The Latest News from Across the FOSS Universe
Reddit has killed the chat room feature launched by it for the subreddits on the platform. The decision has been taken by the company because the feature had a lot of bugs. The start chatting button was removed from all the subreddits just a few hours after its launch. A major bug in the start […]
The post Reddit Killed Chat Room Feature Within 1 Day Of Launch: Here’s Why appeared first on Fossbytes.
Jon Prosser, who correctly predicted the release date of iPhone SE 2020, has revealed the expected prices of the upcoming iPhone 12-series. It’s good news for those looking forward to buying the iPhone 12. According to the leaked pricing of iPhone 12-series, Apple will introduce the new iPhone 12 with an OLED screen at the starting […]
The post iPhone 12 With OLED Display Could Start At $649, Says Noted Leakster appeared first on Fossbytes.
Brief: Pop OS 20.04 is an impressive Linux distribution based on Ubuntu. I review the major new features in this review and share my experience with the latest release.
Now that Ubuntu 20.04 LTS and its official flavours are here – it’s time to take a look at one of best Ubuntu-based distro i.e Pop!_OS 20.04 by System76.
To be honest, Pop!_OS is my favorite Linux distro that I primarily use for everything I do.
Now that Pop!_OS 20.04 has finally arrived. It’s time to take a look at what it offers and whether you should upgrade or not?
Visually, Pop!_OS 20.04 LTS isn’t really very different from Pop!_OS 19.10. However, you can find several new features and improvements.
But, if you were using Pop!_OS 18.04 LTS, you have a lot of things to try.
With GNOME 3.36 onboard along with some newly added features, Pop!_OS 20.04 is an exciting release.
Overall, to give you an overview here are some key highlights:
While this sounds fun, let us take a look at a detailed look on what has changed and how’s the experience of Pop!_OS 20.04 so far.
Undoubtedly, a lot of Linux distros offer a pleasant user experience out of the box. Likewise, Ubuntu 20.04 LTS has had top-notch improvements and features as well.
And, when it comes to Pop!_OS by System 76, they always try to go a mile further. And, the majority of new features aim to improve the user experience by providing useful functionalities.
Here, I’m going to take a look at some of the improvements that include GNOME 3.36 and Pop!_OS-specific features.
Finally! This may not be a big change – but Pop!_OS did not have the support for system tray icons (or applet icons).
With 20.04 LTS release, it’s here by default. No need of any extension.
There may not be a whole lot of programs depending on system tray icons – but it is still something important to have.
In my case, I wasn’t able to use ActivityWatch on Pop!_OS 19.10 – but now I can.
Automatic Window Tiling is something I always wanted to try – but never invested any time to set it up using a tiling window manager like i3, not even with Regolith Desktop.
With Pop!_OS 20.04, you don’t need to do that anyway. The automatic window tiling feature comes baked in without needing you to set it up.
It also features an option to Show Active Hint i.e it will highlight the active window to avoid confusion. And, you can also adjust the gap between the windows.
You can see it in action in their official video:
And, I must say that it is one of the biggest additions on Pop!_OS 20.04 that could potentially help you multi-task more efficiently.
Even though the feature comes in handy everytime you use it. To make the most out of it, a display screen bigger than 21-inches (at least) should be the best way to go! And, for this reason – I’m really tempted to upgrade my monitor as well!
Pop!_OS comes baked in with some unique GNOME extensions. But, you don’t need GNOME Tweaks the manage the extension anymore.
The newly added Extensions app lets you configure and manage the extensions on Pop!_OS 20.04.
With the new GNOME 3.36 release, the notification center includes a revamped look. Here, I have the dark mode enabled.
You can still ALT+TAB or Super key + TAB to go through the running applications.
But, that’s time-consuming when you have a lot of things going on. So, on Pop!_OS 20.04, you get an application switcher and launcher which you can activate using Super key + /
Once you get used to the keyboard shortcut, it will be very convenient thing to have.
In addition to this, you may find numerous other subtle improvements visually with the icons/windows on Pop!_OS 20.04.
Well, with GNOME 3.36, it’s an obvious change. But, it does look good!
Normally, Pop!_Shop is already something useful with a huge repository along with Pop!_OS’s own repositories.
Now, with Pop!_OS 20.04, you can choose to install either Flatpak (via Flathub) or the Debian package of any available software on Pop!_Shop. Of course, only if a Flatpak package exists for the particular software.
You might want to check how to use Flatpak on Linux if you don’t have Pop!_OS 20.04.
Personally, I’m not a fan of Flatpak but some applications like GIMP requires you to install the Flatpak package to get the latest version. So, it is definitely a good thing to have the support for Flatpak on Pop!_Shop baked right into it.
This can be annoying if you’re comfortable with the existing keyboard shortcuts on Pop!_OS 19.10 or older.
In either case, there are a few important keyboard shortcut changes to potentially improve your experience, here they are:
Similar to most of the other latest Linux distros, Pop!_OS 20.04 comes loaded with Linux Kernel 5.4.
So, obviously, you can expect the exFAT support and an improved AMD graphics compatibility along with all the other features that come with it.
Even though Pop!_OS doesn’t pitch itself as a lightweight Linux distro, it is still a resource-efficient distro. And, with GNOME 3.36 onboard, it should be fast enough.
Considering that I’ve been using Pop!_OS as my primary distro for about a year, I’ve never had any performance issues. And, this is how the resource usage will probably look like (depending on your system configuration) after you install Pop!_OS 20.04.
To give you an idea, my desktop configuration involves an i5-7400 processor, 16 GB RAM (2400 MHz), NVIDIA GTX 1050ti graphics card, and an SSD.
I’m not really a fan of system benchmarks because it does not really give you the idea of how a specific application or a game would perform unless you try it.
You can try the Phoronix Test Suite to analyze how your system performs. But, Pop!_OS 20.04 LTSshould be a snappy experience!
While every Ubuntu-based distro benefits from the improvements in Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, there are some Pop OS specific bug fixes and improvements as well.
In addition to it, some major apps/packages like Firefox 75.0 have been updated to their latest version.
As of now, there should be no critical bugs present and at least none for me.
You can check out their development progress on GitHub to check the details of issues they’ve already fixed during the beta testing and the issues they will be fixing right after the release.
With this release, System76 has finally added a subscription model (optional) to support Pop!_OS development.
You can download Pop!_OS 20.04 for free – but if you want to support them I’d suggest you go for the subscription with just $1/month.
I must mention that I was rooting for a fresh new wallpaper with the latest 20.04 release. But, that’s not a big deal.
With the window tiling feature, flatpak support, and numerous other improvements, my experience with Pop!_OS 20.04 has been top-notch so far. Also, it’s great to see that they are highlighting their focus on creative professionals with out-of-the-box support for some popular software.
All the good things about Ubuntu 20.04 and some extra toppings on it by System76, I’m impressed!
Have you tried the Pop!_OS 20.04 yet? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
Nations across the world are coming up with their contact tracing apps for locating coronavirus patients and putting up electronic fences to isolate them. India has also released its home-baked app “Aarogya Setu,” which became the world’s fastest app to cross 50 million downloads. Aarogya Setu has now crossed the 75 million download mark, but […]
The post Aarogya Setu Will Soon Come ‘Pre-Installed’ In Every Indian Smartphone appeared first on Fossbytes.
With the weekend approaching you might be planning to take some of the official Ubuntu 20.04 flavours for a spin — if so, Xubuntu has a little something to tempt you its way.
This post, Xubuntu has made a video to show off its latest release is from OMG! Ubuntu!. Do not reproduce elsewhere without permission.
Pop!_OS 20.04 is now available to download — but brace yourself as this release carries some pretty significant changes with it! Although Pop OS is based on Ubuntu is is not Ubuntu – a difference […]
This post, Pop!_OS 20.04 Released with Major New Features is from OMG! Ubuntu!. Do not reproduce elsewhere without permission.
What better way to dodge the negativity around the Coronavirus Pandemic than to watch one of the best Pixar movies? Thanks to the launch of Disney’s streaming service, people can finally re-watch their favorite Pixar movies from the comfort of their homes. So, here is the list of best Pixar movies to watch on Disney+. List Of […]
The post 9 Best Pixar Movies To Watch On Disney Plus Right Now appeared first on Fossbytes.
Buckle up for the ride as you can now download Ubuntu 20.10 daily builds for testing! Freshly spun ISOs of what will become the next stable Ubuntu release will be produced each and every day […]
This post, Ubuntu 20.10 Daily Builds Now Available to Download is from OMG! Ubuntu!. Do not reproduce elsewhere without permission.
A community-driven Parrot project has released a new point version v4.9 of its security-focused Parrot operating system. Parrot 4.9 looks like a minor release with bug fixes when compared to the previous Parrot 4.8. But it has also received some notable updates on several components. Let’s take a look: Parrot 4.9: What’s New? Being built […]
The post Parrot 4.9 Released: A Kali Linux Alternative For Ethical Hacking appeared first on Fossbytes.
If you’re a big fan of the Windows 10 Your Phone app, then Microsoft is adding a new feature that’ll make you love it even more. The Your Phone app can now play/pause the songs playing on your Android smartphone. The feature is currently released for testing alongside the Windows Insider Build 19619 for the […]
The post Windows 10 Can Now Play/Pause Music On Android Via ‘Your Phone’ App appeared first on Fossbytes.
Everything seems to be slowing down due to the coronavirus pandemic, but fear not, here are some spy shots of the electric SUV VW ID.4 GTX spotted testing. Analysts are wondering, can it finally challenge the Tesla Model Y? The leaked images suggest that the GTX is indeed a high-performance crossover electric SUV. As per […]
The post Is This The Sporty Electric SUV That Challenges Tesla Model Y? appeared first on Fossbytes.
Xiaomi Redmi smartphone series is undoubtedly one of the popular ones, especially in India. That’s why the Redmi Note 9 Pro and Note 9 Pro Max were first launched in India. Many of us were waiting for the regular Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 launch back then. But since that didn’t happen, several fans assumed that […]
The post Redmi Note 9 Launches Globally With A Starting Price Of $199 appeared first on Fossbytes.
Brief: This tutorial teaches you how to handle the unattended upgrade i.e. the automatic system updates in Ubuntu Linux.
Sometimes, when you try to shutdown your Ubuntu system, you may come across this screen that stops you from shutting down:
Unattended-upgrade in progress during shutdown, please don’t turn off the computer.
You might wonder what is this “unattended upgrade” and how come it is running without your knowledge.
The reason is that Ubuntu takes your system’s security very seriously. By default, it automatically checks for system updates daily and if it finds any security updates, it downloads those updates and install them on its own. For normal system and application updates, it notifies you via the Software Updater tool.
Since all this happens in the background, you don’t even realize it until you try to shutdown your system or try to install applications on your own.
Trying to install a new software when these unattended upgrades are in progress leads to the famous could not get lock error.
As you can see, the automatic updates present a couple of minor annoyance. You may choose to disable the auto updates but that would mean that you’ll have to check and update your Ubuntu system manually all the time.
Do you really need to disable auto updates?
Please note that this is a security feature. Linux allows you to do practically everything in your system even disabling these security features.
But in my opinion, as a regular user, you should not disable the automatic updates. It keeps your system safe after all.
For the sake of your system’s security, you may tolerate the minor annoyances that come with the automatic updates.
Now that you have been warned and you think it is better to take up the additional task of manually updating your system, let’s see how to handle the auto updates.
As always, there are two ways to do it: GUI and command line. I’ll show you both methods.
I have used Ubuntu 20.04 here but the steps are valid for Ubuntu 18.04 and any other Ubuntu version.
Go to the menu and look for ‘software & updates’ tool.
In here, go to Updates tab. Now look for the “Automatically check for updates”. By default it is set to Daily.
You can change it to Never and your system will never check for updates on its own again. And if it won’t check for updates, it won’t find new updates to install.
If you do this, you must manually update your system from time to time. But that’s an additional chore to do and you may not remember it all the time.
Personally, I would suggest to let it check for updates on its own. If you don’t want it installing the updates automatically, you can change that behavior to get notified about the availability of security updates.
Keep “Automatically check for updates” to Daily and change “When there are security updates” option to “Display immediately” instead of “Download and install automatically”.
This way, it checks for updates and if there are updates, instead of installing them automatically in the background, the Software Updater tool notifies you that updates are available for your system. Your system already does that for normal system and software updates.
With this setup, you won’t see the “unattended upgrades in progress” when you shutdown your system However, you may still encounter the ‘could not get lock’ error because two separate processes cannot use apt package manager at the same time.
I believe this is a better solution, don’t you you think?
As I promised both GUI and command line methods, let me show you how to disable unattended upgrades in the terminal.
You’ll find the auto-upgrades settings in the /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/20auto-upgrades file. The default text editor in Ubuntu terminal is Nano so you can use this command to edit this configuration file:
sudo nano /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/20auto-upgradesNow, if you don’t want your system to check for updates automatically, you can change the value of APT::Periodic::Update-Package-Lists to 0.
APT::Periodic::Update-Package-Lists "0";
APT::Periodic::Unattended-Upgrade "0";If you want it to check for updates but don’t install the unattended-upgrades automatically, you can choose to set it like this:
APT::Periodic::Update-Package-Lists "1";
APT::Periodic::Unattended-Upgrade "0";In the end…
The automatic security updates are enabled automatically for a reason and I recommend you keep it like this. A couple of minor annoyances are not really worth risking the security of your system. What do you think?
Being one of the most popular Linux distros, Ubuntu has an uncountable number of variants and derivatives. With the release of the latest long-term Ubuntu 20.04, several variants are also releasing their updated versions based on 20.04 ‘Focal Fossa’. Along the same lines, here comes Voyager Live — the Xubuntu-based Linux distribution which has released […]
The post Voyager 20.04 LTS Released: Take A Trip Of (X)Ubuntu 20.04-Based Linux Distro appeared first on Fossbytes.
These days, most of the stories usually start with a mention of the novel Coronavirus; this one is no different. And why not? The COVID-19 pandemic has taken the world by a storm and locked most of us in our homes. I guess there won’t be many people now who’ll complain about office stress. But […]
The post The World Is More “Human” Than I Thought Or Is It Just Coronavirus? appeared first on Fossbytes.
Xiaomi recently launched the latest update to its Android skin — MIUI 12. This version comes with massive UI changes, new animations, and many interesting features. However, one MIUI 12 feature that is shining above all is Xiaomi’s “Super Wallpaper.” A set of 3D interactive live wallpapers that offer an aerial view of Earth/Mars on […]
The post How To Get MIUI 12 “Super Wallpaper” On Any Android Device? appeared first on Fossbytes.
Google is planning to make the tracking of your favorite TV shows and movies a very simple process. The search engine has launched a brand new feature that lets users create their personal Google watchlist. This move by Google is touted to revolutionize the way we create and maintain watchlists. Smartphone users can simply access […]
The post How To Add Movies And TV Shows To Google Watchlist? appeared first on Fossbytes.
Data is of paramount importance in today’s time and accidentally deleting a file could result in tantamounting consequences. If you’ve emptied your computer’s trash accidentally and there were files that you need now, there’s no need to panic. You can use data recovery software to recover files from an emptied trash. When choosing a data […]
The post iBeesoft Data Recovery: Recover Deleted Files From Emptied Trash? appeared first on Fossbytes.
Tesla says the latest variant of the Model S has already achieved the official 400-miles range mark. However, it could not go official on paper due to a mistake committed by EPA while testing the vehicle. Tesla CEO Elon Musk made these claims after the release of its Q1 2020 results. According to reports, Musk […]
The post Model S Already Achieved 400-Mile Range: EPA Did Mistake While Testing appeared first on Fossbytes.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk heavily criticized the mandatory lockdown against Coronavirus that is currently in place and said that it takes away people’s freedom. His Twitter handle has been on fire since yesterday after the Tesla Q1 earnings call. “If somebody wants to stay in the house, that’s great. They should be allowed to stay […]
The post No! Elon Musk Does Not Want You To Die From Coronavirus appeared first on Fossbytes.
Reddit, the social news website and forum, is adding a new chat room feature. Known as ‘Start Chatting,’ it enables subreddit members to chat in private groups The Start Chatting feature will be rolled out to around 16,000 SFW subreddits and others in the coming weeks. How does Reddit Chat Rooms work? Users will have […]
The post Reddit Launches Small Chat Rooms For 16,000 SFW Subreddits appeared first on Fossbytes.
Ubisoft has officially announced the next Assassin’s Creed game, which is titled Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla. As of now, we only have an image for the game made by BossLogic. However, we don’t have to wait much longer, as the trailer for the game will be out on April 30, 8 AM PDT/5 PM CEST. If […]
The post ‘Assassin’s Creed Valhalla’ Announced: A New Game Set In Vikings Era appeared first on Fossbytes.
Countries across the world are building tracing apps to deal with coronavirus. Apple and Google have just released the first preview of its Bluetooth based contact-tracing app. India also released its “Aarogya Setu” app for smartphones that has already raked-in 75 million downloads. Now, the Indian government is planning to build a COVID-19 contact-tracing app […]
The post India To Launch COVID-19 Tracker App For 2G Phones Without Bluetooth appeared first on Fossbytes.
A new add-on for the Folder Colors tool is available. When installed it lets you instantly change folder colors on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS with the Yaru icon set.
This post, ‘Folder Colors’ Now Works with Ubuntu 20.04 and the Yaru Icon Set is from OMG! Ubuntu!. Do not reproduce elsewhere without permission.
