Manas T

KTorrent 4.0 was released couple of days back after being in development for close to 5 months. It adds many new features, the big ones being magnet support and support for µTP protocol (bittorrent over UDP) along with many bug fixes.

Users of Kubuntu / Ubuntu Lucid will not be getting the new version automatically but as always you can install the new version from a Launchpad PPA.

Note – Before proceeding ensure that you have added the Kubuntu Updates PPA. You can add the PPA by using:

apt-add-repository ppa:kubuntu-ppa/ppa

Open Konsole and type the following commands in sequence:

apt-add-repository ppa:blca/published
aptitude update
aptitude full-upgrade

You should see KTorrent 4.0 in the updates list. Enjoy the new version.

Kubuntu Lucid 10.04 was released yesterday and I have already upgraded.

Click on the image to know whats new in this release and to grab your copy now.

The search never ends. Almost all distros use Qtcurve to make GNOME apps look good in a KDE environment. The Qtcurve theme works pretty good at aping, but if you use the default color scheme and the oxygen style in KDE 4, then there is something even better than Qtcurve.

Oxygen Molecule GTK+ theme based on the pixbuf GTK+engine, does a better job at skinning GNOME / GTK apps in KDE. After installing the the theme all GNOME GTK applications look like using the Oxygen style and become a part of your KDE desktop. The theme is available for download on kde-look.org. The download also contains installation instructions for copying and using the theme.

Loving the look of Firefox on KDE now.

If you like KDE and are using Kubuntu Lucid, you are missing out on the new wallpapers which have been chosen for Ubuntu Lucid after a photography contest. Unlike Ubuntu, these wallpapers are not installed on Kubuntu automatically. The wallpapers are great though.

If you want to install them on Kubuntu, fire up Konsole and type the below command:

aptitude install ubuntu-wallpapers

Or if you prefer KPackageKit, then search for ubuntu-wallpapers package and install it.

You can then find the new wallpapers in /usr/share/backgrounds.

Not using Lucid or Linux but want the new wallpapers? You can download all the new Ubuntu Lucid wallpapers in compressed format from here.

Here is a teaser screenshot of my desktop with one of the new wallpapers.

Development is rapidly progressing on the Linux version of the Chrome browser from Google. The latest build (4.0.202.2) on Linux now has experimental Plugins Support (read Flash) and even inherits your GNOME theme and Icons.

You can easily install Google Chrome browser on your Ubuntu Linux. Follow the below steps to install Google Chrome browser on Ubuntu Linux.

1. Go to this page and download the 32 bit or 64 bit deb of Google Chrome for Linux. These are the Dev channel builds for Chrome, so you always get the latest updates.

2. Open Terminal and type the below command to install Google Chrome:

If you have downloaded the 32 bit version:

sudo dpkg -i google-chrome-unstable_current_i386.deb

If you have downloaded the 64 bit version:

sudo dpkg -i google-chrome-unstable_current_amd64.deb

This will automatically add Google’s repo to your Software Sources. So you receive all future updates from Google automatically.

If you are using Adobe Flash on your Ubuntu, here is how to enable Flash on Google Chrome. Type the below commands in Terminal:

sudo cd /opt/google/chrome/

sudo mkdir plugins
sudo cd plugins
sudo ln -s /usr/lib/flashplugin-installer/libflashplayer.so

/opt/google/chrome/google-chrome --enable-plugins %U

Now open Google Chrome. A faster internet browser with Flash.