Getdeb is a really cool open source software catalog which allows one-click installation on Ubuntu Linux systems. This is a good place to check when you want to install a Linux program, but it is archived in non-deb format. You may find the same software here and install it more easily.
- Picasa 3.0 for Linux
To report problems, go to http://groups.google.com/group/Google-Labs-Picasa-for-Linux.
Using the Testing Repository
Using the Testing Repository is just like using the regular Google repositories; just replace the word "stable" with "testing" in the repository path.
Note: The Testing Repository is meant to supplement the regular Google repositories. If you want access to all the available software, you must include both the testing and regular repositories in your package manager configuration.
For instance, to configure Apt, you would add the following lines to your configuration file:
# Google repository
deb http://dl.google.com/linux/deb/ stable non-free # Google testing repository
deb http://dl.google.com/linux/deb/ testing non-freeNote that you also need to follow the other steps specified in the regular repository configuration guides, such as importing the Google package signing key.
Then, for example, you can install the latest test version of Picasa by doing:sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install picasa
Ubuntu 9.04 comes with a very powerful digital photo editor called GIMP. GIMP is comparable to Adobe Photoshop in its feature set. However, sometimes you might just want to do quicker, simpler edits like crop, resize, red-eye removal, auto-adjust, etc. For such tasks, Picasa is easier to use. Above are the instructions to install Picasa 3 in a way which will enable auto-updates. This is the best practice when installing Linux software.
Actually, rather than editing your configuration file, it's even simpler if you go to System > Software Sources > Third party Software then click the "Add" button, paste the first deb line, etc.
Then copy the text from the package signing key, paste it into text editor and save with a name like Google_PGP_Key. Then click Authentication > Import Key File, navigate to the file you just saved, and select it. You should now see an entry that says "Google, Inc. Linux Package Signing Key." Then you can run the apt-get commands in the Terminal. Now you have Picasa 3, with auto-updates - yay!
I installed Dropbox in Ubuntu 9.04 so I could access my files in the cloud. The process was kind of a hassle, because of a few details which were not well-documented. There are a couple of approaches you can take. You can download the .deb package and then double-click it to install. This works, but you won't get automatic updates through Synaptic. I decided to add the 3rd-party Software Source and Key, so that I can get automatic updates. The procedure goes like so: open System > Administration > Software Sources, go to the Third-Party Software tab, click Add, then paste in:
deb http://linux.getdropbox.com/ubuntu jaunty main then do the same thing withdeb-src http://linux.getdropbox.com/ubuntu jaunty main Exit the window. Don't worry about the warning message. Then go to Terminal and pastegpg --keyserver pgp.mit.edu --recv-keys 3565780E then hit Enter. This will import the keys to authenticate the PPA. Then type apt-get update and hit Enter, this will refresh the package list. Next, type sudo apt-get install nautilus-dropbox and hit Enter. This will actually install the application. After it's installed, typedropbox start -i
to start Dropbox. You may have to logout then back in first. I have found that the Dropbox app does not automatically start on startup, so instead of opening the Terminal every time, I created app launcher by right-clicking on the desktop and selecting "Create Launcher." Enter the command above and you are good to go.
