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Blocklist-Update.sh

Blocklist-Update.sh is a script that I wrote to manage blocklists from bluetack etc to be used in conjunction with Transmission torrent downloader in Linux/MacOS. The script can be taylored to work with Qbittorrent as well, but the placement of the blocklists means you'd have to redirect the blocklist to go somewhere locally manageable as Transmission uses its own blocklist directory in .config. I believe there are about 10 lists there now. It works well for my needs. It can be ran weekly using crontab in standard user profile.  To download:  blocklist-update.sh To download the others:  Github
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INSTALLING ADDITIONAL THEMES; THE TERMINAL WAY!

When setting up a new system, or even an old one, installing themes can be tricky on Linux as there aren’t seemingly enough in the repositories. You could spend hours combing through the software installation tool for your distribution, but a better way to find exactly what you prefer is to use a couple of sites called xfce-look and gnome-look. Both sites contain gtk2 and 3 themes as well as instructions on how to install the themes to your system once you’ve downloaded them. The thing they don’t explain to you is how to open the tarballs or zip archives via terminal, but most systems come with an archive manager by default. In this tutorial, I’ve chosen the Abrus-dark theme found at xfce-look. The Abrus theme is a dark gtk3 theme which converts every window to a pleasant, dark background. I prefer dark colors as it is easier on the eyes. Installing any theme can be this easy; as easy as unpacking a zip and moving the extracted data to another location.

In the past, I’ve covered how to install a browser without maneuvering the constraints and limitations found in some software installers in Linux. I am doing something similar here, but the archives come in different and seemingly random formats so it makes sense to do this one as well. The main formats you might run into are gzip(.gz), zip(.zip) and tarballs(tar.xz ,etc.). If this seems frightening to you, don’t worry, it was to me once as well. Google is your friend. As I stated, there are ways around this using an archive manager which I will offer the name of such an applications shortly. Some good wallpapers with Abrus are darker ones much like ones found in Peppermint OS.

To install the theme go to the link(s) and click on files, this brings up a list of tarballs in this case. Click on either the dark or the light, solid or otherwise, but be sure that it is a tar file. Once you’ve downloaded the tar file, it is wise to go into the terminal and change directory(cd) to the corresponding download location and then type the following command: tar -xf abrus-dark .tar.xz and wait until it finishes extracting which shouldn’t take 2 seconds. Once completed, you will have to find the directory in the terminal window, this can be done using the list command(ls). When found, type sudo mv abrus–dark /usr/share/themes. This places it in the themes directory. If you have a window to change your theme already open, it would be a good time to shut that down and restart it, otherwise, you could also log out and back in. Then find and click on the recently installed theme and change the window manager to match.

I forgot to mention that you can also add repositories in Ubuntu, but this method is not recommended as it poses a possible security risk. I also said that I would mention an archive manager in the unlikely event that your system does not yet have one. File-Roller is a great archive manager that is in the gnome group of software, however, engrampa comes by default on most Xfce builds.


LINK TO AN ARCHIVE MANAGER: https://github.com/GNOME/file-roller

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