How This Book Is Organized
The book is divided into several chapters, organized by subject. The
first chapters are organized in roughly the same order a user will
experience the topics when starting a Linux computer: booting, a
console, a login manager, X11, and a desktop environment. Depending
on your personal approach to using Linux, you might want to skip a
chapter or two. For example, if you never use a text console to do
work, you can bypass Chapter 2 without losing
momentum on enhancing and personalizing your system. On the other
hand, you might miss out on some handy techniques by skipping a
chapter that does not appear to appeal to your work style at first
glance, so it won't hurt to check out every hack and
tip at some time or another.
Starting with Chapter 9, you will learn how to
perform some automation and administration tasks that can help you
with hacks you learned in other chapters. In addition, some hacks
require you to know how to get deep into the innards of Linux. In
some cases, the complex information you need to use a hack appears in
the chapter itself. Chapter 10, however, is
dedicated to helping you learn how to customize and compile the Linux
kernel, which will be useful for hacks that appear in previous
chapters if you are not already adept at replacing or customizing
your Linux kernel.
Whichever way you choose to use this book, you probably will want to
familiarize yourself with the contents first, so
here's a brief synopsis of each chapter and what
you'll find.
- Chapter 1, Booting Linux
-
You have to boot Linux before you can use it. So, why not spiff up
the process? This chapter shows you how to add a custom graphical
background to your boot manager and even how to design your own. It
also shows you how to add a boot splash and progress bar to Debian,
one of the only popular Linux distributions left that
doesn't automatically provide this capability. This
chapter also shows you some tricks for creating graphics consoles,
and various ways to boot Linux, including how to bypass the boot
manager.
- Chapter 2, Console
-
Contrary to popular belief, the text console is not dead, especially
if you learn from Chapter 1 how to turn your
text consoles into graphical wonders. This chapter shows you how to
customize your keyboard to use those special Internet or multimedia
keys to play CDs, start up programs, or automate virtually anything
you can imagine. Combine what you learn here with some hacks from
Chapter 7, and you can learn how to use the
console or even your text-based email client to view Microsoft Word
or PDF file attachments, while maintaining some of the original
formatting. As you'll see, text consoles put an
amazing amount of power at your fingertips.
- Chapter 3, Login Managers
-
Did you know you do not have to close your applications and log out
for someone else to log in, start up their favorite graphical
desktop, and use the same machine? You can set up Linux to let you
switch between simultaneously running desktop sessions started by
different users in several ways. This chapter explores both the easy
and more challenging ways to accomplish this feat. You can create
multiple KDE or GNOME login screens, or be a macho hacker and start
multiple sessions from the command line. You can even ditch X11 login
screens altogether and run several sessions using Qingy, a fully
customizable graphical login manager that runs on a console.
- Chapter 4, Related to X
-
If variety is the spice of life, this chapter will thrill your taste
buds more than any other. You will learn how to set up
custom-animated mouse cursors, how to add depth to your desktop with
window drop shadows, and how to make windows partially transparent.
You'll also learn how to create reminders or have
your applications display on-screen alerts you can't
possibly miss. You will learn how to access other desktops from your
computer, including Mac OS X desktops, and you'll
find out how to use those Internet and multimedia keys on your
special keyboard, plus a whole lot more.
- Chapter 5, KDE Desktop
-
In this chapter, you'll explore KDE features you
never knew existed. For instance, add custom menu options that are
smart enough to appear only when you select a file where the options
will be useful. Use Konqueror to manipulate files on other desktops
almost as if they were local files. Patch KDE to make the Konqueror
sidebar easier to use, and make the process of selecting files more
attractive. Add drop shadows to your KDE windows. Use
superkaramba to turn your KDE desktop into a
personalized desktop that hardly resembles KDE. This chapter explains
all of this, plus how to use DCOP to automate the way KDE
applications behave, and much, much more.
- Chapter 6, GNOME Desktop Hacks
-
Want to customize GNOME Nautilus menus to give you many more options
for what to do with selected directories and files? How about using
gDesklets to add clocks, weather monitors,
hardware monitors, and other features that really spiff up the
desktop? This chapter will teach you how to accomplish these tasks.
And, if you like a challenge, you will also learn how to run the
latest GNOME development code.
- Chapter 7, Terminal Empowerment
-
Not everyone uses KDE or GNOME. Many hard-core geeks who prefer
lightweight window managers are also likely to prefer lightweight
terminal programs. If you're one such user, this
chapter contains some tips on how to make your life easier. Set up
your terminals to look and behave the same way, no matter which
window manager you're using. Add a little
transparency without having to use the bloated terminals from KDE or
GNOME. And while you're at it, learn how to view
Microsoft Word and PDF documents inside terminals or even within the
body of messages in email clients such as Mutt.
- Chapter 8, Desktop Programs
-
Beyond the desktop environment you run are the applications you
choose to run on it. This chapter covers a diverse range of programs
that help improve your desktop experience. You will learn how to
start OpenOffice.org faster. Several hacks also enable you to take
better control of your email and web browser. The last few hacks deal
with networking, and teach you how to scan wireless networks, plot
your location or next trip with GPS, and connect to a Microsoft VPN.
- Chapter 9, Administration and Automation
-
If you're a Debian user, this is a must-read
chapter, because it is one of the few places you'll
find a way to restore a Debian system after you have accidentally
deleted the package database. Learn how to make your system configure
and deconfigure network connections simply by connecting or
disconnecting the network cable. This chapter also includes a hack
that gives CodeWeavers' CrossOver Office and/or Wine
users a relatively safe way to view untrusted Microsoft Word
documents that arrive in email as attachments. You will also learn
some basics, such as how to keep your computer clock synchronized,
how to speed up the loading of C++ programs (namely, almost all of
KDE and KDE applications), and how to back up or clone information
from one machine to another. In addition, this chapter shows you a
trick that restarts a background application every time it
accidentally (or intentionally) dies, and it does it with a simple
script instead of using complicated daemon tools.
- Chapter 10, Kernel
-
This chapter discusses Linux, the kernel. Here you will learn how to
compile your own kernel and how to upgrade your system from the 2.4
kernel series to 2.6. It also covers one alternative kernel branch
that offers improved desktop performance, and ways to tweak your
system performance without modifying the kernel.
- Chapter 11, Hardware
-
Your computer isn't much use if you
can't configure the hardware attached to it. This
chapter covers how to set up various pieces of hardware, such as 3D
video cards, USB devices, and Bluetooth devices. In addition, it
teaches you how to optimize your display refresh rates, print to
printers when you don't have a driver, and control
the power features of your laptop. This chapter wraps up with
information on using the two most popular portable music players, the
iPod and the iRiver, under Linux.
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