This beginner tutorial discusses a few difficulties you may face while adding files and folders on the desktop screen on Ubuntu.
I know a few people who are habitual of putting all the important/frequently used files on the desktop screen for quick access.
I am not a fan of a cluttered desktop screen but I can imagine that it might actually be helpful to some people.
For the past few releases, it has been difficult to add files on the desktop screen in Ubuntu’s default GNOME desktop. It’s not really Ubuntu’s fault.
The GNOME developers thinks that there is no place for icons and files on the desktop screen. There is no need of putting files on the desktop when you can easily search for it in the menu. And that’s part true.
This is why the newer version of GNOME’s File Manager Nautilus doesn’t support icons and files on the desktop very well.
That said, it’s not impossible to add files and folders on the desktop. Let me show you how you can still use it.
Adding files and folders on the desktop screen in Ubuntu
I am using Ubuntu 20.04 in this tutorial. The steps may or may not vary for other Ubuntu versions.
Add the files and folders to the “Desktop folder”
If you open the file manager, you should see an entry called Desktop in the left sidebar or in the folders list. This folder represents your desktop screen (in a way).
Desktop folder can be used to add files to the desktop screen
Anything you add to this folder will be reflected on the desktop screen.
Anything added to the Desktop folder will be reflected on the desktop screen
If you delete files from this ‘Desktop folder’, it will be removed from the desktop screen as well.
Drag and drop files to desktop screen doesn’t work
Now, if you try to drag and drop files from the file manager on the desktop, it won’t work. It’s not a bug, it’s a feature that irks a lot of people.
A workaround would be to open two instances of the file manager. Open Desktop folder in one of them and then drag and drop files to this folder and they will be added on the desktop.
I know that’s not ideal but you don’t have a lot of choices here.
You cannot use Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V to copy-paste on the desktop, use the right click menu
To add salt to injury, you cannot use Ctrl+V the famous keyboard shortcut to paste files on the desktop screen.
But you can still use the right click context menu and select Paste from their to paste the files on the desktop. You can even create new folders this way.
Right click menu can be used for copy-pasting files to desktop
Does it make sense? Not to me but that’s how it is in Ubuntu 20.04.
You cannot delete files and folder using the Delete key, use the right click menu again
What’s worse is that you cannot use the delete key or shift delete key to remove files from the desktop screen. But you can still right click on the files or folders and select “Move to trash” to delete the file.
Delete files from desktop using right click
Alright, so now you know that at least there is a way to add files on the desktop with some restrictions. But it doesn’t end here unfortunately.
You cannot search for files with their names on the desktop screen. Normally, if you start typing ‘abc’, files starting with ‘abc’ are highlighted. You don’t get it here.
I don’t know why so many restrictions have been put on adding files on the desktop. Thankfully, I don’t use it a lot otherwise I have been way too frustrated.
If you have spent any amount of time in the world of the internet, you should have heard about the IPv4 and IPv6 protocols that our computers use every day.
One question that you might be asking is: Why there is no IPv5? Why IPv6 came after IPv4 and not IPv5? Was there ever a IPv5 and if yes, whatever happened to IPv5?
The answer is yes, there was an IPv5…sort of. Let me quickly explain a few things around it.
The early history of the internet
ARPA Logical Map in 1977 | Image courtesy: Wikipedia
In the late 1960s, the US Department of Defense’s Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) started a project to link computers across the country. The initial goal was to create a networked system of all of the ARPA-funded computers across the country.
Since this was the first time a network of this scale was put together, they were also creating the technology and hardware as they went. One of the first things they worked was an internet protocol (IP) named Transmission Control Protocol (TCP). This protocol “reliable, ordered, and error-checked delivery of a stream of octets (bytes) between applications running on hosts communicating via an IP network”. Basically, it made sure data got where it needed to go safely.
By this time TCP had gone through three versions, so the new protocol became known as IPv4.
The birth of IPv5
IPv5 started life under a different name: Internet Stream Protocol (or ST). It was created to experiment with streaming voice and video “by Apple, NeXT, and Sun Microsystems”.
This new protocol was capable of “transferring data packets on specific frequencies while maintaining communication”.
So what happened to IPv5?
IPv5 was never accepted as an official internet protocol. This was mainly due to the 32-bit limitation.
IPV5 used the same addressing system as IPv4. Each address was made up of four sets of numbers between 0 and 255. This limited the number of possible addresses to 4.3 billion.
In the early 1970s, that might have seemed like more than the world would ever need. However, the explosive growth of the Internet proved that idea wrong. In 2011, the world officially ran out of the IPv4 addresses.
In the 1990s, a new project was started to work on the next generation of internet protocol (IPng). This led to the 128-bit IPv6. An IPv6 address contains a “series of eight 4-character hexadecimal numbers” that can contain numbers from 0 to 9 and letters from A to F. Unlike IPv4, IPv6 had trillions of possible addresses, so we should be safe for a while.
Meanwhile, IPv5 laid the groundwork for the voice-over-IP technology that we use to communicate all over the world today. So, I guess in some small way, you could say that IPv5 still survives to this day.
Brief: Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Focal Fossa has been finally released. Here is a quick recap of the new features and the download links for Ubuntu 20.04and the official flavours for it.
The wait is finally over. Ubuntu 20.04 LTS has finally arrived and is available to download!
If you were already using Ubuntu 19.10, you may not notice a lot of noticeable differences – but the list of improvements that I’m looking at is indeed impressive.
If you’re curious about what’s new, I’ll mention a few key highlights for this release.
Ubuntu 20.04: What’s new?
Considering the previous 18.04 LTS release, Ubuntu 20.04 LTS involves a lot of visual changes and under-the-hood improvements as well.
Of course, with the addition of GNOME 3.36, a major visual upgrade and the performance improvement is quite obvious. Here’s a video highlighting what’s new in Ubuntu 20.04:
Please note that if you are using Lubuntu 18.04, you must not upgrade to Lubuntu 20.04. Lubuntu 18.04 used Lxde desktop while later versions use LXQt desktop. Upgrading this way result in conflicts and possible broken system.
Download Ubuntu 20.04 LTS
You can grab the ISO or the torrent file, depending on what you prefer:
If you don’t find the latest ISO/torrent file listed in their respective official sites, simply head to cdimages.ubuntu.com to find all the flavours listed.
Next, navigate to the name-of-the-distro -> releases -> 20.04 -> release and then you should find the links to the ISO and the torrent files listed.
Here is a list of tweaks and things to do after installing Ubuntu 20.04, to get a smoother and better desktop Linux experience.
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS brings plenty of new features and visual changes. If you choose to install Ubuntu 20.04, let me show you a few recommended steps that you can follow to get started with it.
16 Things to do after installing Ubuntu 20.04 LTS “Focal Fossa”
The steps I am going to mention here are my recommendation. You may ignore a few customization or tweaks if they don’t suit your need and interest.
Similarly, some steps may seem too simple but essential for someone completely new to Ubuntu.
Let’s get started with the list of things to do after installing Ubuntu 20.04 LTS codenamed Focal Fossa.
1. Get your system ready by updating and enabling additional repos
The first thing you should do after installing Ubuntu or any other Linux distribution is to update it. Linux works on a local database of available packages. And this cache needs to be synced in order for you to be able to install any software.
It is very easy to update Ubuntu. You can run the software updater from the menu (press Windows key and search for software updater):
Software Updater in Ubuntu 20.04
You may also use the following command in the terminal to update your system:
Make sure to check the boxes in front of the repositories:
Enable additional repositories
2. Install media codecs to play MP3, MPEG4 and other media files
If you want to play media files like MP3, MPEG4, AVI etc, you’ll need to install media codecs. Ubuntu doesn’t install it by default because of copyright issues in various countries.
Some software vendors provide .deb files to easily install their application. You may get the deb files from their website. For example, to install Google Chrome on Ubuntu, you can get the deb file from its website and double click on it to start the installation.
4. Enjoy gaming with Steam Proton and GameMode
Gaming on Linux has come a long way. You are not restricted to a handful of games included by default. You can install Steam on Ubuntu and enjoy a good number of games.
The GameMode automatically adjust Linux system performance to give more priority to games than other background processes.
This means some games that support the GameMode (like Rise of Tomb Raiders) should have improved performance on Ubuntu.
5. Manage auto-updates (for intermediate and experts)
Recently, Ubuntu has started to automatically download and install security updates that are essential to your system. This is a security feature as a regular user, you should leave it as it is,
You can opt for the Show immediately so that it notifies you of security updates as soon as they are available instead of automatically installing.
Control the auto updates settings
6. Control automatic suspend and screenlock for laptops
If you are using Ubuntu 20.04 on a laptop then you may want to pay attention to a few power and screenlock settings.
If your laptop is on battery mode, Ubuntu will suspend the system after 20 minutes of inactivity. This is done to save battery power. Personally, I don’t like it and thus I disable it.
Similarly, if you leave your system for a few minutes, it automatically locks the screen. I don’t like this behavior as well so I prefer disabling it.
If you want a minimal looking desktop, you can disable the icons on the desktop. You can also disable the launcher from the left side and the appindicators in the top panel.
All this can be controlled via the new GNOME Extensions that is already available by default.
By the way, you can also change the position of the launcher to the bottom or to the right by going to the Settings->Appearance.
9. Use emojis (smileys) and special characters or disable it from the search
Ubuntu provides an easy way to use smiley or the emoticons. There is a dedicated application called Characters installed by default. It basically gives you Unicode of the emojis.
Not only emojis, you can use it to get the unicode for French, German, Russian and Latin characters. Clicking on the symbol gives you the opportunity to copy the unicode and when you paste this code, your chosen symbol should be typed.
Emoji Ubuntu
You’ll find these special characters and emoticons appearing in the desktop search as well. You can copy them from the search results as well.
Emojis appear in desktop search
If you don’t want to see them in search results, you should disable their access to the search feature. The next section discuss how to do that.
10. Master the desktop search
The GNOME desktop has a powerful search feature. Most people use it for searching installed applications but it is more than just that.
Press the super key (Windows key) and search for something. It will show any applications that matches that search term, followed by system settings and matching applications available in the software center.
Desktop search
Not only that, the search can also find text inside files. If you are using the calendar, it can also find your meetings and reminders. You can even do quick calculations in the search and copy its result.
Quick Calculations Ubuntu Search
You can control what can be searched and in which order by going into Settings.
11. Use nightlight feature to reduce eye strain at night
If you use your computer or smartphone at night, you should use the night light feature to reduce eye strain. I feel that it helps a lot.
The night light feature adds a yellow tint to the screen which is less pinching than the white light.
You can enable night light in the Settings -> Displays and switching to Night Light tab. You can set the ‘yellowness’ as per your liking.
Nightlight feature
12. Got a 2K/4K screen? Use fractional scaling to get bigger icons and fonts
If you feel that the icons, fonts, folders everything looks too small on your HiDPI screen, you can take advantage of the fractional scaling.
Enabling fractional scaling gives you more options to increase the size between 100% to 200%. You can choose the scaling size that suits your preference.
Enable fractional scaling from Settings -> Displays
13. Explore GNOME Extensions to extend the usability of GNOME desktop
The GNOME desktop has tiny plugins or add-ons called Extensions. You should learn to use GNOME extensions to extend the usability of your system.
As you can see in the image below, the weather extension shows the weather information in the top panel. A tiny but useful thing. You may also take a look at some of best GNOME extensions here. Don’t install all of them, use only those that are useful to you.
Weather Extension
14. Enable ‘do not disturb’ mode and focus on work
If you want to concentrate on work, disabling desktop notifications would come handy. You can easily enable ‘do not disturb’ mode and mute all notifications.
Enable ‘Do Not Disturb’ to get rid of desktop notifications
These notifications will still be in the message tray so that you can read them later but they won’t pop up on the desktop anymore.
15. Clean your system
This is something you don’t need to do right after installing Ubuntu. But keeping it in mind will help you.
Over the time, your system will have significant amount of packages that won’t be needed anymore. You can remove them all in one go with this command:
You can also install new themes in Ubuntu though personally, I like the default theme in this release. This is the first time that I have stuck with the default icons and theme in an Ubuntu release.
So these were my recommendations. What are the steps you follow after installing Ubuntu? Share your favorite things and I might update this article with your suggestions.
It is always a tough decision to drop support for older hardware for the latest Linux distribution releases. Just like Ubuntu decided to drop support for 32-bit systems, Debian’s X Strike Force (XFS) team decided to drop a list of input and video drivers.
Debian is considering to drop support for really old hardware
In case you didn’t know, the XFS team is responsible for maintaining packages the X Window System in Debian. And, the list of drivers that they want to remove are:
xserver-xorg-input-aiptek
xserver-xorg-input-elographics
xserver-xorg-input-mtrack
xserver-xorg-input-mutouch
xserver-xorg-input-void
server-xorg-video-ast
xserver-xorg-video-mach64
xserver-xorg-video-neomagic
xserver-xorg-video-r128
xserver-xorg-video-savage
xserver-xorg-video-siliconmotion
xserver-xorg-video-sisusb
xserver-xorg-video-tdfx
xserver-xorg-video-trident
So, Mach 64, ATI Rage R128, Savage, Silicon Motion, SiS, Trident, and NeoMagic are some of the graphics chipsets that would be affected. The reason (as stated by them) to drop these drivers is:
They are either unmaintained upstream or provide no value to the distribution.
Now, that could make sense, if the packages are no longer maintained. But, upstream some of these X.org drivers are still maintained even if there are no frequent updates to them. For instance, in 2018, a new display driver update was released for the ATI RAGE 128, as reported by Phoronix.
Vintage hardware owners are going to be upset
Obviously, the vintage hardware users aren’t quite happy with the decision because a handful of people still own (or actively use) old hardware i.e. around 20 years older.
From the original list of drivers mentioned in the bug report, Geode display driver was initially decided to be removed but wasn’t dropped.
It was also reported that the “xserver-xorg-video-r128” driver is required for older Apple hardware (iMac). And, a user reported about the missing video driver on his iMac.
For most of the users, this decision may not actually affect any “production” systems because I don’t think anyone is probably going to utilize 20-year old hardware for commercial purposes.
The hobbyists and collectors who like to preserve older tech are surely going to be impacted by this decision.
Wrapping Up
In my opinion, dropping the support for incredibly dated hardware is not entirely a bad move.
But, if there is a demand for the support of vintage hardware, the fair share of users who want the drivers to be added in Debian should help maintain those packages. If not, I don’t think it won’t be a wise choice to have an unmaintained piece of code in Debian.
What do you think about this? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below!
Ubuntu 20.04 release is just around the corner and you may have a few questions and doubts regarding upgrades, installation etc.
I hosted some Q&A sessions on various social media channels to answer doubts of readers like you.
I am going to list these common questions about Ubuntu 20.04 with their answers. I hope it helps you clear the doubts you have. And if you still have questions, feel free to ask in the comment section below.
Ubuntu 20.04: Your Questions Answered
Just to clarify, some of the answers here maybe influenced by my personal opinion. If you are an experienced Ubuntu user, some of the questions may sound silly to you but it not to the new Ubuntu users.
When will Ubuntu 20.04 be released?
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS is releasing on 23rd April 2020. All the participating flavors like Kubuntu, Lubuntu, Xubuntu, Budgie, MATE etc will have their 20.04 release available on the same day.
What are the system requirements for Ubuntu 20.04?
For the default GNOME version, you should have a minimum 4 GB of RAM, 2 GHz dual core processor and at least 25 GB of disk space.
Other Ubuntu flavors may have different system requirements.
Can I use Ubuntu 20.04 on 32-bit systems?
No, not at all. You cannot use Ubuntu 20.04 on 32-bit systems. Even if you are using 32-bit Ubuntu 18.04, you cannot upgrade to Ubuntu 20.04. There is ISO for 32-bit systems for past several years.
Error while upgrading 32-bit Ubuntu 18.04 to Ubuntu 20.04
Can I use Wine on Ubuntu 20.04?
Yes, you can still use Wine on Ubuntu 20.04 as the 32-bit lib support is still there for packages needed by Wine and Steam Play.
Do I have to pay for Ubuntu 20.04 or purchase a license?
No, Ubuntu is completely free to use. You don’t have to buy a license key or activate Ubuntu like you do in Windows.
The download section of Ubuntu requests you to donate some money but it’s up to you if you want to give some money for developing this awesome operating system.
What GNOME version does it have?
Ubuntu 20.04 has GNOME 3.36.
Does GNOME have better performance in Ubuntu 20.04?
GNOME 3.36
How long will Ubuntu 20.04 be supported?
It is a long-term support (LTS) release and like any LTS release, it will be supported for five years. Which means that Ubuntu 20.04 will get security and maintenance updates until April 2025.
Will I lose data while upgrading to Ubuntu 20.04?
You can upgrade to Ubuntu 20.04 from Ubuntu 19.10 or Ubuntu 18.04. You don’t need to create a live USB and install from it. All you need is a good internet connection that can download around 1.5 GB of data.
Upgrading from an existing system doesn’t harm your files. You should have all your files as it is and most of your existing software should be either have the same version or upgraded versions.
If you have used some third-party tools or additional PPA, the upgrade procedure will disable them. You can enable these additional repositories again if they are available for Ubuntu 20.04.
Upgrading takes like an hour and after a restart, you will be logged in to the newer version.
Though your data will not be touched and you won’t lose system files and configurations, it is always a good idea to make backup of important data externally.
When will I get to upgrade to Ubuntu 18.04?
If you are using Ubuntu 19.10 and have correct update settings in place (as mentioned in the earlier sections), you should be notified for upgrading to Ubuntu 20.04 within a few days of Ubuntu 18.04 release.
For Ubuntu 18.04 users, it may take some weeks before they are officially notified of the availability of Ubuntu 18.04. Probably, you may get the prompt after the first point release of Ubuntu 20.04.1.
If I upgrade to Ubuntu 20.04, can I downgrade to 19.10 or 18.04?
No, you cannot. While upgrading to a newer version is easy, there is no option to downgrade. If you want to go back to Ubuntu 18.04, you’ll have install Ubuntu 18.04 again.
I am using Ubuntu 18.04 LTS. Should I Upgrade to Ubuntu 20.04 LTS?
That depends upon you. If you are impressed by the new features in Ubuntu 20.04 and want to get your hands on it, you should upgrade.
If you want a more stable system, I advise waiting for the first point release Ubuntu 20.04.1 release that will have bug fixes in the new release. 20.04.1 should typically be coming approximately two months after the release of Ubuntu 20.04.
In either case, I recommend upgrading to Ubuntu 20.04 sooner or later. Ubuntu 20.04 has newer kernel, performance improvement and above all newer versions of software available in the repository.
Make a backup on external disk and with a good internet connectivity, the upgrade should not be an issue.
Should I do a fresh install of Ubuntu 20.04 or upgrade to it from 18.04/19.10?
If you have a choice, make a backup of your data and do a fresh install of Ubuntu 20.04.
Upgrading to 20.04 from an existing version is a convenient option. However, in my opinion, it still keeps some traces/packages of the older version. A fresh install is always cleaner.
Any other questions about Ubuntu 20.04?
If you have any other doubts regarding Ubuntu 20.04, please feel free to leave a comment below. If you think some other information should be added to the list, please let me know.
