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Saturday, April 30, 2011



Déjà Dup: a Simple Backup Solution for Linux

Posted: 30 Apr 2011 08:40 AM PDT

Déjà Dup is a simple, easy to use GNOME-based backup solution for Linux. Despite its simplicity, the software comes with some fine features such as encryption, off-site backup, and more. It is also bundled with several key functionalities such as integration with Amazon's EC2 and its capability to setup an automated backup to a remote Linux server using protocols such as SSH. Let's take a closer look at some of the features that Déjà Dup has to offer.


Installation:

If you are using Ubuntu Linux, the installation process is quite simple. You need to add a repository, refresh the sources, and begin the installation using apt-get.

Add the repository:

# sudo add-apt-repository ppa:deja-dup-team/ppa
Open the sources.list file...
# sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list
then add the following entries at the bottom of the document:

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/deja-dup-team/ppa/ubuntu karmic main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/deja-dup-team/ppa/ubuntu karmic main
Now refresh your apt sources:

# sudo apt-get update
And then complete the installation with the following command:

# sudo apt-get install deja-dup
Although the repositories that you add will differ between versions of Ubuntu Linux, the process remains the same. Voila, your installation should now be complete.

If you are using a different flavor of Linux, you might need to look up the documentation related to it to see how you can get the latest version of Déjà Dup installed on your computer.


Launch Déjà Dup:

Once your installation is complete you can launch Déjà Dup from the Applications menu. It should usually be located under the Applications -> Accessories in your menu. Upon first launch, you will immediately notice a simple, clean user interface with just two buttons on it - Restore and Backup. This is something that I particularly like about this backup tool. As a user, having limited options in the main window make mistakes less likely.


The Setup:

If you click on Edit -> Preferences, you will be able to set up things such as your remote server or EC2 account. This will launch a wizard that guide you through the necessary steps as you go about setting up your backup procedure. Other than a local backup, the tool offers you a number of other backup options such as Amazon EC2, FTP, Windows shares, WebDAV, and SSH.

This range of options is very useful. Also, the simplicity with which it has been implemented and presented makes it easy to use for novice users. During this setup you can define which parts of your system you want backed up, which backup system you want to use, whether or not you want to use encryption, and more.


Bringing It All Back:

An important part of the backup tool Déjà Dup is the restore feature, which allows you to bring back data from your backups. This process is relatively simple. However, I have yet to come across a backup solution for Linux that allows users to restore backed up data with the ease of Time Machine on the Mac. One big drawback is that you can only restore entire backups, and not choose a certain portion of your backup that you want to revert to. I hope that the developers of this tool will introduce some more advanced features in the restore process, as they have in the backup process.


Verdict:

Overall, I think that Déjà Dup makes for a great backup solution for Linux. With a straightforward installation process, a very well designed user interface, which makes the software usable even for non-computer savvy Linux user, a host of well thought out backup storage options, and good security in the way of encryption, this software gets two thumbs up from me. The one issue is that the restore process needs much work. I hope that the developers of this fine tool will put in some more effort into it, which could help make Déjà Dup become the most popular backup solution for Linux.

You may also check out: Get Lucky with luckyBackup

Friday, April 29, 2011



Ubuntu 11.04 'Natty Narwhal': To Upgrade or Not to Upgrade?

Posted: 28 Apr 2011 07:20 PM PDT

It's been just a few hours since the release of Ubuntu 11.04 'Natty Narwhal', and the buzz about it just won't die down. Even though it brings along a slew of new features and changes, the reactions have been somewhat mixed. There are a lot of users who'll switch to Natty, but there are some who absolutely won't. Here are some reasons why upgrading to Ubuntu 11.04 is a good idea, and sometimes, a bad one too.



6 Reasons To Upgrade to Ubuntu 11.04:

1. Finally something shinier

For those tired with the plain and simple look of GNOME, Unity comes as a welcome change. The shell-based interface leverages the power of Compiz window manager to provide glossy menus and transparencies. The transparency of the top panel can also be tweaked, making the desktop look even more polished.

2. A Power User's dream

GNOME, which was more of a point, click-and-access type, was never that good with keyboard shortcuts. Moreover, it was lacking all the essential elements that should be there in a Power User's repertoire: files and applications searching, keyboard shortcuts, quick access lists etc. Unity however, comes with everything a Desktop ninja can dream of – keyboard shortcuts, searching, zeitgeist integration, quick lists and much more. This ensures a more productive and organized workflow not only for power users, but also for absolute neophytes.

3. Time for something fresh

It's been a long time since the Linux desktop received an overhaul of such proportions. While there are a few users who complain about the changes, there are many people who are excited about Unity and its new approach. In general, people are happy to see something fresh and new as far as the traditional Linux desktop is concerned.

4. Zeitgeist and Search

Windows 7 has it, Mac OS X has it and now Ubuntu will have it too. We are talking about Files and Applications search. It is one of those features that has been long overdue. Besides providing basic applications search, Unity's search functionality integrates tightly with Zeitgeist framework. This ensures that the recently used and the frequently used applications are much easier to find. If you know how to use it to your advantage, this feature will definitely provide a huge spike in your productivity.

5. New applications

Banshee, Libreoffice and Firefox 4, the lineup is enough to convince a Maverick/Lucid user to go looking for an upgrade button. Oracle's debacle called Open Office will now be replaced by its fork Libreoffice, giving FOSS enthusiasts another reason to smile. On the other hand, Banshee will steal the throne off Rhythmbox's head and will become the default Music player for Ubuntu. It brings along a lot of never before seen features that the Linux head-bangers were waiting for. And finally, don't forget the world's most popular open-source browser – Firefox. Firefox will be there in its latest incarnation – Firefox 4, which comes with a huge amount of new features, upgrades, and UI changes.

6. New Kernel

In November 2010, the Linux kernel received a small patch that radically boosts its performance across desktops and workstations. This patch has been incorporated in Linux kernel version 2.6.38, which will be a part of Natty. Thus, users upgrading from previous versions can expect a great deal of improvements in their overall performance.



5 Reasons NOT to Upgrade to Ubuntu 11.04:

1. My graphics card driver sucks!

Graphics cards are one of the biggest hurdles a user faces when migrating to Linux. Though open-source drivers are available for NVIDIA and ATI cards, they aren't as snappy as their closed source counterparts. Furthermore, the closed-source drivers aren't that perfect either; many of the drivers face a lot of bugs that don't get fixed for ages. Due to this, there's a huge chunk of users who aren't able to reap full benefits of their graphics cards while playing some Linux 3D games and performing graphic-intensive functions. Furthermore, the performance of Linux desktop in the graphics department is always a notch lower than its Windows counterpart. This issue coupled with the bagful of shiny new effects that Natty brings along, will make the switching experience troublesome for many. However, Canonical has done a great thing by introducing an option to revert back to the Classic Ubuntu desktop. Having said that, people with poor graphics support (especially ATI users) will anyway complain that- If I can perfectly run Aero effects on Win7 why can't I get Unity 3D to work smoothly on the same computer?

To understand what the state of proprietary drivers on Linux is like, do take a look at this bug:

click on image to enlarge

2. I like to keep it simple, stupid

Some people adore simplicity, they love the traditional Ubuntu desktop that provides a no-frills environment to work in. However, Unity, which brings along a slew of shiny new effects, may not be able to impress these desktop simpletons. Luckily for these people, Ubuntu offers an option to revert back to the GNOME desktop. However, these users might consider migrating to Mint, since it offers the traditional GNOME desktop and a lot more features that Ubuntu doesn't.

3. If I want something shinier, I'll switch to KDE 4

For a long time, Ubuntu has been perceived as the simplistic, no-fuss and easy-to-use desktop. KDE 4 on the other hand, has all the features a modern desktop must have – eye-candy, multiple desktops, polished applications, desktop widgets etc. A valid argument a seasoned Linux user will make is that- why should he switch to a relatively new Unity interface, when he can switch to a much more seasoned and polished KDE 4? Also, it takes a bit of time to get used to Unity, whereas KDE 4 desktop is a bit similar to Windows 7 in look and feel.

4. I'm a GNOME loyalist so bye bye Ubuntu

The GNOME foundation has had a huge number of contributors over the years. This list includes many Ubuntu users too, as GNOME was part of the Ubuntu desktop till Natty. When Canonical decided to part ways with GNOME project, some GNOME loyalists were not so happy with the decision. Also, GNOME 3 came out before Unity, giving users another reason not to wait for Ubuntu 11.04 and start using GNOME Shell instead.

5. Awww its so ugly!

When Ubuntu decided to go with Unity, the reactions were mixed. There's still a sizable amount of users who find the new interface, just plain ugly. There's nothing much to be done here as everyone's entitled to their own opinion. And, since it was such a big decision, it is obvious that some people would not approve of it. However, it remains to be seen whether these aesthetic fanatics will adopt Unity purely for its functionality.

P.S: The 'it's so ugly' comment can be found on many blogs, forums and videos which have discussed or promoted Unity.


Finally:

If you're one of the users who are raring to switch to Natty, then head over to www.ubuntu.com and download it now. No matter what kind of connection you're using, do make sure that you use torrents while downloading the files. This makes sure that the servers won't get overloaded if in case Ubuntu gets too popular -- like it did when Lady Gaga went gaga over it :-) .

For the lazy ones, the link to the torrent file of Natty 32-bit can be found HERE. However, if your connection is too slow, then you can also purchase the official Ubuntu CDs from the Canonical shop.

For those folks who aren't switching to Natty, they have a lot of options to choose from. They can either switch to GNOME 3, KDE 4 or stick with the classic GNOME desktop. Moving to GNOME 3 will be swift once Fedora 15 releases. If unsure, take a look at a deep review we've done before, comparing Fedora 15 and Ubuntu 11.04. Finally, if you want to switch to KDE4, just type in the command: sudo apt-get install kubuntu-desktop and a KDE option will show up in your GDM sessions list.


Join the fun!

Go to the comments section and tell us your own reasons for loving or hating Ubuntu 11.04. If you're not upgrading, also tell your excuses for doing so.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

[HowtoForge] Newsletter 04/28/2011

HowtoForge Newsletter 04/28/2011
================================

*** HowtoForge Now Has Its own Facebook Page ***
================================================

We at HowtoForge are proud to announce that our new Facebook page is now available under http://www.facebook.com/howtoforge. As most of you probably have a Facebook account, we want to use this additional channel to post updates and get feedback from you. Therefore we would like you to "Like" our page, share it with your friends, post comments, etc. :-)

http://www.facebook.com/howtoforge


*********************************************
*********************************************


*** Version 1.1 of the ISPConfig 3 Manual ***
=============================================

The first update of the ISPConfig 3 Manual is available in PDF format (version 1.1 for ISPConfig >= 3.0.3.1; Date: 12/12/2010).

On more than 300 pages, it covers the concept behind ISPConfig (admin, resellers, clients), explains how to install and update ISPConfig 3, includes a reference for all forms and form fields in ISPConfig together with examples of valid inputs, and provides tutorials for the most common tasks in ISPConfig 3. It also lines out how to make your server more secure and comes with a troubleshooting section at the end.

Version 1.1 for ISPConfig >= 3.0.3.1 (Date: 12/12/2010)
Author: Falko Timme
305 pages

The manual can be downloaded from these two links:

http://www.ispconfig.org/ispconfig-3/ispconfig-3-manual/
http://www.howtoforge.com/download-the-ispconfig-3-manual
********************************************************************


New HOWTOs:
===========

* The Perfect Server - CentOS 5.6 x86_64 [ISPConfig 2]
* Installing And Using OpenVZ On CentOS 5.6
* How To Automatically Shut Down Your Computer After A Download Finishes
* Openfiler 2.99 Active/Passive With Corosync, Pacemaker And DRBD

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Perfect Server - CentOS 5.6 x86_64 [ISPConfig 2]
====================================================

This tutorial shows how to set up a CentOS 5.6 server (x86_64) that offers all services needed by ISPs and web hosters: Apache web server (SSL-capable), Postfix mail server with SMTP-AUTH and TLS, BIND DNS server, Proftpd FTP server, MySQL server, Dovecot POP3/IMAP, Quota, Firewall, etc. This tutorial is written for the 64-bit version of CentOS 5.6, but should apply to the 32-bit version with very little modifications as well. In the end you should have a system that works reliably, and if you like you can install the free webhosting control panel ISPConfig 2 (i.e., ISPConfig runs on it out of the box).

You can find the document here:
-------------------------------
http://www.howtoforge.com/perfect-server-centos-5.6-x86_64-ispconfig-2


Installing And Using OpenVZ On CentOS 5.6
=========================================

In this HowTo I will describe how to prepare a CentOS 5.6 server for OpenVZ. With OpenVZ you can create multiple Virtual Private Servers (VPS) on the same hardware, similar to Xen and the Linux Vserver project. OpenVZ is the open-source branch of Virtuozzo, a commercial virtualization solution used by many providers that offer virtual servers. The OpenVZ kernel patch is licensed under the GPL license, and the user-level tools are under the QPL license.

You can find the document here:
-------------------------------
http://www.howtoforge.com/installing-and-using-openvz-on-centos-5.6


How To Automatically Shut Down Your Computer After A Download Finishes
======================================================================

Sometimes you want to download something but don't want to wait until it finishes so you can shut down the computer. In this case you can use Sentinella.

You can find the document here:
-------------------------------
http://www.howtoforge.com/how-to-automatically-shut-down-your-computer-after-a-download-finishes


Openfiler 2.99 Active/Passive With Corosync, Pacemaker And DRBD
===============================================================

Openfiler is a Linux based NAS/SAN Application which can deliver storage over nfs/smb/iscsi and ftp. It has a web interface over that you can control these services. This howto is based on the latest version of openfiler at this date, you can download it from the official homepage www.openfiler.com.

You can find the document here:
-------------------------------
http://www.howtoforge.com/openfiler-2.99-active-passive-with-corosync-pacemaker-and-drbd


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

You can now support HowtoForge by becoming a subscriber:

HowtoForge Subscription
=======================

*** New! We now accept RBS WorldPay payments in addition to PayPal. ***

For a monthly fee of 5 EUR or 25 EUR for half a year, you can become a HowtoForge supporter and help us cover our costs (servers, bandwidth, etc.) and support ISPConfig development. In return, you receive the following benefits:

1. Download the ISPConfig 3 Manual (from http://www.howtoforge.com/download-the-ispconfig-3-manual).
2. Access the whole HowtoForge web site without any ads.
3. Download the results of our tutorials as VMware images (where available) (a list of downloadable VMware images is available here: http://www.howtoforge.com/list-of-downloadable-vmware-images).
4. Download our tutorials as PDF files.
5. View our tutorials as printer-friendly pages.
6. You will be marked as a "HowtoForge Supporter" in your forum posts.
7. Plus, you support the ISPConfig development.

If you have the free VMware Server or Player installed, you can import our VMware images and start playing around with the results of our tutorials immediately. It's a great way to track down problems with your own setup or simply to save time. ;-)

More details can be found on http://www.howtoforge.com/subscription.

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Best Regards,

Your HowtoForge Team
Email: info@howtoforge.com
URL: http://www.howtoforge.com

To unsubscribe or update your records, click here: http://newsletter.howtoforge.com/howtoforge/user/update.php?email=matrixunix.ubuntu@blogger.com&code=d8531959c7da2982ec3a7f8f82a13961

Tuesday, April 26, 2011



Protect Your Linux Backups with Encryption

Posted: 25 Apr 2011 11:41 PM PDT

If you work with important data on your Linux servers or desktops it is very important that you take regular backups. We have covered some backup tools and solutions that will help you do that.

Assuming you have a backup strategy and implementation in place, another important thing you need to worry about is the safety of your backups themselves. Safety includes two important factors. The first is the storage device or devices on which you store them. The other is to make sure that even if someone gets hold of your backups he can't look at the data.

Let's look at how to secure your backups so that anyone snooping around your system or backups drives cannot steal your valuable information. This can be done using encryption. As an extra layer of security we will encrypt your backups using gpg (Gnu Privacy Guard). gpg is an open source encryption software which ships with almost all flavors of Linux and UNIX. It's quite simple to use and provides several useful options. Let's take a look at how you can use it to secure your backups.

Encrypt Your Files:

The simplest usage of gpg is when you want to encrypt a single file. It could be a text file, a music file, or even an archived zip or tar.gz file. You can use a command like this:

# gpg -c backup.zip
Enter passphrase:
Repeat passphrase:
You will then be asked to enter a passphrase, which is basically a password that you can use to unlock the encrypted file. Enter it twice. Note that this passphrase is case sensitive. Once you are done you will find a new file in the folder you are in. It will be called something like "backup.zip.gpg". This is the encrypted version of the file "backup.zip". Now you can delete the original file so that your data is safe. If you don't delete the original file it beats the purpose of encrypting the file in the first place.

NOTE: Make it a point to note down the password you use someplace safe. If you forget your passphrase there pretty much no way to recover your data. You don't want that to happen.

Decrypt Your Files:

When you want to recover your files you will need to summon gpg again. Get into the folder where you have placed your encrypted backup file "backup.zip.gpg". Execute the following command to decrypt it:

# gpg backup.zip.gpg
gpg backup.zip.gpg
gpg: CAST5 encrypted data
Enter passphrase:
At this point you will need to enter the passphrase that you set up during the encryption process. Once you enter it you will find the original file "backup.zip" appear in the same folder.

Using in a Script:

Sometimes you might want to use the encryption process in your scripts, for example in your backups script. The method I showed you only works when you manually enter the password. In such a case embed the following line into your script. One issue with this approach is that the script will contain a clear text version of your passphrase. Also, replace the "backup.zip" with the correct file name of the backup file or the relevant variable such as "$backupfile".

# echo | gpg –passphrase-fd 0 -c backup.zip
The other line you should add to your script is one that will delete the original backup file once it's done encrypting.

Possible Issues:

The encryption process requires a lot of calculation, and therefore uses up a lot of your CPU resources. There are times when you are encrypting a large file when you will find a spike in your CPU usage. If you are automating the encryption process during your nightly backups you should make sure that this resource is available on the machine you are running your encryption on. Otherwise you might land up with too much load, affecting other important processes.

Choosing File Names:

There are a few other options that you can use in gpg. For example, during the encryption process if you want to specify the filename of the encrypted file you can do so. Use the following example to do it:

# gpg -c -o backup.enc backup.zip
Similarly, you can specify the file name you want to have the decryption process write to, using the following command:

# gpg -o backup20042011.zip backup.enc


Written by: Sukrit Dhandhania, FOSS advocate and regular contributor for TechSource.

Sunday, April 24, 2011



Cool Kindle Easter Eggs To Discover

Posted: 23 Apr 2011 09:04 PM PDT

Easter Sunday is here, and unlike last time (see: Top 50 Software Easter Eggs of All Time) we won't be revealing any software-related Easter eggs. Instead, we'll be looking for Easter Eggs in Amazon's popular Kindle device. Even though last week we mentioned some excellent Kindle tips, Kindle has many more tricks up its sleeve. Here's a look at a few of them:


Activate Picture Viewer: Kindle does have a basic picture viewer, but it's not activated by default, here's how to make it work:

1 Create a folder titled "Pictures" in the root of Kindle drive or SD card. Kindle also checks for DCIM made by cameras.
2 Create another folder inside it and drop all the pictures there. The pictures saved in this sub folder will be read as a single book. Supported formats are jpg, png, gif.
3 In the Home screen press Alt-Z. A new "book" should appear. Open it to view your pictures.
4 In the local menu you can also toggle dithering, resize to fit and full screen mode.


Searching For 'Pi's Directly From Home Screen: Searching for the letter 'e' without quotes from the home screen shows the value of the mathematical constant E. The same works for pi.

- Typing in @time shows the current time on the screen.

- Adding @wiki before any search term performs a search in Wikipedia.

- Adding @web before a search term searches for the term on Google.


Kindle as a calculator: Another hidden functionality in Kindle is its use as a calculator. And it's not just a simple calculator; in fact, it can compute even trigonometric functions pretty accurately. To use the functionality, just type in the expression you want to evaluate and press enter, the answer will be displayed instantly. For example typing in sin(98) displayed the answer accurately up to 15 digits. Here's what else you can compute with it: Multiplication, division, square roots(sqrt), power functions (^), trigonometric functions (sin,cos,tan,atan). However, unless you are Chuck Norris, dividing by zero still yields infinity. The above functions work well on Kindle 3 and Kindle DX, they might not work on older models.


Minesweeper: We've already mentioned this tip in an earlier post. Nevertheless, here's the trick again: Pressing Alt-Shift-M in the home screen opens up the uber-popular game of Minesweeper. For those living under a rock for centuries, Minesweeper is a single-player game where in one has to clear an imaginary minefield without detonating a mine. The game has been around since the 1960s and is also included by default in many operating systems. Ubuntu also comes with its own version of the game titled Mines. Enough talk for now, here are the keyboard shortcuts for playing it.

Alt-Shift-M - Start Minesweeper

At the start, you'll be presented with an empty grid. Move around the grid using Kindle's five-way controller. Click an empty mine using the middle button, and if you're not that unlucky, numbers will show up on and around the opened cell. If at all you expose a mine, you lose the game, and in that case, you'll have to restart by pressing R. Minesweeper involves a lot of guesswork, so if you think a particular cell contains a mine, you can mark it by pressing M.


GoMoku: Also known as Five in a Row, GoMoku is an ancient strategy board game. It is more like a leet version of Tic Tac Toe. The winner of the game is the first player to get an unbroken row of five crosses or zeroes horizontally, vertically or diagonally. To play the game, first start Minesweeper by pressing Alt-Shift-M. Then, once the game starts press G to play GoMoku or Press N to start a new game. During the game, use the five-way key to navigate around the grid. Pressing the middle button marks the cell. You can press S to swap positions. To go back to Minesweeper press M and to go back to the main menu press the Home button. The game may look easy at first; however, Kindle is a pretty tough opponent here. So, Good luck!


Geolocation: Yes, you heard that right; Kindle does have geolocation facilities built in. There's no GPS, but it uses its wireless hardware to determine location, a la iPhone. To use the feature, just open the browser by going to Menu > Experimental and clicking on launch browser. Then, Press Alt-1to show your current location on Google Maps. Note that on newer models, Q key represents 1, W represents 2 and so on. The map can be zoomed in and out just like on the PC using Kindle's 5-way navigation button. Pressing Alt+2 together finds the nearest gas stations, and pressing Alt+3 looks for the nearby restaurants. Sounds cool, but why didn't Amazon tell us about it?


Sources: Thanks to Reversing Everything blog for most of these awesome tricks.


Written by: Abhishek, a regular TechSource contributor and a long-time FOSS advocate.

Saturday, April 23, 2011



How to Enable Unity Quicklists in Google Chrome and Firefox

Posted: 22 Apr 2011 09:21 PM PDT

A few weeks ago, we did an in-depth review of Ubuntu 11.04 when compared with Fedora 15. One of the interesting little features we missed was Quicklists in Unity. Quicklists allow users to access common menus, or perform common tasks within a program by right-clicking the launcher icon. The feature is very much similar to Jump Lists in Windows 7, which could be accessed by right-clicking the Windows task bar. Applications, like Browsers and Media Players use these Jump Lists to let the user access documents and tasks associated with the current application. Unity on the other hand being freshly baked from the oven, there aren't many applications that take advantage of the Quicklist features. Here's a quick tip that will let you enable Quicklists for both Google Chrome and Firefox.


Using Google Chrome and/or Chromium:

Google Chrome and Chromium don't support Quicklists by default; however, with a little tweaking the feature can be enabled to support incognito mode. Here's the whole process in 2 easy steps.

Step 1: Backup - Open the terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and type in the following code:

sudo cp /usr/share/applications/firefox.desktop /usr/share/applications/firefox.desktop.backup

Step 2: Then, type the following line in the terminal:

sudo gedit /usr/share/applications/google-chrome.desktop

Step 3: Now that the file is opened, paste the following code at the end of the file. When done, press Ctrl+S and close the window.

X-Ayatana-Desktop-Shortcuts=NewWindow;Incognito;

[NewWindow Shortcut Group]

Name=New Window

Exec=google-chrome

TargetEnvironment=Unity

[Incognito Shortcut Group]

Name=New Incognito Tab

Exec=google-chrome --incognito

TargetEnvironment=Unity


When finished, the right-click menu for Chrome will look like this:



Using Firefox:

Firefox 4 can also be tweaked to show various options in the Quicklists. These options allow users to open a new window, toggle the Private browsing mode, start the Profile Manager, and use the safe mode. The safe mode starts Firefox without any extensions or plugins. The profile manager can be used to access different profiles before starting the actual session.

Right-clicking on the Firefox launcher icon and selecting 'Profile Manager' will open a window like this:



Anyways, enough talk, here's how to get it in 4 easy steps:

Step 1: Backup the file..

sudo cp /usr/share/applications/firefox.desktop /usr/share/applications/firefox.desktop.backup

Step 2: Open the terminal and type in..

sudo gedit /usr/share/applications/firefox.desktop

Step 3: Apparently, Firefox already supports the New Window quick list item. So, find the code that begins with a line that looks like this:

X-Ayatana-Desktop-Shortcuts=NewWindow;

This line will be followed by some code. Now, delete the line and the lines below it.

Step 4: Add following code to the file, press Ctrl+S and exit.

X-Ayatana-Desktop-Shortcuts=NewWindow;PrivateToggle;ProfileMgr;Safe-Mode;

[NewWindow Shortcut Group]

Name=Open a New Window

Name[ast]=Abrir una ventana nueva

Name[bn]=Abrir una ventana nueva

Name[ca]=Obre una finestra nova

Name[da]=Åbn et nyt vindue

Name[de]=Ein neues Fenster öffnen

Name[es]=Abrir una ventana nueva

Name[fi]=Avaa uusi ikkuna

Name[fr]=Ouvrir une nouvelle fenêtre

Name[gl]=Abrir unha nova xanela

Name[he]=פתיחת חלון חדש

Name[hr]=Otvori novi prozor

Name[hu]=Új ablak nyitása

Name[it]=Apri una nuova finestra

Name[ja]=新しいウィンドウを開く

Name[ku]=Paceyeke nû veke

Name[lt]=Atverti naują langą

Name[nl]=Nieuw venster openen

Name[ro]=Deschide o fereastră nouă

Name[ru]=Открыть новое окно

Name[sv]=Öppna ett nytt fönster

Name[ug]=يېڭى كۆزنەك ئېچىش

Name[uk]=Відкрити нове вікно

Name[zh_CN]=新建窗口

Name[zh_TW]=開啟新視窗

Exec=firefox -new-window about:blank

TargetEnvironment=Unity

[Safe-Mode Shortcut Group]

Name=Safe-Mode

Exec=firefox -safe-mode

TargetEnvironment=Unity

[PrivateToggle Shortcut Group]

Name=Enable/Disabe Private Mode

Exec=firefox -private-toggle

TargetEnvironment=Unity

[ProfileMgr Shortcut Group]

Name=Start Profile Manager

Exec=firefox -ProfileManager

TargetEnvironment=Unity


Finally, if all goes well, the menu will look like this:



Menu doesn't show up:
If the menu doesn't show up, remove the launcher from the Unity bar by right-clicking and unchecking the option titled "Keep in Launcher". Then search for the program and drag it to the Unity bar again. The Quicklist should be visible by now.

If something goes wrong, type the following commands. These commands will restore the original '.desktop' files and delete the modified ones, taking things back to normal.

For Google Chrome:
sudo rm -rf /usr/share/applications/google-chrome.desktop
sudo mv /usr/share/applications/google-chrome.desktop.backup /usr/share/applications/google-chrome.desktop

For Firefox:
sudo rm -rf /usr/share/applications/firefox.desktop
sudo mv /usr/share/applications/firefox.desktop.backup /usr/share/applications/firefox.desktop