14 DAY TRIAL // Ubuntu 13.10 has received another great scope that will help users shorten URLs straight from Unity, without having to open an Internet browser.
Unity 13.10 (Saucy Salamander) is the first edition to benefit from the “101 scopes” project. The dreaded online search implemented in Ubuntu through Dash can serve a lot of functions, through the lenses.
These lenses can be modified and designed to serve more than a simple search purpose. In this case, the developer wanted to implement a service in Unity that allows users to shorten a link straight from the operating system, without the help of another application.
“A scope that didn't make it into +Ubuntu 13.10 is the is.gd scope. I've been fixing it up over the last couple of days and have added it to the scope packagers PPA.”
“The scope takes thesearch term entered into the +Ubuntu Unity dash and checks to see if it's a url. If it is, it presents a result which, when double clicked, shortens the url using www.is.gd and copies the shortened url to the system clipboard to paste wherever it is needed,” said Mark Tully in a Google+ post.
Moreover, if the user hasn't entered a search term in the dash, the lens checks the contents of the system clipboard, and if that's a URL, it presents a result.
The developer also uploaded the package to the PPA and it’s really easy to install. All you need is access to the root password and a terminal. Just open that terminal and enter the following commands, in the presented order:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:scopes-packagers/ppa sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install unity-scope-isgd
After everything has been downloaded and completed, you will find that the new lens works immediately after you enter the first URL.
Enjoy this awesome is.gd scope.