Improved Flathub Website Makes It Easier to Find Flatpak Apps

It just got a whole heap easier to find and install Flatpak apps on Linux distros like Ubuntu.

A new version of the Flathub website is now live on Flathub.org, albeit in beta.

The improved front-end to what is the de facto Flatpak app store offers search, browsing and install options.

It’s packed with app descriptions, screenshots, browsable categories, search, meta info, and a beautifully fluid design.

Useful curated sections spotlight notable software available through the hub, including:

• Popular Apps
• Game Highlights
• Editor’s Picks
• New & Updated Apps

Why Use the Flathub Web Interface?

Flatpak is a designed as a universal app packaging and distribution format that works more-or-less the same on any Linux distribution. It is similar to (but has some subtle differences from) Canonical’s Snappy.

Having a universal and easily accessible end-point is important for both app fans and app developers. The online store makes no assumptions about what distro (if any) you might be using.

For example, although Ubuntu and Fedora use GNOME Software as their primary app store Linux Mint uses its own software tool, as does KDE Neon — yet Flatpak apps can run on them all.

While you can search for apps on Flathub using the Ubuntu/GNOME Software app the experience is far from ideal. It’s slow, muddled, and with no granular control over what you see.

In comparison the Flathub web interface is fast, responsive and, with one-click installs (which now work in Ubuntu 18.04 provided you install the Flatpak plugin first), super easy to use.

What I really appreciate over, say, the Snapcraft web interface, is the fact that Flathub lists ‘additional information’ that you may want to know, like version number, update date, publisher, and license.

Naturally the store front-end, which has been spearheaded by Jorge Garcia Oncins, is open-source.You can find it on Github here.

Visit the Flathub Website

If you’re using a well-known GTK theme like Ambiance, Arc or Adapta then Flatpak apps should be able to match it.

Notes

If you’ve not used Flatpak or Flathub on Ubuntu before you’ll need to install the following things first:

sudo apt install flatpak gnome-software-plugin-flatpak

You’ll also need to add Flathub to your system:

flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo

Finally, it’s best to restart your system so that the various changes can take effect fully.

The ‘click to install’ buttons shown on the Flathub website do not work in Ubuntu 17.10. You can install apps from Flathub using the command line or by manually searching them out in the Software app.

Source: https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2018/04/new-look-flathub-website

How to Use Pandora on Linux

If you have a subscription to Pandora’s One service, you can download a desktop client for your Windows or Mac computer. You can also find apps for Android and iOS, as well as a Windows modern app in the Microsoft Store.

Pandora Premium faces some tough competition. However, having tested this new music streaming service for a couple of weeks, we've come up with six reasons why you should try it. Read More

But if you’re a Linux user, you’re out of luck. There’s no official Pandora app for the operating system. However, there’s a workaround you can use.

Called Pithos, the app is much less resource-intensive than the web version of Pandora. It runs on Ubuntu, Fedora, and Arch Linux, and can also be installed via Flathub as a Flatpak. Let’s look at the installation process for each distro in more detail.

How to Install Pithos on Ubuntu

To install Pithos on Ubuntu, you need to use a PPA (Personal Package Archives) repo. Doing so ensures you will always receive the app’s latest updates in a timely fashion.

To install the app, open the terminal and enter the following commands:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:pithos/ppa
sudo apt update
sudo apt install pithos

How to Install Pithos on Fedora

Fedora users can install the official RPM that’s available from RPM Fusion. To install the app, type the commands below:

sudo dnf install https://download1.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/rpmfusion-free-release-X.noarch.rpm -y
sudo dnf install https://download1.rpmfusion.org/nonfree/fedora/rpmfusion-nonfree-release-X.noarch.rpm -y
sudo dnf install pithos

Note: Replace release-X with the version of Fedora that you are using.

How to Install Pithos on Arch Linux

Although the Pithos developers don’t advertise it, you can install the app via the Arch User Repository. You will need to use the Pacman package manager inside the terminal. To get started, just use the commands below:

sudo pacman -S git
git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/pithos.git
cd pithos
makepkg -si

How to Install Pithos as a Flatpak

If you have Flatpak running on your Linux distro, you can install Pithos via Flathub. Here are the commands you will need:

sudo flatpak remote-add flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
sudo flatpak install flathub io.github.Pithos

If you’re not sure whether you should sign up for Pandora or use a different service, check out our list of free Pandora alternatives.

10 Free Pandora Alternatives We Give the Thumbs-Up 10 Free Pandora Alternatives We Give the Thumbs-Up If you're reading this it must mean you're fed up with Pandora in one way or another. But don't despair, as there are plenty of alternatives around. Read More

Source: https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/use-pandora-linux/

5 Things to do after a fresh install of GNU/Linux

So, regardless of what distribution being used, there are things that I do after every single install I do, and I thought perhaps I would share some of them with you; perhaps something I do is missing from your setup and you might like to include it!

I am going to leave out the things that you find in every other list...like "Download your favourite music player!" as this is redundant, and pointless to list.

The list includes the following five suggestions: increase audio quality, making sure the firewall is enabled,

1. Increase audio quality

I’m not going to get into the deeper explanation behind audio and its quality; suffice to say I use expensive headphones, speakers, and every possible opportunity I have to enhance the quality of my sound. So, when I install a new OS, one of the first things I do is make sure that my tunes sound good for while I’m following the rest of my setup. To do so, we need to edit a configuration file for PulseAudio.

sudo nano /etc/pulse/daemon.conf

In this, there are three lines we need to find:

; resample-method = speex-float-1
; default-sample-format = s16le
; default-sample-rate = 44100

The last two lines are above/below eachother, but the first line is a little ways above them in the configuration file.  Edit these, to look like this

resample-method = src-sinc-best-quality
default-sample-format = s24le
default-sample-rate = 96000

NOTE: You MUST ensure that the ; is removed from all three, for this to work. ; signifies a comment, or in this case, deactivated.

After this is done, save and exit the configuration file, and then we need to restart PulseAudio:

pulseaudio -k
pulseaudio --start

Aaaand voila! Your music will now sound better than it would have previously. You'd be surprised.

2. Make sure firewall is enabled.

Most distributions tend to have UFW installed as the default firewall, but not all of them enable the firewall by default. Always always always, make sure you enable the firewall.

Read also:  Linux Mint 18.2 released

The default 'home' setting is usually fine for most people, just simply turn the firewall on, and you're done. However, if there is no firewall installed, you'll want to install 'gufw' which will also include UFW itself, as well as a graphical tool for it.

3. Disable any unnecessary services

This one varies from distro to distro, on what needs to be disabled or not, but things like printer support are not needed if you don't own a printer, etc.

Typically, GNU/Linux systems do not run a trillion services to shut down like Windows, but always good to look, and see. Most distributions and environments have a services list in the system settings. The Antergos Cinnamon one, looks like the photo above.

4. Install Timeshift

Previously I wrote an article about how to install Timeshift into Linux Mint, but really I would advise installing it into any system you use, if it's not included with the distro. Timeshift is almost crucial for someone like me, who can't run the risk of losing everything in the case of a crash or other mishap. Get it. Use it.

5. Install ClamAV / Clamtk antivirus

Yes, it's true, a GNU/Linux system is far less likely to be infected by a virus than Windows, but it's not invincible. I wrote an article about how to install the ClamAV antivirus with Clamtk GUI and highly recommend it as well.

Source: https://www.ghacks.net/2017/11/04/5-things-to-do-after-a-fresh-install-of-gnulinux/