New to Trisquel :)

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mattpub
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Joined: 04/13/2015

Hello Trisquel community,

I recently switched to Trisquel after have been with windows for so many years. I don't have much knowledge in computers but very interested in using gnu/linux and free software.
Unfortunately I encountered many problems with Trisquel 7 that I didn't have when I tried Trisquel with version 5.5 for example build essentials.. I am sure there is an answer somewhere, but at my level with basic Linux training from Eli the computer guy (youtube channel) I do not know what to do. We need build essentials to actually install build essentials. Unfortunately I could not find it in the add/remove manager manager.
My second encounter with a problem was that I couldn't uninstall anything from the add/remove manager without it freezing, by freezing I mean the program freezes, I can still close it and be good.
My second problem is the worse, if I ever have the misfortune to select something, I cannot deselect it and my left mouse button does not work anymore.. no way to get it to work again.

Any tips people ?

Hdesmi
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Joined: 04/11/2015

I think you should ask questions one per message. Search in the forums first.

About your uninstall problem, is your Trisquel installed to a HDD ?

About the mouse issue, give more details (is it a laptop ? mouse brand and model ?)

lembas
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Joined: 05/13/2010

Hi and welcome!

Sounds like what you want is the build-essential package.

mattpub
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Joined: 04/13/2015

Yes I want the build essential packages but I do not have internet and the downloadable version come in .deb or .tar.gz which I cannot install because I do not have build essential.
About the mouse, I have tried with 2 different mouses. I cannot rely on my laptop mouse seeing as the left button has been broken for years. But I use a cheap Hello Kitty mouse and a Logitech LS1 mouse. But why would it wait for me to select something before not working if it's a mouse problem ? I am forced to belief there is a problem with the mouse.. if it were Trisquel I think people might have noticed. I could be a driver problem seeing how everything ran smoothly on the virtualbox.

Yes Trisquel was installed to a hdd (Will be switching back to Trisquel when I get my new computer which will have ssd). Not being able to uninstall the software really is what I found the strangest.

onpon4
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Joined: 05/30/2012

Regarding trouble with Add/Remove Applications (its real name is "gnome-app-install"): I suggest you use Synaptic when you have those problems. You can find it in System Settings.

As for not having an Internet connection, you may want to try apt-offline. See this post:

https://trisquel.info/en/forum/installing-packages-without-internet-connection#comment-48959

Replace "toutatis" with "belenos". (Trisquel 6 was the latest release at the time of that post.)

Magic Banana

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+1 for the Synaptic package manager.

As for apt-offline, you can indeed follow the linked instructions but replace "toutatis" (which is Trisquel 6's code name) by "belenos" (which is Trisquel 7's code name).

And I actually doubt you want the "build-essential" package. This package aims to provide the utilities to build .deb packages.

mattpub
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Joined: 04/13/2015

Right, I for the Synaptic, I will wait and till I receive my new computer and keep you all updated. It will be in 2 weeks or so. I am glad that is off the table, thank you :)

About build-essentials I didn't make it very clear. I have unmet dependencies (almost sounds like an illness :P) with dpkg which is why I was stuck.

I don't really care for build essentials, it's just that from the documentation I found online at the time, that was the package to install if you needed to install .deb or .tar.gz files.
"Gdebi" and "apt-offline-gui" seems very practicle, I am open to anything that gets the work done. Thank you for the article, I really did not find anything on the forum when I searched for unmet dependencies or build-essentials, but if build-essentials is a non-free package, I see why.

lembas
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Joined: 05/13/2010

It's kinda assumed these days everybody has an internet connection.

build-essential (note the dash and the lack of s at the end) is required for compiling packages from source, not for a simple install. I guess the documentation you've been following isn't too useful. And build-essential, like all packages in Trisquel, is free software.

Magic Banana

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What tells you that you "have unmet dependencies with dpkg"? "build-essential" is not a dependency of 'dpkg'.

SuperTramp83

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Joined: 10/31/2014

I don't know about this Eli the computer guy. All you need to learn in order to use any debian based distro is:

aptitude search "name of the program"
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo apt-get install "name of program"
sudo apt-get remove --purge "name of program"
sudo dpkg -i "name of the .deb"

cheers!

tomlukeywood
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Joined: 12/05/2014

what about apt-get autoremove?

also all the gnucoreutils programs like ls rm cp etc

SuperTramp83

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sure tomlukey!
autoclean too!

On debian for instance learning the basics of gnucoreutils is a must. You cannot not learn how to copy or remove files and folders in Debian. example:
Just to have touchpad tap click you need to create a file 70-synaptics_custom.conf and copy that file to /usr/share/x11/xorg.conf.d

cheers cat with laptop!

mattpub
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Joined: 04/13/2015

the terminal tells me I have unmet dependencies, so I need something like build-essential to get the command to work, the unly thing is that I cannot unpack build-essential as a result.

hm sudo apt-get upgrade/update worked fine I recall. But as soon as it would be sudo apt-get install apache2 for example, then I would have unmet dependencies as it comes in a .deb package.

Thank for the purge command, I am sure that will be very handy :)

Gosh, I have so much on my plate ! Looking forward to it, my new computer arrived, so I should be able to try a few things out soon, after my exams.

Thank you all, will keep you posted :D

Magic Banana

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the terminal tells me I have unmet dependencies, so I need something like build-essential to get the command to work

No, you don't. We have already told you so. If you do not believe us, believe at least the description of the package (that can be read from 'apt-cache show build-essential' or from the "Synaptic package manager"). It starts with "If you do not plan to build Debian packages, you don't need this package".

mattpub
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I said above : "I need something like build-essential."
Build essential or something else, something that can get meet the dependancies, the only software that I know of that can meet the dependancies and that is the best I have heard so far is build-essential, that is why I am talking about it.

lembas
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So we can end the wild goose chase around build-essential here... It would be much faster if we knew from beginning what you're trying to do. :)

Packages depend on other packages. In order to find out what packages package A depends on you can use the commandapt-cache depends A

Now, note that if A depends on B, B might depend on C, which might depend on D and E... some of those might already be installed.

Try it a bit.

So now you see it might be a quite large number of dependencies. And this is where apt-offline comes in. It'll do the heavy lifting for you.

mattpub
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Thanks you very much Lembas. Everything is allot clearer in my head now :)

I have a new problem now with my new computer, 32gb ram 2400mhz, 8core 4000Mhz, 8gb graphic card. It's rather one I am so surrpised about. I experience loading that comes out of nowhere and that sometimes freezes everything, when I open synaptic sometimes, and when i type something on it, it writes it down the other way round for example. I experience seemingly unjustified loading when I perform other tasks. I guess Synaptic has so much to load which is why it's slow. Why is it so slow, it's not like it has to load at each time I type in a letter, does it ? Synaptic really is particularly slow.

tomlukeywood
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first out of interest why do you need a 8GB gpu and 32GB of ram!!??

second:

synaptic loads practically instantly on my pc:
16GB 2400Mhz 3.5GHZ 8 core integrated graphics 128GB ssd
1TB HDD

it also loads fast on my thinkpad x60
1.66ghz single core 2.25gb ram 667Mhz 500GB HDD

so this should not happen

mattpub
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I use my computer for multimedia editing :)

I does seem as it's loading each time I type in a letter, and its annoying as I need to type everything in the other way round.

got a new problem now, and haven't found anything really helpful about it, I get this error :

bash: ./configure: No such file or directory.

I am running TRisquel 7, why can't I unpack and install .tat.gz files ?

lembas
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There always isn't a configure file to run. If there is a configure.ac or configure.in present, you need to runautoconf

and then follow the normal procedure.

Besides that, always read the README.

SuperTramp83

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I does seem as it's loading each time I type in a letter, and its annoying as I need to type everything in the other way round.
there have been a lot of folks having similar issues with keyboard and most of them solved it by setting "Keyboard input method system" to `none' in the gnome-language-selector.
mao!

Dave_Hunt

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I had to remove ibus to fix my keyboard input issue with gedit.

mattpub
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Well in this case it was ubuntu custormization kit. I don't think there was any configure file, autoconfig did not work either.
I ended up transforming it into a .deb to install it with gedit, but it hasn't created a normal executable file like the other ones, they open in text editr instead. I do not know how to launch it and the other relinux, remastersys and stuff look so complicated to use and simply install. Everything is far from as simple sudo apt-get install **** allot of programs do not install that way and are even hard to find sometimes..
Do you guys know any equivalents more accesible ?

Edit : I actually did get uck to work in the end.. silly me -_- Now I just need to wait for plasma5.

mattpub
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Joined: 04/13/2015

Hey Guys, have any of you got tips on how to install Plasma 5.2 ?

Everything on the forums just don't work, no ppa's and no .debs.. what to do ?

After all that hasle.. I found that one could install it from synaptic.. still got to get used to this os :P

Thanks guys, your help has been precious and mood boosting :) It's hard switching os.

Also the loading problem in synaptic miraculously stoped this afternoon when I came back from a wedding.. Plasma is installing, looking forward to it :)

Speak to you soon guys :)

tomlukeywood
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Joined: 12/05/2014

i found a tutorial here for ubuntu 14 as trisquel is based on ubuntu 14 it should work:
http://itsfoss.com/install-kde-plasma-ubuntu-1410/

but be sure to only install packages that you trust and its
best to compile form source

i also found this on the official kde site:
https://community.kde.org/Plasma/Packages

onpon4
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Joined: 05/30/2012

Ubuntu 14.10 is not the same as Ubuntu 14.04. These are two completely different releases. Trisquel is based on Ubuntu 14.04. The instructions you linked to erroneously say "Ubuntu 14.04" at one point, but they are only for Ubuntu 14.10. (Looking at the PPA they recommend, it doesn't have any packages meant for Ubuntu 14.04 to use.)

Ubuntu's version numbers are just based on the dates they are released, not a major.minor scheme like most software packages.

Legimet
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mattpub
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No installing with ppa works. So all tutorials are useluss, it says it says, it fails to say that the tutorials are now obsolete that is all.
As to compile it from source to daunting fo a noob like me, but managed to find it via synaptic in the end, as mentioned above.

Thank you for all your answers.

hm.. I still have this problems with the tarball files.. autoconf or ./configure just do not work :( It's really a hastle having a hard time installing kde themes as a result.
KDE which isn't very practical for now. I was seduced by it's design but all the restraints are already bugging me. Do you guys know of a super gnome desktop with cool widgets ? I tend to get quite fussy when it comes to aesthetics, however it has to be functional before anything else.
I am experimenting all that with virtual machine for now, so I can revert back to gnome anytime. Not knowing what I am really doing, I think it's safer.

onpon4
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A tar file is just an archive. It's not a standard for a software package. You need to find the instructions for compiling and follow those instructions. Not everyone uses Autoconf. CMake, in particular, has become quite popular recently.

mattpub
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I understood the first time, just remember I am not a computer guy. When I am talking about installing a tar,gz is that the tar.gz containes an app. Not a collection of wallpapers or other stuff.

http://www.webupd8.org/2014/09/gnome-314-released-see-whats-new.html

How to achieve this effect with gnome, guys ?

onpon4
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Right, and there's no standard for that. At all. Asking how to install a tar.gz file is exactly as vague as asking how to install a Zip file. The archive could contain anything.

That's why you have to read the README or INSTALL or similarly named file that comes with the program. Most developers include such a file with any source distribution telling you exactly what you need to do to compile, including what dependencies you need beforehand. Again, there's no standard for this, but since people distributing programs they wrote typically want people to use it, they tend to do this.

If the documentation for compiling/installing/running a program is unclear or missing, you should probably go to the developers of the program, or a support forum or mailing list if the program has one. (Someone here could possibly help, too, but only if we know what program you're talking about.)

As for the article about GNOME 3.14 stuff, Trisquel 7 includes GNOME 3.10, not 3.14. But if you're only referring to GNOME Shell, you just need to install the gnome-session and gnome-shell packages (in Synaptic), and then "GNOME" becomes an option for a session type at the login screen.

mattpub
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Joined: 04/13/2015

Yes, Thank you about clearing it up fr the tar files :)

Don't I get my gnome upgraded when I install the latest upgrades ? I actually have gnome-shell and gnome-session already installed, I have rebooted the machine and nothing changed. It looks just the way it looks by default which is no where near the result we see in the link :(

onpon4
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> Don't I get my gnome upgraded when I install the latest upgrades ?

No, GNOME gets upgraded between releases. Otherwise the Ubuntu developers would have to deal with breakages.

> It looks just the way it looks by default which is no where near the result we see in the link :(

You need to select "GNOME" as your session when you log in. The session menu is an icon just above where you type your password.

mattpub
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oh sorry, I forgot to mention, I don't type my password with gnome :P going to try to fix it.
ok, took me 5 minutes to figure it out but I have achieved what I want :)
Will be back with further questions a little later :D

Thank you so much for the custormized topic :D Allowing me to get so much answers :) ! I am happy with the progress I have made with learning Trisquel these past days :D

mattpub
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Hey guys, stupid question of the day : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jb8vyUGE9-k

What is the thingy on the left of this video where he stores all his apps called ? Can we have several of them?

What is your favorite widgets for apps on gnome ? I am actually really liking gnome after all that :D
Also what app would we need if we would want to tweak things in gnome ? Let's say I want to rename Activities into something else, for example. Just for future reference :)

Magic Banana

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What you are showing us is Unity. Not GNOME Shell. That said, GNOME has a dash too (that is how it is called). In its overview mode. You can learn some effective tips on this page: http://wiki.gnome.org/GnomeShell/CheatSheet

Notice also that many extensions are available for GNOME Shell and can modify it in a drastic way (or not): http://extensions.gnome.org/

mattpub
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oh they look so much alike, I thought it was unity.
Thank you so much for the clarifications and the answers :) lol a Dash, ok it's registered :D I hope I will be able to find some nice extensions to suit my needs :)
Will keep you updated :D

mattpub
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Guys, How do we remove the Trisquel logo from the Gnome login screen ?

SuperTramp83

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..but..but...why?

tomlukeywood
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theres a program called gdm(gnome display manager e.g the login screen)setup

gdmsetup lets you customize your gdm

its under gpl v2 and heres a link:
https://github.com/Nano77/gdm3setup

onpon4
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Trisquel uses LightDM by default, not GDM. (You can install GDM, though, through the gdm package. Actually a good idea if you're going to use GNOME Shell, because it causes screen locking to work a bit better and makes the "lock screen" button show up.)

Magic Banana

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Thank you onpon4. :-)

mattpub
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@SuperTramp Because I am fussy and perfectionist :P

Thank you Tom, I will check it out :)

mattpub
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Guys, actually I just remembered a question I have wanted to ask for a long time. Why can't we tab folders ? woudn't it be more practical than having 4 folders open at the same time ??
Is there an extension out there to tab folders ?

tomlukeywood
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you can right click on a folder and select open in new tab

onpon4
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Or just middle-click it.

mattpub
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Thank you guys, a dream come true :) !

hm I have a question, I have found a theme I am very happy with but it is missing the reduce and resize button. Also if they were let's say to be on the left instead of on the right, how would I change that ? and how do I change there color or them and the color of theme when I slide the mouse over them ?

hm about the gdm, I forgot to mention I am talking about lightdm, how do I make the Trisquel logo dissapear from the lightdm screen please ? :)

hack and hack
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Joined: 04/02/2015

Hi,

this might help with lightDM:
http://helpdeskgeek.com/how-to/change-the-default-lightdm-background-image-in-ubuntu/

about modifying a window theme, it can be more or less complicated depending on the theme.
About changing the colors, or changing the icons, I think it's mostly about finding the concerned files/paths.
There should be some sort of config file.

cantor
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Joined: 04/08/2015

you have a personal problem with the trisquel's logo ehehe why? It's nice :)
Anyway for panel resize and colour right click on panel and choose property and you'll find everything there

mattpub
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I am a designer in real life, I like to have the aesthetics to suit my style and vision. It's frustrating when using a beautiful zen background to have this logo on it :P
I cannot find a property button and when I am only talking about the minimize, maxime and close button of a window, only the close appears. So I want to make the minimize and maximize appear and change there color :)

cantor
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Joined: 04/08/2015

I'm a musician and I've the same problem with audio in everything ehehe now I understand what you say :-)