How to Install Amarok 2.4.3 "Berlin" in Ubuntu/Kubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal and 11.10?

Amarok is one of the most famous applications/portions of the Qt toolkit written KDE desktop. As promised by the developers with the recently released 2.4.2 beta1 version... it did undergo some GUI and few other major changes which was their preparation for the upcoming 2.4.3 release.

And now the developers have officially announced the availability of the Amarok 2.4.3 "Berlin"!. With this release they've decided to remove the lower "status-bar" and from now on notifications will be using that "space" which could be cool (or maybe not).

Main features...

*. Few more dynamic playlist related enhancements that were triggered in the 2.4.2 beta version such as Quiz-play bias and a new podcast integration with the Gpodder aggregator, etc.

*. Now you can use drag-n-drop to copy/move your local music collections (including inside the playlists) which was again introduced with the recent beta version but it seems that the playlist in general has been "cleaned" here and there so much more easy to understand (in their own words).

This is actually a true screenshot of 2.4.3 (too from the official site) but it's a damn shame that they've used MS Windows 7 for the screenshot rather than using GNU/Linux. So I cropped out the borders *put the angry dude here*. Man this attitude of KDE just pisses me off sometimes!...

*. Thanks to a bug-fix now Amarok geeks :) can configure individual podcast episode names.

*. Automatic scrolling in Lyrics applet.

*. The ability to  scrobble the composer as artist to Last.fm + a lot of bug fixes (such as CD ripping related, last.fm, dynamic playlists, etc) as usual.

We can install Amarok 2.4.3 "Berlin" in Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal by using the Kubuntu team's back-ports PPA, but here's the thing.

The team haven't come up with the 2.4.3 version since it's so new and only released it like few hours ago. But perhaps when you read this it maybe available. If it is available then you can install it by using the below commands.

Update: Thanks to "jepong" (see below comments) there's actually a PPA that exists created by Philip Johnson and using the we can finally install this "thing" ;-). I have replaced the original commands with this new PPA but if you want to try the official Kubuntu back-ports (they still haven't come up with it yet) then just replace the text in "Green" with the below one.

kubuntu-ppa/backports

For Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal users...

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:philip5/kubuntu-backports

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install amarok

For Kubuntu 11.04 users use the below command instead.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:philip5/kubuntu-backports

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get upgrade

But luckily for the Ubuntu (Kubuntu included) 11.10 Oneiric Ocelot users it seems that Amarok 2.4.3 is already in the repositories!, for the obvious reason of we're like few hours away from the official Ubuntu 11.10 Alpha 3 release. So it'll be included in the Alpha 3 ISO image it seems.

Anyhow, if you don't daily update the existing 11.10 Alpha version then you should be able to manually install the latest version by using the below command.

sudo apt-get install amarok

As for the 11.04 users, a little patience goes a long way. I know it's hard but but... :).

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Amarok 2.4.2 Beta 1 is Released (New background, GUI changes, etc)

From the day it was released, Amarok, the Qt written awesome music player front-end for KDE was A hit. Came with an excellent GUI, lots of features (usual KDE :D) and ease of use... everybody loves it!.

As said, like many other applications these days, it's actually not a complete player with a multimedia playing engine of its own but only a front-end. A Qt written GUI that relies on few multimedia frameworks such as Gstreamer, Phonon and other players such as VLC, Xine as well.

Anyhow, I think simultaneous to the upcoming KDE 4.7 release, Amarok and a lot other applications are receiving updates accordingly. Like two days ago Amarok was updated to its latest version 2.4.2 Beta 1 which brings bug fixes and some new features such as ...

*. New backgrounds.

*. Re-polished GUI.

*. Few updates to dynamic play-list (prevent duplicate track loads, Quiz-bias features that has the ability to play a multimedia file that has characters similar to the one just finished playing, drag-n-drop support for copying/moving files directly from the play-list in local storages, etc).

*. Removed "redo" button from the main tool-bar.

*. Now uses the ffmpeg 0.6 or higher by default.

*. Preview button, progress bar and few other layout clean-ups to make it look more simpler and "easy to understand" ... are just a few to mention.

While I checked it wasn't yet available through the Kubuntu PPA (backports) but you can add the PPA so when they do, you'll be able to install Amarok 2.4.2 Beta 1 in both Kubuntu 11.04 and Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal easily.

To do that, open the Terminal and enter the below commands.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:kubuntu-ppa/backports

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install amarok

Remember, this is still in its beta stage... so may not be the best of Amarok, yet :).

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How to Install Muon Package Manager 1.2 (Beta) in Kubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal?

Although I haven't used KDE for sometime now (including Kubuntu) but I think the package manager in Kubuntu is as powerful as it is with Ubuntu. But, few days ago in the Ubuntu developer summit (UDS), with the introduction of Qt-5 tool-kit version, Kubuntu developers came up with a cool looking package manager for Kubuntu Natty Narwhal called Muon.

It seems to have two main basic "views". One view represents the default package manager GUI with software categories to the left and more information to the right side. But the other view, which seems to follow the Ubuntu software center GUI "patterns", has an enhanced graphical representation (using a lot of beautiful looking icons and all that stuff :D ) which does the same thing + I think this second GUI is more user friendlier than the other GUI. 

As with Ubuntu software center, once you click on an application icon, then you're taken into a more in-depth view which contains user ratings, total space needed, a small introduction of the app that you selected, etc. And with KDE4... the KDE desktop has been simplified when comparing to the "daunting" amount of features that earlier versions came with. The Muon package manager also seems to inherit those attributes and certainly looks very user friendly, as mentioned above.

Although it's still at its beta stage, still if you use Kubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal, you can install Muon by using their official PPA channel. To do that, open your Terminal and issue the below command.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:echidnaman/qapt-experimental
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install muon

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Introducing "Muon" - The All New Software Manager for Kubuntu Geeks!

I remember this quote from a movie... 

"We don't wanna die because of your fu**ing arrogance!"

In a way, I think this is the reason for the KDE desktop's birth ;). At some point, those who does not like Gnome for what it is, well, they had to say that!. If you want a powerful desktop with a lot of features (which they/KDE reduced starting with the version "4", still it's totally awesome, in a way) then KDE is an excellent choice.

Anyway, Kubuntu exists for those who does not like Gnome and it is actually one of the major Linux distribution that comes with optimized for KDE. Today one of the Kubuntu developer called DarkwindDuck (David you asked for it man :P) announced an all new graphical application manager for Kubuntu users called Muon!.

To be honest I don't use Kubuntu... so I'm not quite sure how the current application manager looks in Kubuntu. If I remember correctly, it was like 3 years ago that I last tried it (while they were just about to introduce KDE4) and at that time I always kinda felt that Ubuntu's front-end for apt-get is a bit superior to Kubuntu's app.

But I'm pretty sure with the KDE4, Kubuntu dudes and dudees are totally rocking your world :P. Anyhow, the Muon comes with a simple interface but as usual, it also has a lot of features as well. It uses the same software "ratings" that the Ubuntu software center uses and displays them to your right side (see below screenshot).

And once you click on an application, then Muon will display a nice (not necessarily simplified but uncomplicated ;-) ) "overview" of that application in more details as shown below.

And as usual, it has a frond-end for the apt-get package manager (like with Ubuntu) with a lot of "traditional" information with a familiar looking GUI like dependencies, details, filter apps, etc.

As said, I don't use Kubuntu, so I haven't tested it, but if you use Kubuntu, then you can actually install Muon by using the below command!.

apt-get install muon
apt-get install muon-installer

Enjoy... take it easy now would ya, just kidding :). 

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Bangarang 2.0, Features Rich Excellent Multimedia Player for KDE Desktop!

Unlike with Gnome, with KDE you'll always get lots of useful features by default. Not like in the past, KDE now has a multimedia framework of its own called Phonon. So as a KDE/Qt developer, all you gotta do is to create a GUI and integrate it with Phonon framework and it'll make sure to play multimedia files without you having to do that part of the coding.

Meet Bangarang! (means "awesome" according to sources - a Jamaican word)...

Although there are several excellent players that uses the Qt toolkit, yet with Bangarang, you can do few things that most those players fail to achieve. Although it comes with a lot of features, but the main GUI looks very simple and less complicated as well.


Main features...

*. As said, anything that Phonon plays, Bangarang can play.

*. Manage large collections of multimedia files with its built in powerful album support.

*. Add/Manage TV shows.

*. View audio/video feeds.

*. Play CD/DVDs.

*. It can share/fetch audio/video file ratings done by (Amarok for instance) other Qt/KDE apps that uses the Semantic desktop API. For instance, if the video "A" is rated with 4 stars by another video player in KDE and if it integrates with Semantic desktop API, then Bangarang can "import" that rating automatically.

*. Automatically fetch album/artist, etc related information.

*. Last.fm support... are just a few to name.

If you use Kubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal, then you can install Bangrang multimedia player by issuing the below command (should work in 10.04/10.10 as well).

sudo apt-get install bangarang

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Ktorrent 4.1.1 Is Released!, How To Install it on Kubuntu 11.04 and 10.10?

There are a lot of Bittorrent clients for GNU/Linux and unlike Microsoft Windows (they'll never support "that" protocol by default) all the major desktop environments support the Bittorrent protocol. As a result, if you've installed Ubuntu 11.04 or Kubuntu, etc... then you actually don't need a dedicated client back-end.

Lot of powerful features by default... the KDE's way of doing 

"things"...

But most of the "default" applications don't usually come with a lot of features. In that case, you should try the always excellent KDE's Bittorrent client called Ktorrent. Recently they updated to the latest version called 4.1.1.

It's written in Qt hence comes with a lot of features such as protocol encryption, change upload/download speeds, optimize according to your network speed settings, etc. But most importantly, with this new update, now we can watch movies while they're being downloaded! as well.

If you use Kubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal then you can install Ktorrent 4.1.1 by using the below command.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ferramroberto/natty
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

In Kubuntu 10.10, use the below PPA channel instead.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ferramroberto/maverick
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

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Kubuntu 11.04 is Released!

Simultaneous to the Ubuntu Natty Narwhal (11.04) release which brings the long waited... talked Unity desktop... the official KDE version of Ubuntu called Kubuntu has also released their 11.04 version as well. Unlike many other previous versions... this does bring some important new features according to their release log.

*. Comes with the KDE 4.6 version which brings the Kwin manager (default window handler for KDE).

According to the Kubuntu team, KWin now needs less resources but performs faster than previous versions!. Other benefits include better VGA driver integration, new power management GUI (very impressive and looks gorgeous!) + few improvements to the Dolphin as well (KDE's file manager).

*. File sharing made easy because of Samba!.

Sharing a file or a folder across a network has never been this easy according to Kubuntu team!. Just right click on the file/folder in Dolphin file manager and go to "Properties" and simply, share!.

Samba ... Samba ... Samba....

*. Better printer configuration.

Including few bug fixes... the new printer configuration now ingrates better with a lot of printers.

*. OwnCloud.

This is a cloud based storage that are hosted directly at KDE servers. Now as a Kubuntu user, you can easily access and manage your OwnCloud easily.

*. Switched to Phonon Gstreamer back-end.

It's a bit sad actually. KDE is certainly not second to no one and from certain aspects... it's way ahead of Gnome too. But for some reason (well, they say it's due to better compatibility with Ubuntu) they've decided to use the Gstreamer (the developers of Gstreamer won't say it's a Gnome project... but they seem to prefer Gnome :) ) as the multimedia framework.

Although the new Phonon... which is the KDE's own impressive multimedia framework, again due to compatibility, Kubuntu will be using Gstreamer via a Phonon back-end. Let's hope that next time they'll give us a full "KDE-lized" desktop.

Anyhow, these are few of the main features of Kubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal according to their official release announcement and all the details such as how to download it are also in that page. So follow the link and read it. And if you're upgrading from 10.10 version... then please read this official instruction page before proceeding. Good luck.

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Install Kdenlive 0.8 in Kubuntu

Kdenlive is one of the best video editors for GNU/Linux. Although being a KDE project, it is written in Qt. So unless you want to have something that's written in GTK+, this I must say again, is one of the best of its kind.

Like two days ago they updated it to the latest version which is now the 0.8... this does bring a lot of changes according to their official announcement page.

Main features in general...

*. Few GUI improvements.

*. Add/Remove multiple audio and video tracks.

*. Cut/Paste/Delete...

*. Crop, change bit-rate, etc.

*. Various effects.

*. Import from DV/DVD or single files, etc.

*. Any codec supported by FFmpeg, Kdenlive supports (means: almost all the known codecs are supported).

Although these are very few to name and I'm not an expert on video editors, so I don't understand most of those "features" on their home page either :P.

Anyhow, in Kubuntu 11.04, 10.10 and 10.04 you can easily install the Kdenlive 0.8 by issuing the below command.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:sunab/kdenlive-release
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install kdenlive

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