From LQWiki

This is an example for setting up a useable desktop.

Contents 1 Goal 2 Distribution 3 Settings 3.1 lsdirs 3.2 ll 3.3 ssh -X 3.4 usb-storage 3.5 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

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.

Settings

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

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.

ll

It is very practical to have an alias ll for a long list of files in your cwd. Do this by adding

alias ll=ls -l

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. We want to make common tasks easy and possible.

• 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 amarok, 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.

See also

• Desktop environment
• LinuxIntro