How To Install Synaptic Package Manager on Ubuntu 24.04

Install Synaptic

Open Terminal and type the following command line followed by Enter.

$ sudo apt-get install synaptic apt-xapian-index software-properties-gtk

It will install three packages "synaptic" the application, "apt-xapian-index" search functionality, and "software-properties-gtk" the repository settings.

Full article:

• https://www.ubuntubuzz.com/2024/05/how-to-install-synaptic-package-manager-on-ubuntu-2404.html

Tool of choice - aptitude (CLI)

For a long time I was using aptitude with great success. I can't even remember how many broken Debian and Ubuntu installations I was able to fix with aptitude. Problem resolution, dependency search, package selection, undo function (very important!), etc.

The aptitude program runs from command-line, so when a problem arises and system cannot boot into graphical mode, this is really THE BEST. And I mean that.

Tool of choice - synaptic (GUI)

Second in line is of course synaptic which runs in graphical mode. It is partially similar to aptitude, but offers greater flexibility than basic Ubuntu software management and update utilities. For me this is the SECOND BEST so far.

Yet I have never used packages recommended in the article:

• apt-xapian-index and
• software-properties-gtk.

This is something to look into, and a reason for this very post.

And whenever something goes really bad, there is always (you guessed it) aptitude.

Install Google Chrome on Ubuntu 20.04

New virtual machine and new Kubuntu installation. Good days ahead again!

I just found out that old ways of using apt-key program are replaced in new Ubuntu Linux releases by Apt directory /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/. It is similar to another Apt directory /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ with files describing software repositories.
Good opportunity to learn something new :)

To install official Google Chrome including automatic updates, I used following tutorial:

Install Google Chrome on Ubuntu 20.04

• https://lindevs.com/install-google-chrome-on-ubuntu

Update: Install Multiple PHP Versions on Ubuntu 16.04

Most essential:

a2dismod php7.0 ; a2enmod php7.3 ; service apache2 restart

and:

update-alternatives --config php

https://www.liquidweb.com/kb/install-multiple-php-versions-on-ubuntu-16-04/

Install PHP 7.3 on Ubuntu 18.04 / Ubuntu 16.04 / Debian

https://computingforgeeks.com/how-to-install-php-7-3-on-ubuntu-18-04-ubuntu-16-04-debian/

See also on this blog:

• Update: Install Multiple PHP Versions on Ubuntu 16.04

How to upgrade from Ubuntu MATE 18.04 or 19.10 to 20.04 LTS

Quite simple, yet very useful guide:

• https://www.fosslinux.com/38695/how-to-upgrade-from-ubuntu-mate-18-04-or-19-10-to-20-04-lts.htm

Simplify Command-Line Package Management with APT instead of apt-get

Interestingly, in Debian/Ubuntu/Mint there might be a hidden treasure in form of apt command.
I think I will look into this further.

http://www.howtogeek.com/234583/simplify-command-line-package-management-with-apt-instead-of-apt-get/

Just installed Ubuntu 12.04? Try this!

JDK7: Install Oracle Java 7 in Ubuntu via PPA Repository
JDK7: Install Oracle Java(JDK) 7 in Ubuntu 12.04 Precise & 11.10 Oneiric
Similar: How To Install Oracle Java 7 In Debian Via Repository

JDK8: Install Oracle Java 8 (JDK & JRE) in Ubuntu 12.04

Useful: Ubuntu 12.04: How to Enable Open in Terminal / Console

No-pass login: How to Login Without Password in Ubuntu 11.10
Auto-Login: Automatically Login to Ubuntu 12.04 (Precise Pangolin)

How to Undo Unity

Good piece of advice:
http://www.osnews.com/story/26192/How_to_Undo_Unity

Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal Reviewed

• http://www.techdrivein.com/2011/05/ubuntu-1104-natty-narwhal-reviewed-this.html
• http://www.techdrivein.com/2011/05/ubuntu-1104-natty-narwhal-reactions.html
• http://www.techdrivein.com/2011/06/everything-you-need-to-know-about.html
• http://www.techdrivein.com/2011/05/top-6-ubuntu-1104-themes-to-make-natty.html

GNOME Shell Ubuntu 11.10 - First Impressions

• http://www.techdrivein.com/2011/09/gnome-shell-in-ubuntu-1110-first.html
• http://www.techdrivein.com/2010/09/top-6-gnome-shell-themes-ever.html
• http://www.techdrivein.com/2010/08/gnome-shell-is-evolving-quite.html
• http://www.techdrivein.com/2011/02/gnome-shell-review-its-starting-to-look.html

8 Things I did After Installing GNOME Shell in Brand New Ubuntu 11.10

• http://www.techdrivein.com/2011/11/8-things-i-did-after-installing-gnome.html
• http://www.techdrivein.com/2011/09/top-10-gnome-shell-themes.html
• http://news.softpedia.com/news/GNOME-3-Shell-Extensions-Website-Is-Live-238030.shtml
• https://extensions.gnome.org/

15 Things I Did After Installing New Ubuntu 11.10 Oneiric Ocelot

• http://www.techdrivein.com/2011/10/15-things-i-did-after-installing-new.html
• http://www.techdrivein.com/2011/04/31-useful-ubuntu-1104-unity.html
• http://www.techdrivein.com/2011/05/top-6-quicklists-for-ubuntu-1104-natty.html
• http://www.techdrivein.com/2011/04/equinox-adds-3-more-themes-ppa-for.html
• http://www.techdrivein.com/2010/11/7-brilliant-gnome-gtk-themes.html
• http://www.techdrivein.com/2011/05/10-useful-application-indicators-for.html

Return to Ubuntu Classic Desktop in Ubuntu 11.10

http://www.liberiangeek.net/2011/08/return-to-ubuntu-classic-desktop-in-ubuntu-11-10/

Customize GRUB2 - StartUp-Manager

http://apcmag.com/customise-ubuntu-with-grub.htm
(includes instructions for 'Fixing Plymouth with NVIDIA/ATI', if you use NVIDIA cards and the official NVIDIA drivers)

Ubuntu documentation: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/StartUpManager
(the tool is to be found in "Applications > Administration > StartUp Manager")

Enable Alt+Ctrl+Backspace in Jaunty Jackalope

Ubuntu 9.04 comes with updated X.org server, in which Ctrl+Alt+Backspace doesn't work anymore out of the box. Some silly users complained that this (correctly!) resets their sessions, when they accidentally press the aforementioned combination. Even though I used Linux for many years with success, I was NEVER able to press such extraordinary key combo accidentally.

Anyway, Ubuntu devs listened and Ctrl+Alt+Backspace is turned off by default, what a pity. To restore the normal (old?) behaviour you need to modify X.org settings:

1) Open the configuration file in Gedit:

    sudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf

2) At the end paste:

    Section "ServerFlags"
    Option "DontZap" "false"
    EndSection

3) Restart the system or just the X subsystem ("sudo /etc/init.d/gdm restart" comes to mind) in order for Ctrl+Alt+Backspace to work again. To return to previous setting, remove or comment out added lines, or change "false" to "true" in "DontZap" flag.

Original tip (in Polish): http://www.ubucentrum.net/2009/05/jak-waczyc-skrot-ctrlaltdelete-w-ubuntu.html

Working arrow keys in VMWare Player

http://aldeby.org/blog/index.php/arrow-keys-not-working-with-vmware.html

That's a simple fix for VMWare, which doesn't recognize a changed method of handling keyboard keys in new XServer.

you may experience some problems with arrow keys, pg up/pg down and home/end keys with vmware 6.5 and Ubuntu Linux Intrepid 8.10.

a workaround for those problems is to create a file named config under .vmware folder in your home directory and fill it with the following text:

xkeymap.keycode.108 = 0x138 # Alt_R
xkeymap.keycode.106 = 0x135 # KP_Divide
xkeymap.keycode.104 = 0x11c # KP_Enter
xkeymap.keycode.111 = 0x148 # Up
xkeymap.keycode.116 = 0x150 # Down
xkeymap.keycode.113 = 0x14b # Left
xkeymap.keycode.114 = 0x14d # Right
xkeymap.keycode.105 = 0x11d # Control_R
xkeymap.keycode.118 = 0x152 # Insert
xkeymap.keycode.119 = 0x153 # Delete
xkeymap.keycode.110 = 0x147 # Home
xkeymap.keycode.115 = 0x14f # End
xkeymap.keycode.112 = 0x149 # Prior
xkeymap.keycode.117 = 0x151 # Next
xkeymap.keycode.78 = 0x46 # Scroll_Lock
xkeymap.keycode.127 = 0x100 # Pause
xkeymap.keycode.133 = 0x15b # Meta_L
xkeymap.keycode.134 = 0x15c # Meta_R
xkeymap.keycode.135 = 0x15d # Menu

Other solutions:

• http://bias9.blogspot.com/2008/10/keys-not-working-in-vmware.html
  

  
  This is an upstream bug in VMware’s code. If your keyboard is not functioning correctly in VMware, add this line to ~/.vmware/config (create file if necessary):
  

  xkeymap.nokeycodeMap = true

  
  http://www.ultimalinux.com/wiki/VMware
  

  
  
• http://communities.vmware.com/message/918459
  
• http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?cmd=displayKC&docType=kc&externalId=1007439
  

Additional repositories for Intrepid Ibex (OpenOffice3)

Pretty neat and useful set of repositories (includes OpenOffice.org-3):
http://forum.ubuntu.pl/showthread.php?t=85730 (in Polish)

Some Productive Ubuntu Kung Fu

Book Excerpt: http://lifehacker.com/5067996/some-productive-ubuntu-kung-fu

Also in comments:

• "a good desktop blog editor" - suggestions:
  
  
  
  • OpenOffice.org with the Sun Weblog Publisher extension
    
  • ScribeFire extension for Firefox
    
  
  
• "a tip to make gnome fonts look *not* like that" - suggestion:
  
  
  
  • Open a terminal window and type sudo dpkg-reconfigure fonts-fontconfig Then choose the Native option in the menu, and log out and back in again.
    
  
  
• "Is there an app for the Mac that is like gnome-blog?" - suggestion:
  
  
  
  • http://www.red-sweater.com/marsedit/ I've never used it myself but I hear good things about it.
    
  
  
• "What about https://wiki.ubuntu.com/GnomeDo/Plugins ?"
  

High frequency of disk load cycles in Ubuntu

Finally somebody wrote some useful stuff concerning the following problem plaguing Ubuntu 8.04:

High frequency of load/unload cycles on some hard disks may shorten lifetime - original report at https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/59695

Alexey Borzenkov on May 7th 2008, 23:49 wrote:

A note of observation. After I switched back to Windows XP I found that
Windows indeed didn't let my drive to spin down or park heads, however
all this came at the same price I had in Linux, i.e. frequent superclicks
and Load_Retry_Count increasing. So the problem is not with Linux or
Ubuntu at all, the problem is solely with the hard drive.

It is also worth noting that with Ubuntu I was able to reach any comfortable
increase rates by carefully tweaking /etc/laptop-mode/laptop-mode.conf.
The most important are ENABLE_LAPTOP_MODE_ON_AC=1,
LOST_WORK_SECONDS (the default value of 360 ensures only 10
Load_Cycle_Count per hour), READAHEAD (which in my opinion shouldn't
default to 3072, since huge delays every half or one minute between
reads effectively prevent playing videos, setting it to LM_READAHEAD=128
was the best in my case), IDLE_TIMEOUT (if you want your drive to really
cool down when idle, in my observation 60 seconds on AC was the best),
and WRITECACHE set to one (this adds another good layer of caching by
the hard drive).

Now don't forget to set ENABLE_LAPTOP_MODE=true in your
/etc/default/acpi-support.

BUT ALL THIS WON'T WORK unless you edit your /etc/acpi/power.sh and do
the following modifications:

Comment out all $HDPARM nonsense, since laptop-mode controls this for
you (provided you set your settings in laptop-mode.conf, of course).
Next, where you see "$LAPTOP_MODE stop" it should be "$LAPTOP_MODE",
WITHOUT STOP. The latter is very important, because when
"/usr/sbin/laptop_mode stop" is called it effectively TURNS OFF LAPTOP
MODE, even if you have ENABLE_LAPTOP_MODE=true in your
/etc/default/acpi-support. While calling "/usr/sbin/laptop_mode" without
arguments does autodetection, and depending on your settings will either
Without laptop mode "lost work seconds" do not work and this means that
mount option is not applied and pdflush will drop caches half a second
after some program (i.e. firefox) writes something to disk. The constant
writing to disk by many applications is what actually causes heads to
unpark, and when manufacturer sets some very ridiculous timeout for head
parking (i.e. 3 seconds in my case) heads keep unparking all the time.

I'm not sure if acpid is at fault here for calling laptop_mode with stop
argument, or laptop_mode not honoring your settings when stop is passed,
but current settings make laptop mode effectively useless. When I did
the above modifications and tweaked config files for my tastes I was
able to get rid of all problems. When my computer is idle heads park and
disk spins down, staying untouched for 6 minutes. When I'm doing
something active, like watching a movie, my drive is constantly accessed
and heads don't park needlessly. When I'm having a mix of the two (like
active browsing, or doing something else) my heads unpark only 20-30
times per hour, which I consider very good. And best of all, my drive
was not thermally abused and super clicks didn't happen.

As a comparison, average temperature of my drive under Windows was
41 degrees Celsius (and never below), under Linux it was 34-36 degrees
Celsius.

I consider that the main issue with this bug is that laptop mode (as it is)
DOES NOT WORK AT ALL. Please either fix acpid or fix laptop-mode.

Thank you.

I only wonder if this procedure really would work for me, but since I have a copy of his post here, I'll be able to test it eventually.

Shuttleworth Acknowledges Ubuntu’s Debt to Debian

http://practical-tech.com/operating-system/shuttleworth-acknowledges-ubuntus-debt-to-debian/