GNOME is the default desktop environment in Red Hat Linux 7.0. Like KDE,
GNOME is flexible and user-friendly, providing both the power of your new
Red Hat Linux system and a comfortable graphical user interface -- or
GUI.
This chapter will help you get acquainted with some of the fundamentals of
GNOME. You'll find greater detail about specific tasks -- such as
connecting a printer and setting up your Internet account -- in later
chapters.
You'll find the latest GNOME-related information at the the official GNOME
website: http://www.gnome.org.
For a similar orientation to KDE, turn to Chapter 3.
If you want to use both
If you've got both GNOME and
KDE on your system, you can often use applications from the other
environment in your chosen environment. For example, you can use the KDE
e-mail client, KMail, even though your chosen
environment is GNOME. The same can be said for other applications which
aren't strictly GNOME or KDE applications, such as those you might find
online.
When you first begin your GNOME X Window session,
among the first items you'll see are:
The Desktop -- The main workspace of your environment which
incorporates everything, including the items which follow in this
list (see Figure 2-1 for an
example). Windows are placed on the Desktop;
launchers are also found here for
applications, documents or other data. Double-clicking will open a
folder or start an application. See the section called The Desktop.
Folders -- When you first log in, folders contain links to
documentation such as support, help and reference guides, either on
your installed system (locally) or on the Web. Folders (as well as
launchers to other applications) can be added and deleted from the
Desktop. See Figure 2-2 for an
example of folders and launchers on the desktop. See the section called Folders.
The Panel -- The long bar across the bottom of
the Desktop (for example, Figure 2-4). The
Panel serves as a quick launcher for
applications and applets
(mini-applications), as well as minimized applications you may
already be running. See the section called The Panel.
Main Menu Button -- Part of the
Panel, this button, which looks like
the stylized GNOME footprint (see Figure 2-7 for an example), holds launchers
and submenus to all of the included applications and applets for
your Red Hat Linux system. Some applications which you install will also
be incorporated into this menu. You can add launchers to these
menus, as well. See the section called Main Menu Button.
Help Button -- By default, you'll find a
button on the Panel which has a
question mark on it. This button is a launcher to the GNOME
Help Browser. See the section called Finding Help.
Multiple desktops -- In the center of the
Panel you'll find the Desk
Guide, which shows you the number of
desktops available to you. You can spread
your work throughout multiple desktops, rather than crowd one
desktop area with multiple applications. See the section called Multiple Desktops.
Switching environments -- Although it's not something you'll find
on your desktop, there's a utility which allows you to easily and
quickly change your choice of environments. Called
Switchdesk, you can use this utility to
quickly and easily change from GNOME to KDE or vice-versa. See
the section called Switching Environments.
Using the left mouse button selects an item to open or drag to another
location; by holding down the left mouse button while you drag the
cursor over items, you can select multiple items on the desktop.
Make your two-button mouse act like it has three buttons
A three-button mouse offers the greatest flexibility in GNOME. If you
have a two-button mouse, however, and you selected three-button
emulation when you installed Red Hat Linux, simply hold
down both left and right mouse buttons at the same time to get the
effect of a middle mouse button.
Pressing the middle button of your mouse on the desktop will reveal a
GNOME applications menu, help menus and configuration menus for
sawfish, the default GNOME window manager.
Using the right mouse button reveals a menu of actions which you can
take. Right-clicking on the desktop shows you options such as adding
desktop items, customizing the background and more. Right-clicking on
a folder or application reveals a menu related to actions you can take
with your selection, such as deletion, properties and more.
You can drag and drop items in GNOME, meaning that
you can "carry" data or applications from one area of the desktop to
another, "drop" items in folders or on applications, and move or copy
information and applications.
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