zClearlooksAdwaita: Clean, Simple Ubuntu Theme

As we know, Ubuntu 12.04 comes with default theme called Ambiance, along with its light version named Radiance, they both are part of and available in Ubuntu Light Themes package, themes with orang/brown/purple color dominance.

For some people, those theme are too strong and even too iritating in the eyes, thus they likely change the theme with a more smooth and soft theme. Besides the two themes, Ubuntu also comes with a theme called Adwaita, a default GNOME 3 theme, which is giving soft color theme.

The Adwaita theme contains Adwaita GTK 3 theme, and also Clearlooks as a fallback theme for GTK 2 applications (like Firefox, Chrome, LibreOffice, and most other apps that do not support GTK 3 yet). I for one like the theme but unfortunately (at least for me), the fallback theme that is Clearlooks is not looking consistent with the Adwaita, especially with its out-of-context blue scrollbars.

Install NVIDIA in Linux Mint Debian / LMDE 201204

Linux Mint is known as one of the most popular Linux distribution aims to provide easy-to-use, user-friendly operating system for new average Linux users coming from Windows OS.

The main edition of Linux Mint is based on and compatible with Ubuntu OS, the most popular Linux distro, that takes advantages from Ubuntu world such as huge software availibility, community support and other things, and in addition, it also provides some useful features on its own that makes Linux Mint even easier for beginner.

In addition to Ubuntu-based distro, Linux Mint is also availbale in a Debian-based OS, named LMDE, short of Linux Mint Debian Edition. This edition is arguably more stable and faster than the Ubuntu-based one, but, while keeping the goal to provide an as easy as possible to use OS for newbie, Linux Mint Debian Edition lacks some convenience feature found in the main edition (Ubuntu-based).

Unlike the main edition, there is no application like "Additional Drivers" (jockey) in LMDE, which is a very useful tool for automatically detecting proprietary hardware driver such as NVIDIA video graphics card driver. So, LMDE users have to manually install the correct packages.

This article will show you how to easily install the NVIDIA video driver in LMDE 201204.

Quit Session Button / Command for Linux

I recently installed the new, final version of Ubuntu 12.04 a.k.a Precise Pangolin, and found it a very good Ubuntu release. It is more stable, faster, and much more responsive than its previous version.

I think its shiny Unity interface is the best user interface mainly for new users. But for me, an Ubuntu user who like experimenting with operating system installation, Unity did not last very long on my PC. I'm not saying that I a Linux expert, no, I am still a noob in Linux world, but I just like to do some experiment to installed system. I like to change its interface, by installing some other desktop, thanks to availibility of desktop environments in Ubuntu/Linux. That is one of the reasons why I like Ubuntu over any other Linux distro. If a software is made available for Linux, then it is almost sure that there is an EASY installation or version for Ubuntu.

I tried installing some different desktop envioronments including its official derivates based on KDE (Kubuntu), XFCE (Xubuntu) and LXDE (Lubuntu), other desktop environment including MATE desktop, the fork of oldies but goodies GNOME 2, and also with combination including standalone session using Compiz.

Basically, there is no problem I found when using standalone Compiz session, except a little problem that I could not find an easy button or a way for logging out smoothly from the Compis session. So, I started searching some information on the internet for the solution. I didn't find many, but I did find enough working script.

So, by editing and combining command and script I found, I finally able to made a simple script that works. The screenshot below is the Quit Session window that I made, based on scripts I found on Arch Linux and Ubuntu forums.

And below is the code, a python script, I gave this tiny app a name: "Quit Now!", an agnostic Linux desktop session utility, for immediately quitting current session (Log out, Reboot and Shutdown):

zonModAmbiance: Fixing Ambiance, the default Ubuntu Theme (12.04 Precise Pangolin)

In the end of this month, on April 26th to be exact, Ubuntu 12.04 LTS "Precise Pangolin" will be released by Canonical, the company behind the Ubuntu project. This is a much awaited release by the Ubuntu comunity around the globe, bringing many new features, and also most importantly is the version entitled Long Term Support (LTS) will be supported for five years for both desktop and server version of the operating system.

In this last minutes before the public final release, the developers are very busy for sure, preparing the OS to ensure it will be a perfect product for everyone to use.

I have been using Ubuntu 12.04 Precise Pangolin since its first beta release, and found it much better than any of its predecessors, be it in performance, look and feel, and also some new features.

One of the main feature in the latest Ubuntu OS is, of course, Unity, the desktop environment inspired by the sky-rocketing popularity of tablet devices. By delivering Unity, the Ubuntu team aims to provide most efficient, efective and pleasent to use user interface, mainly for new users.

But... :)