Novell LINUX ENTERPRISE DESKTOP 11 - GNOME... User manual

SUSE Linux Enterprise
Desktop
www.novell.com11
March17,2009 GNOME User Guide

GNOME User Guide
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Contents
About This Guide vii
Part I Introduction 1
1Getting Started with the GNOME Desktop 3
1.1 Logging In and Selecting a Desktop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2 LoggingOut............................ 6
1.3 DesktopBasics........................... 7
2Working with Your Desktop 15
2.1 Using the Main Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.2 Managing Folders and Files with Nautilus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.3 Accessing Floppy Disks, CDs, or DVDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
2.4 Searching for Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
2.5 Moving Text Between Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
2.6 Managing Internet Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
2.7 Exploring the Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
2.8 E-mail and Scheduling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
2.9 Opening or Creating Documents with OpenOfce.org . . . . . . . . . 31
2.10 Controlling Your Desktop’s Power Management . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
2.11 Creating, Displaying, and Decompressing Archives . . . . . . . . . . . 38
2.12 Taking Screen Shots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
2.13 ViewingPDFFiles......................... 43
2.14 ControllingSound......................... 45
2.15 Using the Fingerprint Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
2.16 Obtaining Software Updates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
2.17 For More Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

3Customizing Your Settings 49
3.1 TheControlCenter........................ 50
3.2 Hardware............................ 52
3.3 LookandFeel.......................... 57
3.4 Personal............................. 77
3.5 System ............................. 79
4Assistive Technologies 91
4.1 General Accessibility Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
4.2 Mobility Impairments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
4.3 Orca .............................. 97
Part II Internet Connectivity, Files and Resources 101
5Accessing Network Resources 103
5.1 Connecting to Your Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
5.2 General Notes on File Sharing and Network Browsing . . . . . . . . . 104
5.3 Accessing Network Shares . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
5.4 SharingFolders......................... 106
5.5 Managing Windows Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
5.6 Conguring and Accessing a Windows Network Printer . . . . . . . . 109
6Searching with Beagle 111
6.1 UsingBeagle.......................... 111
6.2 SearchTips........................... 113
6.3 Performing a Property Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
6.4 Setting Search Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
6.5 Indexing Other Directories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
6.6 Preventing Files and Directories from Being Indexed . . . . . . . . . . 118
6.7 Selecting Data Sources to Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
6.8 DisablingBeagle......................... 119
6.9 For More Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
7Managing Printers 121
7.1 Installing a Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
7.2 Modifying Printer Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
7.3 Canceling Print Jobs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
7.4 Deleting a Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

8Backing Up User Data 125
8.1 CreatingBackups ........................ 125
8.2 RestoringData.......................... 127

About This Guide
This manual introduces you to the GNOME graphical desktop environment as imple-
mented in SUSE® Linux Enterprise Desktop and shows you how to congure it to
meet your personal needs and preferences. It also introduces you to several programs
and services. It is intended for users who have some experience using a graphical
desktop environment such as Macintosh*, Windows*, or other Linux desktops.
The manual is subdivided into two parts:
Introduction
Get to know your GNOME desktop and learn how to cope with basic and daily
tasks, using the central GNOME applications and some small utilities. Get an im-
pression of the possibilities GNOME offers to modify and individualize your
desktop according to your needs and wishes. Learn how to use assistive technologies
to improve accessibility in case of vision or mobility impairment.
Internet Connectivity, Files and Resources
Find vital information concerning the management and exchange of data on your
system: how to share les on the network and how to use an integrated collaboration
environment, how to effectively search for data, and how to manage printers and
back up your data.
Many chapters in this manual contain links to additional documentation resources. This
includes additional documentation that is available on the system as well as documen-
tation available on the Internet.
For an overview of the documentation available for your product and the latest docu-
mentation updates, refer to http://www.novell.com/documentation or to
the following section.

1 Available Documentation
We provide HTML and PDF versions of our books in different languages. The following
manuals for users and administrators are available on this product:
GNOME User Guide (page 1)
Introduces the GNOME desktop of SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop. It guides you
through using and conguring the desktop and helps you perform key tasks. It is
intended mainly for end users who want to make efcient use of GNOME desktop
as their default desktop.
Application Guide (↑Application Guide)
Learn how to use and congure key desktop applications on SUSE Linux Enterprise
Desktop. This guide introduces browsers and e-mail clients as well as ofce appli-
cations and collaboration tools. It also covers graphics and multimedia applications.
Deployment Guide (↑Deployment Guide)
Shows how to install single or multiple systems and how to exploit the product
inherent capabilities for a deployment infrastructure. Choose from various approach-
es, ranging from a local installation or a network installation server to a mass de-
ployment using a remote-controlled, highly-customized, and automated installation
technique.
Administration Guide (↑Administration Guide)
Covers system administration tasks like maintaining, monitoring and customizing
an initially installed system.
Security Guide (↑Security Guide)
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 les the program
may read, write, and execute) or the auditing system that reliably collects informa-
tion about any security-relevant events.
viii GNOME User Guide

Virtualization with Xen (↑Virtualization with Xen)
Offers an introduction to virtualization technology of your product. It features an
overview of the various elds of application and installation types of each of the
platforms supported by SUSE Linux Enterprise Server as well as a short description
of the installation procedure.
In addition to the comprehensive manuals, several quick start guides are available:
Installation Quick Start (↑Installation Quick Start)
Lists the system requirements and guides you step-by-step through the installation
of SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop from DVD, or from an ISO image.
Linux Audit Quick Start
Gives a short overview how to enable and congure the auditing system and how
to execute key tasks such as setting up audit rules, generating reports, and analyzing
the log les.
Novell AppArmor Quick Start
Helps you understand the main concepts behind Novell® AppArmor.
Find HTML versions of most SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop manuals in your installed
system under /usr/share/doc/manual or in the help centers of your desktop.
Find the latest documentation updates at http://www.novell.com/
documentation where you can download PDF or HTML versions of the manuals
for your product.
2 Feedback
Several feedback channels are available:
• 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 nd 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. Please use the User Comments feature
at the bottom of each page of the online documentation and enter your comments
there.
About This Guide ix

3 Documentation Conventions
The following typographical conventions are used in this manual:
•/etc/passwd: directory names and lenames
•placeholder: replace placeholder with the actual value
•PATH: the environment variable PATH
•ls,--help: commands, options, and parameters
•user: users or groups
•Alt,Alt +F1: a key to press or a key combination; keys are shown in uppercase as
on a keyboard
•File,File >Save As: menu items, buttons
•Dancing Penguins (Chapter Penguins, ↑Another Manual): This is a reference to a
chapter in another manual.
xGNOME User Guide

Part I. Introduction

1
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 conguration of
GNOME. If you or your system administrator modies the defaults, some aspect might
be different, such as appearance or keyboard shortcuts.
1.1 Logging In and Selecting a
Desktop
If more than one user account is congured on your computer, generally all users must
authenticate—unless Auto Login is enabled for a specic user. Auto login lets a user
automatically log in to the desktop environment when the system starts. This feature
can be enabled or disabled during installation or at any time using the YaST User
Management module. For more information, refer to Chapter 9, Managing Users with
YaST (↑Deployment Guide). If your computer is running in a network environment and
you are not the only person using the machine, you are usually prompted to enter your
username and password when you start the system. If you did not set up the system and
user account yourself, check with your system administrator for your username and
password.
Getting Started with the GNOME Desktop 3

The program managing the login process is specic 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:
•Domain Menu If you authenticate against an Active Directory server, choose
the Windows* Domain to which you want to login. For all other authentication
methods, choose Local Login.
•Login Window Shut Down,Restart or Suspend your machine or login to the
system. Select an existing user from the list or choose Other... to manually enter a
username. Type in the password and press Enter to login. Once a username is se-
lected or entered, additional menus become available in the panel:
•Language Menu Select a language for your session.
•Keyboard Menu Select a keyboard layout for your session.
•Session Menu Select the desktop to run during your session. If other desktops
are installed, they appear in the list.
•Display Settings Menu Change display settings such as resolution and refresh
rate here.
•Access Preferences Congure the use of assistive technologies using this menu.
For details please refer to Chapter 4, Assistive Technologies (page 91) .
1.1.1 Session Management
Asession is the period of time that you are actively logged in. During a session, you
can use applications, print, browse the Web and so on.
The login screen offers several login options. For example, you can select the language
of your session so that text that appears in the interface is presented in that language.
After your username and password are authenticated, the Session Manager starts. The
Session Manager lets you save certain settings from each session. It also lets you save
the state of your most recent session and return to that session the next time you log in.
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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 le manager or an OpenOfce.org
program.
TIP
You cannot save and restore applications that Session Manager does not
manage. For example, if you start the Vi editor from the command line in
a terminal window, Session Manager cannot restore your editing session.
For information on conguring session preferences, see Section 3.5.8, “Managing
Sessions” (page 86).
1.1.2 Switching Desktops
If you installed both the GNOME and the KDE desktops, use the following instructions
to switch desktops.
1Click Computer >Logout >Log Out.
In KDE, click the main menu button, then click Leave >Logout.
2In KDE, click Session on the login screen and select the desktop you want. In
GNOME, rst select or enter a user and then choose a desktop from the Session
menu.
3Type your username, then press Enter.
4Type your password, then press Enter.
1.1.3 Locking Your Screen
To lock the screen, you can do either of the following:
•Click Computer >Lock Screen.
Getting Started with the GNOME Desktop 5

•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. Enter your
password, then press Enter.
For information on conguring your screen saver see Section 3.3.4, “Conguring the
Screen Saver” (page 60).
1.2 Logging Out
When you are nished using the computer, you can log out (leaving the system running),
restart or shut down the computer. If your system provides power management you can
also suspend your computer, making the next session start much faster than with a
complete reboot.
1.2.1 Logging Out or Switching Users
1Click Computer >Logout.
2Select one of the following options:
Log Out Logs you out of the current session and returns you to the Login
screen.
Switch User Suspends your session, allowing another user to log in and use
the computer.
1.2.2 Restarting or Shutting Down the
Computer
1Click Computer >Shutdown.
6GNOME User Guide

2Select 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”). The state of your session is preserved, however,
including all applications you have running and all documents you have open.
Hibernate Suspends your session, using no power until the computer is
restarted (“Suspend to Disk”). The state of your session is preserved, however,
including all applications you have running and all documents you have open.
1.3 Desktop Basics
As with other common desktop products, the main components of the GNOME desktop
are icons that link to les, folders, or programs, as well as the panel at the bottom of
the screen (similar to the Task Bar in Windows). Double-click an icon to start its asso-
ciated program. Right-click an icon to access additional menus and options. You can
also right-click any empty space on the desktop to access additional menus for cong-
uring or managing the desktop itself.
Getting Started with the GNOME Desktop 7

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 le manager starts and displays the contents of your home directory (where
your personal les and congurations are stored). For more information about using
Nautilus, see Section 2.2, “Managing Folders and Files with Nautilus” (page 19).
Right-clicking an icon displays a menu that offers le operations such as copying,
cutting or renaming. Selecting Properties from the menu displays a conguration dialog.
On the Basic tab, you can change the name of the icon as well as the icon itself (by
clicking on it and selecting a le with a different one). Various information about the
object represented by the icon is also shown here. The Emblems tab lets you add up to
four graphically descriptive symbols to the icon. The Permissions tab lets you set access
permissions for the selected les. The Notes tab lets you manage comments. The menu
for the trash can also features the Empty Trash option, which deletes its contents.
8GNOME User Guide

A link is a special type of le that points to another le or folder. When you perform
an action on a link, the action is performed on the le or folder to which the link points.
However, when you delete a link, you delete only the link le and not the le that the
link is referencing.
To create a desktop link to a folder or a le, access the object in File Manager by right-
clicking the object and then clicking Make Link. Drag the link from the File Manager
window and drop it onto the desktop.
1.3.1 Default Desktop Icons
To remove an icon from the desktop, simply drag it onto the trash can. The Home icon
cannot be removed.
WARNING
Be careful with this option - if you move folder or le icons to the trash can
and you empty the trash can, the actual data is deleted. If the icons only repre-
sent links to a le or to a directory, only the links are deleted.
1.3.2 Desktop Menu
Right-clicking an empty spot on the desktop displays a menu with various options.
Click Create Folder to create a new folder. Create a launcher icon for an application
with Create Launcher. Provide the name of the application and the command for
starting it, then select an icon to represent it. Align the desktop icons by name with
Clean Up by Name. With Keep Aligned checked, icons are always arranged in a grid.
You can also change the desktop background with this menu or open a terminal window.
Getting Started with the GNOME Desktop 9

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. If the program is already in the foreground, a mouse click minimizes
it. Clicking a minimized application reopens the respective window to foreground status.
Figure 1.3 GNOME Bottom Panel
The Show Desktop icon is on the right side of the bottom panel. This icon minimizes
all program windows and displays the desktop. Or, if all windows are already minimized,
it reopens them.
If you right-click an empty spot in the panel, a menu opens, offering the options listed
in the following:
Table 1.1 Panel Menu Options
DescriptionOption
Opens a menu of applications and applets that can be added
to the panel.
Add to Panel
10 GNOME User Guide