SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop Administration

1. SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop Administration Chapter 2 Use the Linux Desktop

2. SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop Administration Objectives Objective 1—Overview of the Linux Desktop Objective 2—Use the GNOME Desktop Environment Objective 3—Access the Command-Line Interface from the Desktop 2

3. SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop Administration Objective 1—Overview of the Linux Desktop X Window System (called X or X11) The base of any graphical user interface on Linux Allows you to control the input and output of several applications in different windows of a graphical interface X uses a client/server architecture X server Controls the graphical screen Client application Uses the services of the X server to receive keyboard and mouse actions 3

4. SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop Administration Objective 1—Overview of the Linux Desktop (continued) Window managers are specialized client applications Provide control elements Manage virtual desktops Provide functionality of window frames X Window System is not linked to any specific window manager Desktop environments go far beyond the look and feel window managers provide For desktops and manipulating windows 4

5. SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop Administration Objective 1—Overview of the Linux Desktop (continued) 5

6. SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop Administration Objective 2—Use the GNOME Desktop Environment GNOME is a comfortable desktop environment To use the GNOME desktop environment, you need to know how to: Log In Log Out and Shut Down Identify GNOME Desktop Components Manage Icons in GNOME Use the GNOME File Manager (Nautilus) 6

7. SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop Administration Log In When working with a multiuser-capable operating system You must first identify yourself to the operating system using: A login string or username A password 7

8. SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop Administration Log In (continued) 8

9. SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop Administration Log In (continued) 9

10. SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop Administration Log Out and Shut Down Open the Computer menu (also called main menu) Select the Logout entry See Figures 2-4 and 2-5 Back at the login screen, four options appear in the lower-left corner: Language Session Reboot Shut Down 10

11. SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop Administration Log Out and Shut Down (continued) 11

12. SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop Administration Log Out and Shut Down (continued) 12

13. SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop Administration Log Out and Shut Down (continued) Shut down the computer directly from the GNOME desktop by selecting Shutdown On the right side of the Computer menu See Figures 2-4 and 2-6 13

14. SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop Administration Log Out and Shut Down (continued) 14

15. SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop Administration Exercise 2-1: Log In to and Log Out of the GNOME Desktop In this exercise, log in to the GNOME desktop as user geeko (password novell); then, log out again Perform these tasks from the GUI login screen (where you were left after installing SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10) 15

16. SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop Administration Identify GNOME Desktop Components 16

17. SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop Administration Identify GNOME Desktop Components (continued) Additional icons include: Network Manager Icon Monitor Globe Battery Speaker Calendar Clock Board Most programs are started from the main menu 17

18. SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop Administration Identify GNOME Desktop Components (continued) 18

19. SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop Administration Manage Icons in GNOME Desktop Create an icon for an application Select the item in your application menu, drag it to a free space on your desktop, and release the mouse button Create a new icon Right-click a free space on your desktop Options Create Folder Create Launcher Create Document 19

20. SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop Administration Manage Icons in GNOME (continued) 20

21. SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop Administration Manage Icons in GNOME (continued) 21

22. SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop Administration Manage Icons in GNOME (continued) Panel You can add new programs to the bottom panel by right-clicking a free area of the panel Then select Add to Panel See Figure 2-14 Remove a program from the control panel by right-clicking its icon in the bottom panel Then select Remove From Panel Move icons in the panel by holding down the right mouse button Selecting Move from the Context menu 22

23. SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop Administration Manage Icons in GNOME (continued) 23

24. SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop Administration Manage Icons in GNOME (continued) Main Menu You can add icons to the list of favorite applications by doing the following: Open the main menu in the panel Select More Applications Using the right mouse button, select an application item in the right frame Select Add to Favorites from the pop-up menu 24

25. SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop Administration Exercise 2-2: Work with Icons in GNOME In this exercise, add a new launcher labeled xeyes (for the program /usr/X11R6/bin/xeyes) to your desktop The icon for the new launcher should be gnomeeog.png Then, add the applet Geyes to your bottom panel and remove it again 25

26. SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop Administration Use the GNOME File Manager (Nautilus) You can start Nautilus by selecting the username’s Home icon on the desktop Or by selecting Nautilus from the main menu Normally Nautilus shows the content of the user’s home directory after starting You can see your current position in the location bar below the toolbar All higher directories are shown as buttons 26

27. SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop Administration Use the GNOME File Manager (Nautilus) (continued) 27

28. SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop Administration Exercise 2-3: Use the GNOME File Manager (Nautilus) In this exercise, you explore your GNOME desktop 28

29. SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop Administration Objective 3—Access the Command-Line Interface from the Desktop Virtual terminals Allow you to work in Linux as if you have several classic serial terminals available at the same time You can have up to six virtual terminals (F1-F6) running on your computer By pressing Ctrl+Alt+Fx, you can switch between individual terminals By pressing Ctrl+Alt+F7, you can switch back to your graphical user interface When you switch to a virtual terminal, a login prompt appears 29

30. SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop Administration Objective 3—Access the Command-Line Interface from the Desktop (continued) You can start a terminal emulation from your GNOME desktop by selecting GNOME Terminal Or X Terminal from the main menu The terminal opens inside a window Includes menus that you can use to modify the display of the terminal You can also start a GNOME Terminal by right-clicking on the desktop background Select Open Terminal 30

31. SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop Administration Objective 3—Access the Command-Line Interface from the Desktop (continued) 31

32. SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop Administration Exercise 2-4: Access the Command-Line Interface In this exercise, log in as user geeko at the first virtual terminal Then, switch to the second virtual terminal and verify that a login prompt is shown there Before switching back to the graphical user interface, log out from the first virtual terminal 32

33. SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop Administration Summary You can interact with a Linux system using a graphical or command-line interface The Linux graphical interface is provided by the X Window System The X server used by SUSE Linux is X.org, and it communicates with client applications using the TCP/IP protocol The default client application used by the X Window System in SUSE Linux is the Metacity window manager 33

34. SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop Administration Summary (continued) A desktop environment such as KDE or GNOME can be used in addition to a window manager to standardize the X Window System The Computer menu on the panel at the bottom of the GNOME desktop can be used to start applications, search for files, configure system settings, and shut down or hibernate the system You can obtain a command-line interface in SUSE Linux by interacting with one of six virtual terminals Switch from a command-line interface to a GUI interface using the Ctrl+Alt+F7 key combination 34