desire new releases of Pidgin, the official PPA:

Importing the GPG Key:

sudo apt-key adv --recv-keys --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com \

67265eb522bdd6b1c69e66ed7fb8bee0a1f196a8

Adding to sources list:

. /etc/lsb-release

echo deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/pidgin-developers/ppa/ubuntu \     `lsb_release –short –codename` main | \

sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/pidgin-ppa.list

Don’t worry about your version specific PPA, the above code will add your ubuntu distro’s version automatically. Once this PPA is setup, Pidgin updates will show up in Update Manager along with the usual Ubuntu updates.

Ashok TT - How To, TT - Linux, TechTalk , ,

HowTo: Google Calendar on GNome Clock Applet

June 8th, 2009

Here is a very simple way to add events from your google calendar to the Clock applet of your GNome Panel. It uses Evolution application for the integration.

Step 1: Get the private iCal URL of the Calendar from the Settings of your google calendar

Step 2: Paste it into the Firefox’s address bar, and change the http:// to webcal:// and press enter

Step 3: Firefox will popup the application selector. Select the evolution-webcal

Step 4: Enter the refresh time, and a color for the calendar and press Subscribe

That’s it! Pretty easy, isn’t it? You can see the events from your Google calendar now in your GNome panel’s clock applet…

This Howto is done on Ubuntu Jaunty, but the procedure will be pretty much the same for any other linux flavour, provided evolution is installed.

Ashok TT - How To, TT - Linux, TechTalk , ,