How to Install Mercurial in CentOS 7

Mercurial is an open-source distributed source control management tool. It is not available in CentOS default repositories and epel-release repository. However, it is possible to add it as a 'yum' package repository and get automatic updates. The procedure to do so is the following:

• Create a new file in /etc/yum.repos.d/ by issuing the following command:

$ sudo touch mercurial.repo

• Add the following contents into newly created 'mercurial.repo' file:

[mercurial]

name=Mercurial packages for CentOS7

# baseurl

baseurl=https://www.mercurial-scm.org/release/centos$releasever

skip_if_unavailable=True 

enabled=1

gpgcheck=0

• Verify that the new repository is recognized by yum with the below command. You should be able to see the newly configured repository in the listed repositories.

$ yum repolist

•  Install the latest version of Mercurial by issuing the following command:

$ sudo yum install mercurial

Enjoy using the latest version of Mercurial on your CentOS7 machine.

How to Install SimpleScreenRecorder in Fedora 23

SimpleScreenRecorder is a desktop session recorder and my personal favorite for the Job. It is not available in main Fedora repositories or RPMFusion repository.  For Fedora 22, it is available in Fedora copr repository 'mosquito/myrepo'  but it seems that the copr repo is not working properly in Fedora 23 (as of today 30.1.2016). You can install the SimpleScreenRecorder in Fedora 23 by issuing the following command:

$ su -c 'dnf -y install http://packman.links2linux.org/download/simplescreenrecorder/2358390/simplescreenrecorder-0.3.6-2.1.x86_64.rpm'

The above RPM comes from OpenSuSe but works fine in Fedora 23 as I have personally tested it. Enjoy using SimpleScreenRecorder. If you have got a question, please ask in the comments section.

How to Install Multimedia and Additional Packages on CentOS 7

After installing the CentOS 7.1, configure the following repositories to get everything in order:

• Enable CentOSPlus by editing the file /etc/yum.repos.d/CentOS-Base.repo.

  $ vim /etc/yum.repos.d/CentOS-Base.repo

  Locate the CentOSPlus section ( [centosplus] ) and change enabled=0 to enabled=1. Save and exit.


• Enable the EPEL (Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux) repository by issuing the command

  $ yum -y install epel-release

  This repository is a prerequisite for secondary repositories and contains many useful packages e.g. ntfs-3g package which enables NTFS partitions mounting and unmounting in CentOS 7.


• Enable the nux-dextop repository. This repository contains multimedia and other useful packages.

  $ yum -y install http://li.nux.ro/download/nux/dextop/el7/x86_64/nux-dextop-release-0-5.el7.nux.noarch.rpm



• Enable the Adobe repository to install flash-plugin by issuing the following command

  $ yum -y install http://linuxdownload.adobe.com/linux/x86_64/adobe-release-x86_64-1.0-1.noarch.rpm



• You are all set now. You can install the required packages by issuing the following command

  $ yum -y install "Package_Name"

  Some popular package categories and packages in them are as follows:
  
  Multimedia: smplayer, vlc, soundkonverter, simplescreenrecorder, clementine, kdenlive, audacity
  Internet: hexchat, otter-browser, qbittorrent, thunderbird, wireshark
  
  It is also possible to configure or install additional packages e.g. vivaldi (https://www.vivaldi.net) and jitsi (https://www.jitsi.org) etc. For further details, please visit the homepage of the respective package.

How to Increase GRUB Timeout in CentOS 7

• Edit the file /etc/default/grub by issuing the following command

      $ vim /etc/default/grub # Edit the GRUB_TIMEOUT field and set the new timeout

• Generate the new grub configuration file by issuing the following command

      $ grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/efi/EFI/centos/grub.cfg

Note: If Windows is installed before installing CentOS, running grub2-mkcondig should detect Windows boot loader too.

How to Install SimpleScreenRecorder in Fedora 22

SimpleScreenRecorder is a desktop session recorder and my personal favorite for the Job. It is not available in main Fedora repositories or RPMFusion repository.  However, it is available in Fedora copr repository 'mosquito/myrepo' and you can install it with the given below instructions.

Enable the copr repository with the command below.

$ su -c 'dnf copr enable mosquito/myrepo'

 Install the SimpleScreenRecorder with the following command.

$ su -c 'dnf -y install simplescreenrecorder'

Enjoy using SimpleScreenRecorder. If you have got a question, please ask in the comments section.

Urdu Support in Windows 7 and Later

وِنڈوز 7 اور اسکے بعد کے ورژنز میں اردو لکھنے اور پڑھنے کی سہولت کے لئے آپ اس لِنک سے اردو فونٹس ڈاون لوڈ کر سکتے ہیں۔ ڈاون لوڈ کرنے کے بعدزِپ آرکائیو کو اَن زِپ کریں ، اب اَن زِپڈ فولڈر میں جائیں، فونٹ فائل پر رائٹ کلک کر یں اور اِنسٹال سلیکٹ کریں۔ لیجئے آپ کے آپریٹنگ سسٹم میں اردو لکھنے اور پڑھنے کی سہولت دستیاب ہو گئی ہے۔تصدیق کرنے کےلئے کوئی اردو ویب سائٹ اوپن کریں یا اردومرّتب کنندہ [مثلاََ ایم ایس آفس یا لیبرِآفس] میں اردو ٹیکسٹ ٹائپ کریں۔ اگر آپ کو اِن معلومات کو سمجھنے میں دُشواری کا سامنا ہے یا آپ کے ذہن میں کوئی سوال ہے تو آپ کمنٹس سیکشن میں پو چھ سکتے ہیں۔ 

In Windows 7 and later, you can download a variety of Urdu fonts from this link. After downloading, unzip the archive, right click on the font file (.ttf) and select 'Install'. The fonts should be installed. You may need to refresh or restart your browser before actually seeing the new fonts in action. With Urdu fonts installed, you can visit an Urdu website or open an editor and start writing Urdu in it.

How to Enable Urdu Language Support and Write Urdu in Fedora 22

فیڈورہ لِنکس میں اردو لکھنے کےلئےدو طرح کے فونٹ آسانی سے میسر ہیں۔ پہلی طرز کے فونٹ نفیس نستعلیق کہلاتے ہے اور آپ نیچے دی گئی کمانڈسے اس کو انسٹال کر سکتے ہیں۔ دوسری طرز جمیل نوری نستعلیق ہے اسکو بھی آپ نیچے دی گئی کمانڈ سے انسٹال کر سکتے ہیں۔ مکمل معلومات نیچے اِنگلش میں دی گئی ہیں۔

اگر آپ اس اردو ٹیکسٹ کو ٹھیک طرح سے نہیں پڑھ پا رہے تو نیچے دی گئی ہدایات پر عمل کریں اور پھر اپنے براوزر کو ری سٹارٹ کریں امید ہے کہ اب آپ اس ٹیکسٹ کو بآسانی پڑھ پائیں گے۔ اگر آپ کے ذہن میں کوئی سوال ہے تو آپ کمنٹس میں پوچھ سکتے ہیں۔

There are two possible font categories for Urdu language support (viewing Urdu webpages and writing Urdu in LibreOffice,  and Calligra Words) in Fedora 22.  The first one is "Nafees Nastaleeq" collection which includes

• nafees-pakistani-web-naskh-fonts
• nafees-riqa-fonts
• nafees-web-naskh-fonts
• nafees-nastaleeq-fonts
• nafees-tehreer-naskh-fonts
• nafees-pakistani-naskh-fonts
• nafees-naskh-fonts.

The second one is "Jameel  Noori Nastaleeq". My personal preference is "Jameel Noori Nastaleeq" but I will discuss Nafees Nastaleeq too.

The following command can be used to install the Nafees Nastaleeq collection.

$ su -c 'dnf -y install nafees-*'

In order to install the Jameel Noori Nastaleeq, use the below command.

$ su -c 'rpm -ivh ftp://ftp.pbone.net/mirror/ftp5.gwdg.de/pub/opensuse/repositories/home:/Kenzy:/packages/Fedora_22/noarch/jameel-noori-nastaleeq-fonts-1.0-3.1.noarch.rpm'

After installing the new fonts, update the font cache with the following command so that the system can become aware of new fonts.

$ su -c 'fc-cache -fv'

Given below are the images showing Urdu alphabets written in Calligra Words and LibreOffice, respectively.

Fig. 1: Jameel Noori Nastaleeq in Calligra Words

Fig. 2: Jameel Noori Nastaleeq in LibreOffice

If you use Urdu in Linux, please share your experience in the comments section.

How to Install SMPlayer Themes and Skins in Fedora 20

It's been long since I posted on this blog. I am back with a useful post. People who use Fedora Linux (current release 20) are aware of SMPlayer. SMPlayer is a useful media player based on MPlayer. In Fedora 20, you can install the SMPlayer via yum but it is not possible to do the same for accompanying themes and skins. This might be an annoyance for the novice users or those who have recently switched to Fedora Linux. I have written a small Bash script to automatically install the SMPlayer accompanying themes and skins. You can download the script Here. Just open a terminal window, make the script executable and run it with administrative privileges. Alternatively, just copy the below commands to your terminal window and hit Enter on the keyboard.

chmod +x smthemesskins.sh; sudo ./smthemesskins.sh

Hopefully, the script works for you. Please share your thoughts on the script. Any improvements/comments/suggestions/errors will be welcomed.