If you are fan of command line like me and agree that in many situations it’s better/easier to use terminal than graphical interface, you should try terminal plugin for nautilus file manager. This smart plugin makes it possible to open popup terminal in any directory you opened in nautilus and use it for file manipulations or anything you want. If you still don’t have it installed you definitely should.

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This is a quick tip showing how to move window controls in your Ubuntu from left to right… Just execute the following command in Terminal to change controls position:

gconftool-2 --type string --set /apps/metacity/general/button_layout "menu:minimize,maximize,close"

If you ever decide to revert to default window controls position (left) type the following command:

gconftool-2 --type string --set /apps/metacity/general/button_layout "close,maximize,minimize:menu"

Ubuntu newbie? Wondering where is something like Windows XP task manager in Ubuntu? See below how to assign Ctrl + Alt + Del keyboard combination for Gnome System Monitor! It makes it possible to see list of running processes, cpu/memory utilization and related stuff by pressing Ctrl + Alt + Del.

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You can find literally hundreds GDM/Logon themes around the web if you type “gdm themes ubuntu” in Google. At the same time I’ve organized links to the most interesting Ubuntu GDM themes in this multi-page post so you are welcome to navigate between its pages using links above. If you wish to share something here — just contact me via e-mail and your theme will appear here shortly.

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Pidgin is multi-platform and multi-protocol chat client software that makes it possible to keep all contacts in one place and talk to GTalk, MSN, Yahoo, ICQ etc. buddies using one application. Honestly speaking I found it literally the best application for my IM communication purposes and my choice was just double-confirmed as now Pidgin allows to add also Skype and Facebook contacts and communicate with them! See below how to enable this under Ubuntu (no matter Lucid or Maverick).

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When I was Windows user it was natural to use Windows Key to open main menu so when it became time to switch to Ubuntu (I also tried other Linux distros as primary OSes for my dektop) it felt little bit frustrating Windows Key is useless there. Below is the one-line command to bind your windows key to Gnome menu (Ubuntu main menu). Hope this would be appreciated by other users who ever though about this “problem”.

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Today it was announced that the latest version of Shotwell 0.7.1 has been released. Shotwell is smart digital photo organizer for Gnome environment. In general it brings a lot of common features like importing photos from digital camera, non-destructive image editing, rotate-mirror-crop and many-many more other handy features.

The latest Shotwell version fixes multiple bugs, has improved translation languages and in general looks more attractive than previous versions. It is available either as tarball or through PPA. If you run Ubuntu Lucid Lynx or Maverik Meerkat you can install Shotwell 0.7.1 in a few quick terminal commands:

Lucid Lynx:

sudo bash -c "echo 'deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/yorba/ppa/ubuntu lucid main' >> /etc/apt/sources.list"
sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys E549B1AC
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install shotwell -y

Maverik Meerkat:

sudo bash -c "echo 'deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/yorba/ppa/ubuntu maverik main' >> /etc/apt/sources.list"
sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys E549B1AC
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install shotwell -y

Once the installation is finished you will see Shotwell Photo Manager link in Graphics section of Ubuntu main menu.

Get Things Gnome or simply GTG is Ubuntu organizer for Gnome desktop environment that is focused on usability and ease of use. GTG is written in Python and thus is smart in comparison to other heavy organization tools like Mozilla’s Sunbird. If you need light and handy todo-manager Get Things Gnome is for you.

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There are thousands of Ubuntu appearance themes around the web. So in this post I tried to present you the most interesting and sometimes even amazing Gnome themes for your Ubuntu. The post is multi-page — navigate between its pages using links above. If you can share some theme and wish it is published here — just contact me and it’ll appear here shortly.

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