Ubuntu Tweak 0.4.0 is out!

Ubuntu Tweak, one of our favorite utility programs for Ubuntu Linux (think Windows’ TweakUI, but for Ubuntu), has been upgraded to version 0.4.0. Among the changes is an entirely redesigned GUI that works even better on lower screen resolutions (like the EEE PC and I assume other netbooks). They’ve also added a new feature, the Package Cleaner.

The idea behind the Package Cleaner is to clean up for you after doing several installs, updates, etc. You can easily find yourself with a number of “garbage” packages, as well as a number of useless packages in the package cache. Tweak Ubuntu’s Package Cleaner will clean up all of that mess for you, not only getting rid of useless packages but also clearing space in the root directory for you. The upgrade announcement has screenshots of what the process looks like.

The Third-Party Source screen now will show you the origin URI for a program so you can double check to see if it’s what you want or not. (I personally prefer using Synaptic for this, but your mileage may vary.) As always, be careful enabling third-party repositories, because they can offer software that may not be 100% compatible with your system.

Ubuntu Tweak 0.4.0 has added an ability that I’ve long seen posts about in the Ubuntu Forums, changing the GNOME Panel Logo, that icon that starts your main panel menu. Ubuntu by defaults to setting that to a small version of the Ubuntu logo, and Mac4Lin 1.0 RC sets it to the GNOME foot logo, but you may want something completely different. It’s easy-peasy to select a new icon for use there, which is bound to be a major selling point for this newest version of Ubuntu Tweak. Add that to the new Terminals and Scripts support, along with User Folder Settings, right within Ubuntu Tweak and Ubuntu Tweak will find itself on even more Must Have lists than it was in version 0.3.

I’ve been holding on to this news since Thursday because there was a glitch in the package available in the PPA managed by TualatriX, the developer for Ubuntu Tweak. The versions available for downloading from the UT website worked, as shown in the number of positive comments, but I didn’t want to write my post about the upgrade until I was able to install it from the PPA and run it with no problem, and that didn’t happen until today, although TualatriX saw my bug report on it and tracked down the problem fairly quickly.

You can snag the update by either downloading it from the UT website or by downloading it from the PPA with the instructions Tualatrix provides on both the download page and on the release announcement.

If you already have Ubuntu Tweak 0.4.0 from the PPA and are having problems, you can either snag the newest package from the PPA or follow the instructions that kuidao posted for me. I had mentioned that Tualatrix had said I needed to change a value but wasn’t sure what change was needed. In response he wrote

You can change it very easy. Edit file Canvas.py

sudo gedit /usr/share/ubuntu-tweak/common/Canvas.py

Line 15 says:
font_size = int(font_name.split()[-1])

You may change text “int” to “float”, like this:
font_size = float(font_name.split()[-1])

And UT works fine!!

Many thanks to all who helped me find out what was wrong and how to fix it. I think you’ll find Ubuntu Tweak 0.4.0 well worth the extra time I waited before writing this post, especially since it now runs without major issue.