Learn Linux and get from a beginner to expert user with these Linux tutorials.
In our review of Linux Mint 12, we were impressed with the implementation of the Mint Gnome Shell Extensions (MGSE) and how it make the user-interface easy to use again. Now, if you are using Ubuntu and you don’t want to go through the hassle of installing Linux Mint from scratch, here’s how you can […]
Linux Mint has always been known as the great alternative to Ubuntu. In fact, after Ubuntu implemented the Unity desktop, many people switched ship and flocked to Linux Mint as their next “easy-to-use and user-friendly” distro. According to DistroWatch, Linux Mint has even overtaken Ubuntu as the most popular distro. Well, that was Linux Mint […]
There are thousand and one ways to launch application in Linux. You can use the Application menu, via the dock, use a app launcher like Synapse or Gnome Do or simply press “Alt + F2” and type the name of the application. Gnome Pie is yet another application launcher that allows you to quickly launch […]
Previously, I showed you the way to generate a public/private SSH key so you can connect to your remote host securely. The method that we used is via the terminal, which can be rather unfriendly (and scary) to the Linux newbies. Here is an easier method of setting up your public/private SSH key, with a […]
KDE offers one of the most comprehensive and flexible notification systems (KNotify). In addition to system notifications, nearly every program has notification settings that are integrated into the larger desktop environment. Moreover, KDE’s notification system is configurable for just about any type of user, including those who need specific accessibility features.
If you are using SSH frequently to connect to a remote host, one of the way to secure the connection is to use a public/private SSH key so no password is transmitted over the network and it can prevent against brute force attack.
We have covered plenty of Gnome Shell tips here in Make Tech Easier, but we also know that those are not enough to satisfy all of you. So here you are, more Gnome shell tips and tricks for you. Install Gnome Tweak Tool Before we begin, it is best that you have Gnome Tweak Tool […]
With the past few releases, Ubuntu has been focusing more and more on their homegrown desktop Unity. Some people love it, but a lot of us don’t. Fortunately, as with all things Linux, there are many alternative options. For those of us who just can’t find a way to unite with Unity, here are 5 […]
Text appearance is probably one of the most underrated features of any computing experience. It is easy to overlook fonts because words are all around us, and we expect them to be pleasing to the eyes and easy to read, but probably only notice when they are not. In reality, a font can make or […]
In Ubuntu Oneiric, the default desktop session is the Unity Desktop (or Unity 2D depend on your hardware capabilities). If you have set the computer to auto-login to your desktop whenever you boot up, it will always login to the Unity desktop, even though you have installed Gnome-shell or classic Gnome. It doesn’t matter which […]
One of the best feature of the Unity desktop in Ubuntu is the lens. Lens are the search feature in the Dash. Different lenses allow you to perform search functions, for example, the Music Lens allows you to search for music that you have recently listened to while the Applications Lens searches for all your […]
If you have used Gnome Shell in Ubuntu Oneiric, one of the things you might realize is that the “Alt + F2” shortcut keys to open the Run prompt is no longer working. In fact, the “Alt + F2” shortcut keys was disabled for unknown reason. After the “Can’t disable login sound” issue, this is […]
Since its official inclusion in KDE, the Desktop Effects component of KWin has received mixed reviews. Many of the negative reviews point to performance problems, some of which are the result of the dramatically diverse offering of Linux drivers available for graphics cards. Not all graphics cards are equal, but one would expect them to […]
If you have been to the Ubuntu download page, you will notice that there is a big list of ISOs that you can download. For the desktop version, there are always two versions: amd64 and i386. Which one should you download? Can I install the amd64 version of Ubuntu on my Intel machine? Let MTE […]
The appmenu (also known as the global menu) in Ubuntu Oneiric can be both a useful and annoying feature. When it is in action, it reduces the screen space required to render the menu bar. If you are using a computer with small screen, this is very useful for you. On the other hand, if […]
Ubuntu Oneiric, while added much improvements to its Unity desktop, also brought lot of changes that make it more confusing and difficult to use. Users who have come from previous version of Ubuntu will find that some of their favourite applications are missing and replaced with another application that is either more resource intensive or […]
It used to be very easy to install custom themes in Gnome 2, but if you have upgraded to Gnome Shell, particularly in Ubuntu Oneiric, you will find that there are not much customization options available for you. While Gnome Shell supports theming, there doesn’t seem to be an option for you to switch to […]
A while back, we listed 8 Useful and Interesting Bash Prompts. That turned out to be one of our most popular articles, and still generates user response and feedback. This time we’ve found a few more gems, as well as some handy tips and tricks for having the coolest shell prompt on the proverbial block.
There comes a time when you need to convert one or more files to another format. Say, for example, you have a bunch of .rtf files that you want to turn into OpenDocument files. Chances are you don’t need to do that too often, but when the time comes, opening each file in a word […]
When Apple releases Mac OSX Lion, one of the changes is the switching of the trackpad/mouse scrolling direction. Instead of scrolling the mouse wheel down to move down the page, you have to scroll up to move down. Apple imported this feature from iOS and call this feature “natural scrolling”. Not everyone love this feature, […]
If you are one of the early users who have already upgraded to Ubuntu 11.10 Oneiric, you will discover that the startup login sound is activated by default. Worst still, there is no way that you can turn it off. The reason for this is because the login sound entry (in the Startup Applications) is […]
Being a developer, one of the tool that I use on a day-to-day basis is a text editor (or you can call it IDE). I used to love Dreamweaver, but I find that it is too heavy and doesn’t work well on Linux. Then I switched to Aptana (it was very resource intensive as well), […]
The KDE team has released the latest version of KDE 4.7 late last month. This latest version brings many new features and improved stability and performance, particularly in the Plasma workspaces and the various KDE applications. What’s new in KDE 4.7 Improved Oxygen theme Long time KDE user will know that the Oxygen GTK theme […]
Like many of you, I occasionally come into possession of an older laptop. Usually, it’s something that used to run Windows XP, sometimes even older. You always hear that Linux is supposed to be so great for resurrecting old hardware, but many modern desktop distributions with all their bells and whistles end up chugging along […]
One of the applications that’s missing from the Linux desktop is a good WYSIWYG HTML editor. There have been a few, like NVU and KompoZer, but they haven’t been actively developed for a while. Enter BlueGriffon. Built on top of Gecko (the rendering engine used by Firefox), BlueGriffon enables you to create web pages using […]
Sometimes, you run into a problem that you just can’t work through with mental brute force alone. Brainstorming with others works, but that’s not always an option. One popular and effective way of beating a problem or releasing your creativity is mindmapping. While you can go old school and use pen and paper, there is […]
At first, this may sound pointless. After all, aren’t there dozens of perfectly good GUI music apps out there? Haven’t we all found something we like, or at least don’t hate? Perhaps that’s true, but how much happier would you be if your music app of choice used a whole lot less resources? Or what […]
Even though Gnome 3 (aka Gnome shell) is still in beta, it has sure garnered a lot of attention from both Linux enthusiasts and power users. Most of us who are not happy with Ubuntu unity tend to install Gnome 3 (or try out Fedora) and see how it fares against the Unity desktop. If […]
Those of us in UNIX-land (and yes, Mac people, that includes you) don’t often have to deal with malware. There is room for debate about the exact reasons for that, but few would argue that Linux, BSD and OSX get hit as hard or as often as Windows. This does not, however, make us immune […]
I’ve been a die-hard Debian fan for about 10 years, and I’ve written several articles on the subject. That said, most of our Linux-savvy readers are Ubuntu users, so that’s been my main desktop OS for as long as I’ve been a MakeTechEasier writer. Ubuntu has always been fine, and generally got the job done […]
Money. It’s something that most of us don’t have enough of. And what we have, we want to hold on to and keep track of. For many people, an old fashioned spreadsheet is perfect for their needs. The rest of us need a little something more. Not with the features, of say, ,KyMyMoney or GNUCash […]
In case you are not aware, Thunderbird 5 is now released and is available for download. This latest release contains many bugs fixed and comes with extra features like new addons manager, tab dragging and reordering and enhanced account manager. For Ubuntu users, you can either download the tar file, unzip it and run the […]
In mid-June 2011, something interesting happened. The number of blogs hosted by a scrappy upstart blogging platform called Tumblr surpassed those of the venerable (and immensely popular) WordPress.com. That was an impressive feat, considering Tumblr was launched over four years after WordPress.com. The content on Tumblr consists of tumblelogs, which are somewhere between full-blown blogs […]
Autokey is my favorite keyboard shortcut manager in Ubuntu. It is a desktop automation utility for Linux and X11 and it allows you to create scripts and assign hotkeys to these scripts, allowing you to execute them on demand in whatever program you are using. Now, if you have upgraded your Ubuntu to the latest […]
As we all know, Ubuntu Natty comes with the Unity Launcher that many people love to hate. While it comes with the autohide and quicklist feature, it is unlike AWN or Cairo dock that is fully customizable or configurable. For those who have turned off Unity Launcher (by switching to Ubuntu classic) but wish to […]
Do you have DVDs that you want to back up or take portable? Of course you do. Well, ripping those DVDs doesn’t have to be a major chore. In fact, ripping DVDs can be quite easy. If you’re a Linux user, you have a number of excellent options. And you can turn to the command […]
Love it or hate it, the command line is here to stay. Sure, there are new options emerging like TermKit but it’s unlikely that the command line will ever really go away. Those who take the time to master it can run productivity circles around their peers, but with the astonishing assortment of CLI tools […]
No matter who you are – software developer, technical writer, blogger, or just someone wanting to show off their cool desktop — you need to take the occasional screen capture. There are a large number of commercial, free, and Open Source screen capture tools out there. They range from bare bones apps to ones that […]
Previously, we have shown you a list of useful quicklist that you can add to your Ubuntu launcher. While they are useful, creating them is not a one-click affair. You have to copy the .desktop file over to your Home folder, make the amendment and restart Unity. What if there is an easier way to […]
If you use Ubuntu, or one of the many Linux distributions derived from Ubuntu, you’re probably familiar with at least a couple of ways to install software. You might use apt-get from the command line. Or, you might use Synaptic Package Manager. Another entry in the installer sweepstakes is Eve Installer. Unlike other installers for […]
If you are using Ubuntu Natty, and the Unity desktop, you will surely know that there are very little configuration options available. If you wanted to make any change, your best bet is to install the CompizConfig Setting Manager and search through the vast list for the options that you want to change. If you […]
I use Twitter quite a lot. For the longest time, I used Web-based Twitter clients, clients for my smartphone, or browser extensions to interact with my Twitter account. Why? The desktop clients for Linux left me feeling cold. They either did too much or too little, and just weren’t satisfying overall. One client that does […]
In Mac, there is the Smart Folder that allows you to sort and organize your files and folders. In KDE, there is the Magic Folder that can do the same thing. Magic Folder is a plasmoid for KDE that enables you to organize your files effortlessly. All you need to do is to drag and […]
The Ubuntu notification bubble (aka NotifyOSD) is one thing that I love and hate at the same time. I love how it is able to show notification in a nice and elegant way, yet I hate that it didn’t come with any configuration options for me to customize it. There’s no way I can close […]
Converting videos on the Linux desktop isn’t exactly difficult, but it can be tricky. There aren’t all that many conversion tools out there, and some of them aren’t all that easy to use. Take, for example, ffmpeg. It’s pretty much the top of the heap when it comes to video and audio conversion. But it’s […]
Sometimes in the world of free software, you have to make the best of what’s available. Sometimes what’s available isn’t all that great. When I suddenly lost some critical data as a result of a corrupted drive, I thought I’d have to shell out some potentially serious cash for a high-quality recovery utility. In my […]
I have just started using Kubuntu a week ago. Being a new user of the KDE desktop, I admit that I am have difficulty getting used to its terms. One of the thing I am always confuse is the difference between plasmoids and widgets. The two terms are used interchangeably and it took some googling […]
In the past, the best way to get KeePass running on Linux is to install KeePassX, which is a port over version of KeePass 1.x. To get KeePass 2.x to run in Linux, you will need to install a whole bunch of mono libraries and manually install the source file. Worst still, it might not […]
I like a good GUI as much as the next person, but some things beg for a little more simplicity. One of those things is a to do list. Which is why I turn to the command line and a text file for mine. Of the several command line to do applications out there in […]
Can you name your motherboard’s chipset off the top of your head? What about NIC type? If not, how would you go about finding it? Could you do it from the command line? As with a lot of Linux software, there are many ways to go about this. Some tools are built right into any […]
