Blubuntu: Eliminate the Brown in Ubuntu

In the interest of centralization, this post is taken from www.tombuntu.com verbatim and reposted here as follows:

[Published in February 26th, 2008

Posted by Tom in tips]

Spend a lot of time building a non-brown theme whenever you install Ubuntu? There’s a little-known theme called Blubuntu easily installable from the Ubuntu repositories that can switch every aspect of your desktop to blue.

The goal of Blubuntu is to offer a polished and cohesive alternative to Ubuntu’s default theme.

Install the theme’s metapackage to install all the Blubuntu components, including the GTK widgets, Metacity, and GDM login screen themes. Click here to install blubuntu, or run this command:
sudo apt-get install blubuntu-look

Once the theme is installed, it’s easy to switch to Blubuntu. Open Appearance Preferences from the System->Preferences->Appearance menu and select the Blubuntu appearance. Once the theme is applied there will be a notice asking if you want to apply the suggested wallpaper image.

If you want to use the GDM login theme as well, open Login Window Preferences from the System->Administration->Login Window menu. Select Blubuntu from the list of themes

Installing Multimedia Support in Ubuntu Hardy

Adding support for common media

Let’s first add support for common media file types.

Note: I’m going to assume that you have access to the Internet to make any required downloads.

1. Click Applications > Add/Remove … to bring up the Add/Remove Applications screen (you may be prompted to update the list of available applications).
2. From the Show dropdown box select All available applications.
   
3. In the Search box type mp3 and wait for the list of applications to be updated.
4. From the list of applications select the following to install:
   - Ubuntu restricted extras
   - Gstreamer extra plugins
   - Gstreamer ffmpeg video plugin
   - Mplayer Movie Player
   - Exaile Music Player/Manager
5. 
   To select these you will have to confirm the installation of restricted software and enable installation of unsupported and restricted software.
6. Click Apply changes and confirm the installation of the software.
7. Once you are done close the Add/Remove Applications screen.
8. Click System > Administration > Synaptic Package Manager to bring the Synaptic Package Manager screen (you will have to enter your password to conform the launch of this application).
   
9. In the toolbar click Search and look for openjdk.
10. From the list right-click on openjdk-6-jre and openjdk-6-jre-headless and select Mark for Complete Removal. You will next be asked to confirm the removal of other components such as icedtea_gcjwebplugin, which are OK to remove.
    
11. Click Apply and Apply again. The system will carry out the changes you requested. Click Close when done.
12. In the toolbar click Search and look for sun java.
13. Find sun-java6-jre and sun-java6-plugin, right-click on each and select Mark for Installation. You will be asked to confirm additional required changes.
    
14. Click Apply and Apply again. The system will carry out the changes you requested. Click Close when done.
15. In the toolbar click Search and look for vlc plugin.
16. Find mozilla-plugin-vlc, right-click on this and select Mark for Installation.
17. Click Apply and Apply again. The system will carry out the changes you requested. Click Close when done.
18. In the toolbar click Search and look for mplayer plugin.
19. Find mozilla-mplayer, right-click on this and select Mark for Installation.
20. Click Apply and Apply again. The system will carry out the changes you requested. Click Close when done.

Enabling the Almighty Medibuntu Repository

By getting this far you’ve added support for a not of different multimedia file types, such as MP3, MPEG1, MPEG2, DivX and WMV. If this is enough support for you then you can stop here. However, if you want to add support for commercial DVDs and other proprietary media formats, read on …

1. Click Applications > Accessories > Terminal to bring up a terminal window.
   
2. Type the following:
   sudo cp /etc/apt/sources.list /etc/apt/sources.old
   Press Enter. You will then be asked for your password. Note that when you type this noting will be displayed on screen. Press Enter again.
   
3. Type the following:
   gksudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list
   Press Enter.
4. A text file will be opened in gedit. At the very end add the following line:
   deb http://packages.medibuntu.org/ hardy free non-free
   Save the file and close gedit.
   
5. Switch back to the terminal window and type the following:
   wget -q http://packages.medibuntu.org/medibuntu-key.gpg -O- | sudo apt-key add -
   Press Enter.
   
6. To reload the software repositories, type the following into the terminal window:
   sudo apt-get update
   Press Enter.
7. Click System > Administration > Synaptic Package Manager to bring the Synaptic Package Manager screen (you will have to enter your password to confirm the launch of this application).
8. In the toolbar click Search and look for w32codecs.
   
9. Find w32codecs, right-click on this and select Mark for Installation.  You will be asked to confirm additional required changes.
10. Click Apply and Apply again. The system will carry out the changes you requested.
    
11. In the toolbar click Search and look for libdvdcss2.
12. Find libdvdcss2, right-click on this and select Mark for Installation.  You will be asked to confirm additional required changes.  Do the same for msttcorefont, Mark for Installation, Apply.
    
13. Click Apply and Apply again. The system will carry out the changes you requested.
14. Finally, go to System > Administration > Software Sources. Click on the Third-Party Software tab and uncheck http://packages.medibuntu.org/ hardy free non free. Click Close (ignore the request to reload the list).
15. Job done!

Enjoy!

Quick Tip: Installing Ubuntu Studio Theme on Ubuntu

The Ubuntu Studio theme looks really very cool and easy on the eyes.  Want to install it in Ubuntu?  That’s easy!  I am using it on my Ubuntu Hardy Heron 8.04.  As a added benefit to some, using this theme (incl gdm) along with Bluman for Usplash (found in gnome-look.org) will remove all remnants of that eye searing Orangutan Brown at boot up :

1. Install Ubuntu Studio theme, this includes GTK and Metacity theme. With the following commnad in your terminal:

sudo apt-get install ubuntustudio-theme

2. Install Ubuntu Studio icon theme:

sudo apt-get install ubuntustudio-icon-theme

3. Install Ubuntu Studio GDM theme:

sudo apt-get install ubuntustudio-gdm-theme

4. Install Ubuntu Studio wallpapers:

sudo apt-get install ubuntustudio-wallpapers

Of course, you can also get meta package ubuntustudio-look, but this will remove ubuntu-sounds package.