Ceci est une ancienne révision du document !
Welcome back to another edition of Questions and Answers! In this section we will endeavour to answer your Ubuntu questions. Be sure to add details of the version of your operating system and your hardware. I will try to remove any personally identifiable strings from questions, but it is best not to include things like serial numbers, UUIDs, or IP addresses. If your question does not appear immediately, it is just because there is such a lot, and I do them, first-come-first-served.
Guys, I only have access to my old Telegram account via one old laptop, the new “owner” of the phone must have done something, so if I do not get back to you immediately, find me on the FCM telegram group.
There is nothing as frustrating as a government employee telling you that they cannot assist you know because the “computers are down” and then proceeds to play solitaire. Would you believe that a Monkey-pality did a trial run of Ubuntu on their machines as they were using Red Hat mail servers that were running for almost 15 years that were never rebooted? The staff rejected the OS as being “too hard to learn” on the questionnaire after the trial run. Whilst in the office one day repairing a machine, I overheard them talking in the break room, how they all got together and rejected the idea as there was no solitaire installed. Yes, it blew my mind too, as I was looking forward to them running Hardy Heron (I think it was) at the time. This is always what comes to mind when I hear about places like Munich switching to Linux, then rejecting it again. (It also has NOTHING to do with all the crappy Microsoft merchandise that keeps getting handed out, I’m sure!).
Q: On Jammy, I ran sudo apt autoremove and cleaned my PC with Stacer. I broke bluemail. How can I know if it is safe in the future, and how can I know what it removed? I am really nervous now as this has never happened to me before with Linux.
A: If you do not use Chrome/Chromium based browsers, it probably killed that – because bluemail is Chromium based. Just re-run the installer and you should be good. If you need confirmation of the reason, navigate to /var/lib/systemd/coredump/ and look for bluemail in the filename. The apps in Linux are generally safe, but they come with no warranty.
Q: I just saw oracle had official vagrant images on their site for unbreakable, but isn’t vagrant dead?
A: I had a look now and I see no new images on their hub; however, it still works just fine and you can create your own images where Vagrant can still save you lots of time. There are updates on the blog (https://www.hashicorp.com/blog), and their github is still very active (https://github.com/hashicorp/vagrant).
Q: Whenever I close my laptop, I notice when I open it, that it didn’t shut down, but asks for a password? Sorta dangerous in one’s backpack. Do you think it has anything to do with ‘light locker’? Which, btw, has no real settings.
A: Light locker is a Mint application as far as I know and though Ubuntu and Mint share a common backbone, the deb’s are not 100% interchangeable. I suggest you not do that unless you have 100% confidence in your abilities.
Q: In XFCE, I cannot add or remove items from my session and startup. Any changes I make are immediately reverted on reboot. I can’t find an answer on google as to why, but I realise that I may be asking the wrong question as google is as dumb as mud if you don’t say the right thing, English being my second language probably does not help either.
A: English is not mine either, but here we are. There is an ‘.config/autostart/’ folder you need the right permissions for, in your home folder. Sometimes it gets owned by root (maybe some software changes it), so use chown to make it your user’s folder.
Q: I just can’t get VLC to run on Jammy since updating to the latest version, it doesn’t show the main window any more. Could you please assist here?
A: A good way to fault find, is usually to start the application via the terminal; it will tell you what is wrong as output. I had a similar issue before, where a skin was causing the issue. If you are using custom skins, rename the skins folder, create an empty one, and try again.
Q: What is the best way to record my terminal?
A: Best is subjective, but if it is size and speed you value, I’d suggest asciinema; https://asciinema.org/
Q: On my Mac, I can grab stupid DRM videos with cmd+shift+5; how do I do that on Xubuntu?
A: Yes DRM video is extremely stupid. Unfortunately, that is not baked into Ubuntu as far as I know, but you can use a tool like ‘simple screen recorder’, without a problem.
Q: What is the main cause of slow OS when running from USB thumb drive?
A: Slow USB thumb drives? I run NomadBSD from a fast USB-3 drive in a USB-3 port and it is fine, but I see the difference immediately on an old laptop, with USB-2 ports and limited RAM.
Q: What is the best way to bulk rename files for downloaded series on Deepin, please?
A: Deepin is no longer based on Ubuntu.
Q: I made a boo-boo in my sudoers file to the point where I can no longer run anything with sudo. What can I do now except reinstall?
A: No need to panic, use pkexec visudo and fix that file.
Q: Thanks for your help, my 'temporary failure in name resolution’ was not due to any error in Ubuntu, it turned out that I had a faulty SFP in my router.
A: You are most welcome.
Q: What does journalctl -xef do? They asked me to run this in a forum, but I don’t quite trust randoms. Ubuntu 22.04, 8GB memory, 480GB SSD.
A: You can educate yourself here, it is a good opportunity! See: https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-use-journalctl-to-view-and-manipulate-systemd-logs
Q: I installed Code::blocks for school on our old home computer, but it looks ugly and the tabs are too glossy. Is there a way to fix that?
A: I’m not sure, it could be something in your theme overriding it, you never told me what flavour of Ubuntu you are using (this makes a difference).
You can try settings → Environments → Notebooks appearance, then on the first dropdown, choose simple tabs?
Q: So, I’m new to Ubuntu and struggling with the command-line a bit. I’m missing something on install, I think, but I’m missing the installer to install, if that makes sense. I run sudo pacman -Syu and it fails.
A: OK, when someone sends you to the Arch documentation, it is because it is well written. You are only supposed to read them, not copy commands from them. Pacman is an Arch package manager, on Ubuntu we use apt, or apt-get (it’s really easy, eg; sudo apt update). Here is an exhaustive list of ways to install software on Ubuntu: https://askubuntu.com/questions/307280/how-do-i-install-applications-in-ubuntu
Q: Lubuntu is my poison, but yt-dlp is not working. I know it is python related and get this instead of a version: python -v Command 'python' not found, did you mean: command 'python3' from deb python3 command 'python' from deb python-is-python3
A: If that clue was a snake, it would have bitten you. Try:
sudo apt install python-is-python3
reboot, and try again.
Q: Can I run Kubuntu on this: https://www.takealot.com/lenovo-ideapad-3-15-6-fhd-celeron-portland-15-6-slim-laptop-back/PLID91603724 please?
A: Yes, but I would not. Rather save your Christmas money and get something with upgradeable RAM, your future self will be very happy you did. Soldering memory to the mainboard is just bad news, forcing you to upgrade in a year-or-so’s time. If that memory should fail in 7 months, you need to buy a whole new laptop as that is usually the lowest quality memory they can find.
Q: Is there any reason to choose Chromium over Chrome for Ubuntu Budgie?
A: It all comes down to your preferences, Chromium does not automatically sign you into websites with your Google account, so you will get less spam, it also will open multiple windows in one if the website / application supports it, for instance. This helps cut down on lots of tabs for the same page. It also does not update every day. See: https://itsfoss.com/chrome-vs-chromium/
Q: My laptop would last like 30 min before just turning off. I thought it may be fixed in Ubuntu 22.10, but it still runs for only 30 min, and the battery still shows half way. TLP does nothing, I have tried it too. <removed>
A: Usually that indicates a bad cell in your battery or a faulty battery controller (circuit board inside the battery). If your machine is still under warranty, have it replaced, or get another battery yourself.
Merry Christmas everyone!