Luke's Ubuntu and Linux Hacks

 I cannot survive (well, at least, I cannot do what I want and need to do) without Okular, the neat little pdf reader and more. So, I was quite distressed when I tried to launch it this morning and not only did it not launch, my Favorites icon was gone. I searched the (pretty much worthless) Ubuntu and linux forums seven ways from sundown, but was unable to find a solution. However, in all my searching, head-scratching and trying different things from the command line, I finally determined this. (Bear in mind, too, that after I install a program and use it for a year or so, I don't recall whether I installed it from Ubuntu Software, Gnome Software, Snapd or Flatpak.) First, I determined that there is no "native" Okular package in Ubuntu software. The program available in Ubuntu Software is a snapd package. So I went to the Terminal and entered: snap list and sure enough there were two Snap versions of Okular installed.  So I opened a terminal and tried to run Okular from...

I have been using Ubuntu Linux as my favorite, and only, Operating System (OS) for more than eight years now, and I will never go back to Windows. I don't dual-boot to Windows, and I don't subscribe to Office365, which has not been a problem for me, even when I worked for organizations that were Windows-centric.  Having said as much, I must say that I have never used the "forums" argument when singing the praises of Ubuntu and Linux or trying to convince others to go all-in on Linux as an everyday and ONLY Operating System. Why? Precisely because I have been using Ubuntu Linux for eight years and have learned that for the average computer user, especially for Windows converts (and aren't we all?), Help Forums suck.  I will elaborate: Dumb questions . Yes, Virginia, there are such things as "dumb questions." For the most part, those who ask dumb questions are not dumb, but many of them are ignorant, in the sense that they are neither programmers or exper...

Be sure to check out our related post, "Convert PDF-image Files to Text." Click the "convert" label on this post . Undoubtedly, the Pay to Play programs often are the quickest, easiest and most efficient way to convert pdf files to text files such as MS Word or LibreOffice Writer. But we're not playing in a Windows or Mac environment, and we don't like to pay for stuff. So here are a few other ways to convert pdf files without paying for a program and without resorting to using Wine, dual-booting or any of that other Windows-centric stuff we detest. Converting an OCR or "Readable" pdf File to Text That means that the pdf file is not an image file. How can you tell if a pdf file is a pdf-text or a pdf-image file? Simple. If you can use your cursor to highlight words or sentences in the pdf file--especially if you can invoke the Copy-Paste function--it is most likely a pdf-text file. If not, it is probably a pdf-image file. PDF-Text Files Once I have...

I googled "Open Microsoft Publisher Files in Linux." You should not make the same mistake. After poring over dozens of suggestions, speculations and "solutions" (most of which were not really solutions), here's what we concluded. Use Scribus or LibreOffice Draw to view or open .pub files.  Use Scribus if you need to open a publisher file and edit or create a new Publisher-compatible file. Use either program if all you want to do is view the file, and use either program if you need to convert the .pub file to .pdf (use File, Export in each of the programs). As with virtually all of our recommendations, we don't get into the Wine or dual-boot-to-Window discussions as a solution.