Ubuntu WebApps: Where does that leave Lubuntu?

By now, I'm sure you've heard of Ubuntu's new WebApps. If not, here's a movie that fills you in.

In my opinion, WebApps is a brilliant first step to integrate the web and the desktop in a seamless fashion. However, this integration is specifically designed for the Unity desktop environment. In other words, Lubuntu users can't use it.

So what are our options?

First, I suggest creating bookmark apps. With a few steps, you can create your own Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, and other bookmark launchers. Now, pulling up your favorite social networking site is a click away.

Secondly, you may wish to look into applications like Nuvola. Nuvola integrates web-based music services into the desktop.

You can chose from Amazon, 8tracks, Google, Groveshark, Hype Machine, Pandora, and Rdio.

Although each service is simply a wrapper of the website, Nuvola does offer a notification tray icon, notification pop-ups, and dock integration.

So, it's not a perfect solution by any means, but it starts the process.

Finally, should you hold your breath for Lubuntu to adopt WebApps in the future? Considering Ubuntu One integration has been on the to-do list for awhile, I would start looking elsewhere.

Enjoy your new and minimal web/desktop integration!

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Best Lubuntu Apps

Before I get started, those who are new to Lubuntu need to know that there is virtually no application that can be installed on Ubuntu that is not also not available for Lubuntu. The exception to that are small apps that integrate into a specific desktop environment. So, of course you are not going to be able to install a Unity lens because the default Lubuntu DE does not use Unity.

That being said, there are a few characteristics that rule out certain software. Lubuntu software should be both (a) lightweight and (b) minimalist.

So, here we go...

Dock - Docky
There are a few docks available for install with Lubuntu. Docky has been my favorite for a few years now. Lightweight. Stable. What more can you ask for?

Install Docky:

sudo apt-get install docky

Quick Launcher - Synapse
Super fast, integrated with Zeitgeist, and aesthetically pleasing.

Install Synapse:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:synapse-core/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install synapse

Text Editor/IDE - Geany
This is not the most comprehensive IDE out there. However, it has quite a few plugin options, it has "enough" features, and it is incredibly light-weight.

Install Geany:

sudo apt-get install geany

Email/RSS Reader - Web-based
Evolution? Thunderbird? Liferea? Meh... There's not much out there at the moment.

The new Geary project looks promising. Lightread is also a hopeful project. But it's too early for both of them.

Browser - Google Chrome/Firefox
I go back and forth between my love for these two browsers. I simply can't decide which is better.

But if you're wondering why Chrome and not Chromium? Chrome has flash integration, regular updates, and an ntegrated pdf reader.

Install Firefox:

sudo apt-get install firefox

Install Google Chrome by downloading it from Google.


Music Player - Pithos and DeaDBeeF
I am in love with both of these applications. I think DeaDBeeF is a real improvement over Audacious. And Pithos is essential for anyone who love Pandora.

Install Pithos:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:kevin-mehall/pithos-daily
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install pithos

Install DeaDBeeF:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:alexey-smirnov/deadbeef
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install deadbeef

Office Suite - LibreOffice
I'm pretty sure that LibreOffice is a cardinal sin to put on a Lubuntu list. I really love AbiWord. But I need more features. LibreOffice provides the whole package.

Install LibreOffice:

sudo apt-get install libreoffice

Photo Manager - GThumb
No frills photo manager. You can't ask for more.

Install GThumb:

sudo apt-get install gthumb

Video - MPlayer
I like VLC, but I haven't had a need to download it lately. MPlayer gobbles up everything I throw at it. It's the default video player on Lubuntu, and I think it's worthy of that status.

Are there any I missed? Did I get any wrong? Leave me a note in the comments!

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LxScreenshot and LxFind: A review

These little guys are getting a bit more stable. And it's nice to see some Lubuntu specific development occurring. So, here's what we've got:

LxFind is an app to locate files and documents on your hard drive.

It's a good start. I love how fast it is. And it locates my documents as advertised. However, I was disappointed. This app was billed as "simple" and "efficient", but I have to disagree. Most of the time I search for files, I look in one specific directory. It's called Documents.

The default directory for LxFind is set to the Desktop. Who searches the Desktop? And why can't LxFind save a default location? Not very "efficient" in my opinion.

Also, for such a simple app, why is there so much clutter on the window? There should be one text input box; the rest should be hidden in a drop-down options button.

Finally, it's not quite stable. When using it, openbox crashed on me.

LxScreenshot is also off to a nice start.

Like LxFind, it's not much to look at, but it gets the job done. However, I kept asking myself why it was important. In Lubuntu, the PrtScr button works well for entire desktop shots. My only need for a program like LxScreenshot is to capture active windows. Yet, the active window shots don't include the title bar (see below). This is a deal-breaker for me.

For now, I think I'll stick with my home-grown screenshot app.

So, all-in-all, a good start. But far from perfect.

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Lubuntu Office

Lubuntu ships with Abiword and Gnumeric as the default office programs. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of both of these apps. But I've found certain parts of LibreOffice Writer to be essential. Although it is not as light as Abiword, writer is still snappy and the extra options are extremely useful.

If you're not familiar with LibreOffice, it's a fork of OpenOffice, and is considered by many to be hold the brightest future of the two. It is now the default office suite in Ubuntu.

To install the whole suite, paste the following into the terminal.

sudo apt-get install libreoffice

To only install the writer:

sudo apt-get install libreoffice-writer

This past week, after a software upgrade, the entire office suite got a nice visual upgrade. That is, it no longer looks like it runs on Windows, circa 1995.

I can't fail two mention two more essential (in my opinion) add-ons to LibreOffice Writer.

The first, is the Faenza icon theme. It's not colorful, but I love the minimalist, crisp feel. You can download it here with install directions.

The second add-on is the TexMaths extension.

It's an insanely fast, Latex editor for equations. Once you get hooked, MS word equation editor will seem incredibly dated.

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Lubuntu Autostart Programs

Lubuntu 11.04+

If you need an application or process to automatically start at login in Lubuntu, you simply need to copy and paste applications from your applications folder into your autostart folder.

In your file browser, navigate to the applications folder:

/usr/share/applications

Find your targeted autostart program and copy it by secondary-clicking or CNTRL-c.

Next, navigate your file manager to the autostart folder:

~/.config/autostart

Paste your application by secondary-clicking or CTRL-v.

That's it! This can be used to autostart Dropbox, Docky, etc.

If you want to autostart a process instead, you'll need to create a separate .desktop file that executes the process you want. A simple file that opens alsamixer looks like this:

[Desktop Entry]
Encoding=UTF-8
Type=Application
Name=Alsa Mixer
Exec=alsamixer

You can change the Name and Exec to whatever you want. Save it as filename.desktop.

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DeaDBeeF Music Player

Lubuntu 10.04-11.10

I already posted about my all-time favorite music player, Pithos, but sometimes I'm in the mood for an entire album from my collection. Enter DeaDBeeF, an incredibly lightweight music player.

I prefer DeaDBeef over the default Audacious because it has a simpler, more intuitive interface while retaining Audacious' leanness.

When playing a tune on my small netbook, I don't need to worry about RAM or CPU usage:

Want it? You can grab it by opening LXTerminal and pasting in the following:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:alexey-smirnov/deadbeef
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install deadbeef

As a final point, I love the file browser plugin. You can snag that here. After you download the .zip, extract it to temporary folder and copy the .so file(s) to

~/.local/lib/deadbeef/.

Enjoy DeaDBeef.

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Lubuntu + Pandora = Pithos

Lubuntu and Ubuntu 10.04-12.04

If you're like me, you installed Lubuntu on your netbook because it is such a lightweight OS. The last thing I want to do is import my entire music collection on the hard drive, but I need my tunes! Enter Pithos.

Pithos is a Pandora client that plays high-quality, ad-free music from your Pandora account in a flash-free app. Did I mention it's ad-free?

To snag this app, open up LXTerminal and enter the following:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:kevin-mehall/pithos-daily
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install pithos

In closing, all systems are a bit different, but I had some issues playing Pithos out of the box. It gave me a gstreamer error. If you run across this same issue, open Synaptic (Menu -> System Tools -> Synaptic Packet Manager) and search for gstreamer.

I installed the following two packets and everything worked perfectly.

gstreamer-tools
gstreamer0.10-alsa

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