As you can probably guess my machines are in a constant state of flux. Having to write about one distribution after another (and then include the scattered Windows content to cover) makes for an endless loop of installing/using, installing/using. On top of that it uses a lot of resources (especially CDs/DVDs). Recently, however, I have [...]

Just about fifteen minutes ago I was working on an article for Linux.com when I thought I was going to lose a ton of work. I was writing my last paragraph on a 1,600+ word article (entering the article in their web-based system). I was going back to OpenOffice to copy and paste all of [...]

Are you a desktop nut like me? Are you constantly tweaking your desktop and never quite happy with it? Are you a collector of wallpapers and do you like your wallpaper to change at a given interval or when you change to a different workspace? If you are that person then Wallpapoz is for you. [...]

The GNOME Deskbar applet serves as a one-stop shop for all of your desktop searching needs. Deskbar manages this by using various plugins to interact with different Linux desktop search tools. But Deskbar isn’t limited to just a search tool. With Deskbar you can: search with Beagle, search the web, recent documents, launch programs, calculate [...]

Evernote is one of the best applications I’ve ever used, and is a critical part of my work and personal organization. Everything I think, do or see that I want to record goes straight into Evernote – it’s quite the database of my brain at this point. Everyone, it seems, has covered Evernote in the [...]

I live and die by the calendar. In all of my incarnations the calendar is my daily best friend. I use Google Calendar, Lightning, and another, lesser known calendar app – gdeskcal. The gdeskcal is more of an applet that can reside on nearly any desktop (although it was written for the GNOME desktop) which [...]

So you’ve been reading about Linux on ghacks for a few months now and you’ve  noticed plenty of screenshots or images of applications in action. Now it’s time you found out just how those images are taken. No it’s not magic, but in one instance it’s ImageMagick. Actually there are a few ways to take [...]

I remember, way back, when I first started using Linux either was either in full-on command line only Linux or I was using Fvwm95. Executing commands in command line meant I had to know the name of the command. And when I was in the Fvwm95 desktop, if there wasn’t a menu entry for an [...]

If you are migrating over from Windows you know the Ctrl-Alt-Del three finger salute brings up a ulitity that can help you stop out of control or frozen applications. And then, of course, a second three-finger salute might find your machine rebooting (for when those apps just don’t want to unfreeze.) The default behavior for [...]

If you need to do any searching for files on a Linux system you know your choices for reliable searching are Beagle, locate, and find. Outside of that the results will vary. The only problem with Beagle is that it can be resource intensive, because it is an indexing search. Find and locate are good [...]

If you’ve ever seen Compiz in action I’m sure you were impressed. If you don’t know what Compiz is, it’s a 3D composite window manager for the Linux operating system that really takes your desktop to a level no one had realized before. And with more modern distributions, like Ubuntu 9.04, Compiz is installed by [...]

I like to think of myself as a Linux desktop power user. To that end I want my desktop to be very efficient and work with me on every level. I want as few clicks of the mouse as possible. Fortunately there are certain (nearly) universal aspects of the Linux that make this not only [...]

The Thunar file managers is one of the best graphical file manager available for the Linux operating system. Thunar is the file manage of choice for the Xfce 4 desktop as well as Enlightenment E17. Written in GTK+ 2, Thunar can be used in nearly any X Windows graphical environment with GTK+ 2 support. One [...]

I have been recently covering various Linux desktops. So far you can read about Fluxbox, Xfce 4, Window Maker, and IceWM. I also touched on creating dropshadows with xcompmgr and transparent windows with transset. If you have been reading me long enough, then you know my favorite Linux desktop is the Enlightenment desktop. I have [...]

So far, in this series, we have taken a look at FluxBox, Window Maker, and Xfce 4. We’ve even examined adding a little eye candy to these old school window managers with xcompmgr and transset. This time around we are going to take a look at what most would consider a more standard metaphor window [...]

In my last post I instructed you how Adding dropshadows in Fluxbox with xcompmgr was easy to do.In this installment we are going to take this one step further and and transparencies – only this time we are going to do this in Enlightenment. Why Enlightenment? Besides being my favorite Linux window manager, it also [...]

In my recent articles I have been covering various window managers and desktops for Linux. So far you can read about Fluxbox, Window Maker, and Xfce 4. These desktops and window managers are solid entries in the Linux desktop. But what if you want to take your Linux desktop further with a bit more eye [...]

In this most recent series of articles I have been higlighting various Linux window managers and desktops. Most of them are old school and still very relevant. We’ve examined Fluxbox and Window Maker so far. Both of these are very lightweight and fast. Some of them are more modern than others. This time around we [...]

Continuing with our introduction to old-school Linux window managers, I would like to bring to you Window Maker. The Window Maker window manager was designed to look and feel like the old NeXT GUI (which was spearheaded by Steve Jobs after he was forced out of Apple.) Window Maker is another entry in the long [...]

If you’ve been around Linux long enough, then you most likely will have heard about Fluxbox. Fluxbox is a desktop that was based on Blackbox 0.61.1, which makes it extremely light weight, fast, and reliable. Fluxbox is also very minimalistic which makes it ideal for certain situations. Although Fluxbox might seem somewhat lacking in the [...]

If you are using the standard, out of the box, Ubuntu theme with GNOME you might be interested in customizing this look. But for many users just now coming over from Windows it might not be all that obvious how to really get into the fray with customizing your desktop. Most people assume only the [...]

I use a lot of applications and now that Luanchy is so great I can do this relatively quickly. However, there is another app that allows even simpler launching, and not just for applications, but for folders, text files, anything you need. PS Hot Launch VVL is an applications that lets you bind any application, [...]

When you log into GNOME are there applications that you wish would start automatically? Are you one of those that fire up your web browser or your email client as your desktop is finishing the loading process? If that’s the case you’re in luck, GNOME (and most Linux desktops) allows you to add applications to [...]

If you’re interested in Linux then most likely you have taken a look at Ubuntu. And if you have taken a look at Ubuntu then you know there are a lot of derivatives out there that specialize in one cross section of society or another. But which one is right for you? That is where [...]

Are you like me and one of those users who HATES going back and forth from keyboard to mouse? Such a waste of precious time that back and forth movement. To be a seriously efficient Linux user it’s best to know keyboard shortcuts for the desktop environment (or window manager) that you use. In this [...]

As far as PC desktops are concerned the Linux operating system runs the gamut of look and feel. But like most user-space applications, there are certain elements of the desktop that users expect. One of those elements is the panel. Most desktops have, in one form or another, a panel. Microsoft has the taskbar, OS [...]

If you have used Linux at all you have seen what is called the Pager. Many new users have no idea what this is and many experienced users don’t necessarily know how to take advantage of the pager. But this is one unique feature to Linux that shouldn’t be overlooked. Why? In a word – [...]

Recently I installed the amazing desktop Elive Compiz. After getting it up and running I decided I needed to get some screencasts of the desktop in order to show off what it could do. I thought the task would be simple. It wasn’t. Although there are plenty of applications to handle capturing videos of a [...]

If you use Linux for any amount of time, then most likely you have experienced the command line. And if you use the GNOME desktop environment then you know gnome-terminal. As far as terminals are concerned, gnome-terminal is one of the most versatile of the terminals. It features tabs, colored text, mouse event support, profiles, [...]

If you are new to Linux than most likely you are going to have to get to know a new file manager. Coming from Windows you will have known the Explorer file manager. If you are migrating to a GNOME desktop you will need to get to know the Nautilus file manager. This is a [...]

As many of you know I am a fan of alternative desktops. My favorite being E16. The only downfall of E16 is that the epplets, tiny applications that monitor, launch applications,  and other important duties, can be a real hassle to install (and often too small to read). And other minimal desktops have nothing to [...]

This is a rant. This is only a rant. If this were a real review you would be notified by your local emergency broadcast station…Now that I have your attention, I want to direct you to what is happening with the latest version of Fedora and X configuration. If you have installed Fedora 10 and [...]

The Beagle indexing tool takes searching your computer to another level. Beagle uses background indexing so searching is updated in real time and as files are created. Even email is indexed upon arrival, IM chats are indexed as they occur, and web pages are indexed as they load. Beagle not only searches the text of [...]

Torrents are a regular part of a geeks life. Whether it is downloading ISO images, your favorite non-licensed anime, or large-scale backups, torrents are a simple way to manage massive downloads. But how do you manage torrents in Linux? There are a number of possible clients, some command-line and some full-on graphical clients. The torrent [...]

While I’m a huge fan of desktop customization I always actually work with a solution which is the simplest possible. I love elaborite desktop configs, but I find most of the stuff gets in my way. I have found a setup which looks extremely good and easy on the eyes and while still a bit [...]

I bet you didn’t know that you could change the placement of your Enlightenment titlebars. Although not necessarily pracitical, it does make for some impressive desktops, and it allows you to quickly differentiate between windows. Say, for example you have aterm and rxvt both open and are using one for admin work and one for [...]

If you have played around with the Enlightenment window manager you know it is, for such a lightweight window manager, pretty impressive. But if you’ve not enabled compositing, you have yet to see how much you can do with transparency. Although compositing in Enlightenment will require the necessary hardware (a video card capable of using [...]

If you are using a distribution that now ships with KDE 4 you might notice the desktop is less than user-friendly. From the main menu to the panel, KDE 4 has a way to go before it fits the bill for every-day production use. But there are ways to make your KDE 4 desktop much [...]

If you’re like me you wind up using the command line a LOT. And when I am in the command line I prefer to at least enjoy the experience. To help add a little joy to this experience I use Aterm. Aterm is the termain emulator that was developed for the AfterStep window manager. That [...]

If you have used Fedora in the past you might be well aquainted with rpm (Red Hat Package Manager).  But if you have taken a gander at Fedora Core 10 you might have noticed a new sheriff in town. That sherrif? GNOME PackageKit (gpk-application). GPK makes package management a very simple task.

Connecting to wireless networks in Linux has, for a long time, been a nightmare. Until recently wireless was often a deal breaker in Linux (especially with laptops.) But things have changed. Now more cards than ever are supported as well as more protocols. And with the GNOME Network Manager Applet, connecting to a wireless network [...]