Install Pinta 0.8 In Ubuntu, Now Available For Natty Too

Pinta 0.8 was released last week and seeing that its PPA still provides version 0.5, I've uploaded it to the WebUpd8 PPA. For some reason, even the Ubuntu 11.04 repositories haven't been updated since Pinta 0.6 so starting today I'll also be providing Natty packages for Pinta.

Pinta 0.8 is a bug-fix release and it's most probably the latest release before 1.0. Here's the changelog:

• "Crop to selection" can enlarge image
• Unable to select desired pixels
• Layer - Import from file - Exception
• After cropping transparent border appears at left and top site of image
• Pinta crashes at startup - Error reading file '/home/[user]/.recently-used.xbel': Invalid argument.
• Tool panel is too wide in Russian locale
• Opening more then one image at the time
• Text outline leaves behind marks when the outline size is reduced
• Ubuntu task bar icon is default window icon, not new pinta icon
• Screenshot does not work when no config

Add the WebUpd8 PPA and install Pinta 0.8 in Ubuntu 10.04, 10.10 and 11.04 using the commands below:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nilarimogard/webupd8
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install pinta

I probably should have posted this on our new PPAs Status site (ppa.webupd8.org) but since this release solves some pretty important bugs, I thought you may want to know.

Install Pinta 0.6 In Ubuntu [PPA]

Pinta is a simplified image editor based on Paint.NET (and thus it uses Mono), designed to serve as an alternative to GIMP for casual users.

Pinta 0.6 was released about a week ago and includes a huge list of bug fixes but the latest Pinta is not available in its PPA so I've decided to backport the Natty package to Lucid and Maverick.

For a complete list of bug fixes in Pinta 0.6, see the release announcement.

Install Pinta 0.6 in Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx and 10.10 Maverick Meerkat

To add the WebUpd8 PPA and install Pinta 0.6 in Ubuntu Lucid or Maverick (I've only tested it on Maverick!), use the following commands in a terminal:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nilarimogard/webupd8
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install pinta

Since Pinta 0.6 is 100% identical to the package in Natty, if you encounter any bugs please report them at Launchpad.

If you're not using Ubuntu, you can download the Pinta source files or Windows binaries from HERE.

Banshee Is Not Replacing Rhythmbox In Linux Mint 11

Clement Lefebvre, the Linux Mint founder, recently talked to Muktware about Banshee - which has replaced Rhythmbox in the recent Ubuntu 11.04 development builds -, and Mono. Banshee is an amazing application but it uses Mono which many consider risky because Microsoft could one day assert its patents against all the free applications that use Mono.

While Clement says he doesn't consider Mono a thread, it looks like Rhythmbox will stay as default in Linux Mint:

Rhythmbox is our default player and we're quite happy with it. If Ubuntu switches to Banshee, we'll of course give it a close look and assess whether the migration is a good move for us too, but as it is now there isn't any plan to change anything.

As you probably already know by now, Linux Mint will not switch to Unity either, keeping the old "classic" GNOME as default.

We will never kill Mono - Says Microsoft

Microsoft has applied the Microsoft Community Promise to it's C# initiative. What this means is - anyone can develop a C# compiler and use it to create applications in C#.

In layman terms,here is how the Microsoft Community Promise work -Read more »