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Novell LINUX ENTERPRISE DESKTOP 11 - GNOME 17-03-2009 Manual

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SUSE Linux Enterprise
Desktop
11
March 17, 2009
GNOME User Guide
www.novell.com

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Summary of Contents for Novell LINUX ENTERPRISE DESKTOP 11 - GNOME 17-03-2009

  • Page 1 SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop www.novell.com GNOME User Guide March 17, 2009...
  • Page 2 That this manual, specifically for the printed format, is reproduced and/or distributed for noncommercial use only. The express authorization of Novell, Inc must be obtained prior to any other use of any manual or part thereof. http://www.novell For Novell trademarks, see the Novell Trademark and Service Mark list .com/company/legal/trademarks/tmlist.html.

  • Page 3: Table Of Contents

    Contents About This Guide Part I Introduction 1 Getting Started with the GNOME Desktop Logging In and Selecting a Desktop ....Logging Out ......Desktop Basics .
  • Page 4 3 Customizing Your Settings The Control Center ......Hardware ......Look and Feel .
  • Page 5 8 Backing Up User Data Creating Backups ......Restoring Data ......

  • Page 7: About This Guide

    Internet. For an overview of the documentation available for your product and the latest docu- http://www.novell.com/documentation mentation updates, refer to or to the following section.
  • Page 8 Introduces basic concepts of system security, covering both local and network se- curity aspects. Shows how to make use of the product inherent security software like Novell AppArmor (which lets you specify per program which files the program may read, write, and execute) or the auditing system that reliably collects informa- tion about any security-relevant events.
  • Page 9 • To report bugs for a product component or to submit enhancements requests, please use https://bugzilla.novell.com/. If you are new to Bugzilla, you might find the Bug Writing FAQs helpful, available from the Novell Bugzilla home page. • We want to hear your comments and suggestions about this manual and the other documentation included with this product.

  • Page 10: Documentation Conventions

    3 Documentation Conventions The following typographical conventions are used in this manual: • /etc/passwd: directory names and filenames • placeholder: replace placeholder with the actual value • PATH: the environment variable PATH • ls, --help: commands, options, and parameters • user: users or groups •...

  • Page 11: Part I Introduction

    Part I. Introduction...

  • Page 13: Getting Started With The Gnome Desktop

    Getting Started with the GNOME Desktop This section describes the conventions, layout, and common tasks of the GNOME desktop as implemented in your product. GNOME is an easy-to-use graphical interface that can be customized to meet your needs and personal preferences. This section describes the default configuration of GNOME.

  • Page 14: Session Management

    The program managing the login process is specific to the desktop environment installed on your system. For GNOME, it is GDM. If the KDE desktop is also installed on your system, it can be KDM. The GDM login screen has the following items: •...

  • Page 15: Switching Desktops

    The Session Manager can save and restore the following settings: • Appearance and behavior settings, such as fonts, colors, and mouse settings. • Applications that you were running. such as a file manager or an OpenOffice.org program. You cannot save and restore applications that Session Manager does not manage.

  • Page 16: Logging Out

    • If the Lock button is present on a panel, click it. To add the Lock button to a panel, right-click the panel, then click Add to Panel > Lock Screen. When you lock your screen, a screen saver starts, locking the screen. To unlock the screen, move your mouse or press a key to display the locked screen dialog.

  • Page 17: Desktop Basics

    2 Select one of the following options: Shutdown Logs you out of the current session, then turns off the computer. Restart Logs you out of the current session, then restarts the computer. Suspend Puts your computer in a temporary state that conserves minimal power (“Suspend to RAM”).
  • Page 18 Figure 1.1 GNOME Desktop By default, the desktop features two key icons: your personal Home folder and a trash can for deleted items. Other icons may also be present on the desktop, such as icons representing devices on your computer. If you double-click your Home folder, the Nautilus file manager starts and displays the contents of your home directory (where your personal files and configurations are stored).

  • Page 19: Default Desktop Icons

    A link is a special type of file that points to another file or folder. When you perform an action on a link, the action is performed on the file or folder to which the link points. However, when you delete a link, you delete only the link file and not the file that the link is referencing.

  • Page 20: Bottom Panel

    Figure 1.2 GNOME Desktop Menu 1.3.3 Bottom Panel The desktop includes a panel across the bottom of the screen. The bottom panel contains the main menu (similar to the Start menu in Windows*), the taskbar showing the icons of all applications currently running as well as easy access to applications and applets. If you click the name of a program in the taskbar, the program's window is moved to the foreground.
  • Page 21 Option Description Properties Modifies the properties for selected panel. Delete This Panel Removes the panel, along with all panel settings, from the desktop. Allow Panel to be Lets you drag the panel to another side of the screen, or locks Moved/Lock Panel the panel in its current position.
  • Page 22 Figure 1.4 Add to Panel Dialog Box Some useful applets include the following: Table 1.2 Some Useful Applets Applet Description Dictionary Lookup Look up a word in an online dictionary. Force Quit Terminate an application. This is especially useful if you want to terminate an application that is no longer respond- ing.
  • Page 23 Applet Description Volume Control Increase or decrease the sound volume. Weather Report Display current weather information for a specified city. Workspace Switcher Access additional work areas (or workspaces) through virtual desktops. For example, you can open applications in different workspaces and use them on their own desktops without the clutter from other applications.

  • Page 25: Working With Your Desktop

    Working with Your Desktop Now you can now start to work with your desktop. In this chapter you will learn how to start applications, manage and search files and burn CDs. You will get familiar with the power management concept of GNOME and find out how to perform regular tasks with your desktop.

  • Page 26: Search Bar

    Figure 2.1 Main Menu The main menu contains several elements: 2.1.1 Search Bar The search bar helps you find applications and files on your system. Enter your search terms in the Search field, then press Enter . The results are displayed in the Desktop Search dialog box.
  • Page 27 To add an item to your Favorite Applications: 1 Click Computer > More Applications. 2 Right-click the application you want to add. 3 Select Add to Favorites. The selected application is added to your Favorite Applications. To remove an item from your Favorite Applications: 1 Click Computer.
  • Page 28 2.1.3 System System provides shortcuts to several system applications. Table 2.1 System Shortcuts Application Description Help Opens the Help Center, which provides online documentation for your system. Control Center Allows you to customize and configure your desktop. For more information, see Chapter 3, Customizing Your Settings (page 49).

  • Page 29: Managing Folders And Files With Nautilus

    2.2 Managing Folders and Files with Nautilus Use the Nautilus File Manager to create (or view) folders and documents, run scripts and create CDs of your data. In addition, the File Manager provides support for Web and file viewing. You can open the File Manager in the following ways: •...

  • Page 30: File Manager Navigation Shortcuts

    Lets you quickly navigate among files and folders, and provides access to Toolbar them.The toolbar contains Back, Forward, Up, Stop, Reload, Home, Computer, and Search buttons. Lets you locate files, folders, and URI sites. The location bar supports Location Bar two different views: the traditional text-based view (where you can enter or edit a path) and the button view (where each folder is displayed as a button).

  • Page 31: Archiving Folders

    Shortcut Description Shift + Alt + ↑ Opens the parent folder and closes the current folder. Shift + Ctrl + W Closes all parent folders. Ctrl + L Toggles the location bar view from the button view to the text-based view. Alt + Home Opens your home directory.
  • Page 32 2.2.3 Creating a CD/DVD If your system has a CD or DVD read/write drive, you can use the Nautilus file manager to burn CDs and DVDs. 1 Click Computer > More Applications > Multimedia > GNOME CD/DVD Creator, or insert a blank disc and click Make Data CD/DVD or Make Audio CD/DVD. 2 Drag and drop the files you want to put on the disc into the Nautilus CD/DVD Creator window.

  • Page 33: Using Bookmarks

    2.2.4 Using Bookmarks Use the Nautilus Bookmarks feature to mark your favorite folders. 1 Select the folder or item for which you want to create a bookmark. 2 Click Bookmarks > Add Bookmark. The bookmark is added to the list, with the folder name as the bookmark name.

  • Page 34: Accessing Floppy Disks, Cds, Or Dvds

    2.3 Accessing Floppy Disks, CDs, or DVDs To access floppy disks, CDs or DVDs, insert the medium into the appropriate drive. An icon for the medium is automatically created on the desktop. For many types of re- movable media, a File Manager window pops up automatically when the media is in- serted or attached to the computer.
  • Page 35 Figure 2.3 Search for Files Dialog Search for Files uses the find, grep and locate UNIX commands. All searches are case insensitive. You can also open the Search for Files dialog by entering the following command into the Run Application dialog (started with Alt + F2 ): gnome-search-tool 2.4.1 Performing a Basic Search 1 Start Search for Files.
  • Page 36 3 In the Look in folder field, choose the directory where you want Search for Files to begin the search. 4 Click Find. 2.4.2 Adding Search Options Use Select more options to search by file content, dates, owner or file size. 1 Start Search for Files.
  • Page 37 Option Description Size at least Searches for files that are equal to or larger than the size specified (in kilobytes). Size at most Searches for files that are smaller than or equal to the size specified (in kilobytes). File is empty Searches for empty files.
  • Page 38 Option Description Show hidden and backup Includes hidden and backup files in the search. files Follow symbolic links Follows symbolic links when searching for files. Include other file systems Searches in directories that are not in the same file system as the start directory. 6 Specify the required search information for the search option.

  • Page 39: Moving Text Between Applications

    To open a file displayed in the Search Results list, right-click the file, then click Open or double-click the file. To open the folder that contains a file displayed in the Search Results list, right-click the file and click Open Folder. To delete a file displayed in the Search Results list, right-click the file and click Move to Trash.

  • Page 40: Exploring The Internet

    2.8 E-mail and Scheduling For reading and managing your mail and events, SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop offers you Novell® Evolution™, a groupware program that makes it easy to store, organize and retrieve your personal information. Evolution seamlessly combines e-mail, a calendar, an address book, and a memo and task list in one easy-to-use application.

  • Page 41: Opening Or Creating Documents With Openoffice.org

    To start Evolution, click Computer > More Applications > Office > Evolution Mail and Calendar. The first time you start Evolution, it prompts you with a few questions as it sets up a mail account and helps you import mail from your old mail client. Then it shows you how many new messages you have and lists upcoming appointments and tasks.

  • Page 42: Controlling Your Desktop's Power Management

    you can use wizards, which guide you through the creation of letters and other typical documents. For more information, see Chapter 1, The OpenOffice.org Office Suite (↑Application Guide) or view the Help in any OpenOffice.org program. 2.10 Controlling Your Desktop’s Power Management GNOME Power Manager is a session daemon for the GNOME desktop that manages the power settings for your laptop or desktop computer.
  • Page 43 Figure 2.5 Power History Going From Battery Power to AC The Power History graph shows the power history charge used by the composite primary battery. The line represents the amount of power that is either being used to charge the batteries in the system or the power being used by the system from the batteries.
  • Page 44 and suspend action, the actions to perform when the laptop lid is closed and the notifi- cation area icon policy. To access Power Management Preferences, right-click the battery icon and choose Preferences, or click Computer > More Applications > System > Power Management. On AC Power Preferences Use the options on the On AC Power dialog box to automatically put your computer to sleep when it has been inactive for a specified amount of time.

  • Page 45: General Preferences

    When your computer is asleep, it is turned on but in a low power mode (suspend to RAM). It takes less time for a computer to wake up from sleep than it does for the computer to start up after being turned off. You can also set only the display to sleep.
  • Page 46 Figure 2.8 GNOME Power Manager General Preferences Scheduling a Wakeup Use the Scheduling tab on the General Power Management Preference dialog box to configure an automatic wake up from a suspend state. Specify a time of day and a day of the week for the wake up.
  • Page 47 2.10.3 Session and System Idle Times gnome-screensaver is a session daemon that monitors user input (if the mouse has or has not been moved and if the keyboard has or has not been pressed) then starts a timeout. When the value of this timeout reaches the value set in Screensaver Prefer- ences (using the Regard the computer as idle after option), then the login is marked as “session idle.”...

  • Page 48: Creating, Displaying, And Decompressing Archives

    To access the screen saver preferences, click Computer > More Applications > System > Screensaver. For more information, see Section 3.3.4, “Configuring the Screen Saver” (page 60). 2.11 Creating, Displaying, and Decompressing Archives You can use the Archive Manager application (also known as File Roller) to create, view, modify or unpack an archive.
  • Page 49 2.11.1 Opening an Archive 1 In Archive Manager, click Archive > Open. 2 Select the archive you want to open. 3 Click Open. Archive Manager automatically determines the archive type, and displays the following: • The archive name in the window title bar. •...
  • Page 50 at least one file. If you create a new archive and quit Archive Manager before you add any files to the archive, Archive Manager deletes the archive. 5 Add files and folders to the new archive: 5a Click Edit > Add Files or Edit > Add a Folder and select the files or folders you want to add.
  • Page 51 Option Description For example, you specify /tmp in the Filename text box and choose to extract all files. The archive contains a subfolder called doc. If you select the Re-create folders option, Archive Manager extracts the contents of the subfolder to /tmp/doc. If you do not select the Re-create folders option, Archive Manager does not create any subfolders.

  • Page 52: Taking Screen Shots

    Option Description The required password is the encryption password that was specified when the archive was created. Open destination folder Displays the contents of the destination folder in after extraction a file manager window after the extraction of the specified files is completed. 5 Click Extract.

  • Page 53: Viewing Pdf Files

    When you take a screen shot, the Save Screenshot dialog box opens. To save the screen shot as an image file, enter the filename for the screen shot and choose a location from the drop-down list. Figure 2.12 Save Screenshot Dialog Box You can also use The GIMP to take screen shots.
  • Page 54 Figure 2.13 Evince PDF Viewer To open Evince, double-click a PDF file in a file manger window (or Web site) or press Alt + F2 , type evince and press Enter . To view a PDF file in Evince, click File > Open, locate the desired PDF file and click Open.

  • Page 55: Controlling Sound

    2.14 Controlling Sound YaST automatically identifies and configures the sound cards in your computer. You can also use the YaST Hardware module to configure your sound card manually. When your sound card has been configured, you can control the volume and balance of the sound with the GNOME Volume Control mixer.

  • Page 56: Using The Fingerprint Reader

    Recording Shows applications that are currently recording sound. Right-click to choose the stream that will be recorded. Output Devices Lists output devices. Right-click on a device to make it the default output device. Input Devices Lists input devices. Right-click on a device to make it the default input device. 2.15 Using the Fingerprint Reader If your system includes a fingerprint reader, users can log in to the system either by swiping a finger on the fingerprint reader or by typing in a password.
  • Page 57 http://www.gnome To learn more about GNOME and GNOME applications, see .org and http://gnomefiles.org. To report bugs or add feature requests, go to http://bugzilla.gnome.org. Working with Your Desktop...

  • Page 59: Customizing Your Settings

    Customizing Your Settings You can change the way the GNOME desktop looks and behaves to suit your own personal tastes and needs. Some of the settings you might want to change include: • Keyboard and mouse configuration, as described in Section 3.2.1, “Modifying Keyboard Preferences”...

  • Page 60: The Control Center

    3.1 The Control Center To access the Control Center, click Computer > Control Center. The Control Center is divided into the following four categories: Hardware Allows you to configure hardware components such as graphics cards, monitors, printers or keyboard layout, and to set up your network devices and configure your network connection.
  • Page 61 Figure 3.1 GNOME Control Center In order to change some system-wide settings, Control Center will prompt you for the root password and start YaST. This is mostly the case for administrator settings (in- cluding most of the hardware, the graphical user interface, Internet access, security settings, user administration, software installation and system updates and information).

  • Page 62: Hardware

    3.2 Hardware In the following sections you will find examples of how to configure some hardware aspects of your GNOME desktop, including keyboard or mouse preferences, handling of removable drives (and other media) or screen resolution. 3.2.1 Modifying Keyboard Preferences To modify some keyboard settings (such as autorepeat preferences or typing break sessions) click Computer >...

  • Page 63: Configuring The Mouse

    3 To add a new language layout, click Add and choose a language layout to add to the list. You can select different layouts to suit different locales. Select one layout as Default. 4 On the Typing Break tab you can set typing break preferences. For more informa- tion about the individual options click Help.
  • Page 64 Figure 3.3 Mouse Preferences Dialog 1 The General tab is divided into several sections. Use the radio buttons in the Mouse Orientation section to specify if the mouse buttons are configured for left-hand or right-hand use. 2 Check the option in the Locate Pointer section on the General tab to enable a mouse pointer animation when you press and release Ctrl .

  • Page 65: Installing And Configuring Printers

    tween two clicks is greater than the interval specified here, the action is interpreted as two separate clicks instead of a double-click. Use the light bulb icon to check double-click sensitivity: the light will light up briefly for a click, but stay lit for a double-click.
  • Page 66 3.2.4 Configuring Screens To specify the resolution, refresh rate and orientation for your screen or to configure multiple screens, click Computer > Control Center > Hardware > Screen Resolution and modify the options. 1 Press Detect Displays to detect all monitors connected to your computer. 2 To set options for any monitor, click on the monitor's icon in the blue preview area and set its Resolution, Refresh Rate, and Rotation (orientation) using the drop-down lists underneath.

  • Page 67: Look And Feel

    3.2.5 Configuring a Touchpad Use the Touchpad module to configure the behavior of a touchpad. This module is only available on computers containing touchpads, such as laptops. In most cases the default behavior should remain unchanged. Click Computer > Control Center > Hardware > Touchpad to start the Touchpad module.

  • Page 68: Configuring Fonts

    2 To change the picture on the background select one of the Wallpapers from the list and select the Style in which to arrange the image on the desktop. Your desktop immediately updates to show the new settings 3 To use a custom picture, click Add and select an image file from the file system. 4 If you do not want a picture on the background, select No Wallpaper from the Wallpaper list and specify a color scheme using the options in the Color drop- down list and the color selector buttons.

  • Page 69: Configuring Menus And Toolbars

    Figure 3.6 Font Preferences Dialog The upper part of the dialog shows the fonts selected for applications, documents, the desktop, window titles and a fixed-width font for terminals. Click one of the buttons to open a selection dialog where you can set the font family, style and size. For more information on the individual options, click Help.

  • Page 70: Configuring The Screen Saver

    IMPORTANT: New Keyboard Combinations Can Change Defaults If you assign a new keyboard combination that was previously assigned to something else, you are not warned. The previous assignment is removed and replaced by the new one. There is no automatic way to restore the default keyboard shortcut for a command.

  • Page 71: Choosing A Theme

    Figure 3.7 Screensaver Preferences Dialog From the list on the left select the screen saver theme you like. You can also select Random for a random selection of a screen savers or just a Blank Screen. A preview of the currently selected screen saver appears on the right or, by pressing the Preview button, you can test the selected screen saver in a fullscreen mode.
  • Page 72 Basic appearance and color settings for the desktop and applications are controlled using themes. You can choose from a variety of preinstalled themes. Selecting a style from the list overview applies it automatically. Customize opens another dialog where you can customize the style of single desktop elements like window content, window borders, and icons.
  • Page 73 Procedure 3.1 Creating a Custom Theme The themes that are listed in the Theme Preferences tool are different combinations of control settings, window frame options and icon options. You can create a custom theme that employs different combinations of options. To create a custom theme: 1 Click Computer >...

  • Page 74: Customizing Window Behavior

    3 Select the file and click Open. 4 If you want to apply the new theme immediately click Apply New Theme. You can also Keep Current Theme. 3.3.6 Customizing Window Behavior Use the Window Preferences tool to customize window behavior for the desktop. You can determine how a window reacts to contact with the mouse pointer or to double- clicks on its title bar and you can define which key to hold for moving an application window.
  • Page 75 rolling it up, leaving only the title bar visible. The default behavior is for the title bar to maximize in both directions. Using the radio buttons, select a modifier key to press for moving a window ( Ctrl , Alt or the Windows key).
  • Page 76 Figure 3.9 File Manager Preferences 1 On the Views tab define options for various Nautilus views. For example, select if Nautilus should show hidden files and backup files. 2 On the Behavior tab define several options such as to open files or folders in Nautilus upon single or double mouse-click, or to include a Delete menu item in Nautilus which deletes files or folders directly from your file system instead of moving them to the trash.
  • Page 77 5 Click the Preview tab to specify for which files to show previews in Nautilus and if folders should show the number of items they contain. 6 Click the Media tab to specify actions that should be performed automatically whenever media such as audio CDs, video DVDs, blank disks, media players, digital cameras and other devices are connected.
  • Page 78 Figure 3.10 General Lockdown Editor Settings When the Lockdown Editor starts, it tries to connect to the GConf mandatory configu- ration source (xml:merged:$prefix/etc/gconf/gconf.xml.mandatory). If you run pessulus as root, you have access to this configuration source and a lock icon is displayed next to the checkbox for each setting. Click the lock to specify if the setting is mandatory.
  • Page 79 2 Use the options in the Panel category to lock down the panel, disable the panel applets you specify and disable the force quit, lock screen and log out options. 3 Use the options in the Epiphany Web Browser category to control access to fea- tures in Epiphany.
  • Page 80 Figure 3.11 Main Menu Editor The current main menu submenus are displayed on the left of the main window, the items belonging to the selected submenu are shown on the right. Groups in a submenu are nested below that submenu. To find an item, click the arrow next to a submenu in the Menus list, select the group containing that item and locate the item in the Items list.
  • Page 81 you have other applications that do not currently appear on the menu. You can also add a directory, a link or another type of item to the menu. 1 To move a menu item click the menu item in the Items list on the right and drag it to a new location in the menu.

  • Page 82: Configuring Desktop Effects

    6 If you want to restore the default menu layout click Revert. 7 If all options are set according to your wishes click Close to apply your changes. NOTE The first time you use the Main Menu application to edit the menu, changes do not take effect until your next login.
  • Page 83 Figure 3.12 3D Desktop Enabling Desktop Effects To enable desktop effects you need a graphics adapter capable of providing 3D support and the graphics driver that Linux uses to operate the graphics adapter. This driver must be able to handle OpenGL (or 3D) requests from the Linux kernel. If your configuration is compatible with desktop effects it will be enabled by default.
  • Page 84 3 If your system is configured for desktop effects check Enable Desktop Effects. To keep desktop effects enabled press Yes in the dialog that opens. Otherwise, the desktop effects will be deactivated automatically in ten seconds. To disable desktop effects uncheck the Enable Desktop Effects option. 4 The default set of desktop effects is now enabled.
  • Page 85 Figure 3.13 Desktop Effects Configuration 1 Use the Info tab to get general information about the current desktop effect set- tings. 2 Use the options on the Animations tab to specify what happens when you open, close, focus or minimize windows. 3 Use the options on the Effects tab to specify what type of Switcher to use.
  • Page 86 7 For more information on the individual options, click Help. 8 If all options are set according to your wishes, click Close to apply the changes. NOTE: Advanced Configuration Tool An advanced configuration tool can be started from a terminal emulator with command ccsm.

  • Page 87: Personal

    Effect Shortcut Rotate desktop cube manually (if the desktop Ctrl + Alt + left-click the desktop and cube effect is enabled) drag the mouse pointer Rotate desktop cube (if the desktop cube ef- Ctrl + Alt + Shift + ← or → fect is enabled) or switch desktops (if the desktop wall effect is enabled) while keeping the current active window with you...

  • Page 88: Changing Your Password

    3.4.1 Changing Your Password For security reasons, it is a good idea to change your login password from time to time. To change your password: 1 Click Computer > Control Center > Personal > Change Password. 2 Type your old (current) password. 3 Type your new password.

  • Page 89: System

    To change the shortcut keys for an action, select the action and then press the keys you want to associate with the action. To disable the shortcut keys for an action, click the shortcut for the action, then press <— . 3.5 System In the following sections you will find examples of how to configure some system as- pects of your GNOME desktop like language settings, power management, preferred...

  • Page 90: Configuring Network Proxies

    3 Specify the primary language, whether you want to adapt the keyboard layout or time zone to the primary language, and any secondary languages you need to support on the computer. 4 Click Accept. The language configuration settings are written to several configuration files. This process can take a few minutes.
  • Page 91 For more information on the individual options, click Help. 3.5.3 Configuring Bluetooth Settings The Bluetooth module lets you set the visibility of your machine over Bluetooth, the name of your machine used for Bluetooth communication and whether you want to show the Bluetooth applet in your panel.

  • Page 92: Configuring Power Management

    3 In the Receive Files over Bluetooth section specify whether to accept files sent over Bluetooth, from which devices and whether you want to be notified about received files. 4 Click Close. 3.5.4 Configuring Power Management The Power Management module lets you manage your system's power-saving options. It is especially useful for extending the life of a laptop’s battery charge.
  • Page 93 Hibernate The computer saves the contents of RAM to the hard disk and shuts down. When you turn the computer on again, the saved data is put back into RAM, restoring your computer to its previous state. Hibernate requires an amount of free hard disk space equal to the amount of RAM installed on the computer.

  • Page 94: Setting Preferred Applications

    7 On the Scheduling tab you can set automatic wakeups of the computer in specified time on specified days of the week. 8 When all options are set according to your wishes, click Close. The options you selected go into effect immediately. 3.5.5 Setting Preferred Applications The Preferred Applications module allows you change the default application for various common tasks such as browsing the internet, sending mails or transferring data with...

  • Page 95: Setting Session Sharing Preferences

    The changes take effect immediately. 3.5.6 Setting Session Sharing Preferences The Remote Desktop Preference dialog box lets you share a GNOME desktop session between multiple users and set session-sharing preferences. IMPORTANT: Sharing Desktop Sessions Affects System Security Be aware that sharing desktop sessions can be a security risk. Use the restriction options available.
  • Page 96 To achieve a higher security level, activate Require the user to enter this password (if authentication is used). 3.5.7 Configuring Search with Beagle Settings Beagle is the search engine used on the GNOME desktop. By default, Beagle is config- ured to start automatically and index your home directory. If you want to change these settings, specify the number of results displayed after a search or change the Beagle privacy settings, click Computer >...
  • Page 97 traveling, a demo session that starts applications used to present a demonstration or slide show to a customer and a work session that uses a different set of applications when you are working in the office. Click Computer > Control Center > System > Sessions. Figure 3.18 Sessions Preferences Procedure 3.5 Setting Session Preferences 1 On the Startup Programs tab you can add programs to start automatically when...

  • Page 98: Setting Sound Preferences

    3.5.9 Setting Software Updates The Software Updates tool lets you configure the frequency of update checking, auto- matic updates and update notifications. 1 Click Computer > Control Center > System > Software Updates to open the Software Updates Preferences tool. 2 In the Update Settings section, set the frequency of update checking and whether updates should be installed automatically.
  • Page 99 Figure 3.19 Setting Sound Devices Click the drop-down list for each type of sound and select the device to use. In most cases Autodetect is the best choice, unless you want to use a specific device. Press Test to test the sound output. Setting Sound Events Use the Sounds tab to configure sound event functions.
  • Page 100 Figure 3.20 Setting Sound Events Preferences Check Play alerts and sound effects to play sounds when particular events occur in the desktop. To enable sounds when buttons are clicked, check Play sound effects when buttons are clicked. To enable sound alerts check Play alert sound. Finally, select the Sound Theme to use or set the sound of each event individually.

  • Page 101: Assistive Technologies

    Assistive Technologies The GNOME user interface incorporates many accessibility features and specially de- signed assistive technologies which contribute greatly to the accessibility of the GNOME desktop. This chapter describes several assistive technology applications designed to meet the needs of users with physical disabilities such as low vision or impaired motor skills. 4.1 General Accessibility Features A number of technologies can be of assistance to people with different types of disabil- ities.
  • Page 102 Customizing Specific Components of the Desktop This section describes how to customize the font settings for the desktop and frequently- used applications. If you have difficulty with the default font type and size on the desktop and desktop background, you can customize the font settings to suit your needs. The Appearance Preferences tool allows you to specify the default fonts for the desktop.
  • Page 103 If you use large fonts, you may need to change the size of panes in some applications, such as the file manager and Help browser. By default, GNOME applications use the default font specified in the Appearance Preference tool. Some applications allow this default font to be customized. Customizing Desktop Contrast To achieve a high-contrast or low-contrast desktop, perform the following steps: 1 Use the Appearance Preference tool to select the high-contrast or low-contrast...

  • Page 104: Mobility Impairments

    4 If the Use default theme font option is selected in the gedit (Text Editor) Control Center dialog, gedit uses the font size that is specified in the large-print theme that you selected. If you use applications that use panes, such as the file manager and help browser, you may need to change the size of panes to accommodate the large print.
  • Page 105 To configure the double-click timeout setting perform the following steps: 1. Click on the Buttons tab in the Mouse Preferences dialog. 2. Use the Timeout slider to specify the timeout in seconds that the system allows between the two clicks of a double-click. Moving the slider to the right will increase the timeout interval.
  • Page 106 3 Use the Sensitivity slider to specify how responsive the mouse pointer is to movements of the mouse. Moving the slider to the right will increase sensitivity and moving it to the left will decrease sensitivity. 4 Use the slider in the Drag and Drop section to modify the distance that you must move an item with the pointer before the action is interpreted as a drag and drop action.

  • Page 107: Orca

    2 Select Enable assistive technologies and press Close and Log Out. 3 Log back in. Assistive technology services are now activated. 4.2.3 Maximizing Application Windows If you are an On-Screen Keyboard user, you cannot use any application in Full-Screen mode because the application window obscures the On-Screen Keyboard display. To resize the window for use with the On-Screen Keyboard application, perform the following steps: 1 Do not enable the Full-Screen mode in the application.
  • Page 108 The first time Orca is launched you will be presented with a list of languages from which to choose. Enter the ID number of your language (for example, 7 for American English) and press Enter . When you run Orca for the first time, it will automatically enter setup mode. If you want to run setup at some later point, you can pass the setup option to Orca the next time you run it.
  • Page 109 The verbosity radio button group determines the amount of information that will be, in certain situations, converted to braille. 4.3.3 Magnifier Page The magnifier page allows you to enable/disable magnification and specify how mag- nification is performed. The first control on the magnifier page is the Enable magnifier check box. This check box toggles whether or not Orca will provide magnification.

  • Page 111: Part Ii Internet Connectivity, Files And Resources

    Part II. Internet Connectivity, Files and Resources...

  • Page 113: Accessing Network Resources

    Accessing Network Resources From your desktop, you can access files and directories or certain services on remote hosts or make your own files and directories available to other users in your network. SUSE® Linux Enterprise Desktop offers the following ways of accessing and creating network shared resources.

  • Page 114: Connecting To Your Network

    5.1 Connecting to Your Network You can connect to a network with wired and wireless connections. To view your net- work connection status, click Computer. In the Status area of the main menu, the Network Connections icon shows your network connection status. Click the icon to open the YaST Network Settings module.

  • Page 115: Accessing Network Shares

    5.3 Accessing Network Shares Networking workstations can be set up to share folders. Typically, files and folders are marked to allow users remote access. These are called network shares. If your system is configured to access network shares, you can use your file manager to access these shares and browse them just as easily as if they were located on your local machine.

  • Page 116: Sharing Folders

    Figure 5.2 Connect to Server dialog box 2 Select a service type, then specify the required information for your type of ser- vice. 3 Specify the name you want displayed for this connection, then click Connect. An icon for the network place is added to the desktop. 5.4 Sharing Folders Sharing and exchanging documents is a must-have in corporate environments.

  • Page 117: Enabling Sharing For A Folder

    5.4.2 Enabling Sharing for a Folder To configure file sharing for a folder: 1 Open Nautilus. 2 Right-click a folder, then select Sharing Options from the context menu. 3 Select Share this folder. 4 (Optional) If you want other people to be able to write to the folder, select Allow other people to write in this folder.

  • Page 118: Managing Windows Files

    5.5 Managing Windows Files With your SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop machine being an Active Directory client, you can browse, view and manipulate data located on Windows servers. The following examples are just the most prominent ones: Browsing Windows Files with Nautilus Use Nautilus' network browsing features to browse your Windows data.

  • Page 119: Configuring And Accessing A Windows Network Printer

    5.6 Configuring and Accessing a Windows Network Printer Being part of a corporate network and authenticating against a Windows Active Direc- tory server, you can access corporate resources such as printers. GNOME allows you to configure printing from your Linux client to a Windows network printer. To configure a Windows network printer for use through your Linux workstation, pro- ceed as follows: 1 Start the GNOME Control Center from the main menu.

  • Page 121: Searching With Beagle

    Searching with Beagle Beagle is a search tool that indexes your personal information space (normally your home directory) in order to carry out search requests. Using Beagle, you can find doc- uments, e-mails and attachments, Web history, IM/IRC conversations, address book contacts, calendar appointments, notes, source code, images, music (and video) files, archives (and their contents) and applications.
  • Page 122 Figure 6.1 Desktop Search Dialog Box You can use the results lists to open a file, forward it via e-mail or display it in the file manager. Simply right-click an item in the results list and select desired option. The options available for an item in the results list are determined by its filetype.

  • Page 123: Search Tips

    Figure 6.2 Desktop Search Dialog Box With a File Selected Use the Find In menu to limit your search to files in a specific location (such as your address book or Web pages) or to display only a specific type of file in your results list. The View menu lets you sort the items in your results list according to name, relevance or the date the file was last modified.

  • Page 124: Performing A Property Search

    IMPORTANT The OR has to be capitalized when used to indicate optional search terms. • To exclude search terms, use a minus sign (-) in front of the term you want to ex- clude (for example, apples -oranges will find results containing apples but not oranges).
  • Page 125 Keyword Applies to Property emblem File Emblem used in Nautilus extension or ext File File extension (for example, extension:jpeg or ext:mp3). Use extension: or ext: to search in files with no extension. genre Music file Genre of music imagecomment Image file Comments and descriptions found in images that have an IPTC caption or Exif comment imagemodel...

  • Page 126: Setting Search Preferences

    Property searches follow the rules mentioned in Section 6.2, “Search Tips” (page 113). You can use property searches as an OR query or as an exclusion query, and phrases can be used as query. For example, the following line will search for all PDF or HTML documents containing the word “apple”...

  • Page 127: Indexing Other Directories

    Select this option if you want your data Index data while on battery power: to be indexed when your computer is operating on battery power. Disabling this option is particularly useful if you are using SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop on a laptop and you want to stop indexing when your laptop is running on battery power.

  • Page 128: Preventing Files And Directories From Being Indexed

    3 Click Add in the General section of the dialog box. 4 Select the directory you want to index and click Open. Make sure you have rights to the directories you add. 5 If you want to remove a directory from the list of indexed directories, select it in the list, then click Remove.

  • Page 129: Selecting Data Sources To Index

    3 Click Add in the Privacy section. 4 Select a resource to exclude from indexing, then specify the path to the resource or filename pattern. 5 Click OK twice. 6.7 Selecting Data Sources to Index Beagle can index various data sources, data from various applications (for example Evolution mails, memos and tasks, Pidgin conversations, Tomboy notes or Nautilus metadata), files, applications, documentation, man pages and others.
  • Page 130 • Beagle Home Page [http://beagle-project.org/] GNOME User Guide...

  • Page 131: Managing Printers

    Managing Printers SUSE® Linux Enterprise Desktop makes it easy to print your documents, whether your computer is connected directly to a printer or linked remotely on a network. This chapter describes how to set up printers in SLED and manage print jobs. 7.1 Installing a Printer Before you can install a printer, you need to know the root password and have your printer information ready.

  • Page 132: Installing A Local Printer

    LPD/LPR Host or Printer: A printer or print server attached to a different UNIX system that can be accessed over a TCP/IP network. Windows Printer via SAMBA: A printer attached to a different system which is sharing a printer over a SMB network (for example, a printer attached to a Microsoft Windows ma- chine).

  • Page 133: Modifying Printer Settings

    5 Enter the root password. The installed printer appears in the Printers dialog box. You can now print to the printer from any application. 7.2 Modifying Printer Settings 1 Click Computer > Control Center > Printing 2 Double-click the printer you want to modify. 3 Modify the properties and click Close.

  • Page 135: Creating Backups

    Backing Up User Data The Backup Manager tool is a simple framework to let users backup and restore their own data such as home directories or selected files. It is possible to create scheduled backups or backups on request, and to play back a previous state of this data. 8.1 Creating Backups First schedule which data you would like to backup, and when you would like to backup this data.
  • Page 136 On the General tab set options such as: Data Selection Choose which files and directories are to be included in the backup process. Storage Destination Select a location for your backup on a separate media. For example, an ex- ternal hard disk or a USB flash drive. Schedule Set Frequency and Time.

  • Page 137: Restoring Data

    5 Click Save to close the settings dialog. NOTE: Information on Scheduling For scheduling backup dates the tool makes use of the user's crontab. For more information about crontab, see the crontab man page. 8.2 Restoring Data To restore a previous state of your data, proceed as follows: 1 Computer >...

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