kramer65's questions

Years ago I used a mac with OSX and it had one feature which I really miss on Ubuntu. Let's say I had my file manager open, showing the Downloads folder. When I would then switch to the browser and download a file, and then switch back to the file manager, the new file would be out of scope because it appeared above the last file on top. The file manager in OSX would then automatically scroll up to show the new file. Currently in Ubuntu however, I have to manually scroll up before seeing the file in Nautilus.

I've been using Ubuntu for years already and I love it, but I really really miss this tiny feature because it happens multiple times per day for me.

Would anybody know whether this already exists in some form? All tips are welcome!

I'm on Ubuntu 19.10 and I'm trying to upgrade to 20.04. Unfortunately the upgrade failed with a message saying that it "possibly failed because of unofficial software packages which are not provided by Ubuntu" (translated from Dutch).

The notification suggests to use ppa-purge "to remove the software from a Launchpad PPA". It doesn't specify which PPA, so I checked the log file /var/log/dist-upgrade/20200528-1225/main.log. In there I don't see any problems though. Here's a paste of the full main.log file. I pasted the end of the log file below.

Does anybody know how I can solve this so that I can upgrade to 20.04?

2019-10-30 16:00:15,624 DEBUG Start checking for obsolete pkgs
2019-10-30 16:00:21,655 DEBUG package 'multiarch-support' produces an unwanted removal 'nextcloud-client', skipping
2019-10-30 16:00:22,705 DEBUG 'multiarch-support' scheduled for remove but not safe to remove, skipping
2019-10-30 16:00:26,392 DEBUG package 'libgnome-keyring0' produces an unwanted removal 'nextcloud-client', skipping
2019-10-30 16:00:27,797 DEBUG 'libgnome-keyring0' scheduled for remove but not safe to remove, skipping
2019-10-30 16:00:28,098 DEBUG package 'libjson-c3' produces an unwanted removal 'libisccfg160', skipping
2019-10-30 16:00:29,442 DEBUG 'libjson-c3' scheduled for remove but not safe to remove, skipping
2019-10-30 16:00:31,026 DEBUG package 'libgnome-keyring-common' produces an unwanted removal 'nextcloud-client', skipping
2019-10-30 16:00:32,251 DEBUG 'libgnome-keyring-common' scheduled for remove but not safe to remove, skipping
2019-10-30 16:00:33,215 DEBUG Finish checking for obsolete pkgs
2019-10-30 16:00:33,273 DEBUG The following packages are marked for removal: libx265-165 linux-modules-4.15.0-1056-oem liblvm2cmd2.02 libglade2-0 libjpeg-turbo-progs gir1.2-mutter-4 ifupdown libparse-debianchangelog-perl libapt-inst2.0 libobjc-8-dev libllvm8 gir1.2-clutter-1.0 libcrystalhd3 openjfx-source libgupnp-1.0-4 ubuntu-wallpapers-cosmic libgtksourceview-3.0-common libip6tc0 pppoeconf libmutter-4-0 example-content command-not-found-data libapt-pkg5.0 ubuntu-wallpapers-disco libisl19 libvpx5 linux-oem-headers-4.15.0-1056 gir1.2-clutter-gst-3.0 gnome-calculator gir1.2-cogl-1.0 libgnome-desktop-3-17 g++-8 gir1.2-gtksource-3.0 xscreensaver-data python3-evdev liblouisutdml8 liblvm2app2.2 chromium-codecs-ffmpeg-extra linux-headers-4.15.0-1056-oem libgssdp-1.0-3 linux-image-4.15.0-1056-oem libigdgmm5 libmysqlclient20 libgtksourceview-3.0-1 libhtml-template-perl gir1.2-coglpango-1.0 libebook-contacts-1.2-2 libphobos2-ldc-shared82 libtagc0 libgeos-3.7.1 pppconfig libecal-1.2-19 libpoppler85 libip4tc0 openjfx libgtkspell3-3-0 gir1.2-gtkclutter-1.0 libreoffice-avmedia-backend-gstreamer libdouble-conversion1
2019-10-30 16:01:14,154 INFO cache.commit()
2019-10-30 16:01:34,131 DEBUG quirks: running PostCleanup
2019-10-30 16:01:34,131 DEBUG running Quirks.PostCleanup
2019-10-30 16:01:34,132 DEBUG Running PostInstallScript: './xorg_fix_proprietary.py'

I'm on Ubuntu 18.04 and I'm able to setup a wifi hotspot in the UI (as described for example here) which works perfectly. I now want to change the SSID and the password of the hotspot. I tried doing this using the UI which you get when running nm-connection-editor. Changing the password works, but somehow the SSID is reverted to the default name (librem) after starting the hotspot again.

I confirmed this by looking at the file /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/Hotspot. I manually changed the ssid in that file to myawesomehotspot. I then rebooted the whole machine to make sure the default name isn't cached anywhere. And then I enabled the hotspot in the wifi settings screen again. Upon checking, the ssid in the file /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/Hotspot was changed/overwritten with the default name librem again (the file datetime also showed that it was rewritten).

Why does opening the hotspot overwrite the ssid? Where does this name come from? And how can I permanently rename the hotspot? All tips are welcome!

[EDIT]

The outputs as asked by @Marmayogi in the comments:

$ nmcli device
DEVICE           TYPE      STATE      CONNECTION      
wlp1s0           wifi      connected  Hotspot         
br-63805314ad4c  bridge    connected  br-63805314ad4c 
docker0          bridge    connected  docker0         
lo               loopback  unmanaged  --              

$ networkctl status
WARNING: systemd-networkd is not running, output will be incomplete.

●        State: n/a
       Address: 10.42.0.1 on wlp1s0
                172.18.0.1 on br-63805314ad4c
                172.17.0.1 on docker0
                fe80::fa30:17ec:448:579a on wlp1s0

$ sudo lshw -short -class network
H/W path                 Device           Class          Description
====================================================================
/0/100/1c/0              wlp1s0           network        AR9462 Wireless Network Adapter
/1                       docker0          network        Ethernet interface
/2                       br-63805314ad4c  network        Ethernet interface

$ ls -l /etc/resolv.conf
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 39 Mar 11  2018 /etc/resolv.conf -> ../run/systemd/resolve/stub-resolv.conf

I've got an openvpn connection set up, which I basically always need to use. Is there a way to always make it connect whenever there is an internet connection?

I'm trying to install an openvpn connection on my Ubuntu 18.04 laptop.

From my openvpn provider I got a username/password and a zip containing three files:

myvpn.openvpn
myvpn.p12
myvpn.key

The myvpn.openvpn file looks like this (just replaced the ip address by stars):

dev tun
persist-tun
persist-key
cipher AES-256-CBC
auth SHA1
tls-client
client
resolv-retry infinite
remote ***.***.***.*2 1194 udp
verify-x509-name "MyVPN" name
auth-user-pass
pkcs12 myvpn.p12
tls-auth myvpn.key 1
remote-cert-tls server
redirect-gateway def1

I tried connecting from the command line, which works perfectly fine using

sudo openvpn --config myvpn.ovpn

But since I need to connect to this vpn all the time I want to be able to do it using the GUI. So I'm trying to follow this guide on askubuntu, but it doesn't behave like in the screenshots. When I try to add a new vpn connection in the gui and select the option to "Import from file" and select the .openvpn file it automatically sets things up like this (UI is in Dutch, but I guess most of it should be understandable for English speakers):

The first thing that I noticed is that it selects the .p12 file for the CA-Cert, the User Cert and the User Private Key. Next to that it asks for a username and password (which I have), but also for a "Password User Key" (the last input field) of which I have no clue what it is. I tried various combinations, but I always get the same error (also translated from Dutch):

Activation of network connection failed

I guess the variation which comes closest to the command line option is this one:

But that gives the same error.

Then there's also the button "Advanced..". Opening that scared the shit out of me. I simply have no idea where to begin in there.

Does anybody know how I can get this working somehow? Why is the command line option working perfectly, but is the UI so hard to get going? All tips are welcome!

I was using Gnome on PureOS for a month or so, but now I'm back on Ubuntu 18.04. The thing I loved in PureOS is that I could do calculations in the Gnome search bar. But when I type any calculations (1+2) in the gnome search bar I see no results (it says "No results" in Dutch):

I tried this gnome extension and it's enabled in Gnome tweak tool as you can see below, but I see no results (I rebooted to be sure).

Does anybody know how I can activate calculations in the Gnome search bar?

When I'm in a text in any program (browser, text editer, IDE) I can delete 3 words by holding Ctrl and pressing Backspace 3 times.

This works perfectly in all programs, except for the terminal. In the terminal Ctrl+Backspace simply deletes one letter, and I need Alt+Backspace to delete whole words.

Since I constantly switch between the terminal and other programs this is really annoying.

I tried the tip I found here (creating ~/.inputrc containing "\C-?":"\C-W") but that doesn't work for me. Now it deletes the whole word when I just press Backspace, but Ctrl+Backspace still just removes one letter.

Does anybody know how I can change this behaviour so that Ctrl+Backspace deletes the word left of the cursor? All tips are welcome!

When I have for example two Nautilus windows open, and I click the icon in the dock on the left it shows me the preview of the two windows. I then need make a decision which one I need before it shows the window to me.

Can I make it work so that when I click the icon it simply shows all the open windows? All tips are welcome!

I'm on Ubuntu 18.04 / GNOME.

I've been using Ubuntu 18.04 for about 3 days now and so far it runs smoothly. I now need to install a VPN for my work, and I got the following files from the sysadmin:

• ca.crt
• VPNConfig.ovpn

I first ran sudo apt install openvpn. After that I wanted to install it using the GUI. So I went to the settings app and under "Network" I tried adding a new VPN. It gives the option to "Import from a file". So I selected the VPNConfig.ovpn file, but it says it can't import the file. I also tried importing the ca.crt file and importing the zip in which the two files came, but that didn't work either.

Could anybody help me out as to how I can make this VPN work?

For my work I constantly need to unzip zip-archives. I know I can right-click and select "Extract here", but since I do this a lot, this is becoming annoying.

Is there a way to set the default action when double clicking a zip (or any other archive) to "Extract here"?

All tips are welcome!

For a week I've now started using Ubuntu on my laptop as my main OS for work. Sometimes my laptop battery is finished, so it get's powered off. I'm not sure whether it does so in a somewhat graceful way, or that the power is simply cut.

When this happens, and I start it again after reconnecting the power it starts up afresh, without anything open. Is there a possibility to auto reopen all programs that I had open?

I've got Ubuntu installed with Dutch as my language. I often work in the terminal and many of the outputs are in Dutch as well. This is very inconvenient though, because I often need to search for error messages I get, and on the interwebs error messages are unfortunately easier found in English than in Dutch.

Is there a way to have all terminal output in English, while all GUI's are in Dutch?

All tips are welcome!

I recently installed the native Linux Spotify client on my Ubuntu 14.04, which works like a charm. The only thing that really really annoys me is that I get a notification for each new song that starts (so every couple minutes) which totally disturbes me in my work.

There doesn't seem to be an option to hide the notifications in the Spotify client, so I tried looking for a solution to disable notifications for a specific application. Searching around brought me to this AskUbuntu answer, but that only deals with changing colors of the notification or completely disabling them.

So my question; does anybody know of an application that can disable notifications for a specific application? All tips are welcome!

If I remember correctly, Nautilus would let me expand folders when they where in a listview. It used to have little triangles which you could click to expand the contents of that folder:

Kind of like how it is on Mac OSX as well:

But with the current version of Nautilus in 14.04, I don't see that option anymore. Does anybody know how I can get it back? All tips are welcome!

Using this deployment tutorial, I'm trying to get an Ubuntu 12.04 server up and running with Flask, uWSGI and Nginx. I now have trouble getting Nginx to run. When I try to (re)start nginx it simply says ...fail!, and when I run a test (using sudo nginx -t), it says:

nginx: [emerg] unknown directive "uwsgi_param" in /etc/nginx/uwsgi_params:1
nginx: configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf test failed

I didn't change anything in that file, so its contents are the default ones:

uwsgi_param     QUERY_STRING            $query_string;
uwsgi_param     REQUEST_METHOD          $request_method;
uwsgi_param     CONTENT_TYPE            $content_type;
uwsgi_param     CONTENT_LENGTH          $content_length;

uwsgi_param     REQUEST_URI             $request_uri;
uwsgi_param     PATH_INFO               $document_uri;
uwsgi_param     DOCUMENT_ROOT           $document_root;
uwsgi_param     SERVER_PROTOCOL         $server_protocol;
uwsgi_param     UWSGI_SCHEME            $scheme;

uwsgi_param     REMOTE_ADDR             $remote_addr;
uwsgi_param     REMOTE_PORT             $remote_port;
uwsgi_param     SERVER_PORT             $server_port;
uwsgi_param     SERVER_NAME             $server_name;

My server definition in /etc/nginx/sites-available/www looks like this:

server {
    listen 8080;
    server_name myapp;

    root /var/www/myapp;
    try_files $uri @uwsgi;
    location @uwsgi {
        include uwsgi_params;
        uwsgi_pass unix:/tmp/myapp.sock;
    }
}

Does anybody know what I'm doing wrong here? Why doesn't this run? All tips are welcome!

To learn some server management I just created a new Ubuntu 12.04 server. Since I only had a root account I created a new user with adduser kramer65. I then switched to that user using su kramer65. I now want to run screen, so I typed screen and hit enter, after which I'm presented with this line:

Cannot open your terminal '/dev/pts/1' - please check.

And here I'm lost. Why doesn't it open screen, and what should I do with the very helpful tip "please check"?

All tips are welcome!

Sometimes I quickly want to view the contents of a file from the command line. For this I of course use cat, but it is often source files in Python, Java or simple HTML. For these files it would be handy if cat could give some color markup to the files, so that it reads more easy.

Can cat do such a thing?

I want to download a large file through bittorrent on my server. For doing this, I downloaded the transmission command line client and the relevant .torrent file on the server, and then I run the following command:

./transmission-remote-cli the_torrent_file.torrent

but I get the following error:

EXECUTING:
transmission-remote localhost:9091 -a the_torrent_file.torrent
RESPONSE:
Could not execute the above command: [Errno 2] No such file or directory

I know 100% sure that the_torrent_file.torrent exists in the present directory (I even finished it by hitting tab). So which file or directory does not exist?

Any tips on downloading the torrent from the command line are very welcome!

I'm trying to install bitcoind by simply doing sudo apt-get install bitcoind, but I get this error saying that the following packages could not be authenticated:

libdb5.1++ libcrypto++9 bitcoind

I can simply install them without authenticating them, but since this program may handle money, I would like them to be the correct ones. So I found this solution here on AskUbuntu, which suggests to do the following:

$ sudo apt-key update
$ sudo apt-get update

After the first command, it lists four keys of which it says that all remain unchanged. The second command simply does the usual, but it ends with a message saying that there was a GPG-error. After some blabla, it then says that the following signatures are invalid (freely translated from Dutch):

BADSIG 16126D3A3E5C1192 Ubuntu Extras Archive Automatic Signing Key <[email protected]>
BADSIG 40976EAF437D05B5 Ubuntu Archive Automatic Signing Key <[email protected]>

And the following signatures could not be verified because the public key is not available:

NO_PUBKEY 1F968B3903D886E7

And the following sugnatures were invalid:

BADSIG E585066A30C18A2B Opera Software Archive Automatic Signing Key 2013 <[email protected]>

And that getting stuff from the following address has failed:

 http://extras.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise/Release

Does anybody know what I can do to solve this?

For some projects I often type in a couple commands, like for example:

cd an/extremely/long/path/in/which/I/have/some/kinda/project

and

./runmyproject --with some --command line --options set

Seeing that I'm pretty lazy I try to avoid typing those commands in full again and again. So I can of course use the up-key a lot to find back those commands, but often, I also have so many commands in between, that searching for it takes even more time than just typing it.

I now wonder if there is some kind of utility that can suggest a full command which I use a lot, when I haven't typed all of it yet. So that I can for example type 'cd an/' and that it already suggests the rest of the path because I've used it so much the past month.

I did find something called Bash Smart Complete. But that is a little "dumb" in that it doesn't look at the commands I used before. I just also found this SO answer, which suggests putting the commands I use a lot in a file. That however, is not responsive enough in that I would need to create a new file for it every time I start new projects or change folders or program arguments.

Does anybody know any other utility or other way to achieve this? Or, would anybody know how I could alter the Bash Smart Complete so that it can look at the commands I used in say the past month and complete the command which fits and has been used the most in the past month?

[EDIT] Below are some really great answers. I haven marked any as a definite answer yet. Not because I do not like the answers, I do, but because none of them is an absolute winner. I think the Finalterm is a great project. Unfortunately it is still rather rough around the edges. For example; it doesn't support copy-paste yet. I would keep on eye on that project though, because when it will mature I think it'll be a great terminal app. As for the other answers; they either suggested creating an alias, which is not what I want to do because it creates extra work instead of taking work away, or using Ctrl+R, which is a brilliant (I didn't know about it!). A couple of people suggested using Ctrl+R, so I can't really highlight one answer over the other.

So for now I am definitely using Ctrl+R, and in the future I might use Finalterm.

Thanks for all the great answers guys!