ownCloud Android App Available For Download

2:38 AM

ownCloud, the complete, open source cloud file sync tool (includes music streaming, file management which supports sharing, calendar, contacts and more) is now available for Android.

This is the first public ownCloud Android app release and it doesn't have to many features yet, but it does have the basics: browse, upload, download and delete files. The application also supports previews for videos and photos but only for those on your device (which you want to upload) and not for those available on the ownCloud server.

Further more, for now the application doesn't support non-standard ports so if you've configured your ownCloud setup to use such a port, you won't be able to use the Android app for now.

Here are a few ownCloud for Android screenshots:







ownCloud for Android isn't yet available on Google Play, but it should be posted in about 4-6 weeks and around the same time, the iOS app should also be available in the AppStore (for now there's no iOS app available for download).

Download ownCloud for Android (.apk)


More about ownCloud:

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How To Synchronize Google Calendar With Thunderbird

2:45 AM

You can use Lightning to get a calendar that's fully integrated with Thunderbird, but what about Google Calendar synchronization? Well, there's an extension called "Provider for Google Calendar", which lets Lightning read and write events to Google Calendar.

For now, the extension doesn't support Google Tasks, but its developer says he's working on it.


Below, I'll explain how to set up both Lightning and "Provider for Google Calendar" to synchronize Google Calendar with Thunderbird (bidirectional sync).

The instructions below have been tested with Thunderbird 10 which is available in the Ubuntu 11.10 Oneiric Ocelot official repositories and Thunderbird 11 (will probably be available in the Ubuntu 11.10 repositories soon; is already available for Ubuntu 12.04).

For older Ubuntu versions (11.04, 10.10 and 10.04), you can install Thunderbird 10 (soon, version 11 will be available) using the stable Thunderbird PPA:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mozillateam/thunderbird-stable
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install thunderbird


1. Install "Lightning" and "Provider for Google Calendar" Thunderbird extensions.

In Ubuntu, you can install both extensions using the following command:
sudo apt-get install xul-ext-lightning xul-ext-gdata-provider

Then restart Thunderbird. That's it for step 1 if you use Ubuntu.


For other Linux distributions (or Windows), download the extensions from here:

Then open Thunderbird > Tools > Addons and select "Install Add-on from file" like in the screenshot above, then browse for the extensions you've downloaded above and select to install them. And finally, restart Thunderbird.

2. Login to http://google.com/calendar, click the settings icon on the right and select Settings:



Now click on the "Calendars" tab and then on the calendar you want to sync with Thunderbird ("main" in my case):



At the bottom of the calendar page, click the "XML" icon next to "Private Address" and copy the url:




3. In Thunderbird, select New > Calendar, then select "On the Network", choose "Google Calendar" and paste the link you've copied from Google Calendar:


When prompted, enter your Google account password. Next, you'll have to enter a name for the calendar, select a color, etc.:



Click "Next" and Thunderbird should start importing all your calendar events. This may take a while and the Thunderbird window may appear to freeze (but it's actually working in the background). In a few minutes (it depends on how many events you had in your calendar), Thunderbird should finish and the calendar you've added should be synchronized (2-way) with Google Calendar.

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Desktop Syncing Comes To ownCloud Through Mirall And Csync

8:39 PM

ownCloud is a free software alternative to some proprietary web services and it currently includes file management (with built-in file sharing), music streaming, calendar, contacts and more - all running on your computer or server.

Desktop file syncing is now possible with ownCloud, through Csync and Mirall:
  • Csync is a command line synchronization tool that comes with an ownCloud module
  • Mirall is a Qt tray sync client that uses Csync and allows you to synchronize data between the local machine and ownCloud.

Both Csync and Mirall are currently in early beta stages. They can already be used to synchronize your ownCloud, but there are some features that don't work yet, like installing ownCloud straight from Mirall.

For now, there's no file manager plugin so you won't be able to see the current file sync status (emblems) or share files via your file manager. But you can do this using the ownCloud web interface.

A first stable Mirall version is expected to be released with ownCloud 4 and it will be targeting Linux, though Windows might be supported too (it's a second priority).


Here's how to set up Mirall with ownCloud synchronization:

1. Firstly, you must select "Configure" from the tray icon and enter your ownCloud URL address. Selecting "create a new ownCloud" doesn't work for now!


2. Then you must enter your ownCloud username and password:



3. If you've correctly set up ownCloud and entered the correct address in the Mirall configuration, you should now see a "Successfully connected to..." message. Click "Finish":


Please note that at this point, if you select "Configure" again, Mirall won't look like you've already entered the ownCloud URL. This is a display error and if you quit Mirall and start it again, this display error should be fixed.


4. From the Mirall tray icon, select "Add folder", select "Choose" and select a folder that will be used as the local ownCloud sync folder (like the "Dropbox" folder for Dropbox). Then click "Next":



5. On the next (and final) screen, select "to your ownCloud" and click "Finish":



Install Csync and Mirall (in Linux)


Rember, Mirall and Csync are in early beta stages and you'll find bugs. To quote the Mirall announcement on the ownCloud mailing list, "PLEASE DO NOT use in production. IT WILL EAT YOUR FILES!!"

In my test, Csync and Mirall seem to work just fine with ownCloud 0.3, however, the Mirall / Csync beta release announcement states that you should use the latest ownCloud from GIT.

You can get the latest ownCloud from GIT using the following commands:
sudo apt-get install git
cd && git clone git://gitorious.org/owncloud/owncloud.git

Then, install ownCloud.

If you want to test Mirall and Csync in Ubuntu 11.10, (it's not yet available for Ubuntu 12.04), you can install them by using the following commands:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:zeppelinlg/mirall
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install mirall


The packages in the PPA are a bit older than the latest Mirall/Csync beta, but they should work just fine. Hopefully the PPA will be updated soon with the latest version(s).

Mirall doesn't come with a .desktop file so to launch it, type "mirall" in a terminal.

For Fedora 16 and openSUSE 12.1, get Mirall and Csync from HERE.

To install Mirall and Csync in other Linux distributions, get the source from here: Mirall, Csync.


If you encounter bugs, report them @ http://bugs.owncloud.com/


Update: check out the ownCloud 3 review on yesterday's Linux Action Show episode: Your OwnCloud | LAS | s20e08 (also available on YouTube).

via ownCloud mailing list

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Ubuntu One Gets A New Qt Interface For Ubuntu 12.04 Precise Pangolin

8:27 AM

A new Ubuntuone-Installer version was uploaded to the Ubuntu 12.04 Precise Pangolin repositories today and with it, Ubuntu One has switched to a new Qt interface by default, replacing the old GTK version.

According to a bug report, the Ubuntu One team is no longer supporting the GTK interface so it will be removed soon.

Among the reasons behind this decision are: deprecated pygtk bindings, uniform  interface across all the platforms, usability and others.

UbuntuOne Installer:



And the Qt UbuntuOne Control Panel interface:

Ubuntuone control panel qt Ubuntu 12.04 precise pangolin

Ubuntuone control panel qt Ubuntu 12.04

Currently, there's a bug and launching UbuntuOne from the Unity Launcher, the installer fails. This can be solved by manually installing the Ubuntu One Control Panel Qt interface:
sudo apt-get install ubuntuone-control-panel-qt

The latest ubuntuone-installer package also installs the new Rhythmbox UbuntuOne Music Store plugin, replacing the Banshee one:

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Compare And Synchronize Folders With FreeFileSync

2:27 AM

FreeFileSync is a muti-platform folder comparison and synchronization tool that comes with some very useful features like support for multiple folder pairs, binary files support, can create "batch files" which can be used to automate folder synchronization and others.

FreeFileSync Ubuntu

FreeFileSync features:
  • Multiple pre-defined synchronization settings: Automatic (propagate changes on both sides), Mirror (right folder is modified to exactly match left folder), Update (copy new or updated files to right folder) as well as a custom mode
  • Detect moved, renamed, conflicting files and propagate deletions
  • bytewise / by date file comparison and synchronization
  • Support for multiple folder pairs
  • Support for Linux Symbolic Links and Windows Junction Points
  • Network support
  • Create batch jobs for automated synchronization. You can then run them from the command line, simply double click the file, create a cron job, etc.
  • Filter functionality to include/exclude files from synchronization (you can exclude files by type, date, size
  • Copy file and directory permissions
  • You can select what to do when an error occurs or when the synchronization is completed
  • Easily exclude files from being synced
  • Save/load configurations
  • More
If you're wondering how FreeFileSync compares to other synchronization tools, check out THIS page on Wikipedia.

While the interface is intuitive and highly configurable, it insists on using its own icons which doesn't look too good, but other than this, FreeFileSync is a really great synchronization tool.

FreeFileSync comes with a small application called RealtimeSync that lets you monitor files or folders for changes or when they become available (for example when you insert an USB stick) and execute a command which can be a batch job created with FreeFileSync or any other command.

The application even comes with Unity launcher progress bar support, a feature that Grsync (a great rsync GUI) also got recently.

FreeFileSync is not new - in fact, it's been around for more than 3 years -, but it constantly gets new features and improvements (changelogs available here) which is something I for one always appreciate.


Install FreeFileSync in Ubuntu


Ubuntu Oneiric, Natty and Maverick users can install FreeFileSync from its PPA - open a terminal and copy/paste the following commands:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:freefilesync/ffs
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install freefilesync

Please note that at the time I'm writing this, the latest FreeFileSync 5.0 is only available for Oneiric. For older Ubuntu releases, there are older FreeFileSync versions (4.0 for Natty and 3.17 for Maverick). If you want the latest version, download it via SourceForge.

There's also a Debian PPA which you can use to install FreeFileSync without any Ubuntu dependencies and an AUR package for Arch Linux users (but it hasn't been updated to the latest version yet)

For other Linux distributions and Windows, download FreeFileSync via SourceForge.

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ownCloud 3 Gets Built-In Text Editor, PDF Viewer, Other Improvements

10:39 PM

ownCloud is a free software alternative to some proprietary web services that includes music streaming, file management which supports sharing, calendar, contacts and more:

ownCloud offers the ease-of-use of Dropbox and box.net with a more secure, transparently managed offering. As an open source project ownCloud 3 offers innovative features, a flexible architecture and no vendor lock in.

ownCloud 3 has been released recently with some cool new features, such as:

- Built-in cloud text editor that supports 35 programming languages for syntax highlighting, keyboard shortcuts support, automatic indent and outdent, unstructured / user code folding and live syntax checker (for JavaScript, Coffee and CSS). Editing more advanced file types like .doc and .odt is planned for a future release:

owncloud 3 text editor
ownCloud text editor

- Integrated PDF viewer:

owncloud 3


- Photo gallery application with automatic album generation and dynamic covers:

owncloud 3


Other changes in ownCloud 3:
  • Application Store: support for installing third party applications and addons through a central repository, directly from the ownCloud interface
  • new calendar interface
  • various calendar and contacts improvements
  • A new "external" application that lets you integrate external applications (like an external webmail interface for instance) into the ownCloud interface

The complete list of new features and improvements can be found HERE.

Unfortunately, this release doesn't bring encryption, a desktop sync client or versioning/recovery yet, features which many consider extremely important, but fortunately, all of these features are top priority so hopefully we'll see all of them in a future ownCloud release.



Download / try ownCloud


If you want to try out ownCloud without installing it, head over to http://demo.owncloud.org

ownCloud is available in the official Ubuntu repositories, but that's a very old version (pre version 2) so to install the latest ownCloud in Ubuntu, see our initial post about ownCloud: ownCloud: Your Personal Cloud Server.

Arch Linux users can install ownCloud via AUR, however, at the time I'm writing this post, the package hasn't been updated with the latest ownCloud 3.

Download ownCloud | Update: the ownCloud website seems to be down for now, so here's an alternate download link (via ownCloud @ Twitter).

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Easily Sync Your Local Documents With Google Docs Using Super Flexible File Synchronizer

12:31 AM

Super Flexible File Synchronizer


Super Flexible File Synchronizer is a cloud backup and synchronization tool that supports FTP, SSH, WebDAV, Amazon S3, and Google Docs. The application is cross-platform, but only the Linux version is free (though it's proprietary).

Super Flexible File Synchronizer uses ZIP compression and data encryption and comes with multiple synchronization modes, like Standard Copying, Exact Mirror, and SmartTracking.

Probably the most interesting thing about Super Flexible File Synchronizer is the Google Docs support which you can use to easily synchronize your documents from / to your computer, so any changes you make on Google Docs an be synced with your computer as well as the other way around. The application also supports synchronizing files between two Google Docs accounts, or between any of the supported services / protocols.

You can even can specify which file types to convert when uploading / downloading, by going to Profile Settings > Internet (for the Google Docs side) > Google Docs tab. But of course, the files you sync don't have to be documents and you can sync any file types.


Super Flexible File Synchronizer Linux


The application also features a scheduler, but unfortunately, it's not yet working for the Linux version so for now, you must manually start the synchronization. And there's another feature that doesn't work properly under Linux: file versioning (at least, that was the case in my test). Without these, the application is basically just a simple sync tool, at least for Google Docs which was the only supported service / protocol I've tried, but it's still quite useful if you use Google Docs daily and need to sync files between your computer and Google's cloud documents service.



Using Super Flexible File Synchronizer


Super Flexible File Synchronizer

To get started with Super Flexible File Synchronizer, click the "+" icon to create a new profile, enter a name for your new profile and select the folders you want to synchronize by clicking "Browse" or, to select an online service like Google Docs, select "Internet" - do this both on the left and on the right. Then, simply select the protocol you want to use from the Protocol drop-down: FTP, SSH, WebDAV, Amazon S3 or Google Docs:

Super Flexible File Synchronizer


If you want to use a two-way sync, check the "Copy Right To Left" box too, because only the "Copy Left To Right" is checked by default. Also, make sure you select "SmartTracking" under "Sync Operation Mode.

When ready, click ok and that's about it. If you want to modify the profile, you can do so at any time by selecting it and clicking "Edit".

When you want to sync your newly created profile, simply select it and press the run button from the toolbar (also available via right click on the profile), and the file sync should start.


Download Super Flexible File Synchronizer for Linux (To run it on 32bit, extract the archive and run "SuperFlexibleSynchronizer". For 64bit, you'll find instructions on its Linux download page)

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Ubuntu One Files Now Available For iOS

10:57 PM

ubuntu one files ios

Canonical has released Ubuntu One Files for iOS (iOS4+ only), an application to easily access, sync and share any file on your Ubuntu One account from your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad.

Just like the Android application, it lets you automatically upload any photos you take using your iOS device to your Ubuntu One account.

You can also rename, delete, publish your Ubuntu One files and so on:

ubuntu one files iphone


I don't have an iOS device so I couldn't test the application. If you do, lets us know how it works for you, in the comments!

Download Ubuntu One Files for iOS (App Store)


via/screenshots: Canonical Voices blog

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SparkleShare Finally Available For Android

6:19 PM

Sparkleshare is an open source tool to synchronize your files in the cloud that supports GitHub, Gitorious or your own private GIT server.

SparkleShare finally got an Android application that allows you to connect to your SparkleShare server. For now, the application can only be used to browsing/downloading files:

SparkleShare Android

SparkleShare

To be able to connect SparkleShare for Android with your SparkleShare server, you need to set up SparkleShare Dashboard, a web interface for SparkleShare. Instructions on getting SparkleShare Dashboard to run can be found HERE.

Note for Ubuntu users: SparkleShare Dashboard requires nodejs >= 4 so if you use an Ubuntu version older than Oneiric, use THIS PPA to install nodejs.

Once you've installed SparkleShare Dashboard, linking your device is very easy and all you must do is scan a QR code generated by SparkleShare Dashboard.


Download SparkleShare for Android (Market link) | SparkleShare homepage

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Dropbox Share Updated For Ubuntu 11.10 [Fedora Installation Instructions Too]

5:37 PM

Dropbox Share is now available for Ubuntu 11.10 Oneiric Ocelot. This is a tool I've created a while back to easily share files or folders using Dropbox and automatically copy their public links to the clipboard.


Dropbox Share comes with a custom Unity launcher as well as two Nautilus scripts (so you don't have to use Unity to run Dropbox Share):

- custom Unity launcher (works with docks too!): just drag and drop some file(s) or folder(s) onto the launcher and a simbolic link is created into your public Dropbox folder (and thus, it doesn't use the double amount of disk space like it would do if you'd copy the files). The public share links are automatically copied to the clipboard so you can easily share it with your friends, etc:

Unity Dropbox Share

- Two Nautilus scripts to share and unshare files - they work just like the Unity launcher, but work in Nautilus and don't require Unity or a dock:

Dropbox Share


Further more, Dropbox Share also adds an emblem to the shared files so you know which files you've shared. And even if you remove a file manually (without using the unshare script) from your public Dropbox folder, the emblems will be correctly updated the next time you share a file thanks to a history of shared files that's built into Dropbox Share.


Also, like I said, Unity Dropbox Share also works with docks such as Avant Window Navigator, Cairo Dock or Docky - just drag the icon to the dock and then drag and drop files to share them using Dropbox. Unfortunately, it doesn't work with DockBarX.


Besides Ubuntu Oneiric support, the latest Dropbox Share 0.5.5 also comes with a new feature: Unity quicklist to re-copy the URL for the last shared file as well as bug fixes.


Here are two old videos demoing Dropbox Share:

- Dropbox Share Nautilus scripts:




- Unity Dropbox Share (Unity launcher):





Install Dropbox Share in Ubuntu


Before proceeding, make sure you've installed Dropbox!


1. Dropbox Share is available in the main WebUpd8 PPA, for Ubuntu 11.10, 11.04, 10.10 and 10.04. Add the PPA and update the software sources using the following commands:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nilarimogard/webupd8
sudo apt-get update

2. 

Now, install Dropbox Share (Nautilus scripts):
sudo apt-get install dropbox-share

To also install Unity Dropbox Share (custom Unity launcher), use the following command:
sudo apt-get install unity-dropbox-share

The Unity Dropbox Share icon isn't automatically added to your Unity launcher so you'll have to add it manually it: open Nautilus and navigate to /opt/unity-dropbox-share/, then drag and drop the icon to the Unity launcher or Cairo Dock, AWN, Docky, etc.

Now you can share files or folders using Dropbox by right clicking in Nautilus and selecting Scripts > Dropbox Share or by drag'n'drop onto the custom launcher.



Install Dropbox Share in Fedora


Please note that the emblems do not work in Fedora 15 due to a bug in Nautilus 3 which doesn't read file emblems from metadata (the bug has been fixed in Nautilus 3.1.92 which is in Oneiric).


You firstly need to install Dropbox (obviously)!

1. Install the required dependencies:
sudo yum install libnotify xclip xautomation gvfs libsqlite3x python bzr

2. Download and install Dropbox Share:
cd
bzr branch lp:dropbox-share
sudo cp dropbox-share/bin/* /usr/bin/
sudo chmod +x /usr/bin/{dropbox-index,openpublicfolder,recopy-url,unity-dropbox-share}
mkdir -p ~/.gnome2/nautilus-scripts
cp dropbox-share/{"Dropbox Share","Dropbox Unshare"} ~/.gnome2/nautilus-scripts/
sudo mkdir -p /opt/unity-dropbox-share
sudo cp dropbox-share/etc/* /opt/unity-dropbox-share
rm -r dropbox-share

If you want to use the Dropbox Share launcher in a dock such as AWN or Docky, open Nautilus and go to /opt/unity-dropbox-share and drag the Unity Dropbox Share icon onto a dock.

Now you can share files/folders using Dropbox by right clicking them in Nautilus and selecting Scripts > Dropbox Share or by drag'n'drop onto the custom launcher.


Report any bugs you may find @ Launchpad.

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"Ubuntu One Files": Free Ubuntu One App For Android

2:26 AM

Canonical has just released a free Ubuntu One application for Android devices.

The application is called "Ubuntu One Files" and it not only lets you access your Ubuntu One files but it also lets you instantly upload any photos you take to your Ubuntu One account. In fact, the first time you run it, a pop-up screen will ask you if you want to automatically upload existing photos or future photos to Ubuntu One:

Ubuntu One Android



The application also lets you upload new files and create new folders, rename, delete or publish your files. You can also share your files on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and so on. For this, simply tap and hold on a file and the options window should pop up:

Ubuntu One Files Android App

Ubuntu One Android app



By default, Ubuntu One File lists all your existing Ubuntu One files but it doesn't automatically download them. To download them on your device you must click the files:

Ubuntu One Android



Installation


Ubuntu One Files is open source so if you want to check out the code, see its Launchpad page.

To install it, visit Ubuntu One Files on the Android Market or use the QR code below:

Ubuntu One Android install

Since this is the first public release, expect to find bugs. You can report them @ Launchpad.


Note: in my test, authenticating with Ubuntu One through Opera failed so you may want to try this using a different browser (the stock browser worked just fine) - at least that was the case on my HTC Desire HD on which I've tested it.

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LibreOffice Google Docs Sync Addon "Ooo2gd" Now Lets You Upload Files Without Converting

12:25 AM

A while back we wrote about an OpenOffice addon called "Ooo2gd" which lets you synchronize your documents with Google Docs, Zoho and WebDav servers (either manually - when you're done editing the file, or automatic sync; you can also import files that are already available on the server).


LibreOffice upload to Google Docs

Well, you'll be glad to know that Ooo2gd works with LibreOffice too. Also, the latest Ooo2gd version (3.0.0), released earlier this month comes an option to upload to Google Docs without converting the files (so you can keep the original file format).


Note: Because Google Docs (and its API) is still in beta, sometimes you may not be able to log in to your account. Usually, this happens with Google Apps accounts and it doesn't seep to happen with regular Google accounts but still, if you're getting a login error, most probably this is the case.


Install LibreOffice / OpenOffice.org Google Docs sync addon "Ooo2gd"


Before proceeding, please note that I've tested the instructions below with LibreOffice from the Ubuntu repositories / the LibreOffice PPA so the instructions may not work if you've manually installed the LibreOffice .deb files downloaded from the LibreOffice website!


To use Ooo2gd with LibreOffice or OpenOffice.org in Ubuntu, follow the steps below:

1. You need to install Sun Java from your Linux distributions repositories.

In Ubuntu, enable the partner repository and then search for "sun java6" in Ubuntu Software Center or Synaptic or use the command below to install it:
sudo apt-get install sun-java6-jre sun-java6-plugin

2. For LibreOffice, install "libreoffice-java-common":
sudo apt-get install libreoffice-java-common

For OpenOffice.org, run the command below:
sudo apt-get install openoffice.org-java-common

3. Close LibreOffice / OpenOffice, download the latest ooo2gd in your home folder (~/) and run the following command in a terminal:
unopkg add ~/ooo2gd_3.0.0.oxt


LibreOffice Google Docs sync

Once installed, open Libreoffice Calc, Writer, etc. and you should see a new floating toolbar which you can use to upload your documents to Google Docs, Zoho or a WebDav server.

I recommend using your full email address as the username for Google Docs because in my tests, using the username only sometimes fails.

Now use the new toolbar (which you can drag to your main toolbar) to sync files with Google Docs or Zoho - once you click the "upload" button, a dialog will pop-up and you'll have to enter your username and password. There are also some options available here, like keeping the files in sync (automatically), convert to Google Docs format, etc.

If you're not seeing the floating toolbar or you've encountered some other issue when installing Ooo2gd, check out the known issues page.

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Stable SparkleShare (0.2) Released With Pluggable Backend, Mercurial Support [Cloud Sync Tool]

8:32 PM

SparkleShare

Sparkleshare is an open source tool to synchronize your files in the cloud and it can use a GitHub, Gitorious or your own private GIT server. For now, SparkleShare is easy to install under Linux and Mac, "but it’s hard to get running and it doesn’t integrate well with the system" on Windows, says Hylke, the SparkleShare developer. Android and iPhone clients might be released in the future too.

The first stable Sparkleshare version (0.2) was released earlier this month, getting a pluggable backend and experimental Mercurial support. This means it might get support for other protocols in the future, like SFTP, etc.


Other changes in the SparkleShare 0.2:
  • Added support for Growl to show notifications on Mac.
  • Removed the dependency on GitSharp.
  • File rename detection support in the event logs.
  • Fixed all crashes reported in RC1 and improved sync algorithm.
  • Redid collision detection and conflict resolving (use a copy of each version).
  • Improved about dialogs with version checking.


Install SparkleShare


There is a new stable SparkleShare Ubuntu PPA, available for Ubuntu 11.10, 11.04 and 10.10. Add it and install SparkleShare using the commands below:

mkdir -p ~/.ssh
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:warp10/sparkleshare
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install sparkleshare libwebkit1.1-cil git-core

The "mkdir -p ~/.ssh" command is required because if the ~/.ssh folder doesn't exist, SparkleShare crashes.

For Nautilus integration, also install "python-nautilus":
sudo apt-get install python-nautilus

Once you install this package (for some reason, it's not automatically installed by SparkleShare), you can get previous versions of a file or copy its web link. Unfortunately, at least in Natty, the sync status file emblems are not displayed (and I've tested it on two Natty computers).

SparkleShare Nautilus


SparkleShare notification area icon

This stable SparkleShare PPA doesn't provide an AppIndicator for Ubuntu. But there's a daily builds PPA "ppa:terminus/ppa" from which you can install SparkleShare with AppIndicator support (but remember, this PPA is unstable!). After an update, the stable SparkleShare PPA provides an AppIndicator too.


There's also a SparkleShare Fedora repository @ http://repos.fedorapeople.org/repos/alexh/sparkleshare/

For Mac binaries and source files, see the SparkleShare homepage.


Setting up SparkleShare is not very complicated, but there are a few things you must do to get it working. But we've already covered this, so check out the following posts:

Also see: how to encrypt files before syncing in SparkleShare (for an easier way, you can use EncFS like in this post).


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Deja Dup Gets Ubuntu One Support; Linux Kernel 3.0.0 Available In Ubuntu 11.10 [Oneiric Updates]

4:33 AM

Michael Terry, the Deja Dup developer has announced that a recent update in Ubuntu 11.10 Oneiric Ocelot brings the promised Ubuntu One integration. Here are some screenshots:

Deja Dup UbuntuOne

Deja Dup UbuntuOne


This also means that Duplicity, the command line tool that powers Deja Dup supports Ubuntu One too. For now, Deja Dup is not yet default in Ubuntu 11.10 but this is expected to happen soon.

Unfortunately I couldn't test the actual backup feature because Ubuntu One (in Ubuntu 11.10) refuses to connect on my computer.



In other Ubuntu 11.10 Oneiric Ocelot news:


- LightDM is now default in Ubuntu 11.10, replacing GDM (by the way, it's default in Xubuntu too). But as expected, there's no greeter (theme) yet:

Ubuntu 11.10 Oneiric Ocelot LightDM



- Linux Kernel 3.0.0 has also made it into Oneiric:

Linux Kernel 3.0.0

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Encrypt Your Private Dropbox Data With EncFS

1:16 AM

Encrypted Dropbox

Dropbox is great but the data is not encrypted on your computer (you can read more about this here). There are various ways to encrypt some private files in your Dropbox folder: you can use Truecript, EncFS, SecretSync (now available for Linux too) etc.

- Truecrypt is great, but to use it with Dropbox you must manually unmout the filesystem to get it to sync which is kind of against the whole Dropbox idea. For those who don't mind having to manually unmount the filesystem to get it to sync, this is probably a better solution (because Truecrypt is very easy to set up on any OS: Linux, Windows or Mac).

- SecretSync is a new tool to encrypt some files in your Dropbox folder. While it works great (though there's currently a bug in the Linux version the bug in the Linux version has been fixed) and is cross-platform, it's no different than Dropbox because the encryption keys are not stored on your computer but on their server. But of course, it does add an extra security layer so you can check this out too!

So the best way to encrypt your Dropbox files is probably using EncFS. EncFS is very easy to configure and doesn't require manually mounting or unmounting the filesystem.

EncFS works on Linux as well as Mac through macfuse or Windows using BoxCryptor. There might be other ways of getting it to work under Windows but I don't use Windows so you're on your own here.

To be able to access some files using your Android phone, etc., you can only encrypt your private files and leave others unencrypted and that's what I'll be using in the instructions below but if you want, you can of course encrypt your whole Dropbox folder.


Here's how this works:

- files under ~/Dropbox/.encrypted are encrypted
- files under ~/Private are not encrypted

You place the private files you want to sync in the ~/Private folder and they are then automatically encrypted under ~/Dropbox/.encrypted and synced with Dropbox.

Here's a screenshot too:

Dropbox encrypted folder
(The files you see on the left (under ~/Dropbox/.encrypted/) are the encrypted version of the files on the right (which are under ~/Private))


Even though there are 2 folders, only the encrypted files are stored on your disk and when you access the plaintext files in EncFS, the files are decrypted (or encrypted) on-the-fly. So you won't need extra disk space for this.

(thanks to Robert Freudenreich - the BoxCryptor developer - for this info)



Set up an EncFS folder and sync it with Dropbox (in Linux w/ GNOME)*



1. Install EncFS:
sudo apt-get install encfs


2. To create a new encrypted volume, run:
encfs ~/Dropbox/.encrypted ~/Private

And follow the instructions. Selecting "p" should be enough ("pre-configured paranoia mode") but if you know what you're doing, you can of course select the advanced mode.

If you've used different folder names, adapt the command above to your folders.


3. Now let's use GNOME-EncFS to store the password in the keyring and automatically mount the encrypted folder at startup.

Download GNOME-EncFS, extract it somewhere - lets say in your home directory, rename its folder to "gnome-encfs" (so it's easier to follow the instructions below) and use a terminal to navigate to its directory. If you've renamed the folder like I said and placed it in your home directory, use the following command:
cd ~/gnome-encfs

Now to install it, run:
sudo install gnome-encfs /usr/local/bin

And finally, run:
gnome-encfs -a ~/Dropbox/.encrypted ~/Private

Again, replacing the paths with whatever folders you've used. This command will ask for your EncFS password and if you want it to mount at login - make sure you select "yes".


And you're done. Now the files you place in the ~/Private folder will be mirrored under ~/Dropbox/.encrypted, synchronized and encrypted.


For your 2nd, 3rd, etc. computer running Ubuntu, follow these steps again. For Windows you can use BoxCryptor and macfuse for Mac. Unfortunately I don't use Windows or Mac so I can't help you configuring them.



Optional: exclude the EncFS key from being synced


You can set Dropbox not to sync your EncFS key if you want. But by doing this, you'll have to manually copy the key on the 2nd, 3rd computer, etc. in the ~/Dropbox/.encrypted folder.

1. Copy the key from ~/Dropbox/.encrypted folder somewhere safe. The key is called ".encfs6.xml" and is a hidden file so press CTRL + H to see it.

2. Run the following command to get Dropbox to ignore your EncFS key:
dropbox exclude add ~/Dropbox/.encrypted/.encfs6.xml

In my test, the ~/Dropbox/.encrypted/.encfs6.xml file was deleted after running the above command but since you've copied it somewhere else (step 1), you can now copy the ".encfs6.xml" file back to ~/Dropbox/.encrypted/

3. Open the Dropbox site and delete the .encrypted/.encfs6.xml file.


Update: also see -> how to access EncFS Dropbox folders on Android (these instructions should work for Windows too).


* Instructions tested on Ubuntu 11.04 32bit.


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