From LQWiki

This is an example for setting up a useable desktop.

Contents 1 Goal 2 Distribution 3 Settings 3.1 Sound 3.2 Printer 3.3 Scanner 3.4 lsdirs 3.5 ssh -X 3.6 usb-storage 3.7 System Bell 4 Software choice 5 See also

Goal

A coherent useable desktop that has all the programs a typical user will need. Focus on usability before coherance. Daily tasks should be handled by a program with a GUI. No such requirement for solving more complex issues.

Tasks:

• Surf the web
• Write an essay
• Watch movies
• Listen to music
• Talk to friends online (with or without a webcam)
• Use Digital Cameras and Linux
• Use Camcorders and Linux
• scanning
• printing

Distribution

As distribution, this example chooses SUSE. For pros and cons, see distro comparison. When asked if you want the KDE or GNOME desktop environment, choose KDE 3.5.

Settings

After installing Linux you will have to do some settings. It is a pitty the distros do not do it by default:

Sound

To be able to hear sound, you need to initialize it:

yast2 sound

Printer

To be able to print, you need to initialize your printer:

yast2 printer

Scanner

To be able to scan, you need to initialize your scanner:

yast2 scanner

lsdirs

You want an alias "lsdirs" that lists all directories in your cwd. Do this by adding

alias lsdirs=ls -d */ 

to your /etc/profile.

ssh -X

When doing ssh, you want the ability to do X11 forwarding with oPenSSH, so make sure your /etc/ssh/ssh_config contains a line

ForwardX11 yes

usb-storage

When you plug in a usb stick or hard drive, you want it to appear on your desktop. So, start kcontrol and choose "Desktop -> Behavior -> Device Icons -> Show Device Icons".

System Bell

You may want to switch off the system beep and enjoy the newly-gained silence in your office.

Software choice

The wealth of choice is overwhelming, and making logical and good defaults is very important.

• Desktop Environment

This example choses KDE as desktop environment.

• Office suite

This article recommends oPen OffIce as office suite. For other options, see office Suite.

• Browser

This article recommends konqueror and firefox. For pros and cons, see their respective pages. For other options, see web browsers.

• Video player

This article recommends vlc which can display DVD menues. If you do not need this, you can also use mPlayer.

• Music player

This article recommends gmpLayer, for other options, see Music Players.

• Calculator

This article recommends kCalc.

• Packing and Unpacking Files

This article recommends ark.

• Audio Volume control

This article recommends KMix.

• text editor

This article recommends kWrite.

• PDF viewer

This article recommends Acroread, XPDF or kpdf.

• Image viewer

This article recommends konqueror.

• Talk to friends online

This article recommends pidGin for IM and IRC chat, skype for IP telephony with or without a webcam.

• use a digital camera

To get your photos from your digital camera, use digikam.

• use a camcorder

To get your videos via firewire from your camcorder, use kino. For other types of camcorders, see camcorder.

• scanning

To scan, use the software xSane.

See also

• Desktop environment
• LinuxIntro