In KDE 4 there are some great ways of managing those desktops. One of my favorite ways is using Active Edge Screen Actions to enable the Compiz Cube to switch workspaces. But the Active Edge Screen Actions can be used for much more than just switching workspaces. Let’s take a look at this feature and see just what it can do.

What are Active Edges?

To put it simply, Active Edges are locations on the screen where you can place the cursor and an action will occur. As the name implies, we’re dealing with the edges of the screen — specifically, the four corners and the center spot of each edge (center left, center top, center right, center bottom). That means there are eight different locations where an action can be set. When the cursor hovers over that location (the timing can be specified in the settings) the action configured will happen.

What actions can be configured? Any of the following:

• No Action.
• Show Dashboard.
• Show Desktop.
• Lock Screen.
• Prevent Screen Locking.
• Present Windows — All Desktops.
• Present Windows — Current Desktop.
• Desktop Grid.
• Desktop Cube.
• Desktop Cylinder.
• Desktop Sphere.
• Flip Switch — All Desktops.
• Flip Switch — Current Desktop.

For actions such as Desktop Grid/Cube/Cylinder/Spere and Flip Switch, those must be set up to work before the Action Edge can be set up. But once the action is working, it can be associated with an Action Edge.

Configuring an Action Edge

Figure 1

To do this click K > Computer > System Settings > Workspace Behavior > Screen Edges. When that new window opens (see Figure 1), right-click on one of the eight edges. When you do that a pop-up menu will appear where you can choose the action you want to associate with the edge. Select the action you want, and click Apply.

Once configured, test the Action Edge out. Remember, there is an Activation Delay for the edges. By default that delay is 150 milliseconds, so that action will not happen instantly.

A small conflict

You will notice, in this same screen, you can set edge flipping and window tiling. The Edge Flipping feature can be set up to flip to activate when either only dragging a window or always. Here’s the problem, if you have edge flipping and window tiling both set up, the window tiling will allow the edge flipping to work, but it’s a bit confusing and you could wind up with a tiled window instead of a flipped edge. I would recommend either one or the other. Also, if you configure Edge Flipping to be always on, you will lose four of your Action Edges (top/bottom center, right/left center).

Final thoughts

I’m a big fan of using multiple workspaces and Action Edges in KDE. These features do a great job of making your work more efficient and organized.

Run everything launcher

Figure 1

Of course, like every good desktop environment, Enlightenment has a “run dialog” that allows the user to run a command, without having to open up a terminal window.

The Everything Launcher is similar to GNOME Do, minus the ability to search for files. But by pressing the Alt-Esc combination a window (like that in Figure 1) will pop up allowing you to enter a command for launching. As you can see I have entered “claw” which instantly pops up both Claws Mail and clawsker. Both of these are applications. You can either click on one of the icons or finish the command and hit enter.

You can also click text and then copy whatever you have entered to the clipboard. Very handy, if you ask me.

But what if you want to make an icon or menu entry for an application? For that you have to (in E17 parlance) create a new application.

Creating new application

This actually isn’t creating a new application, but instead creates a launcher for the application, that can be added to a shelf or menu. Here’s how this is done.

Figure 2

1. Click Settings > All > Apps > New Application.
2. Fill out the basic information (The Application entry is the actual command for the application.)
3. Create an Icon for the application by clicking on the Icon tab and then entering the path to the icon in the field.
4. Add any options, if necessary.
5. Click OK.

You have now created an application. But where can you launch that application from? Let’s add it to the favorites menu. To do this, follow these steps:

Figure 3

1. Click Settings > All > Apps > Favorite Applications.
2. From this new window (see Figure 3) scroll up or down to find the new application you created.
3. Click on the application and then click Add.
4. Click OK to finish adding the application.

There is, of course, an easier way to do this. Once you have the application opened do the following:

Right-click the title bar of the application.

Select the application name and then either:

• Add to Favorites Menu
• Add to iBar.
• Create Keyboard Shortcut.

Figure 4

In order to create a Keyboard Shortcut do the following:

1. After you click Create Keyboard Shortcut the Keyboard Bindings window will open.
2. Click the keyboard shortcut combination you want to use.
3. Click on the Command entry under Launch.
4. Enter the command to be launched in the Action Params area.
5. Click OK.
6. Now test the keyboard shortcut.

If you make a mistake in the above steps, you can click the Escape key to get out of this.

Final thoughts

You will be hard pressed to find a desktop environment more flexible than E17. And with the help of tips like this, it becomes a very user-friendly desktop environment as well.

Clawkster is a GUI tool that allows the user to configure hidden configuration options for Claws Mail. That’s right, you can figure regular and hidden options in this already-flexible email client. But what all does Clawsker allow you to configure and how do you install it? I’m glad you asked, because I have the answers to both questions.

Installation

The first question I will answer is the installation. Installing Clawsker is a snap as it is found in the standard repositories (If you can install Claws Mail, you can install Clawsker.) Below are the steps to install Clawskter (assuming you already have Claws Mail installed.)

1. Open a terminal window.
2. Issue the command sudo apt-get install clawsker.
3. Type your sudo password and hit Enter.
4. Accept any dependencies that might be necessary.

After installation is complete, you will not find a menu entry for Clawsker. Instead, the tool must be run from the command line. So to start Clawkster, do the following:

1. Hit Alt-F2.
2. Enter “clawsker” (no quotes) in the run dialog.
3. Hit Enter.

If you try to run Clawsker with Claws Mail running, you will be informed that Claws Mail must be closed first.

The Clawsker window will now open.

What you can configure

Figure 1

The Clawsker tool allows for quite a bit of configuration options. Some of these options are very useful, whereas some might seem a bit too obscure.

When you open Clawsker (see Figure 1) there are five tabs to choose from. These tabs are:

Behavior: Alter some of the behaviors of drag ‘n drop, ssl, and messages.

Colours: Alter the colours used for message view and log windows.

GUI: Alter coloured strips (in tree view, folder lists, and message lists), message lists, bolding of unread messages, scroll bars, and more.

Other: Enable detached address book edit, change message cache and time for cache elements and enable network manager.

Windows: Place the location of the Main, Message, Send/Receive, Folder, Addressbook, Accounts, Filtering, Preferences, and other windows.

Some of the more helpful configurations are:

Behavior:

• Allow writable temporary files.
• Don’t confirm deletions (only use this if you are careful about deletions.)

GUI:

• Coloured lines contrast (the higher the number the more contrast between message listings.
• Display To column instead of From column in Sent folder.
• Show Cursor in message view.
• Detachable toolbars.

Final thoughts

I confess that much of the Clawsker configurations are not important options for me. But for many there may be a need to handle some of the more obscure configuration options offered by this handy tool. And it’s quite nice to know such a tool exists.

With the addition of Clawsker, Claws Mail is, without a doubt, the most highly configurable email client available.

I want to walk you through the upgrade process for Banshee 2.0 on Ubuntu. You don’t have to be using the most recent beta release of 11.04, but you really can’t go back any further than Ubuntu 10.04. With that in mind, let’s see what Banshee 2.0 will bring you and how you can get it installed.

New Features

Here is a list of the new features offered in 2.0.

Artist/Album Browser Track Actions: Finally you can right-click on an artist or album and select an action to act upon the selection. From that list you can Add to play queue, Play after, Add to play list, write to CD, edit track information, and more.

‘Play After’ Queue Options: From the Play After menu option you can insert a track or an entire album after the currently playing track. This makes listening to must on the fly very easy.

User Interface Improvements: Several changes have been made with a goal of having a clearner and user-friendly UI. These changes include:

• Removal of active source titlebar.
• Search now beside volume button.
• Smaller icons.
• Hidden counts for libraries.
• Name group-separators..
• Seek slider and search area can be resized.
• Podcast episodes now shown in grid and include descriptive lines.

Ubuntu One: The Ubuntu One Music Store is no longer an extension, but a part of the core Banshee application. No more enabling this feature. SoundMenu extension also enjoys this same change.

Subtitles: Support has been added for embedded and external subtitles.

Enhancements

There have been a ton of enhancements that are now available in Banshee 2.0. Some of these enhancements include:

• Support Amazon Cloud Player browsing and downloading
• Remember sources’ column configuration
• ‘Shuffle by’ respects user-selected artist/album
• MultimediaKeys: Support Pause, FastForward, Rewind, Repeat and Shuffle
• Album grid has tooltips for ellipsized text
• MusicBrainz cover art search supports CDBaby and Jamendo
• Allow to clear the play queue while in Populate mode
• Add a new ‘Recently Played’ default smart playlist
• Blank track editor spin buttons when 0
• Remove Home and Photo folder import sources
• Improved write-metadata-to-file performance
• Many improvements and fixes to the F1 user guide
• Add support for handling u1ms:// links
• AmazonMp3.Store: amazon.ca support
• Daap: Keep a list of recently used remote servers
• Windows build (alpha-quality) now available
• Mac build (beta-quality) has been updated

Installation

The installation of Banshee 2.0 is actually quite simple, if you follow these steps:

1. Open a terminal window.
2. Issue the command sudo apt-add-repository ppa:banshee-team/banshee-daily
3. Issue the command sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

You will notice, during the installation process, the Ubuntu One extension will be removed, this is normal and must be done, since this service is now rolled into the core.

Once the above commands are run open up Banshee and you should now see a much-improved interface as well as a far better performing player.

Features

Just what does tsclient offer? Take a look at this short list of features:

• Supports RPD, RDPv5, VNC, XDMCP, and ICA protocols.
• Quick connect from pre-configured files.
• Define screen sizes, and color depth.
• Configure sound to use remote or local resources.
• Map remote disk drives.
• Define start up programs upon connection.
• Performance optimizations.

Installation

The installation of Terminal Server Client is simple. Just follow these steps:

1. Open up your Add/Remove Software tool (such as Ubuntu Software Center, PackageKit, or Synaptic).
2. Search for “tsclient” (no quotes).
3. Mark Terminal Server Client for installation.
4. Click Apply to install.

Once installed Terminal Server Client can be found in Applications > Internet > Terminal Server Client.

Creating connections

Figure 1

Creating a connection with tsclient is incredibly easy. Open up the client and then, on the General tab, fill out the following information:

• Computer: IP Address or domain of remote computer.
• Protocol: Protocol used on remote computer for connections.
• User Name: User name to be used for authentication.
• Password: Password to used used for authentication.
• Domain: If your connection requires a domain, enter it here.

Before you click the connect button, you might want to save this configuration as a quick connect, so the details are no longer necessary to fill in. To do this click Save As and then give the file a descriptive name. All of those Quick Connect files will then be available from the Quick Connect drop-down, saving you plenty of time (you also will not have to remember the credentials! I will warn you though, the files that are saved are saved in flat-text in the ~/.tsclient directory. These files can be read using any editor. So if security is a big concern, you might want to not save the password for all of your clients.

Figure 2

Generally speaking, the defaults all work quite well with Terminal Server Client. Once connected the remote machine will be running in a window either as defined by the defaults or as defined by the user making the connection. Figure 2 shows Terminal Server Client connected to a Windows Server 2008 box.

To close the connection to the remote machine simply click the close button on the window. Once closed, tsclient will ask if you want to re-connect. If a re-connection is not desired, click the Cancel button which will take you back to the connection window, which can be closed if no longer needed.

Final thoughts

I have found Terminal Server Client to be one of the best remote connection tools available when either VNC or RDP protocols are in play. Not only does it make for fast connections, it makes for very reliable connections.

Yes, we’ve all heard the constant condemnation and kudos to Canonical for making such a bold move. I myself have even said the makers of one of the most user-friendly distributions are making a mistake. But the reality of it is — it’s just a user interface and it’s one that works well. It’s not perfect. It’s not flexible. It’s not remotely the norm. But it’s what Ubuntu is going with and there you have it. Ubuntu Unity will also not make or break Ubuntu. Why? Because users can choose from Unity or Classic GNOME. Or…users can opt for Kubuntu, or any other distribution based on Ubuntu.

And, truth be told, when you see the version of Unity that should be shipped with the full release, you might start seeing it in a bit of a different light. Even though Unity has had little time for real polishing, it has a fairly sleek look and feel. It’s solid and it works exactly as you would expect.

What is new to Unity? Here’s a list:

• Unity is now the default Ubuntu Desktop session.
• Drag and drop re-ordering of launcher icons.
• Full keyboard navigation support.
• Launch apps from keyboard shortcuts.er activation through keyboard shortcuts
• Right-click context menu quick-list support.
• Ability to switch between running applications
• Icons can be dragged and dropped from the Dash to the launcher.
• Three session types in GDM: Ubuntu (Unity, requires 3D support), Ubuntu Classic (Classic GNOME), Ubuntu Classic No Effects (Classic GNOME with visual effects turned off).
• Classic GNOME panel applets not supported in Unity.

But beyond Unity, what are we getting with 11.04 beta? Let’s dig in.

kernel

The beta release will bring little new functionality. What was in the final alpha will most like be seen in the beta. The kernel release is 2.6.38-7.39 which is based on the mainline 2.6.38 kernel. One change is that vesafb has be re-enabled as a module to help prevent GPU hangs and screen corruption on boot.

Packages

I was quite happy to find out that LibreOffice 3.3.2 is included with the beta release. If you are not familiar with LibreOffice, it is the fork of OpenOffice created after Oracle took over the reigns and starting upturning the open source community.

Also included are:

• Gcc 4.5
• Python 2.7
• dpkg 1.16.0-pre
• Upstart 0.9

Of the above list, the major update is upstart which has a number of new features (such as being chroot-aware and support for basic job/event visualization.

Overall impressions

My first impression with the 11.04 desktop was surprisingly positive. I was very much prepared to be underwhelmed, but found quite the opposite to be the case. The Unity desktop ran smooth and was very efficient. After playing with the desktop for a while it becomes quite clear the ultimate goal is that of touch screens. But even being touch-screen-centric, the desktop still works well under the current norm of mouse and keyboard.

I was also pleased to see how quickly the startup and shutdown process was. 11.04 might well be the fastest I have ever experienced.

Ultimately the decision to use Ubuntu 11.04 is going to boil down to how much you like the desktop. But even if you do not like Unity, there is always another desktop you can use instead. That is one of the best features of Linux, after all — flexibility.

I believe Ubuntu 11.04 is going to continue the tradition Ubuntu started long ago, which means 11.04 will still be one of the most user-friendly Linux distributions available. If you want to give 11.04 beta a try, download it here.

But how do you add the key when you never received it? Believe it or not, there is a simple solution for that task.

I’m going to assume you have the PPA added to to your /etc/apt/sources.list file (or added them with the command sudo add-apt-repository ppa:chromium-daily.). After the PPA has been added, the next step before the installation of the software, is to run the command sudo apt-get update. If the key hasn’t been added an error will be displayed indicated the key is missing. When that error pops up, that particular PPA can not be used. The error will look like:

GPG error: http://ppa.launchpad.net lucid Release: The following signatures couldn't be verified because the public key is not available: NO_PUBKEY 2524246B1CC723DB

The clue here is the last string of characters, which is the public key. In order to add the key for this particular PPA (or repository), issue the command:

sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys KEY_ID

Where KEY_ID is the last string of characters in the error (in this case 2524246B1CC723DB).

When the above command is issued, the following output will be displayed:

Executing: gpg --ignore-time-conflict --no-options --no-default-keyring --secret-keyring /etc/apt/secring.gpg --trustdb-name /etc/apt/trustdb.gpg --keyring /etc/apt/trusted.gpg --primary-keyring /etc/apt/trusted.gpg --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 2524246B1CC723DBgpg: requesting key 1CC723DB from hkp server keyserver.ubuntu.comgpg: key 1CC723DB: public key "Launchpad PPA for Chris Coulson" importedgpg:

Total number processed: 1gpg: imported: 1  (RSA: 1)

The important part of the above output is the final line, indicated that 1 of 1 key was processed. That PPA (or repository) can now be used.

Finding repos and PPA

There are plenty of repositories and PPAs out there. One very good place to start (other than Google) is Launchpad. When you go to launchpad you can search under Registered PPAs, Published sources, Active PPAs, and Published binaries. This site also breaks down PPAs according to release, which includes 6.06 to 11.04. Of course this is a Ubuntu-only site, so those repositories will only work for Ubuntu and distributions based on Ubuntu.

GUI

There is a GUI called gui-apt-key. You can find that in Synaptic (search for “gui-apt-key”,  mark it for installation, and click Apply to install.) This tool basically allows you to take the key ID, enter it in a small text area, and push the Add button in order to add a key to your keyring. If you prefer a GUI tool, it’s a good route to go. Personally, I prefer using the command line, as it is more reliable and more flexible.

Final thoughts

Sometimes those apt errors can be a real pain. But when the error is a missing key, there is always a quick solution for adding that key.

The Gadmin tools are a set of GUI administration tools that allow for easy administration of various services, systems, and applications that would otherwise be challenging for the average user. One of those tools that is exceptionally helpful to have is the VPN Server tool. Let’s install it and set up an VPN server with this GUI.

Installation

The installation of Gamin-VPN-Server is simple, thanks to the fact that the tool exists in the standard repositories of most distributions. Because of that, the installation is as easy as following these steps:

1. Open up the Add/Remove Software utility.
2. Search for “gadmin” (No Quotes).
3. Mark Gadmin VPN Server for installation.
4. Accept any dependencies necessary.
5. Click Apply to install.
6. Close the Add/remove Software utility when finished.

The Gadmin VPN Server tool can now be started from within the System Tools folder from the Applications menu.

Configuring the VPN server

Figure 1

Now for the real work. Open up the Gadmin tool to view the main window. This is where all of the configurations are done.

To set up a VPN server the following will need to be configured.

Server Settings:

External Address: This is the WAN side address of the network – the address the external users can reach. If this VPN server is on an internal network, it will be critical to make sure VPN traffic is routed to the server hosting the VPN server.

LAN interface address: The internal address used by the VPN Server.

LAN Subnet mask: The subnet used by the internal address on the VPN server.

Client Address range: The valid addresses the clients will be assigned when they log onto the VPN server.

Encryption Type: The encryption type to be used on the VPN.

After the server configurations have been entered, click the Apply button in the tool bar to save the settings. Now, scroll down to the…

Certificate Settings:

These settings are near the bottom of the Server settings tab. A pre-existing certificate need not be installed as Gadmin-VPN-Server has the ability to generate the necessary certificate. Just fill in the necessary information and then click the Apply button underneath the Certificate Settings to generate the necessary certificate.

Users

After the server has been set up, valid user accounts must be added. If the user already has an account on the server, a new account will not have to be created. If the user does not have an account on the server, create one in the User Accounts tab.

Starting the server

After everything is complete, click the Activate button and your VPN server will be ready to accept incoming connections. Users now only need set up their clients to connect to the correct address, using their credentials that reside on the VPN server, and they will be good to go.

I have used many a Twitter client (run this search on Ghacks for plenty of Twitter Linux client goodness) and have found most of them fairly decent tools. Some of them are lacking in features, and some of them have too many features. Some clients are built into the panel and some into a web browser. Hotot is a Google Chrome tool that installs easily on Debian-based systems and will have you tweeting quickly and happily. Let’s install this and use it.

Installation

The installation of Hotot is simple. Just follow these easy steps and you’ll be up and running in no time:

Open up a terminal window.

Add the Hotot repository with the command sudo add-apt-repository ppa:hotot-team.

Update apt with the command sudo apt-get update.

Install Hotot with the command sudo apt-get install hotot.

Figure 1

Once installed, Hotot can be started from your Internet menu (for E17 you will find it in the Main Menu > Internet. From the GNOME menu you will find it in Applications > Internet. When Hotot is first run it will need to authenticate to your twitter account. To gain authentication an authentication token must be added to the account. From the account window there is a button labled Click Me to Continue. This button, when clicked, will open a Twitter page that requires the allowing of access in order to get the authentication token. Click the Allow button on that page and the token will be presented. That token must be added in the PIN Code text area. After that PIN is entered, click OK to authenticate.

Figure 2

Once Hotot has authenticated with Twitter, the twitter client can be used. The Hotot main window (see Figure 2) is quite easy to use. At the bottom of the window there lives six buttons (from left to right):

• Timeline: See all of the tweets associated with the account.
• Mentions: Any tweet that mentions the authenticated user on the Hotot application.
• Direct Messages: Direct messages to the user.
• Retweets and Retweeted: Any retweets by or of the user.
• Find: Find someone you “love”.
• Search: Search a string.

At the top of the window there rests three buttons:

• Show all: Show all in timeline.
• Public only: Leave out private messages from timeline.
• Conversation: Show only private conversations.

Extensions

Like any good Google Chrome tool, extensions can be added to Hotot. To do this click on the Gear button near the top right corner of the Hotot window and select the Extensions entry. From that new window map extensions, image extensions, url shortening tools, translation, and video uploads can be enabled.

Final thoughts

Hotot has to be my new favorite Twitter client. And seeing as how I use Twitter a lot, Hotot must be worth a try. I find this tool lightning fast, filled with features, and easy to use.

Version

The version of KDE I will be using in this article is the version shipped with openSUSE 11.4 (KDE 4.6). Anyone that has experienced this KDE release will know how well it performs. Dolphin is no exception. Under KDE 4.6, Dolphin is quite the solid file manager. And, of course, you will need not install a single piece of software, as Dolphin will be pre-installed with the KDE desktop.

Split screens

Figure 1

One of the cool features of Dolphin is the ability to split the screen in just about any way you need. As you can see, in Figure 1, the default Dolphin screen displays a single pane. But what if you want to manage files and folders from within a single window? You can easily do this by splitting the screen.

To split the current Dolphin screen simply click on the Split icon in the Dolphin window. This will then split the current working pane (see Figure 2). You can also change the view of the individual pane. Say in one pane you wanted an icon view and on one you wanted the detailed view. Simply select the pane you want to change and then select the view you want for that pane. To close the split view simply select the pane you want to close and click the Close icon.

Preview

Figure 3

Dolphin has a great way to preview files, built right into the file manager. From the main toolbar simply click the Preview button and file previews will be toggled on. Figure 3 shows Dolphin with Previews turned on.

You can adjust Preview settings from with the Dolphin Settings window. Click Settings > Dolphin Settings > General > Preview and you can then define what file types you want to show previews for as well as define the file sizes allowed for previews.

Services

Figure 4

You can add new features to Dolphin very easily. From within the Dolphin Preferences window click on Services and then click the Download New Services button.

From this new window, see Figure 4, you can add on any number of features, such as: Get Youtube videos, print selection, post image to tumblr, scan with ClamAV, DropBox service menu, and much more. To install these services, simply click the Install button associated with the service you want to install.

Adjust View properties

From within the View menu you can open the Adjust View Properties window where you can further refine the viewing modes of Dolphin. This allows you to:

• Show folders/files in groups.
• Show hidden files.
• Apply view properties to specific folders or sub-folders.
• Add additional information to be shown.
• Set the default view mode.
• And more.

Final thoughts

Many complained with Dolphin was made the default  file manager in KDE, but Dolphin is quite the powerful, and flexible file manager. Give some of these tips a try and you might find yourself not missing Konqueror as the default manager as much.

Although adding this feature isn’t exactly automatic (or, some would argue, user-friendly), it’s all just a matter of knowing what to look for. So here I am to explain to you how to add this feature and then how to share out those folders.

Bodhi Linux comes with a stripped down version of the Nautilus file manager. I have it on authority that Bodhi might be switching to PCManFM (I am hoping the sharing functionality will be either built in or available at that point, but at this point it is not a feature that is available.)

Installation

The easiest way to install everything you need for this feature is to follow these steps:

1. Open up Synaptic.
2. Search for “nautilus” (no quotes).
3. Mark nautilus-share for installation.
4. OK the dependencies necessary.
5. Search for “samba” (no quotes).
6. Mark samba for installation.
7. OK the dependencies necessary.
8. Click Apply.
9. Click Apply in the new window.
10. Allow the installation to complete.

Once the installation is complete, you will have to log out and log back in so the changes will take effect. If this were the full version of Nautilus, you could issue the command nautilus -q and the changes would automatically take effect. That command will only produce an error in this stripped-down version of Nautilus. So go through the process of logging out and logging back in.

Enable Sharing

Figure 1

At this point, everything should be exactly as you would expect. Fire up Nautilus (left-click the desktop to open the mouse menu and click Places > Home) to start the process of sharing folders.

Once Nautilus is open, right-click the folder you want to share and then select Sharing Options (see Figure 1). In the new window check off the Share Folder option. You can now configure any options you may want to add to the folder (such as Share Name, Comment, Allow others to create/delete, and Guest access). After you OK this you will be prompted to have the proper permissions assigned automatically – allow this to happen (otherwise you are going to have a hard time assigning permissions to that shared folder).

Figure 2

When the folder is shared out, it will be indicated with a different icon. As you can see, in Figure 2, the Music folder has been shared out and is denoted with the addition of a hand in the icon.

You should now be able to hit that shared out folder from any machine on your network that is able to hit shared folders.

Final thoughts

I am thrilled to see that Bodhi Linux is following in at least some of the footsteps of Ubuntu and making features like folder sharing available (and easily set up.) I do hope that when Bodhi makes the move to a new file manager, that the sharing of folders is included in the feature list.

What is Ecomorph? Ecomorph is an OpenGL compositing manager that was created for the E17 desktop. Prior to this modules’ creation, E17 could not enjoy Compiz-like visual effects. Now, it can. Let’s take a look at how to get Ecomorph goodness with Bodhi Linux.

Installation

If you are using one of the latest releases of Bodhi Linux (0.1.7) you should already have Ecomorph installed. To find out if Ecomorph is one your desktop do the following:

1. Left click on the desktop to open the mouse menu.
2. Click Settings > Modules.
3. Clock on the System tab.
4. Scroll down until you see the Ecomorph listing.
5. If you see it listed, it’s installed. If there is a green dot on the right side of the Ecomorph entry, it is loaded.
6. If you do not see Ecomorph listed, it is not installed. If it is listed, but not loaded, select it and then click the Load button.

If, for whatever reason, Ecomorph is not installed I would highly recommend you not try to manually install it. I attempted this on a 0.1.4 installation and it was a miserable failure. There are dependencies that can not be met without serious work. So, if you are in this boat, backup your data and do a fresh install of the latest Bodhi Linux.

Configuring

Figure 1

Now it’s time for the configuration of Ecomorph. To get to the configuration panel left-click the desktop to open the mouse menu and click Settings > Ecomorph. In this settings window (see Figure 1) you control all aspects of Ecomorph (besides mouse and key bindings).

This panel is broken down into sections. You will certainly want to visit the General section first, as there are some crucial features to enable. Those of you who know Compiz well, you will be familiar with the Cube and the Shift switcher. To enable these items you must first do so in the General section.

Under Viewport Plugins you can enable both the Cube and Cube Rotate. Make sure they are checked and then click Apply. Under Switcher Plugins you can enable the switcher you want to use.

After you enable the plugins you can then scroll down to the individual plugin sections and configure the plugin. Although you will find most of the configuration options in Ecomorph, that you are available in Compiz, there are some that you will find missing. Most notably are the Skydome and Cube Caps for the Cube. But you can configure zoom while rotating as well as transparency.

Final thoughts

I am very happy to see Ecomorph finding its way to other distributions. For those that enjoy what Compiz brings to the desktop, the addition of Ecomorph to E17 could be considered a thing of beauty.

One of the features the more advanced user will appreciate is the Security settings available in YaST2. The amount of detail given to security in this release is stunning…but not necessarily built for the new user. I want to highlight the openSUSE security settings so you can see for yourself just how granular you can be with openSUSE security.

Where to find security?

Figure 1

By default, of the security settings you are about to see are installed in openSUSE 11.4. In order to open up the Security Settings window click on Start > Computer > Administrator Settings (YaST). Once in YaST click on the Security and Users section (see Figure 1).

From there you will find a few security features to configure:

• Firewall: Configure your firewall on your system.
• Security Center and Hardening: Configure numerous security settings.
• Sudo: Graphic interface for managing sudo.

I want to concentrate on the Security Center in YaST. Click on that entry in the Security and Users section and a new window will open.

Security and Hardening

Figure 2

From within the Security and Hardening window (see Figure 2) you will have numerous settings available to you. In the security overview you get a good idea of what is enabled/disabled on your system. From that same section you can enable, disable, or configure those options. Some of the more handy options are:

Remote access to the display manager: Allow remote access to KDM.

Remote access to X server: Enable remote access to X windows.

Use secure file permissions: You can set your file permissions from three different levels (easy, secure, paranoid).

Another section in this window that is of great interest is pre-defined security settings. From here you can select from four different settings:

• Home Workstation
• Networked Workstation
• Network Server
• Custom

If you do not want to monkey around with too many of the security settings, I highly recommend you select one of the first three options here.

If you look at the Password section you will be surprised to find you can actually configure password checks as well as password expiration. If you have multiple users on your system, and you want to make sure your users are setting solid passwords, make sure you configure these sections. Here you can set the following:

• Minimum password length.
• Number of passwords to remember.
• Password encryption method.
• Password age (min and max).
• Days before Password Expires Warning.

Finally, you should take a look at the login section. Here you can set the amount of incorrect login attempts that can occur before a delay is forced. You can also enable/disable remote graphical login.

Final thoughts

Although openSUSE is not generally consider among the most secure Linux distributions, if administered properly it can easily stand toe to toe with any distribution available. And having the YaST security options readily available makes configuring openSUSE security a simple endeavor.

Menu tips

One of the features I like most about Enlightenment (that has been available since the early days) is the mouse menu. This menu allows you to left-click anywhere on the desktop to get a main menu where you can open applications, open configuration settings, etc. Let’s take a look at some cool things you can do for that menu.

Add Favorites

To open up applications you navigate through Applications and then into the sub-categories you have in the main menu. But for those applications you frequently use you can add them to a Favorites menu, so they are much quicker to access. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Open the mouse menu.
2. Click Settings > Settings Panel.
3. Navigate to the Apps entry.
4. Click on Favorites.
5. Scroll through the list of applications and, when you see one you want to add, select it and click the + button.
6. Click the OK button when finished.

Now when you open up the mouse menu you will see the Favorites menu entry, at the top, housing your favorite applications.

Shorten (or lengthen) application name entries

Figure 1

If you look into your menu you will notice the application names might look like those you see in Figure 1. For my taste, those menu entries are simply too long. Fortunately, it’s very easy to shorten them. Follow these steps:

1. Left-click the desktop to open the mouse menu.
2. Click Settings > Settings Panel.
3. Navigate to the Menus entry.
4. Click on the Menu Settings button.
5. In the Display section select if you want to display the Name (the application name), the Generic name (the category the application belongs to), and/or the Comments (a comment about the application.
6. Click OK when you’re done.

For the shortest menu entries, just enable Name.

Focus follows mouse and Autoraise windows

I was weened on Linux when the Window Manager was King. Because of this I grew used to focus follows mouse and autoraise. Focus follows mouse just means that whatever window the mouse is in will have focus. That way you don’t have to click on the window to give it focus.

To enable Focus follows mouse, follow these steps:

1. Left-click the desktop to open the mouse menu.
2. Click Settings > Settings Panel.
3. Navigate to the Windows entry.
4. Click on the Window Focus button.
5. Select Window under mouse.
6. Click OK.

Now to enable Autoraise, follow these steps:

1. From the Settings Panel click the Windows entry.
2. Click on the Window Stacking button.
3. Select Raise windows on mouse over.
4. Click OK
5. Close the Settings panel.

Final thoughts

E17 has so many cool features, you could play around for hours and still only scratch the surface. We’ll come back and revisit this topic again, so you can enjoy E17 to its fullest.

Let’s take a look at the installation and use of gpodder, so you can better organize your podcasts.

Features

In case you’re wondering, gpodder has a nice listing of features:

• iPod, MP3 player and mobile phone support
• RSS, Atom, YouTube and Soundcloud feeds
• Easy to use interface
• gpodder.net integration.
• GUI and command line interface
• Open Source and Free Software (GPL v3 or later)

Installation

Gpodder will be found on nearly every Linux distribution and can be found on the standard repositories. Because of this, gpodder is as simple to install as:

1. Open up the Add/Remove Software tool (such as Synaptic).
2. Search for “gpodder” (no quotes).
3. Mark gpodder for installation.
4. Click Apply to install.

Once installed, you will find the gpodder application in Applications > Sound & Video.

First run

Figure 1

Upon first running gpodder you will be greeted by a welcome screen where you can do one of two things: Select from a sample list of podcasts or download your subscriptions from gpodder.net. In order to download subscriptions from gpodder.net you have to have an account (it’s free). If you don’t already have a gpodder.net account, don’t worry, you can add that account to gpodder later. So, if you are without an account, just click “Choose from list of sample podcasts”. Once you click that button you will be presented with a short list of sample podcasts (see Figure 1). After you select the samples, click Add and the podcasts you selected will be added.

Once you are in gpodder, and you have your gpodder.net account, you can click on Podcasts > Preferences and then, in the gpodder.net tab, enter your account information.

Once you have gpodder associated with your account, you will need to have podcasts added to your account (through the gpodder.net site).

Figure 2

Of course you can also add podcasts via URL. To do this you must first locate the url of the podcast you want to add. Say you want to add ESPN’s Pardon The Interruption. For that the url would be http://espn.go.com/espnradio/feeds/rss/podcast.xml?id=2406595. To add that url click Subscriptions > Add podcast via url. When the new window opens, paste the url into the text area and click Add. If there are any new podcasts you will be prompted for downloading. As you can see, in Figure 2, your podcasts are a conveniently listed and dated so you can listed to them accordingly.

To listen to a podcast select the podcast and then click Play. The default mp3 player will open to play your podcast.

Final thoughts

Yes, you can play podcasts through numerous different applications, but gpodder is one of the best of the single-minded applications available.

Out of the box, some might say the E17 desktop on Bodhi is a bit lacking in the effects and eye candy department. Although that was my initial reaction, I knew my new desktop was but a few clicks away from having enough pizzazz to bring my desktop to life. So, I thought I would share those configurations.

Invisible shelves

Figure 1

By default, your E17 on Bodhi will have a solid shelf (panel) across the top (at least the Laptop configuration will). That shelf reminds me too much of a variation on the GNOME desktop, so I like to change it up (this is E17 after all, which is all about options.) Figure 1 illustrates what I am talking about. As you can see, the top shelf has been made “invisible” so the various applets appear to just sit on the desktop.

In order to make the “panel” portion of panels invisible do the following:

Figure 2

1. Right click one of the applets on the shelf and select Shelf NAME > Settings (Where NAME is the name of the name of the shelf in question.).
2. In the resulting window (see Figure 2) move to the Style tab.
3. Select Invisible.
4. Click OK.
5. The Shelf should now resemble what you saw in Figure 1.

Compositing

One of the best eye-candy features of E17 is the compositing. Not every video card will work with compositing, but if yours does, it’s worth turning on. In order to do this follow these steps:

1. Left-click on the desktop to open the main menu.
2. Select Settings > Modules.
3. In the resulting window move to the Look tab.
4. Click Composite and then Load.
5. Click Close.

Now you should be experiencing visual effects made possible by the built in compositor.

Themes

Figure 3

Of course you are going to want to theme your new installation and E17 won’t disappoint. You will find plenty of themes to download from the E17-Stuff. After you download a swell theme for your desktop, left-click on the desktop to bring up the main menu and click Settings > Theme. From the new window (see Figure 3). From within the theme window click the Import button, locate your theme, and add it to the Personal section. You can now select and apply your theme to see how it looks.

If you click on the Advanced button you can really fine tune the look of your theme by mixing and matching pieces of themes to other themes. Say, for instance, you like to borders of Theme A but all other elements of Theme B, you can use Theme B and then go to the Advanced properties and select the borders of Theme A and apply them.

Final thoughts

E17 is an outstanding desktop. Couple that with Ubuntu and you get a really nice, lightweight Linux distribution called Bodhi Linux. Although it might seem a bit plain out of the box, you can configure it to have as much eye candy as your heart desires.

What’s new?

There is a lot to be said in this category. The openSUSE 11.4 release offers the following updates:

KDE Plasma Desktop 4.6: openSUSE might well be the first distribution packaging the most recent KDE desktop by default. Although KDE 4.5 probably brought to the users the single most amount of bug fixes ever, 4.6 does a great job of upping the performance ante once again. KDE 4.6 is an incredibly solid desktop that any user would be happy to have as their default.

You will also find better KDE to Firefox integration in the 4.6 release. As well KPackageKit has become the default update applet.

Web browsers: Speaking of Firefox, openSUSE 11.4 ships with Firefox 4.0 and the latest release of Konqueror (The version of Konqueror installed is the Webkit version.)  But don’t think you are limited to those two browsers. You can now easily add Chromium to your desktop through the Add/Remove Software tool! Before you try to add Chromium, you will have to enable to community repos by following these steps:

1. Open YaST2.
2. Click on Configuration.
3. Select Repositories.
4. Click the Add button.
5. Click Community Repositories and click Next.
6. Check Main Repository (Contrib) and click OK.

Now you can search for Chromium and install it.

Office tools: I was pleasantly ssurprised to find LibreOffice pre-installed on openSUSE 11.4. I believe openSUSE might be the first of the distributions to ship with LibreOffice as the default office suite! You will also find the standard KDE office tools along side LibreOffice.

Multi-media: Banshee 2.0 has been added and is used as the default media player in openSUSE. In order to have this on your desktop by default, you will need to download the full DVD install and not the Live CD. If you do install from the Live CD you will be able to install Banshee from YaST2 by simply searching for “banshee” (no quotes) and installing. I would, however, suggest installing from the full DVD, in order to get the complete openSUSE experience.

Over all take

I have to say I was quite pleased with how well openSUSE runs. Not only is it quite stable, it’s also lightning fast. The only problem I came across was with the effects engine. The machine I tested on is able to use all visual effects in both Ubuntu and Elive, but openSUSE seemed to not be able to run KDE with visual effects running. So effects had to be turned off. Outside of that small issue, the experience with openSUSE 11.4 has been quite good.

Who’s it for?

Would I recommend openSUSE for a new Linux user? No. But if you are comfortable in the Linux environment, openSUSE and KDE 4.6 will be a welcome change. If, however, you are a new user who really wants to cut their teeth on something with a bit more power than Ubuntu, openSUSE might be just the distro you are looking for.

Update

It has been brought to my attention, by one of the GNOME contributers, that Ubuntu 11.04 will now offer a classic GNOME option in the log in menu. This will not be the default option, but it will allow new users to select the traditional GNOME desktop. Hopefully this will be enough for users who do not appreciate the changes Unity brings.

Distributions

Probably the biggest knee-jerk reaction will be users migrating to other distributions. Ubuntu Linux is probably going to see the largest amount of users jumping ship. Why? Ubuntu Unity. Although users will be able to install an alternative desktop, many users who choose Ubuntu aren’t at that level of ability. Remember, Ubuntu is the Linux of choice for most new users. And when a new user is greeted with the completely different (and less effective) desktop of Unity, they will abandon the distribution in favor of, say, Kubuntu, Linux Mint or PCLinuxOS. My guess is another option will make itself available soon after the initial release of 11.04. Someone is going to create a spin of Ubuntu with the traditional GNOME desktop.

This will, however, be prime time for other distributions to sway new users. I fully plan on offering up more Linux content geared toward those distributions as this happens.

Desktops

There is one particular desktop that will probably see more gain as a result of the migration to the new GNOME 3 and Unity desktops. That desktop is KDE. Remember, KDE went through it’s major evolution quite some time ago and has now settled into a very stable, reliable desktop that is as polished as anything GNOME has ever released. KDE will gain serious ground with the new GNOME.

Other desktops that stand to gain new users are Xfce and Enlightenment. Although Enlightenment does vary quite a bit from the standard desktop, it can be configured to look and behave in similar fashion. Xfce enjoys the same ability. Both heavily rely on panels and menus similar to the traditional desktop. Both are also very light weight and are deeply rooted in Linux’ past.

Growing pains

I don’t want to come across as being against the new desktop metaphors. I embrace change. I think GNOME 3 has a lot of potential to be something the desktop has yet to be. And when touchscreens are the standard, a new desktop aligned with the changes GNOME is bringing to the table, will be a must. Remember when KDE 4.0 first hit the desktop it was a disaster. The main reason for that was KDE 4.0 was an entire rewrite of the code base. When it was first released it was nothing but a bug hunt in the making. GNOME 3 will not suffer this same fate. The jury is still out on how Unity will fare upon first release, but it will not be on par with GNOME 3.

Ultimately the immediate reaction will be for new users to jump ship. But I would ask that new to Linux users give these desktops a chance before they do. And, after a trial period, you do not like what you see, install a new desktop on your system and try that out. That’s the beauty of Linux – there are so many options available to you. If you don’t like Unity, try GNOME 3. If you don’t like GNOME 3, try KDE 4.6. If you don’t like KDE 4.6, try Enlightenment. Eventually you will find that desktop that really speaks to you.

With GNOME Schedule, you can create a one-time cron job, recurring cron jobs, or cron jobs from templates. Let’s dig into the installation and usage of this tool.

Installation

Installing GNOME Schedule is simple, if you follow these steps, you will have this application installed in no time.

1. Open up the Add/Remove Software utility (Such as Ubuntu Software Center).
2. Search for “jobs” (no quotes).
3. Mark the Schedule Tasks application for installation.
4. Click Appy to install.
5. Accept any dependencies that might be necessary for installation.
6. Allow the installation to complete.
7. Close the Add/Remove Software utility.

Once installed, you will find GNOME Schedule in Applications > System Tools > Scheduled Tasks.

Usage

Figure 1

The usage of GNOME Schedule is simple. When you open up the main window (see Figure 1). Let’s walk through the steps for creating a recurring cron job.

Step 1: Click the new drop-down (downward pointing arrow associated with the New button) and select Recurrent Task.

Figure 2

Step 2: In the resulting window (see Figure 2) fill out all of the information necessary to create the job. The information necessary will be: Description (a name for the job), Command (the command you want to run as the recurring task), Behavior (Do you want to suppress command output, is this an X Application, etc.), Basic (Is this task to run every minute, hour, day, week, or month), Advanced (schedule the job for a specific time).

After this information is complete, click the Add button and the job will be created and scheduled.

If you look at the bottom of the scheduled task window, you will notice the Add as Template button. You can add this job as a template if it is a job you can easily base other jobs on. If you create template jobs, you can then create a new job based on that template, by click the New drop-down and selecting From Template.

Now, if you want to create cron jobs that need root (or sudo) permissions, you will need to run the tool like so:

1. Open a terminal window.
2. Issue the command sudo gnome-schedule (if you are using a non-sudo distribution, su to the root user and issue the command gnome-schedule).
3. Schedule the job as described above.

You will notice, when running in super user mode, you have an extra button – the change user button. This will allow you to schedule a cron job for any user on the system (so long as they have the ability to schedule jobs.)

Final thoughts

Gnome Schedule is a very easy way to allow new users to take advantage of the powerful cron tool, without having to learn the command line version. I recommend learning the command line for cron, but for those who don’t have the time or inclination, this is a good route to take.

Wget can do a lot of things browsers can not do, which makes it an incredibly valuable tool for users who do a lot of downloading. Wget can even re-connect and finish a download if a connection is dropped. Let’s take a look and see how to make best use of this very powerful tool.

Installation

Installation for wget is very simple, as it will be found in the standard repositories. You can install wget from either the command line (such as yum install wget or sudo apt-get install wget) or you can also install wget from the Add/Remove Applications tool (Ubuntu Software Center, PackageKit, Synaptic, etc) by doing the following:

1. Open the tool.
2. Search for “wget” (no quotes).
3. Mark for installation.
4. Apply.

Usage

Remember, wget is a command line only tool (although there are front-ends available) so you will need to either be working from within a terminal window or logged onto a virtual terminal. Now that you have the right tool open, let’s see how wget can help you.

The basic usage is:

wget ADDRESS_TO_FILE

Where ADDRESS_TO_FILE is the actual address (URL or IP) to the file you want to download.

The above will download a single file to your hard drive. Now, what if you have a need to do an recursive downloading? For example there is an entire directory of files you need to download. To do recursive downloading on a remote directory the command would be:

wget -r ADDRESS_TO_DIRECTORY/DIRECTORY

The above command will download a directory hierarchy that matches the hierarchy downloaded from. In other words, within the directory you ran the wget command, you will find (using the above as an example) a newly created directory called ADDRESS_TO_DIRECTORY. Within that directory will be all of the subdirectories you downloaded.

If you don’t want to download the hierarchy, just the files, you would add the -nd switch like so:

wget -r -nd ADDRESS_TO_DIRECTORY/DIRECTORY

Now the only thing that will download is the files contained within DIRECTORY.

What if the address or directory you are downloading requires a username and password? You can pass that along with the wget command like so:

wget -r -nd --user=USERNAME --password=PASSWORD ADDRESS_TO_DIRECTORY/DIRECTORY

Where USERNAME is the required username, PASSWORD is the required password, ADDRESS_TO_DIRECTORY is the address and DIRECTORY is the directory containing the files.

Now, if you want to run wget in the background (so you don’t have to be logged in) you would issue the command as such:

wget -bqc ADDRESS_TO_FILE/FILE

Where ADDRESS_TO_FILE is the address containing the file and FILE is the file name to be downloaded.

Final thoughts

You will find wget to be one of the more useful tools in your Linux toolkit. And once you start using it you will never look back.