Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Fedora 18 Beta


The much-delayed beta release of Fedora 18 is finally ready for testing: "The Fedora project team is excited to announce the beta release of its free, fully-functional Linux operating system, Fedora 18, code-named 'Spherical Cow.' Explore what's new in the Fedora 18 beta, including these highlighted release features: Fedora 18 offers a brand-new version of the GNOME desktop, version 3.6, straight from the upstream development process; updates have also been made to the KDE, Xfce and Sugar desktop environments; additionally, the MATE desktop is available for the first time in Fedora; Fedora's new installer user interface enhances the anaconda installer with improvements in ease of use and installation." Read the full press release for more details. Download (torrents): Fedora-18-Beta-i686-Live-Desktop.iso (757MB, SHA256, torrent), Fedora-18-Beta-x86_64-Live-Desktop.iso (786MB, SHA256, torrent). Live images featuring KDE, LXDE, Xfce and SoaS (Sugar on a Stick), as well as installation DVDs, are also available.

Nitrux OS Icons Updated to Version 2.2A, PPA Installation Available For Ubuntu 12.10/12.04 and Linux Mint 14/13



The Nitrux OS icon theme has just been updated to version 2.2A. This latest release includes only two variants:

1. NITRUX (Squared Icons)

2. NITRUX-Buttons (Buttonized Version)



These variants are removed from the Nitrux OS Icon theme:

  • NITRUX-Dark
  • NITRUX-Clear-All
  •  NITRUX-Azure 
  • NITRUX-Mint
The PPA is available for the following distributions:

  • Ubuntu 12.10/12.04/11.10
  • Linux Mint 14/13

Nitrux OS Installation

Open the terminal and issue these commands:


sudo add-apt-repository ppa:upubuntu-com/themes 
sudo apt-get update 
sudo apt-get install nitruxos

To enable NITRUX, run this command:

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface icon-theme 'NITRUX'


For NITRUX-Buttons, run this command:

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface icon-theme 'NITRUX-Buttons'

Top 10 Useful Cinnamon Applets For Linux Mint 14 Nadia


In this article, I have collected 10 best applets that you can use under the new release of Linux Mint 14 (Nadia) with the Cinnamon desktop environment. The applets are also compatible with  Linux Mint 13 Cinnamon.

Manging Cinnamon Applets

First of all, you need to know how to manage applets under Linux Mint 14. In the bottom panel, click the caret icon and open Settings > Applets:



In the window that will appear, you will find currently installed applets:


1. Brightness

Our first applet will be Brightness which will be useful for users having difficulties adjusting screen brightness of their laptops.


This applet is installed by default in Linux Mint 14, just enable it from the Applets window:


2. Caps/Num Lock

The Caps/Num Lock applet is useful when working with a wireless keyboard that has no indication about the status of Num Lock or Caps Lock (activated/deactivated). So, we need this applet to notify us when caps/num lock is on:


To install it in Linux Mint 14, open the terminal and run these commands:

wget http://goo.gl/44rlN -O Caps-Num-Lock.zip 
unzip -q Caps-Num-Lock.zip -d ~/.local/share/cinnamon/applets

Use the Applets window to enable it.

3. Shutdown

A simple applet that will allow you to turn off/restart your computer, suspend, log out, hibernate, and lock your screen from the taskbar:


You can install it with these commands:

wget http://goo.gl/9m3Yd -O Shutdown.zip 
unzip -q Shutdown.zip -d ~/.local/share/cinnamon/applets

4. ScreenShot

A very useful screenshot applet that will allow us to take screenshots of the whole screen, current window, or only some parts on your screen:


You can install it with the following commands:

wget http://goo.gl/zA5zx -O Screenshot.zip 
unzip -q Screenshot.zip -d ~/.local/share/cinnamon/applets

5. Virtualbox Launcher

This applet will allow you to quickly launch VirtualBox VMs (virtual machines) from the bottom panel:


To install it, run these commands:

wget http://goo.gl/b3xZB -O Virtualbox-Launcher.zip 
unzip -q Virtualbox-Launcher.zip 
mv cinna*vbox*/vboxla* ~/.local/share/cinnamon/applets

6. Touchpad Indicator

This applet allows users to switch on/off their touchpad / trackpoint directly from the bottom panel:


Install it with these commands:

wget http://goo.gl/R7BqP -O Touchpad-Indicator.zip 
unzip -q Touchpad-Indicator.zip -d ~/.local/share/cinnamon/applets

7. Restart Cinnamon

Instead of pressing - Alt+F2 + r + Enter - to restart Cinnamon, you can use this applet that will add an icon to your panel for restarting Cinnamon:


Install it with these commands:

wget http://goo.gl/L5vGj -O Restart-Cinnamon.zip 
unzip -q Restart-Cinnamon.zip -d ~/.local/share/cinnamon/applets

8. Gmail Notifier

This applet will notify you about new emails coming to your Gmail inbox:


To install Gmail Notifier in Mint 14, run these commands:

wget http://goo.gl/skW6E -O Gmail-Notifier.zip 
unzip -q Gmail-Notifier.zip -d ~/.local/share/cinnamon/applets

Before enabling the applet, edit this file and enter your Gmail account username and password:

gedit ~/.local/share/cinnamon/applets/gmailnotifier@denisigo/settings.js

9. Network Usage Monitor

This applet will display your network usage:


Install it with these commands:

sudo apt-get install vnstat vnstati 
wget http://goo.gl/T16P7 -O Network-Usage-Monitor.zip 
unzip -q Network-Usage-Monitor.zip -d ~/.local/share/cinnamon/applets

10. User Menu

Add a user menu to the bottom panel:


Install it with the following commands:

wget http://goo.gl/TYbJA -O User-Menu.zip 
unzip -q User-Menu.zip -d ~/.local/share/cinnamon/applets

For more applets, click here.