GNOME Desktop

The Linux desktop systems by default use a GNOME desktop environment (although at the login screen you can choose a different session type from the session menu, e.g. the old style fvwm2 interface). The GNOME desktop environment is designed to be an intuitive and attractive desktop for end-users. Below is a typical screenshot.

Key features of GNOME desktop

Starting from the top left corner going along the top panel, then the bottom panel and lastly the desktop itself, the key features are:

Applications menu

At the top left of the screen is the Applications menu. If you click this a drop down menu will appear. The top level entries contain some of the most commonly used applications and tasks.

The last item Debian Menu contains submenus containing almost all the applications on the machine. You may wish to browse this menu to see what is installed as well as using it to launch applications.

Another very useful top level item is the Desktop Preferences menu. This is discussed in more detail below.

Actions menu

The actions menu contains a list of action you can perform such as logout and lock screen.

Shortcut startup icons on top panel

Right of the actions menu are icons to launch some of the most commonly used applications. If you hover the mouse over an icon a text hint will appear to explain what the icon launches.

Shortcut action icons on top panel

Further along the top panel are another group of icons. These icons are shortcuts to items on the actions menu such as logout.

Load meter

Next to the actions shortcuts is a load meter. By default it is showing the CPU load but can be changed to show memory or network load etc.

Clock and calendar

In the top right is a clock. If you click on the clock it reveals a calendar too.

Volume control

In the top right there is a speaker icon which you can click on to raise/lower the sound volume.

Window selector

In the top right there is a window selector. If you click on this it will list all the windows which you can the click on to select.

Hide desktop button

On the bottom panel at the far left is a button that can hide all the windows on the desktop. This can be useful if you wish to get at the icons on the actual desktop.

Area for window tabs

The majority of the bottom panel is used to list all the windows on the currently visible desktop.

Workspace switcher

At the far right of the bottom panel is the workspace switcher. By default you have 8 workspaces arranged in two rows. You can click on each workspace to move to it and hence spread out your windows/applications. To move a window from one workspace to another drag its representation on the workspace switcher to another workspace.

Desktop icons

On the desktop itself at the left hand side are icons for

• Computer: if you double click this it will start the graphical file manager listing all the media devices (e.g. CDROM)
• Home: if you double click this it will start the graphical file manager at your home directory
• Wastebasket: if you double click this it will start the graphical file manager at your wastebasket. Note the wastebasket may be used if you manipulate files using the graphical file manager but not if you use ordinary command line tools
• Any mounted media devices: if you mount a removable device or media (.e.g CDROM) then an icon for it will appear here. You can double click this icon to start the graphical file manager at that device. You can right click on the icon to get a menu of other option such as unmounting the device before removing it.

The Graphical File Browser

You can launch the graphical file browser in a number of ways. If you use the icon on the top panel or the home icon on the desktop it will open at your home directory. If you use the computer icon on your desktop it will open will open a view from the point of view of the machine offering the devices and disks etc.

The file browser should be fairly intuitive to most users, double clicking icons will perform a default action, e.g. open a folder/directory, view a file etc. If you right click on an icon you will reveal a menu with other none default options. From the options menu you can view the properties of the item and change them, e.g. change the permissions on a file from the Permissions tab or change the default application the browser uses for that file from the Open with tab (e.g. you may wish to change the default PDF viewer to acroread or xpdf).

Customising the environment

The GNOME desktop environment is highly customisable.

From the Applications -> Desktop Preferences menu common customisations are:

Advanced -> Screen Actions

This allows you to associate actions with corners of the screen and to enable switching between workspaces by moving the mouse to the edge of the screen.

Advanced -> Screensaver

This allows you to change the screensaver configuration, e.g. change the amount of time the machine must be inactive before the screen saver starts or the screen lock feature occurs. You can also change the screen saver mode,e g. to blank if you do not like the busy graphics.

Desktop Background

This allows you to set the desktop background using standard effects or an image file.

File management

This allows you to customise the default behaviour of the grpahical file manager.

Font

Allows you to set different font shapes and sizes for different function, e.g. you may wish to reduce the terminal font size so two terminals fit side by side.

Keyboard

Allows you to set the delay before it interprets a key as being pressed twice. Also allows you to choose a different keyboard map to the default UK one which might be useful if you are used to touch typing on say a US keyboard layout.

Keyboard shortcuts

You can use this menu to learn what keyboard shortcuts are already defined for common action and either redefine them or add more. Using keyboard shortcuts can speed up your work and reduce common injuries that can occur through over use of a mouse.

Mouse

Allows you to change the mouse from left handed to right handed and change the click rate etc.

Removable media and drives

Allows you to customise how such media and devices are handled, e.g. whether it mount the media and starts the graphical file manager when the media is first inserted.

Screen resolution

By default all TFT displays are configured to run at their maximum resolution but you can reduce the resolution you are using with this menu. This may be useful if you want to just make everything ont he screen bigger.

Sound

You can enable sound for different events. Note this can conflict with other sound applications!

Theme

You can choose a different desktop theme to change the style of the windows and icons.

Windows

This allows you to make common customisation such as auto raising and/or auto activation of windows when the mouse is moved over them.