As most of you should know already, Ubuntu 19.04 "disco dingo" has been released. A lot of things have changed, see our comprehensive list of improvements in Ubuntu 19.04. Though it is not really necessary to make the jump, I'm sure many here would prefer to have the latest and greatest from Ubuntu. Here's how you upgrade to Ubuntu 19.04 from Ubuntu 18.10 and Ubuntu 18.04.

Upgrading to Ubuntu 19.04 from Ubuntu 18.04 LTS is tricky. There is no way you can make the jump from Ubuntu 18.04 LTS directly to Ubuntu 19.04. For that, you need to upgrade to Ubuntu 18.10 first. Pretty disappointing, I know. But when upgrading an entire OS, you can't be too careful.

And the process itself is not as tedious or time consuming à la Windows. And also unlike Windows, the upgrades are not forced upon you while you're in middle of something.

If you wonder how the dock in the above screenshot rest at the bottom of Ubuntu desktop, it's called dash-to-dock GNOME Shell extension. That and more Ubuntu 19.04 tips and tricks here.

Upgrade to Ubuntu 19.04 from Ubuntu 18.10

Disclaimer: PLEASE backup your critical data before starting the upgrade process.

Let's start with the assumption that you're on Ubuntu 18.04 LTS.

• Read our step-by-step guide to upgrade from Ubuntu 18.04 LTS to Ubuntu 18.10

After running the upgrade from Ubuntu 18.04 LTS from Ubuntu 18.10, the prompt will ask for a full system reboot. Please do that, and make sure everything is running smoothly afterwards. Now you have clean new Ubuntu 18.10 up and running. Let's begin the Ubuntu 19.04 upgrade process.

• Make sure your laptop is plugged-in, this is going to take time. Stable Internet connection is a must too. 
• Run your Software Updater app, and install all the updates available. 

• Post the update, you should be prompted with an "Ubuntu 19.04 is available" window. It will guide you through the required steps without much hassle. 
• If not, fire up Software & Updates app and check for updates. 
• If both these didn't work in your case, there's always the commandline option to make the force upgarde. Open Terminal app (keyboard shortcut: CTRL+ALT+T), and run the command below.

sudo do-release-upgrade -d

• Type the password when prompted. Don't let the simplicity of the command fool you, this is just the start of a long and complicated process. do-release command will check for available upgrades and then give you an estimated time and bandwidth required to complete the process. 
• Read the instructions carefully and proceed. The process only takes about an hour or less for me. It entirely depends on your internet speed and system resources.

So, how did it go? Was the upgrade process smooth as it should be? And what do you think about new Ubuntu 19.04 "disco dingo"? Let us know in the comments.

We've featured cool-retro-term before. It is a wonderful little terminal emulator app on Ubuntu (and Linux) that adorns this cool retro look of the old CRT displays.

Let the pictures speak for themselves.

Pretty cool right? Not only does it look cool, it functions just like a normal Terminal app. You don't lose out on any features normally associated with a regular Terminal emulator. cool-retro-term comes with a bunch of themes and customisations that takes its retro cool appeal a few notches higher.

Enough now, let's find out how you install this retro looking Terminal emulator on Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, and Ubuntu 18.10. Fire up your Terminal app, and run these commands one after the other.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:vantuz/cool-retro-term
sudo apt update
sudo apt install cool-retro-term

Done. The above PPA supports Ubuntu Artful, Bionic and Cosmic releases (Ubuntu 17.10, 18.04 LTS, 18.10). cool-retro-term is now installed and ready to go.


Since I don't have Artful or Bionic installations in any of my computers, I couldn't test the PPA on those releases. Do let me know if you faced any issues while installing the app.

And as some of you might have noticed, I'm running cool-retro-term from an AppImage. This is because I'm on Ubuntu 19.04 "disco dingo", and obviously the app doesn't support an unreleased OS (well, duh!).

This is how it looks on fullscreen mode. If you are a non-Ubuntu user, you can find various download options here. If you are on Fedora or distros based on it, cool-retro-term is available in the official repositories.

Live wallpapers are not a new thing. In fact we have had a lot of live wallpapers to choose from on Linux 10 years ago. Today? Not so much. In fact, be it GNOME or KDE, most desktops today are far less customizable than it used to be. Komorebi wallpaper manager for Ubuntu is kind of a way back machine in that sense.

Install Gorgeous Live Wallpapers in Ubuntu 18.10/18.04 using Komorebi

Komorebi Wallpaper Manager comes with a pretty neat collection of live wallpapers and even video wallpapers. The package also contains a simple tool to create your own live wallpapers.

Komorebi comes packaged in a convenient 64-bit DEB package, making it super easy to install in Ubuntu and most Debian based distros (latest version dropped 32-bit support though).  

• Download Komorebi 64-bit DEB for Ubuntu, Mint (direct download)
• Click-open the 'komorebi-2.1-64-bit.deb' package and hit the install button (enter password when prompted).

That's it! Komorebi is installed and ready to go! Now launch Komorebi from app launcher.

And finally, to uninstall Komorebi and revert all the changes you made, do this in Terminal (CTRL+ALT+T).

sudo apt remove komorebi

Komorebi works great on Ubuntu 18.10, and 18.04 LTS. A few more screenshots.

As you can see, live wallpapers obviously consume more resources than a regular wallpaper, especially when you switch on Komorebi's fancy video wallpapers. But it is definitely not a resource hog as I feared it would be.

Like what you see here? Go ahead and give Komorebi Wallpaper Manager a spin. Does it turn out to be not as resource-friendly in your PC? Let us know your opinion in the comments. 

A video wallpaper example. To see them in action, watch this demo.

Nintendo's Mario needs no introduction. This game defined our childhoods. Now you can install and have fun with an unofficial version of the famed Mario platformer in Ubuntu 18.10 via this Snap package.

Play Nintendo's Mario Unofficially on Ubuntu 18.10

"Mari0 is a Mario + Portal platformer game." It is not an official release and hence the slight name change (Mari0 instead of Mario). Mari0 is still in testing, and might not work as intended. It doesn't work fullscreen for example, but everything else seems to be working great in my PC.

But please be aware that this app is still in testing, and a lot of things can go wrong. Mari0 also comes with joystick support. Here's how you install unofficial Mari0 snap package. Do this in Terminal (CTRL+ALT+T)

sudo snap install mari0

To enable joystick support:

sudo snap connect mari0:joystick

Please find time to provide valuable feedback to the developer post testing, especially if something went wrong. You can also leave your feedback in the comments below.

OK, that might be an overstatement. But Oranchelo is good, really good.

Oranchelo Icons Theme for Ubuntu 18.10

Oranchelo is a flat-design icon theme originally designed for XFCE4 desktop. Though it works great on GNOME as well. I especially like the distinct take on Firefox and Chromium icons, as you can see in the screenshot.

Here's how you install Oranchelo icons theme on Ubuntu 18.10 using Oranchelo PPA. Just copy-paste the following three commands to Terminal (CTRL+ALT+T).

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:oranchelo/oranchelo-icon-theme
sudo apt update
sudo apt install oranchelo-icon-theme

Now run GNOME Tweaks, Appearance > Icons > Oranchelo.

Meet the artist behind Oranchelo icons theme at his deviantart page. So, how do you like the new icons? Let us know your opinion in the comments below.

Have been using "Cosmic Cuttlefish" since its first beta. It is perhaps one of the most visually pleasing Ubuntu releases ever. But more on that later. Now let's discuss what can be done to improve the overall user-experience by diving deep into the nitty gritties of Canonical's brand new flagship OS.

1. Enable MP3/MP4/AVI Playback, Adobe Flash etc.

This has been perhaps the standard 'first-thing-to-do' ever since the Ubuntu age dawned on us. You do have an option to install most of the 'restricted-extras' while installing the OS itself now, but if you are not-sure you've ticked all the right boxes, just run the following command in Terminal.

sudo apt install ubuntu-restricted-extras

OR

You can install it straight from the Ubuntu Software Center by CLICKING HERE.

2. Get GNOME Tweaks

GNOME Tweaks is non-negotiable.

GNOME Tweaks is an app the lets you tweak little things in GNOME based OSes that are otherwise hidden behind menus. If you are on Ubuntu 18.10, Tweaks is a must. Honestly, I don't remember if it was installed as a default. But here you install it anyway, Apt-URL will prompt you if the app already exists.


Search for Gnome Tweaks in Ubuntu Software Center. OR simply CLICK HERE to go straight to the app in Software Center. OR even better, copy-paste this command in Terminal (keyboard shortcut: CTRL+ALT+T).

sudo apt install gnome-tweaks

3. Displaying Date/Battery Percentage on Top Panel  

The screenshot, I hope, is self explanatory.

If you have GNOME Tweaks installed, this is easily done. Open GNOME tweaks, goto 'Top Bar' sidemenu and enable/disable what you need.

4. Enable 'Click to Minimize' on Ubuntu Dock

Honestly, I don't have a clue why this is disabled by default. You intuitively expect the apps shortcuts on Ubuntu dock to 'minimize' when you click on it (at least I do).

In fact, the feature is already there, all you need to do is to switch it ON. Do this is Terminal.

gsettings set org.gnome.shell.extensions.dash-to-dock click-action 'minimize'

That's it. Now if you didn't find the 'click to minimize' feature useful, you can always revert Dock settings back to its original state, by copy-pasting the following command in Terminal app.

gsettings reset org.gnome.shell.extensions.dash-to-dock click-action

5. Pin/Unpin Useful Stuff from Launcher

There are a bunch of apps that are pinned to your Ubuntu launcher by default.

 
For example, I almost never use the 'Help' app or the 'Amazon' shortcut preloaded on launcher. But I would prefer a shortcut to Terminal app instead. Right-click on your preferred app on the launcher, and add-to/remove-from favorites as you please.

6. Enable/Disable Two Finger Scrolling

As you must've noticed, two-finger scrolling is a system default now. 

 
One of my laptops act strangely when two-finger scrolling is on. You can easily disable two-finger scrolling and enable old school edge-scrolling in 'Settings'.  Settings > Mouse and Touchpad

Quicktip: You can go straight to submenus by simply searching for it in GNOME's universal search bar.

Take for example the screenshot above, where I triggered the GNOME menu by hitting Super(Windows) key, and simply searched for 'mouse' settings. The first result will take me directly to the 'Settings' submenu for 'Mouse and Touchpad' that we saw earlier. Easy right? More examples will follow.

7. Nightlight Mode ON

When you're glued to your laptop/PC screen for a large amount of time everyday, it is advisable that you enable the automatic nightlight mode for the sake of your eyes. Be it the laptop or my phone, this has become an essential feature. The sight of a LED display without nightlight ON during lowlight conditions immediately gives me a headache these days. Easily one of my favourite in-built features on GNOME.


Settings > Devices > Display > Night Light ON/OFF

OR as before, Hit superkey > search for 'night light'. It will take you straight to the submenu under Devices > Display. Guess you wouldn't need anymore examples on that.

8. Safe Eyes App for Ubuntu

A popup that will fill the entire screen and forces you to take your eyes off it.

Apart from enabling the nighlight mode, Safe Eyes is another app I strongly recommend to those who stare at their laptops for long periods of time. This nifty little app forces you to take your eyes off the computer screen and do some standard eye-exercises at regular intervals (which you can change).

Installation is pretty straight forward. Just these 3 commands on your Terminal.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:slgobinath/safeeyes
sudo apt update 
sudo apt install safeeyes 

9. Privacy on Ubuntu 18.10

Guess I don't need to lecture you on the importance of privacy in the post-PRISM era.

Ubuntu remembers your usage & history to recommend you frequently used apps and such. And this is never shared over the network. But if you're not comfortable with this, you can always disable and delete your usage history on Ubuntu. Settings > Privacy > Usage & History 

10. Perhaps a New Look & Feel?

As you might have noticed, I'm not using the default Ubuntu theme here.

Right now I'm using System 76's Pop OS GTK theme and icon sets. They look pretty neat I think. Just three commands to install it in your Ubuntu 18.10.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:system76/pop
sudo apt-get update 
sudo apt install pop-icon-theme pop-gtk-theme pop-gnome-shell-theme 
sudo apt install pop-wallpapers 

Execute last command if you want Pop OS wallpapers as well. To enable the newly installed theme and icon sets, launch GNOME Tweaks > Appearance (see screenshot). I will be making separate posts on themes, icon sets and GNOME shell extensions. So stay subscribed. 

11. Disable Error Reporting

If you find the "application closed unexpectedly" popups annoying, and would like to disable error reporting altogether, this is what you need to do.

sudo gedit /etc/default/apport

This will open up a text editor window which has only one entry: "enabled=1". Change the value to '0' (zero) and you have Apport error reporting completely disabled.


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One day left before the final release of Ubuntu 18.10 codenamed "Cosmic Cuttlefish". This is how you make the upgrade from Ubuntu 18.04 to 18.10.

Ubuntu 18.10 has a brand new look!
As you can see from the screenshot, a lot has changed. Ubuntu 18.10 arrives with a major theme overhaul. After almost a decade, the default Ubuntu GTK theme ("Ambiance") is being replaced with a brand new one called "Yaru". The new theme is based heavily on GNOME's default "Adwaita" GTK theme. More on that later.

Upgrade from Ubuntu 18.04 LTS to 18.10

If you're on Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, upgrading to 18.10 "cosmic" is a pretty straight forward affair. Since 18.04 is a long-term support (LTS) release (meaning the OS will get official updates for about 5 years), it may not prompt you with an upgrade option when 18.10 finally arrives. 

So here's how it's done. Disclaimer: back up your critical data before going forward. And better don't try this on mission critical machines. You're on LTS anyway.

• An up-to-date Ubuntu 18.04 LTS is the first step. Do the following in Terminal.

$ sudo apt update && sudo apt dist-upgrade
$ sudo apt autoremove

• The first command will check for updates and then proceed with upgrading your Ubuntu 18.04 LTS with the latest updates. The "autoremove" command will clean up any and all dependencies that were installed with applications, and are no longer required.
• Now the slightly tricky part. You need to edit the /etc/update-manager/release-upgrades file and change the Prompt=never entry to Prompt=normal  or else it will give a "no release found" error message. 
• I used Vim to make the edit. But for the sake of simplicity, let's use gedit. 

$ sudo gedit /etc/update-manager/release-upgrades

• Make the edit and save the changes. Now you are ready to go ahead with the upgrade. Make sure your laptop is plugged-in, this will take time. 
• To be on the safer side, please make sure that there's at least 5GB of disk space left in your home partition (it will prompt you and exit if you don't have enough space required for the upgrade). 

$ sudo do-release-upgrade -d

• That's it. Wait for a few hours and let it do its magic. 

My upgrade to Ubuntu 18.10 was uneventful. Nothing broke and it all worked like a charm. After the upgrade is done, you're probably still stuck with your old theme. Fire up "Gnome Tweaks" app (get it from App Store if you already haven't), and change the theme and the icons to "Yaru".