The Blue Mint

Coming To KDE 4.9: DreamDesktop Live Wallpapers

2012-05-19T11:17:00.000-04:00

Here's something to look forward to for the upcoming KDE 4.9 release: DreamDesktop Live Wallpaper! I know, I know, it seems so 90's, right? But here's the thing: It's flat-out beautiful. Seriously. Don't believe me? Ok, here's a video:

According to the author, it is set to be included in the upcoming KDE 4.9 release. As for system performance, we're going to go out on a limb here and say that you'll likely need a newer PC with a dedicated graphics card to truly get your money's worth out of these live wallpapers.

The author maintains a development blog where he does include some performance specs for those who are curious. Here's an excerpt on performance (translated via Google Translate):

At a resolution of 1920x1080 on the configuration equipped with a processor i5-2500@3.30GHz, playback at 25 frames per second, load average quad stands at 16%.

The blog, translated to English, can be found here, while the original link, in Polish, is here.

For those with adequate systems, DreamDesktop looks to take a modern and beautiful spin on an old classic. What do you think?

openDesktop's Lost Little Gem: KDE-Files.org

2012-05-18T21:15:00.000-04:00

Somehow, someway, I clicked on a link...a harmless, little one out of 10,000 I probably clicked that day. But what I found was both awesome and shocking at the same time. You may be aware of some of the more popular openDesktop websites such as KDE-Look.org and KDE-Apps.org. But this particular link took me to a KDE-themed OpenDesktop website that I had not seen before. Apparently most other folks out there in the Interwebs had not seen it either. I'm talking specifiacally about KDE-Files.org. What? you say. Exactly. I was unaware of this resource until this innocent-looking link took me there. Many of you apparently were unaware as well. I say this because KDE-Files seems to be as dormant as the Mount St. Helens volcano.

Onthe surface, KDE-Files would seem to be a great idea. I don't know how many times people have asked in person, or via IRC, or various mailing lists for a template for a presentation, or for a template for a CD/DVD cover they wanted to make. Or maybe to grab a piece of clipart they need for a particular blog post or flyer. And it IS a great idea. The problem appears to be that this wonderful site is apparently not used at all. Or at least, not contributed to very much. I say this because there seems to be a dissapointing amount of submissions to this great resource library..

Many of us have used various openDesktop websites. It would be great to see KDE-Files get used some more and became a valuable resource for open source software. As it stands today, these themes, templates, datasets, and artworks are scattered all over the web in various WIKI's and svn repositories. Which is a shame. Whether you use OpenOffice, LibreOffice, Koffice, or Calligra, there's something for everyone that could be here. Not to mention other cool things like Kdenlive transitions and potentially cool (albeit perhaps woefully outdated) KStars data.

So check it out. It's a great way for non-programmers to contribute to KDE and Kubuntu! And while you're there, you can pick up an awesome Kubuntu 12.04 LTS DVD Case.

Were you aware of KDE-Files.org?

KDE Releases 4.8.2 Stability Update Available Now For Kubuntu 11.10 And 12.04

2012-04-05T17:59:00.000-04:00

KDE Releases 4.8.2 Stability Update Available Now For Kubuntu 11.10 And 12.04

As announced over on KDE.org, KDE Workspaces and Applications 4.8 has shipped it's April bugfix update. The updated packages are available now for Kubuntu 11.10 and 12.04 users as of today. For 12.04 Precise Pangolin users, the updates will appear as normal in their update manager. 11.10 users can install the Kubuntu Backports PPA to get the ball rolling:

ppa:kubuntu-ppa/backports

Refer here if you need more information on managing Kubuntu's repositories: Repositories in Kubuntu.

Highlights:

Bugs and more bugs squashed! See the link above for the complete list. Highlights of this release include, but are not limited to, bug fixes for
            nepomuk
            kioslave
            KWin
            solid
            Okular
            Dolphin
            and KGpg

Our tests on both 12.04 and 11.10 machines have gone smoothly and you should expect a trouble-free upgrade experience as well. One of the annoying niggles in KDE 4.8.1 for me was the fact that one could no longer change the icon for an Activity. This has been fixed as of 4.8.2. So now you can again customize Activities to your heart's content.

KDE 4.8.3, the second to last scheduled release in the 4.8 series, is due out on Tuesday, May 1, 2012. Stay tuned.

Installing Kubuntu 12.04 On Older Non-PAE Computers

2012-04-03T10:16:00.000-04:00

Many users interested in trying out the latest and greatest Kubuntu (12.04 Beta 2 as of this writing) on older hardware have found out that the .iso images provided for download will not run on their computers. If you are one of these unlucky people, you will see a message on boot stating: "This kernel requires the following features not present on the CPU: pae
Unable to boot - please use a kernel appropriate for your CPU."

Physical Address Extension (PAE) is a feature to allow (32-bit) x86 processors to access a physical address space (including random access memory and memory mapped devices) larger than 4 gigabytes (Wikipedia). The decision to not include non-PAE complaint computers for a 5-year LTS release is understandable as this group would include all Pentium M-class processors and older, and 5 years is a long time. While it remains to be seen whether Canonical will make available final release images that are tagged "non-PAE", you can install Kubuntu 12.04 on these older machines by using the "non-PAE mini.iso" CD/USB image to initiate your installation. Weighing in at a slim 24MB, the mini.iso also has the advantage of allowing a very customized installation of your fresh new Kubuntu system.

Once the image is loaded, it basically act the same as the Alternate Install image, offering a text-only install without the GUI installer many are used to. Be warned, however, that since only the bare-minimum is put on the image, everything will need to be downloaded from the web, including the Ubuntu base system and all KDE / Kubuntu related packages. This may be problematic for users on slow internet connections. Even with a fast connection, this method will take time do to the sheer amount of data needed to be downloaded and installed.

The non-PAE mini iso images for 32-bit processors can be found here.

Lastly, it should also be noted that current 10.04 and 11.10 users can upgrade their systems per the instructions on the Kubuntu Beta announcement page, as upgrading an existing installation on non-PAE systems will allow the distribution upgrade to take place while installing the correct kernel.

KDE Desktop Of The Week

2012-03-20T07:21:00.002-04:00

Here is this week's KDE4 Desktop Of The Week. We hope you enjoy it. PS - If you'd like to nominate your KDE desktop to be featured here, submit a link in the comments. If we get enough submissions, we'll host a weekly poll and let the readers decide!

Enjoy!

Source: http://zebardast.wordpress.com/

Calligra 2.4 Beta 6 Is Out, Kubuntu Gets PPA

2012-01-12T03:25:00.001-05:00

A few days ago it was announced over on the Calligra homepage that a new beta of version 2.4 was reseased to the wild. As you probaly know, Calligra is the full office suite that is part of the KDE applications and community. Calligra was forked from KOffice a little over a year ago, and effectively replaces it.

Consisting of many office and graphics applications (nine in all!) Calligra aims to be a very robust set of applications, wrapped in a unique and customizeable desktop concept. If you need a refresher on Calligra and the applications that make it up, along with screenshots, click here. This beta is a bugfix release and is set to be the second to last before RC1 is finalized. It is currently the 6th beta to be released.

Users of Kubuntu's 11.10 current release, and the upcomming 12.04 LTS release can install Calligra and give it a spin. 12.04 testers can find Calligra in the main Kubuntu repositories, while users of the current 11.10 version can add the following PPA to their software sources:

ppa:kubuntu-ppa/beta

Which ever version you choose to install Calligra on, simply add the package "calligra", minus the quotes of course.

With Calligra being heavily considered for inclusion into the DVD release of Kubuntu's upcoming long -term support version, any help we as the Kubuntu community can give in testing Calligra out is I'm sure very much appreciated. Along those lines, expect a full review from The Blue Mint in the upcoming days.

If you download Calligra, try it out and let us know what you think!

When Unity Meets KDE: Video Spotlight

2012-01-11T12:19:00.001-05:00

Today's video spotlight is a very polished and well-edited one by Youtube user GhindaUcigasa who aims to show us what happens when Ubuntu's Unity Shell meets KDE. It's an interesting concept, to be sure.

Since watching it, I couldn't help but think how much better Unity appeared to belong in Qt4 / KDE-land. The video does not show what all had to be done to pull off such a look and feel. One might argue that combining the design principals of Unity with the power and flexibility of KDE might be an option worth considering. Perhaps he / she will provide a how-to video at a later date. In the meantime, what do you think? Would you try a Unity-like interface in Kubuntu were it available?

Netrunner Aims To Bring A Unified Ubuntu And KDE Experience

2011-12-30T15:26:00.000-05:00

Recently we received word of a new release of a Linux distribution based on Kubuntu called Netrunner. Currently ranked 97th on Distrowatch, Netrunner targets users looking for an OS that is:

...built on Kubuntu with default integration of Gnome and Wine. Our focus is on new users as well as “power-users” at the same time, making KDE the ideal choice.

Our aim is to make it as comfortable for the new user while still offering all the options (and even lots of additional add-ons) to enable the user to explore the power of FLOSS possibilities.

Power-up where others dumb-down.
Lots of add-ons, codecs, customizations, etc.
The choice is Yours
No pre-installed lock-ins, like cloud services, etc.

One thing that's clear: The polarity of Ubuntu's Unity DE has many people looking for alternative Linux variants, while retaining the tried-and-true Ubuntu / Debian base.

As you might have guessed, there are a number of alternative applications that replace some of their native KDE counterparts, as well as Qt-based alternatives from those found in vanilla KDE / Kubuntu, while still running the KDE Plasma Desktop. These include Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird, the The Qmmp Multimedia Player, Transmission BitTorrent Client, Clementine Music Player, Pigeon Messaging Client, The Gimp, and WINE. It also comes standard with Flash enabled.

Adding all of the included software, codecs, and Firefox add-ons raises the .iso size to 1.2GB, which is becoming less and less of an issue all the time, though it might still be an issue for some.

Of course all of the included applications are available via the standard (K)Ubuntu repositories in Kubuntu. However it's clear that the developers of Netrunner are looking to take what is in their eyes a "best of breed" approach to the default software selection instead of Kubuntu's largely stock approach in presenting the KDE experience. It's also clear that users of Netrunner do prefer the KDE Plasma Desktop over Ubuntu's Unity (or Gnome 3) counterpart.

You can check out Netrunner's current release, codenamed Dryland, here. Let us know your thoughts on this unique distribution. If there's interest, we'll do a full review in the upcoming weeks.

Showing Plasma Wigits


The Winamp-inspired Qmmp music player

2011-12-29T14:39:00.000-05:00

As we get ready to wrap up 2011, why not spend a bit of time with some fine folks from the KDE Community? If you have never done so, check out the KDE And The Masters Of The Universe Podcast. I know, I know, another podcast. But hey, this is a KDE All-Star podcast.

In the 2011 wrap-up episode, join Guillermo Amaral, Paul Adams, Lydia Pintscher, and Leo Franchi as they discuss KDE in 2011 as well as the future. It's a unique perspective to learn insights and opinions (positive and negative and all points in-between!) from "behind the scenes" from these predominant KDE members and contributors. You'll also find yourself laughing along the way as, like most in the KDE Community, these guys like to have fun!

Check the podcast out by listening or downloading from here.

What are your high points (or low points) for KDE this past year?

"I'm Linux" Commercial Shows Linux Is Everywhere

2011-12-29T12:10:00.001-05:00

It's always good to rally the troops once in a while. And maybe open a few eyes along the way to the fact that Linux is all of us, and by extension, everywhere. This entered our Twitter feed thanks to @2uselinux, and we thought we'd share with you.

Really, the Linux community should do more of this type of thing. Enjoy!

&lt;p&gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&lt;/p&gt;

Desura Brings Steam-like Gaming Client To Linux

2011-12-28T11:12:00.000-05:00

For those who may not know, Desura is a gaming client similar to Steam, but with a few very important differences. First off, Desura tends to focus on smaller, independent game publishers. They support Alpha / Beta funding and really allow developers and users to connect in a way not easily done before for people running non-Windows OS's. Secondly, there is a native Linux client! Available in both 32 and 64-bit varieties, the Desura client is easy to install. It is contained entirely in your Home directory (or default download location) and is self-updating.

Like it's Steam counterpart, Desura will also allow you to add games currently in your collection in order to manage and run all of your games from a central location. Also important is the fact that Desura is a DRM-free zone. Recently Desura also announced that they will be looking to possibly Open Source the code (GPL) so the community can also contribute to the evolution of the gaming client.

From the website:

The aim of Desura is to provide gamers with a dependable interface which delivers the content they want to play in the quickest cross-pc way possible. At its heart is a digital distribution application which can serve (and patch) games, mods and addons to its members.

Currently there are approximately 90 (yes, 90!) games listed for Linux on the site. Some are free while most, being Indie games, are reasonably inexpensive. Obviously more games are added all the time. As of today Desura's Linux Gamers community group boasts around 2,200 members. Note that there is no requirement to be in a group to use Desura, and the Linux Gamers group is but one of many one can participate in on Desura if they so choose. There are other groups there as well - from Linux-themed to fans of particular games and mods. Some users may be just looking for a few good games without getting involved in a lot of gamer-community type activities. Still, if a sense of "we are not alone!" is what you are looking for, you'll surely find it there.

Overall Desura appears to be a growing community of dedicated individuals, many of whom are running Linux, that is attempting to both fill a void with regard to gaming that has been there a good while now, as well as fostering a developer-friendly environment to allow small independent game publishers an outlet to sell the fruits of their labor.

If you want to give Desura a try, go ahead and download the client. There are a handful of free games as well as demos to try in order to get a feel for the service and the community without spending a dime. If you're on Desura, let me know and drop by and say hi! My Desua username is "dequire".

Links:

Desura Homepage: http://www.desura.com/
Desura Linux Gamers Page: http://www.desura.com/groups/linux-gamers
Desura on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desura

Muon Suite 1.3 Beta Released - Kubuntu PPA updated

2011-12-27T17:02:00.000-05:00

Over on Jonathan Thomas's blog it was just anounced that the Muon Suite has been updated to 1.2.8 (1.3 Beta). This release brings both improvements and bug fixes. Per the release announcement, highlights to Muon include:

Features:

Instead of just showing a blank view when no updates are available, show a little message in the window saying that the computer is either up to date, or has not been checked for updates in a while, and advise accordingly. (MUM)
Added keywords to allow Muon to be found easier via KRunner. (MPM)

Bugfixes:

Fixed a memory leak in the new Updater where Application objects would never be deleted. (MUM)
Fixed a bug where the new Update manager would complain about desktop computers being unplugged. (MUM) LP: #894123
Fixed the progress widget in the new update manager hiding immediately after being shown, the second time it is shown. (MUM)
Fixed a bug where the Muon Package Manager wouldn't catch an uninstallable dependency as making the dependent package uninstallable. (MPM)

There are also bug fixes to the LibQApt back-end as well. The original post is here.

Kubuntu 11.10 users can install this latest version from the author's PPA, found at QApt Experimental PPA.

We have it up-and-running here, and all seems well!

Running Android On Your Mobile? You Might Like Amarok2 Remote

2011-10-22T12:57:00.000-04:00

I'm betting many of you are like me - You have Amarok playing your new awesome playlist in the background as you merrily work or play away around your humble abode. Then the phone rings or someone comes over or some other momentary distraction forces you to need to pause Amarok. Do you dash to your PC / Laptop / Tablet to hit pause? You don't have to.

Recently I discovered a great application for my new T-Mobile Android phone that I personally am enjoying very much lately: Amarok2 Remote. Developed by a Bavarian chap who's Twitter handle is @hreic, Amarok2 Remote allows you to browse your collection, play playlists, pause and play, adjust the volume, and more.

Amarok2 Remote even shows cover art

Consisting of a small server application and an Android client that is available from the Android Market, everything is quick and easy to set up. The instructions are clear and easily readable. In a few minutes, you'll be controlling your Amarok player from anywhere your WI-FI can reach.

It's completely free (though donations are of course appreciated).

You can get the rest of the scoop from the project's website here.

Rock on.

5 Great Places To Find Wallpapers For Your Kubuntu Desktop

2011-10-22T05:31:00.001-04:00

Image from http://gezrel.com

We all like them. No I’m not talking about all the friendly characters in Minecraft! I’m talking about what every respectable desktop has had to have since....well...desktops: Wallpapers! And, with KDE’s Activities, hey, you can have as many desktops with different wallpapers as you like. Here’s a collection of cool sites to keep you awash in an ever-growing sea of cool pixelated Kubuntu goodness.

I. kde-look.org

There’s many an awesome wallpaper to be had here - literally thousands. Fractals, photos, free-hand art, you name it. You can browse, comment, download, rate, and share (via the Share This button on the lower left). And hey, if your good at this kind of thing, why not join the community and upload a few of your own?

Ia. Narrowing kde-look.org down to Kubuntu

If you want to keep it real and only fly proper kubuntu art on your desktop, just type “kubuntu” in the search bar on the left-hand side. Once the search screen comes up, you can further narrow the results down to wallpapers as well, including the proper size needed for your display. We did just that, and came up with one we surely think needs to be considered for the default in Kubuntu 12.04: Simply called "circle kubuntu". Awesome!

II. Kubuntu Forum's Artwork Section

Lot’s of eye-candy in here! Wallpapers, icons, CD/DVD cases, it’s all there for your perusing. Be sure to comment in a thread if you see something you like!

III. Kubuntu on Deviant Art

The Interweb’s premier place for displaying top-end art and graphical design, the Kubuntu section of Deviant Art sets the bar for what aspiring graphic artists aim for. Take a look -you’ll likely be there for a while. For those of you who are tired of photos for wallpapers and prefer something graphical in nature, this is as good as it gets.

IV. Kubuntu In Google Images

Leave it to Google to drop the bomb on the sheer number of wallpapers out there aggregated in one place as only Google can. Many of these are excellent. Note that some are “adult-oriented” and some are more generic Linux wallpapers, but there’s so much here you’re bound to find something that will work with that new color scheme you just installed.

It’s recommended that you filter your results further by selecting “large” as the image size (using the size filter on the left) to ensure the best possible image quality of the image you’re going to download.

V. Wallpapers hand-picked by KDE

Lastly, but not to be overlooked, to get a good collection going you could install the package kde-wallpapers-default using your favorite package manager. By the way, this installed automatically if you have installed the kde-full package in Kubuntu. Topping out in size at just a hair over 45MB, there’s some really nice artwork in here. It is distribution agnostic, so you will not find any Kubuntu-specific artwork here. However unless storage space is at an absolute premium, it’s probably worth the download.

That should get you started on your way to new wallpaper goodness. What sites do you visit to find new and inspiring wallpapers? Let us know in the comments below!

Nokia Announces Open Governance Model For Qt

2011-10-21T11:18:00.003-04:00

Absolutely great news! As reported by Lydia Pintscher over at dot.kde.org, today Nokia announced the open governance model for Qt, known henceforth as the Qt Project. This move really helps KDE and it's downstream Kubuntu by allowing KDE to take a more proactive approach in Qt's future. As Lydia states:

KDE has been working closely with Qt during its 15 year lifetime and the Qt Project promises to bring this collaboration to a new level.

She concludes by saying:

The purpose of the KDE Free Qt Foundation is to ensure that Qt will always be available as Free Software (LGPL 2.1 and GPL 3). The legal agreements between KDE and Nokia ensuring the freedom of Qt remain valid and can now act as solid legal footings for Qt as a community-developed Free Software project.

It will be interesting to see whether the pace of innovation and progression of Qt and KDE quickens over time due to the increased harmony that these two groups have enjoyed over the years. This announcement is certainly further proof that this is indeed happening.

The announcement over at the Dot can be found here.

Happy Friday everyone!

Kubuntu 11.10 Brings "Low Fat Settings" Option To Older Hardware

2011-10-17T15:30:00.000-04:00

In case you missed it, one of the most intriguing aspects of the Kubuntu 11.10 release announcement is the addition of a downloadable package called "Low Fat Settings". Designed for older computers and folks who just like a streamlined KDE experience, the Low Fat Settings package is "a collection of configuration options that reduce memory usage and even speed up KDE's loading time".

Some of what the scripts do:

Turning off compositing by default.

Disabling the automatic loading of various modules, such as bluedevil, the free space notifier, some Nepomuk services, and a other components.

Reducing the number of default Krunner plugins that are loaded automatically.

Reducing the amount of graphical effects used in the window decoration.

Significant reductions in memory usage (up to 32%) and the subsequent savings in KDE's loading time (up to 33%) can be had simply by installing the package!

To get it, you must be running Kubuntu 11.10. Simply drop to a command prompt or fire up the Muon Package Manager and install the package "kubuntu-low-fat-settings". And that's it!

If you try it, please let us know how it works out for you by commenting below.

rekonq Releases 0.8 Stable - Brings Many Improvements

2011-10-16T23:36:00.000-04:00

rekonq 0.8 stable is here!

On October 15th, 2011, an announcement was made that rekonq 0.8, KDE's WebKit based web browser, was released. In case you're not familiar with rekonq, a quick introduction can be read here.

Of particular interest in this release are all of the improvements made in this fine and rapidly maturing browser. Additionally, this is the first build that has been tagged as stable, implying that this small and light browser is ready for every-day use.

Highlights of the release, along with bug-fixes, are the following improvements:

AdBlock: Third Party rules support
custom urlbar context menu (paste & go action, …)
set editable
restore tab’s history
UI changes (in rekonq menu)
quit closes app (and added option to close window by closing last tab)
use KParts to view page source
“click” mechanism to manage favorites
“Do Not Track” feature
history, time first visit added
Tab messages using KMessageWidget
improved drag’n'drop
vi style navigation (optional)
ctrl + number favorites shortcuts
SSL UIs rewamped

I tried version 0.8 and found it to be fast and responsive. I have a feeling that the addition of AdBlock to this release will bring some more users into the fold, as it is an often-requested feature in any browser.

Kubuntu users wanting to take the latest rekonq for as spin can either wait for the newest version to hit the stable repositories, or install the latest (daily) build by adding the PPA found here to their repositories.

The release announcement can be found at http://adjamblog.wordpress.com/2011/10/15/rekonq-0-8-stable/.

Do you use rekonq, or will you try it now? Let us know what you think of rekonq in the comments below.

In Search Of Enterprise Organizations Utilizing KDE

2011-05-25T15:44:00.000-04:00

Does your business or non-profit use KDE Software somewhere through the technology chain? We are currently looking for for-profit and non-profit companies that utilize KDE in any capacity in order to start to compile a list of who these organizations are, as well as to provide a web portal where resources and information can be aggregated and shared and successes and challenges brought to light.

Ultimately we would like to provide an overall resource for companies throughout the world who are currently using any or all of KDE in all of it’s various forms, as well as for those looking at Open Source options to fulfill their technology needs. If your company, or one you are aware of, currently uses KDE in any form, please let us know. This would include, but may not be limited to:

Companies that deploy desktops and / or laptops that have Linux
or Unix-type operating systems that run one of the KDE Workspaces (Plasma Desktop, Plasma Netbook)

Kubuntu, openSuse, Fedora, etc.

Companies that use KDE Applications

KOffice / Calligra, KMyMoney, Kontact, etc.

Technology companies that sell and or support products and services that use any of the above

If you are aware of any companies out there, let us know in the comments or contact us directly via our contact link. Please remember, the more information we can get, the better. But even just some basic information would be a great start! Ultimately, the information collected will go towards a new version of this rather very outdated website.

Help us get a true gauge on where KDE is today in the business landscape, and we will be there today and will hopefully in the future be a catalyst for aiding it’s growth. We thank you in advance for your input!

The Cure For Your Flash Problems In Kubuntu Lies In Flash-Aid

2011-05-20T13:41:00.001-04:00

While hanging out in various IRC chat rooms on occasion (I'm ronnoc there - If you see me, say hi!), one of the most prevalent issues that comes up time and time again is that a particular person is having issues with Flash. You know Flash - that evil, but sadly necessary, plug-in that so much of the web's rich content runs on. Anyway, just about daily you can find someone on the #Kubuntu, #Ubuntu, or #KDE (and needless to say countless others as well as many many web forums, mailing lists, etc.) complaining that Flash has borked their system, doesn't work, or runs slow / unstable / choppy / insert other #*%^ here. Well, fear not, as we have the solution. It's a Firefox add-on called Flash-Aid. And, in a word, it rocks! From the projects web page:

Flash-Aid is an extension designed to remove conflicting flash plug-ins from Ubuntu Linux systems and install the appropriate version according to system architecture.

This it does, and it does with aplomb. It removes outdated and / or conflicting Flash versions prior to installing the latest version for your architecture. Yes, that means that it detects your (K)Ubuntu version and architecture and installs the right Flash version for you. Awesome, right? This might just leave you saying that it's the most useful Mozilla plug-in yet. You can get an idea of this add-on's success by reading through some of the comments from the project's page.

If you find this add-on as helpful as we have, let us know in the comments section, will you? Also consider a small donation to Flash-Aid's developer. It's $3 well spent, as you will surely be telling your friends and peers about this extremely helpful utility.

KDE Software Compilation 4.5.2 Released, Continues On The Path Of Rock Solid Stability

2010-10-05T14:27:00.002-04:00

Today marked the official release announcement of the KDE Software Compilation 4.5.2. This release is a bug / stability fix and is recommended for all users of KDE, including Linux Mint. As per usual, the new KDE SC updates should hit the repositories in a matter of hours.

Nothing earth-shattering here, but really that's a good thing.
KDE continues to get better, faster, and more stable by the release. In the past, naysayers have called KDE "eye candy, but nothing stable enough to use for serious work". We've said for a while now that this is simply poppycock. KDE continues the trend of shoring up the occasional hiccup, and smoothing the whole experience out into a somewhat boring affair of stability.

Highlights of this incremental release are:

KSharedDataCache, the new performance tool has seen scalability and performance improvements.
Performance of loading icons has been improved by better use of the new shared data cache.
The display of tooltips in Dolphin has been fixed in certain cases where it would display outdated previews.
KWin and especially its compositing manager has seen some optimizations and bugfixes for specific filters.

The release announcement is posted over on the main KDE website. A complete list of changes can be found here.

- Enjoy.

Googlubuntu Aims To Make Your Linux Mint / (K)Ubuntu Searches More Relevant

2010-09-28T03:16:00.001-04:00

Thanks to a tip from a friend, and the newly redesigned (and much maligned) Digg, a really handy, highly customized search engine was recently brought to our attention named Googlubuntu. How did we miss it? What Googlubuntu is, as you might guess, is a specialized search engine that pries through relevant 'buntu domains in order to help you get your 'buntu-fied answers faster - and presumably to weed out the nonsense stuff. Googlubuntu started out

"in jest to (Ubuntu's) new release"

...referring back to a Ubuntu release back at the end of 2007. However, the engineer behind this little gem, Alrond, decided later that he would add even more resources to the search. So added to the mix were the following additional information sources:

launchpad.net
edubuntu.org
ubuntuguide.org
kubuntu.com
kubuntuforums.net
ubuntuforums.org
ubuntu.com
kubuntu google groups
ubuntulinux google groups
getdeb.net

Googlubuntu is described by the author as

"Google + Ubuntu = Googlubuntu. Search engine based on google for linux users. Ubuntu and Google together"

Pretty clever, really. To see a sample of Googlubuntu in action, I tried the following experiment: I searched for Granatier, A KDE Games favorite of mine using Googlbuntu and then in the stock google.com search.

Here are the results, first with the stock Google Search:


Here you can see the stock search results. Good stuff, but not much here that would be relevant to a question or issue regarding Granatier in Linux Mint KDE or Kubuntu

And here are the results using Googlubuntu:

So as you can see, we have different outcomes depending on the engine used. And this we would expect. I would think Googlubuntu would come in handy in many situations where we really want answers narrowed down to relevance specific to (K)Ubuntu, and, by default, Linux Mint and Mint KDE. Want to give it a try? Just click the picture here.

There is also a custom search for Firefox.

If it's such a good idea, then why not make one for Linux Mint KDE?

I'll be honest - I'm no programmer. but I couldn't help but think how handy it would be to add some Mint and KDE goodness to the mix. Something called....GooglMintKDE!? If I could, I would love to see or use a custom search like this that would also search the Linux Mint KDE Forums, as well as the main KDE sites (Planet, Userbase, Forums, bugs, The Dot, etc). I wonder if this is doable...

Then again, perhaps it would be overkill. What do you think? Would a custom search, slightly more Kubuntu and Linux Mint KDE-friendly be a tool you might use a lot? Or ever? My suspicion is that many of us would use it quite regularly.

Google Chrome OS MS-Lookalike Fonts Leaked, Installable on Linux Mint KDE

2010-09-27T06:00:00.003-04:00

The folks over at OMG! Ubuntu recently announced the availability of fonts to be used in the upcoming Chrome OS operating system. In a quote from the author, the goal of Google including the fonts was

Replacing the previously used ‘Liberation’ font set are ‘Tinos’ – a Serif font akin to Times new Roman; ‘Arimo’ – a sans-serif font similar to Arial and, for fixed-width usage, Chrome OS uses ‘Cousine’ in place of ‘Courier New’.
The fonts are quite beautiful in use
although so far I haven’t been able to source their origin. One would assume that, like the Droid font family in use on Android, these were custom built specifically for use with Chrome/ium OS.

I installed these fonts and was quite impressed - enough so that I changed my default system fonts to these. Hey, who am I to argue with Google? Here's a screen shot:

If you use Linux Mint, you can download the fonts from the link provided over at OMG! Ubuntu. When I installed them, double-clicking the downloaded files would not install them (the "install" button stayed grayed out), but I found I could click "Open" through the font installer and easily browse to the folder where I downloaded the fonts to and go ahead and install them. YMMV.

If you install these fonts and try them, let us know what you think. Should Linux Mint possibly look to using these as the system defaults?

Cheers

15 Cool KDE Wallpapers

2010-09-27T01:07:00.002-04:00

We all need a bit of a change now and again, right? Especially in the desktop department, us Linux people are always changing things around. And we like to shake things up a bit. So here , for your eye candy pleasure, we have hand-selected fifteen KDE-themed wallpapers for you to check out.
Since the theme this time around was KDE, you'll see some iteration of KDE branding in each of these desktop wallpapers. So let us present them now, for you, dear reader, and your downloading pleasure.

PS - Clicking on a picture takes you to the wallpaper's web page. Enjoy.

KDEworld - What KDE Heaven must look like

Gears - I liked this one a lot, in all the colors offered

Gears Reloaded (Again, in blue, cause it's sweet...)

kde-green - For Mint!

KDE NeonBars - Who doesn't like neon?

KDE Dark & Simple - The name says it all

KDE Extancia - Quite futuristic looking and sleek

LIF - Very original concept and looks great

KDE NewGeneration - Nice, simple, and elegant

Kool Gears - 'Cause some of the best names start with a "K"

Three Black Spheres - This one kinda grows on you

KDE Black Gears II - I mean, it has a rocket already!

LWP08 - KDE - Dark, with a shiny "K", this one kooks good full-size

tux kde - Cause every wallpaper list has to include tux, even if he's flaming red

levitation extraordinaire - Sometimes you want geeky light elegance

And that's it! 15 wallpapers - hopefully you dug a few. It's always good to support artistic talent when you can. Have a favorite wallpaper? Share it in the comment section.

Amarok 2.3.2 Raises The Bar On Linux Media Players Another Notch

2010-09-25T13:30:00.005-04:00

A heads up, for those who haven't heard: the venerable flagship media player Amarok has released a new version upon the masses. 2.3.2, Codenamed "Moonshine", includes a series of bug fixes along with some cool new features as well.

Amarok's Looking Good In Black

A few highlights:

The cool "Dynamic Playlists" feature has been fixed to play better with external storage
A bug where The Collection Browser would show incorrectly cached entries until Amarok was restarted has been
Full compatibility with KDE 4.5
Last.fm internet service now works without using KWallet
Improved search capabilities
Improved handling of Podcasts (yes, Amarok is a great tool for Podcast management. In fact, it's likely unequaled)

Also fixed was a bug that did not properly show a Podcast's logo if you downloaded an episode, as opposed to streaming it (This one I was personally glad to see fixed). There are a number of other fixes as well, which can all be found in the changelog in the Amarok release announcement.

And since we're reporting some nice-to-see changes in Amarok, The A-Team's lead developer and outspoken statesman, Mark Kretschmann, recently blogged about a renewed sense of excitement regarding all aspects of Amarok's development, promotion, and documentation contributions. He also states an open invitation for anyone wanting to get involved to do so. It's good to see the energy and enthusiasm return, to be sure.

If you're new to Amarok, or just haven't seen it in a while (you know who you are), be sure to check out the Quick Start Guide for getting up to speed. Also, there's some good things to peruse in the latest release of the Amarok Insider as well. Lots of good stuff in there, thanks to valoriez. For you social media types, in order to stay on top of things, make sure you join Amarok's Wolf Pack (Their social media page). There you will find the Amarok Facebook page, Twitter, Identi.ca, and other cloud-based Amarok love.

And if, for some reason, you are running Windows or Mac, you're invited to check out the Amarok releases for those platforms via the Download Page. Testers and feedback are welcome.

To get it in Linux Mint KDE, just enable the Kubuntu backports PPA. And turn up the volume to 11. There's a lot going on in Amarok-land. And we at TBM are happy to report there is much to like about what we're seeing.

The 5 Dollar KDE Challenge

2010-09-23T01:02:00.005-04:00

OK so today I was browsing the forums over on the Choqok website as it had been a while since I had been there. Not only did I want to see what was going on with KDE's favorite micro-blogging client, but I wanted to see how the novel idea of "support Choqok by funding the features you want" concept was working out. I thought this approach was rather a cool way to allow ordinary users a voice in shaping the application's development into being what they (the users) wanted it to be, instead of just reflecting the assumptions of the developers.

While there I looked around and was rather shocked at the low activity there on the forums. I was forced to assume two possible scenarios as to the lack of (apparent) funding: A. Choqok was developed with the vast majority of features anyone could ever need in a micro-blogging client, or B. People and their money are not easily separated in the free software universe. Honestly, in Choqok's case I would buy that the answer might be "A" for a large percentage of people. Choqok does some amazing things like thread conversations, allow users to subscribe or unsubscribe, read all recent communications from a particular poster, search trending topics, on and on...all from right with in the application's interface. Stellar!

Anyways this is not meant to be a review of Choqok, cool as it is, but to allow me to make a point: We are lucky to have many great applications in KDE. Everything from financial apps to great media players to CD/DVD authoring tools to a full-fledged office suite. Great games. And on and on it goes. Not to mention to gorgeous KDE Workspaces we luckily get to look at every day. And let’s not forget all the work and costs associated with running the KDE e.V. as it supports and funds so many KDE activities. And it's all free! And while we’re at it let's not forget the individual distributions out there that put it all together for us. And the bloggers and all of the people who donate their time in order to promote and support KDE in many ways every day.

But you likely know this already and are probably wondering what exactly is my point? My point is that nothing that humans produce in life is free. This holds true even though you as a user, by the sheer definition of free software, can decide that in your case it should be 100 pct free.
Getting back to Choqok for a moment, one of the requested features was for an in-line realtime translation option for Tweets and Dents that are not of one's native language. Brilliant! I often have cut and pasted posts from various micro-bloggers into Google Translate in order to see what message someone was trying to convey. Both the KDE Community and the micro-blogging community as a whole are completely international groups with divers users and developers from all over the world! So yes, a built-in translation service would be a very good thing, indeed. And other competing products out there have this already (yoono, for example).

Another cool thing for us over in the USA, and presumably Europe and other places around the globe as well, would be Facebook integration and Google Talk integration. I would personally love to see Choqok evolve into a total social client, incorporating the major social media providers out there. How about Nepomuk integration as a way to aggregate and track topics over larger periods of time? There might be a great value there as well. Again, the point being that nothing happens in the software world for free, whether its free software (as in speech) or software developed by developers who are paid by companies and sponsors. Even when a developer doesn't expect a dime in return for his or her time, time has a cost that can become significant as it takes away from other things the person could be spending their personal time on.

As I looked out on Identica tonight from within Choqok I was amazed at all the people out there using this little green headed birdie for making their Dents and tweeting their Tweets. And it hit me: What if every person using Choqok gave just one dollar (or Euro, or <insert your currency name here>). What if they all did it THIS MOMENT? How much better could Choqok be? Even though it's already a cool application, probably a lot better than it already is! So here it goes...

THE KDE 5 DOLLAR CHALLENGE

My challenge to you, dear KDE lovers, is to reach out and support your favorite KDE applications by sending the projects of your choice 5 dollars (or the equivalent in your denomination) once a month for 12 months. You could either send $5 a month to one group or project, or $5 a month to 12 different groups or projects. It really doesn't matter. The point is here is that many of us love KDE. We love the people, the products, and the Community. Think of how proud a free software developer would be to know (with a little unexpected boost in the wallet for all the time, love and effort) that people appreciate all his or her hard work, and want them to KEEP IT UP! What an emotional boost it would be - a nice sincere way to say "thank you for all of your hard work and dedication to the projects and products you love making for us". What a difference we, mere users, could make!

And if you need proof what donating a few dollars a month can make, one needs to look no further than Linux Mint's fearless leader, Clem. It was mainly through donations that Clem was able to quit his daytime job and dedicate 100 pct of his work-hour time to Linux Mint. And look at it today, sitting near the very top (currently 3rd) over at Distrowatch for what now seems like forever. And the innovations keep coming now that the project is getting the time it needs. And yes, we all benefit from the effort of people like Clem and the team over at Linux Mint.

I'll start things off by donating $5 to Choqok for the development of the built-in translations. And next month another $5 will go to another worthy cause. What say you? Will you take the challenge? Will you buy lunch for a KDE developer or project member and say "Thank You, KDE Community!"? There are 100's of blogs about various KDE-related things published every month. How awesome would it be to have these great people start blogging about how their lives have been made a little easier because of some caring people from across the globe.

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PS - Of course, I would be remiss if I didn't state the obvious, that all these wonderful KDE projects also need help and volunteers from us, the KDE Community, as well. So even if you can't spare $5 (or even $1?), you can help out in many other ways as well. Either way, your efforts will be rewarded in how good you feel, the difference we'll all make, and the friends you'll make along the way.

Cheers!