October 30, 2015

5 Tweaks You Can Use to Speed Up Ubuntu Today

You’ve installed Ubuntu on your PC. Perhaps you’re a long-term Linux user, or you’ve just swapped from Windows. Either way, you’ve noticed that things could be faster.
Don’t worry – here are five ways you can tweak Ubuntu to speed things up!

Show Hidden Startup Applications

Software that is configured to run at system startup can slow things down incredibly, whether you’re using Linux, Windows or OS X. Or even Android.
Ubuntu users can fix slow startups by opening the Startup Applications screen, but on first glance you’ll notice that things are a little sparse. To prevent mistakes, the majority of startup applications are hidden, but you can tweak this by opening the Terminal and entering:
sudo sed -i 's/NoDisplay=true/NoDisplay=false/g­' /etc/xdg/autostart/*.desktop
You should then see a refreshed list of startup apps. Take care with apps you reconfigure here, however, as changing some items can result in system stability issues.
muo-linux-ubuntu-speed-startup
The best thing to do is stay away from system items or anything that was preinstalled, and only adjust those that you have installed and don’t want to slow down your system startup. We previously looked at Startup Applications when Danny gave you four ways to speed up Linux — worth a read for some additional ideas.

Fix Bugs That Slow You Down

This might seem both vague and obvious, but if you stay up to date with conversations online about the latest releases, you’ll be able to spot problems that other users are having. If these chime with issues you’ve also experienced, you’ll be able to take action.
For instance, the File Browser Panel can slow things down, so it is worth toggling its status to see if disabling will improve performance.
muo-linux-ubuntu-speed-gedit-plugins
Do this by opening gedit, then open Edit > Preferences and switch to the Plugins tab. Here, you should scroll through to find File Browser Panel and uncheck it, clicking Close to finish.

Install Adaptive Readahead (Preload) Daemon

Another great way to speed things up is to teach Ubuntu what you use often, so that the operating system loads apps in advance. You can do this using the Adaptive Readahead Daemon, which will identify the apps you use the most.
muo-linux-ubuntu-speed-readahead
Just open the Software Manager (one of several ways of finding new apps on Linux), search for “preload” and install the app.
One obvious beneficiary of preloading will be your browser. If you’re not convinced by how much of a change preloading will make, check how long it takes to open the browser after booting your PC, then install the daemon, and load the browser again. It should open 50-75% quicker.
(Note that this tool may not work in Ubuntu 14.04 LTS.)

Change Swappiness Value

Huh?!
Okay, if you installed Ubuntu with a swap partition, this is intended to help your system manage memory, which is especially useful if your PC doesn’t have much RAM installed.
The swappiness value determines how much data is written to the virtual memory on the hard disk drive, which can slow your system down. Begin by opening a Terminal and entering:
cat /proc/sys/vm/swappiness
The default swappiness value in Ubuntu is 60.
Next, open the /etc/sysctl.conf file in a text editor:
gedit /etc/sysctl.conf
Scroll to the bottom and add the following parameter (and the associated note as a reminder):
# Decrease swappiness value
vm.swappiness=10
With this done, save the file. Unusually for Linux, you’ll also need to restart the computer. Once booted up again, confirm the swappiness value has changed. Less data will now be written to the virtual drive, but keep in mind that this is a tweak that is really only intended for older computers.

Upgrade Your Hardware

As with Windows, adding hardware to your Linux computer will improve performance.
laptop-ram
This might mean swapping your HDD for a newer model (or for a solid state drive) or adding RAM to your system. On a modern system, additional RAM will usually have a great impact than a new CPU, and is usually cheaper than a new HDD, so explore this option first. When it comes to a HDD, it’s worth considering an SSD as a faster replacement.
While a new CPU can also have a strong impact, also consider upgrading your graphics card, ensuring you select a replacement that will run happily under Linux.
Of course, if you’re using a laptop, all of the above (including RAM, increasingly) will remain out of reach, leaving upgrades therefore unavailable.

Source: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-tweaks-can-use-speed-ubuntu-today/

October 21, 2015

How to get the latest version of Flash on Firefox for Linux after Adobe's abandonment

Adobe abandoned Firefox for Linux users years ago, but new compatibility layer software can help you ditch your outdated Flash version for the latest code.


Mozilla will stop supporting most browser plugins in Firefox by the end of 2016 . But for Linux users, that won’t make a major difference for one of the biggest plugins in the browser world—Adobe Flash.
You may not know it, but Adobe axed most support for Flash in Firefox on Linux back in 2012. Fear not, though: An open-source wrapper allows Firefox to use the fresh Flash code that Adobe’s still pumping out for other browsers.
Want to stay up to date on Linux, BSD, Chrome OS, and the rest of the World Beyond Windows? Bookmark the World Beyond Windows column page or follow our RSS feed.

Adobe thinks you should use Chrome on Linux

Mozilla has announced plans to stop supporting most NPAPI plugins in Firefox by the end of 2016. But they’re still going to support Flash, because it’s still—sadly—a big part of the web.
That said, if you’re using Firefox on Linux, your Flash player is alreadyyears out-of-date. Adobe stopped supporting the NPAPI version of Flash on Linux back in 2012, and now only updates it with security fixes—and even those will end on May 4, 2017, five years from the release date of the last supported version released. Adobe points Linux users at that Pepper (PPAPI) version of Flash, which is included with Chrome and can be installed in Chromium and Opera.
outdated flash 11 from repositories
The outdated Flash 11 available in official repositories.
But Mozilla doesn’t want to support Pepper. It would rather try to push new web standards instead of creating new frameworks for old-style plugins. This leaves Firefox users on Linux with Flash 11.2 while other platforms—including Chrome and Chromium—are already up to Flash 19. Want the latest version of Flash on Linux? Switch to Chrome, Chromium, or Opera. That’s the Adobe party line.
Really, we should be happy this is even an option, as Adobe hasn’t had much love towards Linux in general. That PPAPI-on-Linux code is used when the Flash player runs on Google Linux-based Chrome OS, however, so Adobe can’t afford to snub Chrome on Linux.

Fresh Player Plugin to the rescue

If you want the latest version of Flash in Firefox, the Linux community has come to the rescue. Fresh Player Plugin is an open-source PPAPI-to-NPAPI compatibility layer. Basically, it’s a way to use the up-to-date Pepper version of Flash for Linux in Firefox on Linux. It can even use hardware-accelerated decoding of videos on the latest Linux distributions, including Ubuntu 14.10 and 15.04.
Fresh Player Plugin has now been in development for more than a year, and it should be fairly stable for most people. It doesn’t implement any sandboxing, however, meaning that all those Pepper sandboxing security benefits aren’t available to Firefox users, so beware. It’s still safest to run the latest version of Flash in a Chromium-based browser like Chrome, Chromium itself, or Opera.
flash 19 in firefox on linux web page
Adobe Flash 19 in Firefox for Linux, courtesy of Fresh Player Plugin.
You can choose to compile Fresh Player Plugin from source with the freely available code, but the folks over at WebUpd8, an Ubuntu-focused blog, provide it in a PPA so you can easily install it on Ubuntu. It’s easy to do—just open a terminal and run the following commands in order:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nilarimogard/webupd8
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install freshplayerplugin
You now have the compatibility layer installed. All you have to do is install Google Chrome and launch it—it will download the latest version of the Pepper plugin. When you launch Firefox, Firefox will automatically load Fresh Player Plugin, and it’ll check the directory Chrome stores its plugins in and automatically load it. You now have the latest version of Flash in Firefox on Linux.
flash 19 in firefox on linux
Adobe Flash 19 in Firefox for Linux, courtesy of Fresh Player Plugin.
Just uninstall the freshplayerplugin package from any software management tool if you decide you’d rather not use it.
If Adobe does end security updates for the NPAPI version of Flash on Linux in May 4, 2017 without proving a path forward for Linux users, Fresh Player Plugin will become the only way to use a patched version of Flash in FIrefox on Linux at all. It’s good this software is being developed, as it may become very important soon. Hopefully most of us can just dump Flash by then.

Source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2993902/browsers/how-to-get-the-latest-version-of-flash-on-firefox-for-linux-after-adobes-abandonment.html

October 9, 2015

Zukimac Is a Flawless Mac Theme for Ubuntu

mukimac


If you’re hunting out a decent Mac theme for your Ubuntu desktop you need look no further than Zukimac — an OS X-inspired GTK3 theme that is uncanny in its appearance.

‘If Apple made a GTK3 theme it would look like this’
(tweet this)
Unlike other attempts at aping the appearance of Cupertino’s finest OS, this one actually looks and feels like it was made for Linux and not the half-hearted mish-mash of OS X assets laid over basic theming that other themes of this ilk tend to resemble. If Apple made a GTK3 theme chances are it would look like Zukimac.
From pixel-perfect handling of Nautilus to suitably styled maximised Unity controls – the developer of Zukimac has clearly put a lot of thought and attention into fashioning their theme to work as well as it can.

Why Do This?

Whenever we cover a theme that apes the appearance of another operating system the question of why you might want to do it will arise. Motivation is subjective, as is taste, so the short answer is: “Don’t like it? Don’t use it!”
There’s nothing ‘traitorous’ or ‘anti-Linux’ in mimicking the design of another platform. Most Linux desktop environments are versatile enough to allow extensive theming. Blatant imitations like Zukimac as well as those that simply take a few cues from elsewhere, all take advantage of this opportunity. Other operating systems require tinkering with inner parts of the system to achieve what those of us on Linux can do in just a couple of clicks.
And as knee-jerk as some may find it, the designs of Windows, OS X, iOS or Android do have fans and do have years of expertise and reasoning behind them.


Screen Shot 2014-06-08 at 20.33.29
Nautlius under Zukimac GTK Theme

Pairing accurately styled ‘traffic light’ window controls and the faux metal sheen in app headers, the theme also features a nice blue highlight, stark white menus and does a standout job of handling Nautilus — a key app many themes fail to pay attention to.
Unity integration is also fully supported. Integrated and app menus work fine, and on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS launcher items are displayed without the rounded bounding box (see top screen). Depending on your favoured icon theme the latter tweak can look particularly slick.

Zukimac for Linux

Zukimac is a free download available from GNOME-Look and provides support for both GTK 3.10 and GTK 3.12. It does not include an icon theme or any assets copyrighted to Apple.
Zukimac — OS X GTK3 Theme



Source:
https://draft.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=15854848#editor/target=post;postID=7985979655914305904

October 4, 2015

October Desktop- Ubuntu GTK2 Metal Theme

I have a rich library of GTK2 themes from older Ubuntu installs and they are all usable again on Ubuntu Mate. Below is an old favorite called Metal. I'm also using the Brushed Metal metacity theme. Below are links where you can still get them. Enjoy.


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You can still get these GTK2 themes here:

http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php/Metal+Theme?content=85185



http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php/Brushed_metal+%26+Graphite+gtk2+theme?content=101186



With some OSX wallpaper they look great too...
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October 1, 2015

9 Great Linux Mate Themes

I have really been enjoying the MATE desktop. Below are some great themes made to take advantage of the GTK2 environment. Enjoy.

One of the best things about being a MATE user is the fact that everything is super stable and reliable. This desktop environment hasn’t changed its looks in quite a long time. Everything is nearly like the way it looked in 2002.
This can be a good thing when it comes to usability. It’s tried and true. On the other hand, the MATE desktop doesn’t look very modern. The default themes it ships with aren’t very attractive, and overall it seems like it needs a face-lift.
Check out these nine themes that look great in the MATE desktop environment!
Note: the instructions to install each one of these themes are located on the page in which you downloaded them from.


Color UI Mate theme
If you didn’t notice from the picture above, Color UI was designed with the XFCE desktop in mind. That being said, it still looks awesome in MATE. Everything is very modern-looking and colorful. I know some people aren’t huge fans of using themes designed for other desktops. I get that. Still, if using a theme designed for another desktop doesn’t bother you, consider checking out this theme.
Absolute Mate theme
Absolute is a simple, grey theme. It’s not the most advanced and stylish theme ever created, but it certainly is fairly modern looking. The window manager style is top notch, and overall it’s just pleasant to look it. Do you like simple? Check out this theme.
Ubuntu Dust Mate theme
When it comes to GTK 2.x themes, they seem to all run together. A good chunk of them seem to fall into three categories: black/dark, transparent, or grey/white styled themes. Ubuntu Dust doesn’t fit that criteria. It’s a sort of shiny brown/dark sort of thing with some really neat user interface choices. It’s certainly different. If you like different, you might like this theme.
Ambiance & Radiance Flat Colors Mate theme
Flat is the latest design trend that everyone has been going crazy over. I can’t blame them as I think flat is cool too. To satisfy your craving for flat themes on MATE, Ambiance & Radiance Flat Colors exists. It’s a flatter take on the classic Ubuntu themes Ambiance and Radiance. It comes with several different color choices too. If you want a flat theme, this should be your first stop.
Orta Mate theme
Orta is a theme that has been around for quite a while. It’s one of the most famous ones too. There’s a good reason as to why everyone loves this particular theme: it’s beautiful. Even today it feels really modern. The window manager style is reminiscent of Mac OS X’s, and it has a nice metallic thing going on.
BSM Simple Mate theme
BSM Simple is a pack of simple GTK 2.x themes. The pack comes with Dark and Classic themes.
Elegant Gnome Pack Mate theme
Are you interested in making MATE elegant? Check out the Elegant Gnome Pack. It’s specifically designed to make GTK 2.x look beautiful. Many different themes are included so there’s most certainly something for everyone to choose from!
Zuki Mate theme
Zuki is a fairly solid theme. It has sort of a glass/transparent look to it, but it does it right. That’s not something I can say about all the glass themes I’ve seen. They always seem to look tacky. If you’re in need of a transparent-esque theme for your MATE setup, look no further.
Elegant Brit Mate theme
I’ll be frank. Elegant Brit is at the bottom because it’s not the most professionally-designed theme. That being said, it does manage to look cool and modern for what it is. I especially like the way this theme handles the task bar. If you’ve checked all the themes out above and still haven’t settled on one, try this one!
The MATE desktop is great, but it’s built on aging technology and is in dire need of a new look. These GTK 2.x MATE themes in this list can help with that. With this list I hope that you, too, will be able to make your desktop environment great.

Source: https://www.maketecheasier.com/9-great-mate-themes-linux/