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Tricks for Installing and Configuring a Local LAMP Sever
LAMP stands for Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP, which represents a very common configuration for Linux-based web servers. If you’re interested in testing websites, particularly those that involve a server-side scripting language like PHP, you can install a local LAMP server on your own computer. This tutorial will show you some tricks for setting up a local LAMP server.
Most of this tutorial will apply to any Linux distribution, however the first trick only applies to Debian-based distributions using Synaptic (including Ubuntu).
Trick 1: Installing LAMP with one click
Open Synaptic and choose Edit > Mark packages by task… Then check the box next to LAMP Server, click OK, and click Apply. That’s it!
Sets of packages can be marked together
Trick 2: Easy access to /var/www/
By defualt, the directory that stores all the files for your new server (/var/www/) can only be written to by root. This gets to be a real pain, since you have to use sudo any time you want to put something in /var/www/. You can fix this using the following command:
sudo chmod o+w /var/www/
This allows anyone to write to /var/www/. I am sure many people will argue that this is a bad policy; however, I generally feel that there is minimal risk in opening up one non-essential directory to write access by anyone on a personal computer.
Trick 3: Testing on a different computer
What if your new website involves interactions between different users or you need to see how it looks on a different operating system? You don’t need to buy hosting space just to do these tests. If you have another computer on the same network, you can actually access the website from that computer.
On your server computer, type this command:
ifconfigFind the IP address after inet addr and enter this in the address bar on a different computer that is on the same network. You should see the Apache “It works!” page or whatever else you have in the root of your /var/ww/ directory.
I hope this helps you create some cool websites without paying for hosting until you really need it.
Remotely Accessing Your Linux Computer: Part 4
This is the fourth part in a four part series covering remote access to Linux machines using SSH.
- Part 1 – Installing and configuring SSH
- Part 2 – Securing SSH and opening up to the outside world
- Part 3 – Graphical connections
- Part 4 – Accessing your machine from Windows
Everything in this tutorial should apply to most Linux distributions, however some of the commands may be specific to Ubuntu. You may need to modify some commands to work with your Linux distribution. This is an advanced tutorial, so most instructions will be given as text commands.
A Note About Security
Allowing outside machines to access your computer is inherently risky. Assuming your router and/or firewall is properly configured, you will need to poke some holes in it. This potentially leaves you vulnerable to attack. Proceed at your own risk. Because security is a constantly changing issue, you are responsible for securing your own computer and network. You have been warned. If you are not behind a router or other physical firewall and you can’t explain why this is the case, do not proceed.
Introduction
You’ll be glad to know that this step is the easiest of them all. If you’ve made it this far, you have already done the hard part.
Downloading PuTTY
There are probably thousands of different SSH clients for Windows, but the most popular of these is a program called PuTTY. It’s a free download and requires no installation, which means you should be able to run it off a flash drive. (Naturally, it’s also open-source and released under the MIT license.) Go ahead and download PuTTY. (Look for putty.exe)
Trying it out
Just fill in two fields.
Just double-click on putty.exe and fill out the Host Name and Port fields. Your host name should be:
username@dyndnsuser.dyndns.com
(Where username is your computer username and dyndnsuser is your DynDNS user account.)
Then just enter the port number you set in part 1 and 2.
Click Open and say yes to the RSA key dialog. You’re in!
Conclusion
Wow! That was a lot easier than the other steps. This concludes the series, so have fun with SSH.
Remotely Accessing Your Linux Computer: Part 3
This is the second part in a four part series covering remote access to Linux machines using SSH.
- Part 1 – Installing and configuring SSH
- Part 2 – Securing SSH and opening up to the outside world
- Part 3 – Graphical connections
- Part 4 – Accessing your machine from Windows
Everything in this tutorial should apply to most Linux distributions, however some of the commands may be specific to Ubuntu. You may need to modify some commands to work with your Linux distribution. This is an advanced tutorial, so most instructions will be given as text commands.
A Note About Security
Allowing outside machines to access your computer is inherently risky. Assuming your router and/or firewall is properly configured, you will need to poke some holes in it. This potentially leaves you vulnerable to attack. Proceed at your own risk. Because security is a constantly changing issue, you are responsible for securing your own computer and network. You have been warned. If you are not behind a router or other physical firewall and you can’t explain why this is the case, do not proceed.
Introduction
You’ll be glad to know that the graphical piece is actually a lot easier than the first two parts. It’s really just a few configuration changes and that’s it.
On the server end
Open your /etc/ssh/sshd_config file.
gksudo gedit /etc/ssh/sshd_config
Then make sure that X11Forwarding is set to on and both of the lines below are uncommented (meaning that they do not have a # in front on them:
X11Forwarding yes X11DisplayOffset 10
That’s it on the server end!
On whatever computer your using….
You may also need to change some settings on the computer from which you are connecting. Open your /etc/ssh/ssh_config file. Notice the subtle difference between sshd_config and ssh_config.
gksudo gedit /etc/ssh/ssh_config
Then you need to make sure that these lines are uncommented:
ForwardAgent yes ForwardX11 yes ForwardX11Trusted yes
Trying it out…
Now try connecting again:
ssh -X -p <em>port number</em> <em>username</em>@<em>dyndns username</em>.dyndns.com
Then just type the name of a graphical application:
gnomine
Just take a moment to think about how cool it is that you’re running Gnome Mines graphically across the internet from a different computer.
Remotely Accessing Your Linux Computer: Part 2
This is the second part in a four part series covering remote access to Linux machines using SSH.
(Sorry this one was a little late. I just forgot to publish it. I’ll post the last two sooner.)
- Part 1 – Installing and configuring SSH
- Part 2 – Securing SSH and opening up to the outside world
- Part 3 – Graphical connections
- Part 4 – Accessing your machine from Windows
Everything in this tutorial should apply to most Linux distributions, however some of the commands may be specific to Ubuntu. You may need to modify some commands to work with your Linux distribution. This is an advanced tutorial, so most instructions will be given as text commands.
A Note About Security
Allowing outside machines to access your computer is inherently risky. Assuming your router and/or firewall is properly configured, you will need to poke some holes in it. This potentially leaves you vulnerable to attack. Proceed at your own risk. Because security is a constantly changing issue, you are responsible for securing your own computer and network. You have been warned. If you are not behind a router or other physical firewall and you can’t explain why this is the case, do not proceed. I would also advise you to only try this on your home network, because your employer will probably dislike you messing with SSH, unless, of course, that’s your job.
Security First
There are some security tweaks you can make to your /etc/ssh/sshd_config file. There are, of course, tons and tons of tweaks you can make. A complete guide to the OpenSSH configuration file is way, way beyond this guide, but I’ll cover a few things you can do:
Port 4005 # Only listen on port 4005 # 4005 is just an example, this can be anything roughly between 1500 and 5000
This was discussed in part 1, so I suggest you read that. The basic lesson is that you probably shouldn’t use port 22 (the default).
ListenAddress 192.168.1.175 # Only listen on network interfaces with the IP 192.168.1.175What this line says is to only listen on network connections where your computer’s IP is, in this case, 192.168.1.175. This is useful for a number of reasons. For example, if you have multiple network connections (such as an ethernet connection and a WiFi connection), you could tell SSH to only work on one of those connections. Also, if you were at a coffee shop or some other public WiFi, you would probably not have the same IP address that you do on your own network (depending on your network’s configuration). Basically, it’s just a generally good idea to specify what IP address SSH should listen on. Getting your IP address was also covered in part 1. The quick version is that executing ifconfig should tell you.
Protocol 2 # Only allow logins using SSH 2
There are two versions of the SSH protocol. SSH 1 is old and potentially insecure. Make sure you are only allowing protocol 2 with the line above. This should really already be in your default configuration, but if it isn’t, add it.
PermitRootLogin no
Once again, this is pretty straight-forward and is probably already in your configuration. You shouldn’t usually login to root locally, so why would you let remote users login to root? You can still sudo or whatever.
AllowUsers thomas # Only allow thomas to loginThis option allows you to specify which user(s) should be allowed to login via SSH. You may or may not want to add this, but if your only going to login with one account, it adds a small extra layer of security.
It is worth noting that a lot of these configurations are purely security through obscurity. Contrary to what some people say, I don’t believe there is anything wrong with that, as long as it’s not your only defense.
Getting our of your local network
Time to access your computer across the internet. I’ll warn you about the risks again:
A properly configured home router should usually pretend not to exist by giving no reply to unsolicited communications from the outside. In other words, if I try to talk to your router without your router talking to my server, you router should ignore me as if no one was there. This gives you great security, since if no one knows you are there, it’s hard to attack you. (This does not, of course, have any effect on malware spread by email, the web, chat programs, etc.) Allowing your computer to be remotely accessed over the internet cuts a hole in that anonymity. Your router will have to start replying to requests on a particular port. This is dangerous, but not too dangerous as long as your securing everything correctly. (You can test how your router is configured with GRC’s SheildsUP! tool.)
Getting a consistent IP address
The first step is to make sure that your computer always gets the same IP address. If you are using DHCP, and you probably are, then your computer will get a different IP address ever time you get on your network, usually in the range of 192.168.1.100 to 192.168.1.150 or so. You need to setup something called a static lease in which one computer, identified by a MAC address and a hostname, always gets the same IP address.
This is a completely router specific process, so I can’t help you much. Unfortunately, some routers don’t even support this feature. Usually by installing a custom firmware like DD-WRT, you can get the feature even if your router doesn’t support it. Chadwick Wachs has an excellent tutorial for setting up static leases in DD-WRT, which should help you.
From your router to your computer
Next, we need to redirect traffic from your router, which is the only place an external computer can connect to, to your computer. This feature is support by almost ever router, so don’t work. It’s fairly simple, too.
Again, this is router specific, but you can find specific instructions for many routers on PortForward.com. Remember to replace port 22 with whatever port you choose in part 1.
To your router
Don’t worry, your almost there! The final step is to find a way to track your router’s changing IP address. (Yes, that changes too.)
Without paying your ISP extra, you can’t usually get a static IP for your router. Luckily, services like DynDNS.com (a free account is plenty) will give you a free subdomain that points to your router. For example:
username.dyndns.com would point to your routers IP
In order to get the IP to update, you need to enter your DynDNS account into your router settings. Once again, this is router specific, but look for a DDNS section in your router configuration.
All done
Ok. If you’ve made it this far, congratulations! You should now be able to access your computer from any other computer on the internet (with an SSH client, of course), using this command:
ssh -p <em>port number</em> <em>username</em>@<em>dyndns username</em>.dyndns.com
Good luck!
Remotely Accessing Your Linux Computer: Part 1
This is the first part in a four part series covering remote access to Linux machines using SSH.
- Part 1 – Installing and configuring SSH
- Part 2 – Securing SSH and opening up to the outside world
- Part 3 – Graphical connections
- Part 4 – Accessing your machine from Windows
Everything in this tutorial should apply to most Linux distributions, however some of the commands may be specific to Ubuntu. You may need to modify some commands to work with your Linux distribution. This is an advanced tutorial, so most instructions will be given as text commands.
A Note About Security
Allowing outside machines to access your computer is inherently risky. Assuming your router and/or firewall is properly configured, you will need to poke some holes in it. This potentially leaves you vulnerable to attack. Proceed at your own risk. Because security is a constantly changing issue, you are responsible for securing your own computer and network. You have been warned. If you are not behind a router or other physical firewall and you can’t explain why this is the case, do not proceed. I would also advise you to only try this on your home network, because your employer will probably dislike you messing with SSH, unless, of course, that’s your job.
About SSH
SSH stands for secure shell. It is a protocol that allows you to access a computer across a network. We will use OpenSSH, an implementation of SSH, since it is the default on most Linux systems.
Installing SSH
SSH is installed by default on almost every Linux distribution, however there is usually no SSH server, which is required to actually share your machine with SSH. Use your preferred package manager to install openssh-server
.sudo apt-get install openssh-server
To check if OpenSSH is running type this:
ps -e | grep ssh
This command will list all running processes and then filter the list to only display processes that include “ssh”. You should see a line like this:
11032 ? 00:00:00 sshdThis means that OpenSSH is running. If you don’t see a line like that, try running this command:
sudo /etc/init.d/ssh start
(If two sshd instances are running, it may cause problems. You can usually fix this problem by issuing the command sudo killall sshd followed by sudo /etc/init.d/ssh start.)
Basic Configuration
There are two steps to configuring your SSH sever. First you must edit the OpenSSH configuration file, then you have to open a hole in your firewall. To start, open the OpenSSH configuration file, which is usually located in /etc/ssh/sshd_config, with your favorite text editor.
gksudo gedit /etc/ssh/sshd_config
Part 2 of this series will discus more configuration options. For now, most of the default configuration should be fine. The one part that you should change now is the port. Your computer has a bunch of different ports (specifically 65535 of them). Each port is like a door that other computers can knock on. For example, when you visit a website, the request goes out through port 80 and the website comes back in through port 80. The first 1024 ports are reserved for specific protocols. Port 22 happens to be reserved for SSH. It is not advisable, however, to let your SSH server listen on that port, though, because an attacker would most likely be scanning for open port 22’s. It is best to change the port option in your OpenSSH configuration to a port number greater than 1024 (and less than 65535). This makes it harder for an attacker to guess which door to knock on. If none of that makes sense, that’s OK. Just change the number after “Port” to a number between 1500 and 5000. While you might be able to use higher numbers, really high port numbers will get you in trouble. See the IANA website for more information about port numbering.
# What ports, IPs and protocols we listen for Port 4005
Opening ports in your software firewall
Next you need to open whatever port you choose in your software firewall, if you are using one. Most Linux distributions have one installed by default, so if you don’t know, you probably are using one. Most people should probably install Firestarter, which is a GUI front end to managing IPTables.
sudo apt-get install firestarter
Open Firestarter and follow the setup wizard. Then click on the Policy tab. Select “Inbound Traffic Policy” and click in the box that has “Allow Service | Port | For” at the top. Then click on the Add Rule button. Enter the port you choose and SSH as the name. Then select “Everyone” and click Add.
Testing it out
You are now ready to test it out. Get your IP address on your local network with this command:
ifconfigYou will need to dig through the output to find your IP address. Here is the relevant piece of the output I see:
wlan0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:00:00:00:00:00 inet addr:<strong>192.168.1.175</strong> Bcast:192.168.1.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
Now go to another Linux or Mac OS X computer on the same network. Technically you can use the same computer, but it’s not as good of a demo. Type this:
ssh -p <em>port number</em> <em>username</em>@<em>ip address</em>
For example, I would type:
ssh -p 4005 thomas@192.168.1.175
You may get a message about the server’s RSA key. This is normal and typing yes will bypass the message. Then you should get a prompt for your password. Enter your password and you will be inside your other machine.
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)? yes Warning: Permanently added '192.168.1.175' (RSA) to the list of known hosts. thomas@192.168.1.175's password:
Wrapping up
Congratulations! SSH is up and running. Part 2 will teach you how to access your computer from another computer across the internet.
How To: Pain Free Backups With GRsync and Gnome Schedule
Advanced backup tools that keep multiple copies of files and so on have their place, but sometimes you just need a simple scheduled sync, not a full backup. For example, I have an SD card that stays in my laptop almost all the time. On this, I keep a copy of most of my home folder that gets updated every day at 1:30 in the morning. I no longer have to think about it, it just happens. Here’s how you can do the same thing:
- Install GRsync and gnome-schedule. In Ubuntu, you can install GRsync from Add/Remove programs, but gnome-schedule is only available from Synaptic.
- Open GRsync and create a new session. Choose the source folder location in the first box and the target folder in the second box. Then you can configure the options below. You will almost certainly want the “delete on destination” option. I have also selected “preserve time,” “preserve permissions,” “verbose,” “show progress,” and “Windows compatibility.”
- Move on to the advanced options tab. The most important part here is the “additional options” section. Here you can specify anything else you want to pass to rsync, the backend program that actually does the file transfer. The most useful argument you can supply is –exclude=”something”. For example, I have entered this:
–exclude=’*.iso’ –exclude=’.VirtualBox’ –exclude=’.miro’ –exclude=”.nautilus” –exclude=”.Trash”
This tells rsync to ignore any file with the extension .iso, skip the VirtualBox, Miro, and Nautilus folders, and skip the trash. If your target directory is a USB hard drive, you may not have to worry about this, but my SD card can’t fit everything, so I don’t copy some of the less important stuff. - Press “Execute” and make sure everything works.
- Open Gnome Schedule (in Ubuntu, you can find it under System > Preferences > Scheduled Tasks. Click on new and create a recurring task. Enter whatever you want for a description and choose when you want to backup to run. Finally, enter this as the command:
grsync -e “name of session”
- That’s it!
As a bonus, if you want to be able to easily check to make sure your backup ran, create a blank text document somewhere. Then open a new black document and type this in:
#!/bin/sh
grsync -e “session name“;
touch test file location;
Save this as something.sh. Then go back in to Gnome Schedule and change the command to ./filename.sh. Remember that the command is run in the home directory, so if the script is in /home/username/files/scripts/script.sh, you have to say ./files/scripts/script.sh.
Now after every time the backup is run, the test file you created will be updated to say it was last modified at the current time.
Now you lost your excuse. Go back up!
Installing Flash Player 10 Prerelease on Linux
Are you sick of drop down menus being hidden by Flash content? Flash Player 10 prerelease fixes that. Here is how you can install it: (This tutorial is for Ubuntu, however it should work on other distros.)
- Visit this page. Click on “Download Plugin for Linux (TAR.GZ, 3.71 MB)” and save the file to your desktop.
- Right click on the file and choose “Extract Here.”
- Open up a terminal (Applications > Accessories > Terminal) and type in this code:
cd Desktop - Then type in this code:
cd install_flash_player_10_linux - Then type in this code:
./flashplayer-installer - Close all browsers, then press enter twice.
- Type “y” and press enter, then type “n” and press enter.
- Relaunch your browser, and your drop-down menu problems should be fixed.
1.0 Why Linux?
2.0 Getting a Computer
2.1 Live CD’s
2.2 Finding an old computer
2.3 Buying a new computer
3.0 Installing the Software
3.1 The Options
3.2 Installing It
4.0 Using Linux
4.1 The Basics
4.1.1 How Open Source works
4.2 GNOME
4.3 KDE
4.4 Other
- Why Linux?Many people use Linux, but often for different reasons. One reason people use Linux it that it is extremely secure. Almost no one uses anti-virus software on Linux, because viruses for Linux are just about unheard of. Another reason, and possibly the most obvious, is that it’s free. Think about it: A retail copy of Windows Vista Business costs $250 (OK, only$249.99) from Newegg.com, a popular online store for technology. On the other hand Linux is free. Yet another reason people love Linux is the artwork and desktop effects. Desktop effects are similar to Vista’s Aero, but far cooler. Many distributions (think of them as different OS’s build off the same core technology and sharing code) have a few of these effects built in, but the real cool effects (and some useful too) come from a program called Compiz Fusion, the merger of Beryl and Compiz. This program adds many, many neat and useful effects to the desktop more interesting and productive. When you see these effects (search Google Video or YouTube for “Combiz Fusion”) you will be amazed how much cooler and more useful they are then anything Mac OS X or Vista (much less XP) have. Another feature is multiple desktops. This means that you can have almost as many desktops as you want (without Compiz Fusion, it may be limited to two or four) and have different applications in each. This may sound confusing, but when you start using it you will love it. These are just some of the reasons people use Linux, but this should get you interested enough to discover what things you especially love about Linux.
- Getting a ComputerAt this point you may be wondering how you can try it out. There are basically two ways of trying Linux out: running it from a “live” CD or DVD, or actually installing it on a computer. Plus another possibility for Windows users who want to try out Ubuntu.
- Live CD’sA live CD or DVD is a disc that you can boot directly off of. This means that you can put the CD or DVD into your drive and reboot your computer into Linux. When you are done just shut it down, take out the CD and when you start it up again and nothing will have changed. Note that Linux will run slowly, some parts of Linux will not work (or at lease
not well) from a Live CD, and any documents you save will be lost.To make a live CD or DVD, first you need to find the .iso file for the Linux distribution that you want to try. A good choice to start out would be Ubuntu. You can download Ubuntu here or buy a CD from Amazon
. See our tutorial section for how to make a live cd/dvd. Finding an Old Computer
- One of the fun things about Linux is that there are many Linux distributions that run just fine on computers with modest hardware capabilities. This means that an older computer that has reached the end of its useful life as a Windows machine can find new life as a Linux machine. Many people have at least one such computer sitting around their house, not being used, and awaiting a trip to the dump or a computer recycling center. If you have one of these, this is the cheapest and easiest way to get going with Linux. If you don’t have one, you might see if a friend has one he or she would be happy to
give you to save himself or herself the trouble of disposing of the computer. (Be sensitive to the fact that the friend might want to erase his or her files on the old computer before giving it away, even though you will be completely wiping the drive clean when you install Linux.)Another approach would be to find out if your local solid waste authority has an procedures for recycling old computers that people bring in for disposal. Sometimes an old computer can be obtained at the landfill or transfer station for free or a nominal fee.
Finally, an old computer can also be purchased at a Salvation Army or Goodwill thrift store for a modest cost, sometimes.
- Buying a New Computer
If you want to buy a new computer to put Linux on you have a number of options. There are a number of commercial sellers of Linux systems (for example System 76, Dell and many others) or you can build the computer yourself. This guide will not cover how to do that, but there are many resources on the web to help you. - WubiWubi is a free program that will install Ubuntu on your computer without changing partitions and such. When you boot you can choose between Ubuntu and Windows and you can just uninstall it from windows when you are done. A Cnet video walks you through the steps
- Live CD’sA live CD or DVD is a disc that you can boot directly off of. This means that you can put the CD or DVD into your drive and reboot your computer into Linux. When you are done just shut it down, take out the CD and when you start it up again and nothing will have changed. Note that Linux will run slowly, some parts of Linux will not work (or at lease
- Installing the Software
- The Options
More options can be found at places like Distro Watch, but this guide will only cover three.Ubuntu – Lots of guides, tons of users
Ubuntu is great to start out on because it is very user-friendly and has many, many tutorials and other help avaliable due to it’s huge user base.
Fedora – Great artwork, lots of help though not quite as much
Fedora has great artwork and lots of users as well as using SELinux, which helps secure your system. If you feel fairly comfortable with Linux this is a great distro, although if you still feel you need a lot of help it might not be quite as appealing. Not that it is hard to get help for Fedora! Not for old computers also, though.
Damn Small Linux (DSL) – Small, runs on old computers
http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/
DSL is great for an old computer, because it is less then 50MB and requiring very low system specs. If you have an old PC that will not run Ubuntu or other distros, try DSL.
- Installing It
To install most Linux distributions you need to burn a live CD (see above) and reboot into it. There is normally an icon on the desktop to install it. From there it will ask a few simple questions and then install it. If you need more help you can search for specific tutorials (I was unable to find a site with normal tutorials for lots of distributions) or you can look at the Linux Install Podcast which helps you install many Linux distributions in an audio format.
- The Options
- Using Linux
- The Basics
Before you start using Linux there are a few things you need to know about how the different distributions (or distros) work. A Linux “distro” (e.x. Ubuntu, Fedora, Redhat) is a variation based on the same underlying technology. Because of this there are many OSs that are all “Linux” and feel very similar, but are somewhat different. Another important difference between distributions is what desktop environment they use. The two most common are GNOME and KDE and because these are the most visible and variable part this guide will cover them separately below.- How Open Source Works
Another important part of Linux is that almost all of the code is free and open. This means that you can download the code, modify, etc. at no cost. The reason I say almost is because a few Linux distributions package in non-open code such as drivers (pieces of software that make your hardware work). You may already be using open source programs as open source is not specific to Linux. Firefox, for example, is an open source project.Another question many people have about open source software (sometimes called OSS) is how it works. How do the developers make money? Why do they do it? Well, the answer is they often don’t make money (although they can sometimes, for example selling support or simply accepting donations), instead they do it because they love
free and open software and want to contribute back.
- How Open Source Works
- GNOME
Here is Ubuntu’s default desktop and a fairly standard GNOME desktop. Also note the two squares at the bottom right. These let you switch between work spaces. See above. Also access to the trash can is available here too by clicking the trash icon or you can drag files to it to delete them. At the top right from left to right are the network icon, the volume icon, the time and date, and the shutdown/restart/log off button.
Here is the applications menu. All of your programs are here ordered by their category. You can drag these applications to the desktop to make a shortcut to them or drag them to any part of either menu to make a shortcut on the menu.
At the bottom of the applications menu there is an item “Add/Remove…”. This allows you to add and remove software as the name implies. Just find the application (by category or by searching) and check (to install) or uncheck (to uninstall) the check box and press OK.
Open applications show in a taskbar-like menu at the bottom. To the left is a button to hide/unhide all the windows. Also note that you can see the windows in the workspace switcher.
The places menu provides access to different places on your hard drive. Your home folder is like your My Documents folder.
The system menu lets you change system settings. This is similar to control panel (Windows) or system preferences (Mac).
- KDE KDE
is another common type of desktop environment. The screenshot below shows the desktop for Fedora with the KDE interface (Fedora is normally a GNOME distro, but is avaliable with KDE too).
Fedora presents a very clean and attractive opening screen, with a single shorcut icon for Trash visible in the upper left hand corner of the screen, the name “fedora” in the lower right hand corner, and a horizontal panel across the bottom.
The horizontal panel at the bottom of the screen is like the Windows Task Bar. Iinitially, it shows three icons at the left hand side, followed by four boxes labeled “1,” “2,” “3,” and “4,” and at the far right hand side, icons for a Klipboard, for energy saving control settings, and a clock. Any of these icons can be opened (expanded) with a single left click of the
mouse; other options are typically presented in response to a right click on the icons.The first of the icons, at the far left, is the K-menu, from which you can access programs and system controls. These are arranged in three overall categories titled: “Most Used Applications,” “All Applications,” and “Actions.” The majority of the Applications and Actions items are headers for groups of related programs, and the sub-menus associated with each header can be viewed by hovering the mouse over each item in the main list, as illustrated in the screenshot below:
Moving to the right on the bottom panel, the next icon encountered is for the Home folder. This is like the My Documents folder in Windows, and it is intended to organize and hold the user’s files. Initially, the Home folder has sub-folders for the
desktop itself, as well as sub-folders for documents, downloads, music, pictures, “public,” templates, and videos. Double
clicking will open any of these subfolders, and navigation back out or back up to the top folder can be accomplished with the arrow buttons in the upper left of the open window (see screenshot below).
If these arrow buttons remind you of navigation buttons on web browsers, that is not entirely coincidental because
the KDE interface contains an application called Konqueror that serves both as your interface for navigating among files on your computer and for navigating among web pages.The third icon from the left on the bottom panel provides access to information about Fedora. Opening this icon provides access to things like a user guide and useful web links to the Fedora community.
The next four icons labeled 1, 2, 3, and 4 represent virtual desktops that can be in use simultaneously. As with Windows, a desktop can have two or more programs running simultaneously. But with multiple virtual desktops, one can have a different set of programs running on each virtual desktop. For example, Desktop 1 might have a word processor and a spreadsheet running simultaneously, while Desktop 2 might have card game running. This situation is illustrated in the screenshot below.
Notice, in the above screenshot, that the Desktop icons for Desktops in use now suggest the visual appearance of each desktop, as an aid in remembering which programs are running where. Also, the names of all the running programs on all Desktops appear on the bottom panel. Hovering the mouse over each of these names reveals which Desktop the
program is running on, and whether there are unsaved changes in the running program. Programs with unsaved changes cannot be closed without encountering a “save or discard” dialogue box.The clipboard tool, known as Klipper, is an enhanced version of the clipboard in windows. It is enhanced insofar as it retains multiple items put onto the clipboard (until cleared) and makes it possible to search for items on the clipboard.
To the right of the clipboard tool, is the energy saving power settings control icon. This allows you to control power
management settings for the computer display, as well as some other power control features primarily useful on a battery powered laptop.Lastly, in the right corner is the clock, which is pretty self-explanatory.
- The Basics
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- Other
There are also other desktop environments, especially found in distros designed to be small, too. Some are similar to GNOME, other resemble Windows more, but all are fairly easy to learn, so it is best to experiment.
- Other
FAQ
Q: What if I have a problem and need help?
A: Unlike with Windows and Mac OS X you can’t just call a tech support line … and listen to bad music for an hour before getting hung up on (OK, sometimes somebody actually answers the phone, and maybe even speaks English). For Linux users, often the best and
fastest way to get help is to on the Internet. You might find a guide that specifically addresses the issue you are dealing with. Or you might look for a ”forum,” which is a place where you can “post” a question and other people can answer the question. You can continue to talk to those people if they need addition information about the issue or if their proposed solution didn’t work. Most distributions have their own forum or there are general Linux forums, such as LinuxQuestions.org. The Linux community is pretty passionate about Linux, and members of that community are often exceptionally talented individuals (who could make a lot of money working for Microsoft, but choose not to), so the quality of the help you get is often startlingly good.
Another way to get support is to buy it from a commercial company. Canonical, the company affiliated with Ubuntu, offers support over the phone and by email. This type of service is not free though. At time of writing, desktop phone and email support for business hours on weekdays is $250 for one year.
Q: Are their other things I need to know before I start using Linux?
A: For the most part you will discover everything you need to know just by using Linux, but if you do get stuck, go ahead and look for help (see above) or check out one of the tutorials listed on the guides and tutorials page of this website. Here are a few of the tutorials listed there that might help you get started:
Adobe Air On Linux: What, Why, And How
Adobe Air is a technology that allows certain web applications to be run on the desktop, as if they were normal desktop applications. In this guide, I will attempt to answer three questions: What is it?, Why is it important?, and How do I install/use it?
Note: This guide was written for the Adobe Air for Linux Alpha. It may or may not work on future versions of Air for Linux. I will try to update this guide as new versions become available.
What is Adobe Air?
According to the Adobe Air website, Adobe Air “lets developers use proven web technologies to build rich Internet applications that deploy to the desktop and run across operating systems.” Essentially what that means is that developers can use tools and techniques that are already familiar to them and create web 2.0 applications that will not only run inside a web browser, but also on the desktop, regardless of the operating system that desktop is running.
At the time of writing, Adobe Air for Linux is not feature complete, so not all applications may work perfectly.
Why is Adobe Air important?
One of the main barriers people face when moving from one operating system to another is applications that don’t run on their new operating system. This creates an uneven playing ground where the operating systems on top have a huge advantage over other operating systems, regardless of technical merit. Web applications started to solve this problem, because most web applications can be run on any operating system, but web applications have one major disadvantage: they require an internet connection. Air lets developers create web applications that will also run on the desktop, removing that one major disadvantage and allowing web applications to finally level the operating system playing field.
For Linux, if Adobe Air catches on, many new applications will become available for it, not because they were developed specifically for Linux, but because they were developed for any operating system. This means switching to Linux is likely to become very easy in the future.
How do I install and use Adobe Air?
Installing Air
Start by visiting the Adobe Air for Linux download page and click on “Download Adobe AIR for Linux.” Once downloaded, right click on the file and select “Properties.”
Next click on the “Permissions” tab and make sure “Allow executing file as program” is
checked. This will allow you to run the installer.
Now open a terminal (Applications > Accessories > Terminal). You will need to
navigate to the folder that the installer is in. In most cases, when you first open the
terminal, you will be in your home folder. If the installer is on your desktop, all you
should need to do is type “cd Desktop” without the quotes to get to your desktop. To
confirm you are in the right folder, type “ls” (again, without the quotes) and look to
see if the file is there. Once you are sure you are in the right place, type “./filename.bin” without the quotes and replacing filename with the name of the installer. For example, you might type “./adobeair_linux_a1_033108.bin”. Here is an example of what you might type into the terminal and
what it might return:
(Note: Do not close the terminal window until the installation is done.)
The rest of the installation is very easy, but I will walk you through it anyway.
Press accept if you agree to the license.
Wait…
Press “Finish.” Congratulations, Adobe Air is now installed!
Using Air
Now that Air is installed, you can get started trying out some sample applications. First, you have to find an application to use. You can find the sample applications here. There are some non-sample applications, however they may or may not work, since Air for Linux is not feature complete.
The installation process should be the same for all of the Air applications, so you can choose any one you want. For this tutorial, we will use Signet. Scroll to the bottom of the page linked above and download the sample application. (Be sure to get the application, not the source code.)
Just double click on the file and wait until you get this screen:
Assuming you want to go ahead and install, click “Install.”
The default settings here should be fine in most cases, so go ahead and click “Continue,”
or feel free to play with the (very few) settings first.
Wait a little longer and then the application should launch. Congratulations! If it does
not launch or you want to launch it again, just go to your applications menu or use the
shortcut on the desktop.
If you need help, you can always e-mail me (webmaster@linuxloop.com) or use the contact
link at the bottom of the page. Or, if you prefer, look for a good Linux forum, such as
LinuxQuestions.org.
Below are some screenshots from various Air applications:
Signet:
Fresh:
Google’s GMail service has become very popular, but many people still want to do their e-mail on their computers. Switching from a webmail interface to an on-your-desktop email client has a number of advantages. For example, when you go somewhere where you can’t get on the internet you still have access to your e-mail. The problem has always been that
without paying an IMAP provider, your email on the web and on your computer would become out of sync. Now that GMail offers free IMAP, anyone can have their e-mail on their desktop and on the web and keep them both in sync. (If I read a message at gmail.com it appears as read on my desktop client, if I delete a message on gmail.com it gets deleted on my desktop client, etc.) The only problem is how to set this up. Google provides tutorials for many email clients, but Evolution, the default GNOME e-mail client, is not one of those. Here is how to configure Evolution to stay in sync with GMail:
Step 1) Turn on IMAP in GMail
Go to your GMail account
1) Click “Settings” in the top right
2) Click the “Forwarding and POP/IMAP” tab
3) Select “Enable IMAP” under IMAP Access
4) Click “Save Changes”
Step 2) Configure Evolution
To launch Evolution, go to Applications > Internet > Evolution Mail
Press forward.
Press forward.
1) Enter your full name – This is what will be seen by other people to whom you send
e-mails
2) Enter your full email address including the @gmail.com part
3) Press forward
1) From the Server Type list, select IMAP. This will cause the Configuration
section to be displayed.
2) For Server enter: imap.gmail.com
3) Enter your full email address including @gmail.com
4) Under Security, choose SSL encryption from the list
5) Authentication Type should be “Password” (checking the “Remember password” box saves entering your password every time Evolution receives mail from gmail)
6) Press forward
These are personal preferences. Choose whatever you want or just do what I did. Press forward.
1) Server Type: SMTP
2) Server: smtp.gmail.com
3) Check “Server requires authentication”
4) Use Secure Connection: SSL encryption
5) Authentication Type: Login
6) Authentication Username: your gmail username with the @gmail.com part (checking the “Remember password” box saves entering your password every time Evolution sends mail to gmail)
7) Press forward.
1) The account name is to tell this account from other accounts you have/might set up in Evolution, name it whatever you want
2) Press forward
Select your a city in your time zone by clicking on it on the map (1) or by selecting it from the drop down menu (2). Press forward.
Press apply.
Enter your password. Click OK. (No, that is not my real password. Count the dots, count the letters in ‘password’.)
Step 3) Congratulations!
If it works, congratulations! If not, you can contact me (webmaster@linuxloop.com or look for the contact link in the footer) for help or find a forum and ask for help there.