Extra Suggestions for 10.04

Here are some extra suggestions for 10.04.

1. Adobe AIR - Yes, its closed-source, but frankly if you leave aside Gwibber (which never worked for me), Ubuntu has no other way of integrating facebook and twitter into a single app. Tweetdeck is your only option.

For that you will have to install Adobe AIR (detailed instructions have been given here: http://explore-ubuntu.blogspot.com/2009/12/adobe-air-64-bit-installation-guide.html), next go to the Tweetdeck site and download the .air file and simply double click and install.

You might also want to try Seesmic desktop, another useful Adobe AIR app.

Links: Tweetdeck (http://www.tweetdeck.com), Seesmic (http://seesmic.com)

2. Compiz Plugins - Remember the much loved Burn effect of Compiz? Well it seems like in this edition Compiz will need a little more work to run properly, so type the following in the Terminal:

sudo apt-get install compiz-fusion-plugins-extra

This will install the Burn effect (Compiz fusion extra plugins). All you now need to do is go the Compiz Config Manager and enable Animation add ons andthen select your preferred animation from the Animations tab.

3. Remove Adobe AIR apps - Removing Adobe AIR apps is quite easy. You dont need to have the .air file with you anymore you can remove the app from the Ubuntu Software Center just as you would with any Ubuntu app.

4. Chromium - Chromium is the open source twist to Google Chrome. The default version of Chromium in 10.04 was something I didnt really like. So I installed the repository of Chromium. How do you do that? Simple. Go to System > Administration > Software Sources. Now go to the Other Software tab and simply Add the following line:

ppa:chromium-daily/ppa

Thats it. You will get the latest version of Chromium delivered right to your desktop.

So much for now, stay tuned for more tips and tricks.

Pino twitter client

Tired of all those Adobe AIR twitter apps? Well its high time we Linux users had our very own twitter client. Gwibber has been floated as the next big thing, but frankly I'm not convinced. I hope the Gwibber developers come up with something stable and usable by the next month when Ubuntu 10.04 releases.

In the meantime, I suggest you guys take a look at Pino. Its an ultra-lightweight Twitter client which does a fantastic job at what its meant to do. Of course, it has identi.ca integration, and if you need to use any other service you can add that as well.



Personally, I'm very impressed with Pino. I havent faced any difficulty in using any of its functions. Although Pino as of now, doesnt have the follow/unfollow features, I'm sure in time these will be integrated. But the bottomline is, if you need a proper, usable, GNOME friendly twitter client, Pino is your best bet.


How To Install:

To install it via the repositories in order to have the very latest version, type the following lines in the terminal:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:vala-team/ppa

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:troorl/pino

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install pino

Adobe AIR 64 bit Installation Guide

As you know, its very difficult to run Adobe AIR apps on a 64 bit Linux OS. I have tried numerous methods but none were helpful. Finally I came across this page which has a complete guide to the installation of Adobe AIR on a 64 bit Linux OS. Some of the steps described there can be a bit difficult to understand. So, I'm reproducing the steps alongwith my simplified versions. Save the downloaded files under the /home folder.

1. First up, download the Adobe AIR .bin file. Here's the download link: Download (File size is 13 MB)

2. Download and install these 32 bit libraries: Download

3. Download these files next: libnss3 ; libnspr4

The following are reproduced from the reference page:

You now need to open the packages you just downloaded by running file-roller as root so you can extract them to your /usr/lib32 folder. Begin by extracting the files in libnss, using the following command:

$ sudo file-roller ./libnss3-1d_3.12.0~beta3-0ubuntu1_i386.deb

Double-click the data.tar.gz file. If the data.tar.gz file doesn't automatically open in file-roller, you may be asked which application to open it with. If you are prompted to choose the application, enter file-roller in the Application box and click Open.

In file-roller, locate and select the following files in the ./usr/lib folder:
libnss3.so.1d
libnssutil3.so.1d
libsmime3.so.1d
libssl3.so.1d

Click Extract. Click the top left button in this window. The button's icon is an image of a pencil and paper. If you hover your mouse over the button it will display "Type a file name" in a popup tooltip. Once the button has been clicked, a Location box will appear. Type /usr/lib32 in the Location box and click Extract.

Close all file-roller windows.

Extract the files in libnspr, using the following command:

$ sudo file-roller ./libnspr4-0d_4.7.1~beta2-0ubuntu1_i386.deb

Double-click the data.tar.gz file and open with file-roller and then locate and select the following files in the ./usr/lib folder:
libnspr4.so.0d
libplc4.so.0d
libplds4.so.0d

Follow the same instructions as above (in step 7) to extract the files to the /usr/lib32 folder.
Finally, close file-roller and enter the following commands:

$ sudo ln -s /usr/lib32/libnss3.so.1d /usr/lib32/libnss3.so
$ sudo ln -s /usr/lib32/libssl3.so.1d /usr/lib32/libssl3.so
$ sudo ln -s /usr/lib32/libnspr4.so.0d /usr/lib32/libnspr4.so

[A bit of additional info has been added here]

You are now ready to install Adobe AIR Linux. Type the following command:

$ chmod +x AdobeAIRInstaller.bin
$ sudo ./AdobeAIRInstaller.bin

Adobe AIR is now installed on your system.
Just one more step before you start installing and using AIR apps. Enter the following command:

$ sudo cp /usr/lib/libadobecertstore.so /usr/lib32

For Ubuntu 9.04 only (as well as 9.10):

Due to the absence of the lib32nss package, AIR apps are unable to connect to the network. Ubuntu 9.04 64-bit users need the package lib32nss-mdns for DNS resolution in a 32bit application:

$ sudo apt-get install lib32nss-mdns

You're now ready to install and run AIR applications.



[Reference/Source - http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/408/kb408084.html]

Desktube...YouTube on your desktop

How many times have you wished there was a youtube app for the desktop? Well, from the looks of it, this has been the demand of users for a very long time. Only now has it been realised in the form of Desktube. Mind you, its not open source. However the development team behind this Adobe AIR app is quite active and even take the pains to send you personalised emails if you report a bug.

Its quite revolutionary in the sense that there's absolutely no other software which can do what it does, i.e help you watch youtube videos on a desktop app. Now I hope other companies spot the potential here and jump on this highly lucrative boat.

Anyway, the thing is this is quite a useful app, has loads of customisation options, lets you comment, add videos to your playlist etc. And the best part is that it even has twitter and facebook integration, so basically, in the long run and with some development, it could turn out to be a twitter and facebook client as well as a youtube viewer. Sounds good?

Well what are you waiting for? Give it a try.

Here's the link: Desktube