Audacity 2.4.2 PPA is back for Ubuntu 20.04 / 18.04

This simple tutorial shows how to install the latest Audacity 2.4.2 via PPA in Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 18.04, and Linux Mint 20.

Audacity audio editor 2.4.x was missing from the unofficial PPA for a few months, due to build system change and my poor debian packaging skill.

Since the upstream maintainer has built the 2.4.2 package for Debian unstable and Ubuntu 20.10, backports for Ubuntu 20.04 and Ubuntu 18.04 now are here for you!

Note the package is built against system’s wxWidgets 3.0.x, while Audacity team recommends to use the patched 3.1.x. The PPA package seems working good, though I’m not an audio editor.

And I offer no warranty for the packages in PPA. Use it at your own risk!

How to Install Audacity 2.4.2 via PPA in Ubuntu 20.04:

Open terminal either from system application menu or by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard. When terminal opens, run following commands one by one:

1.) Run command in terminal to add the PPA repository:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/audacity

Type user password (no asterisk feedback due to security reason) when it prompts and hit Enter to continue.

2. If you have a previous version installed, you can upgrade Audacity via Software Updater after adding the PPA.

upgrade audacity

or run following commands one by one to check updates and install (or upgrade) audacity 2.4.2:

sudo apt update

sudo apt install audacity

Uninstall:

To remove the PPA repository, launch Software & Updates utility and navigate to ‘Other Software’ tab. Or simply run command in terminal:

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/audacity

To remove Audacity audio software, either use system package manager or run command in terminal:

sudo apt-get remove --autoremove audacity audacity-data