Novell LINUX ENTERPRISE DESKTOP 10 SP1 - KDE 14-05-2007, SUSE LINUX ENTERPRISE DESKTOP 10 SP1 KDE User Manual

SUSE Linux Enterprise
Desktop

www.novell.com10 SP1

May14,2007 KDE User Guide

KDE User Guide

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Contents

About This Guide ix

Part I KDE Desktop 1

1 Getting Started with the KDE Desktop 3

1.1 Logging In and Selecting a Desktop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

1.2 Logging Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

1.3 Desktop Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

1.4 Managing Folders and Files with Konqueror . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

1.5 Accessing Network Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

1.6 Finding Data on your Computer or in the File System . . . . . . . . . . 28

1.7 Moving Text between Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

1.8 Exploring the Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

1.9 E-Mail and Scheduling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

1.10 Opening or Creating Documents with OpenOfce.org . . . . . . . . . 32

1.11 Managing Passwords with KWallet Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

1.12 Displaying, Decompressing, and Creating Archives . . . . . . . . . . . 36

1.13 Taking Screen Shots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

1.14 Viewing PDF Files with KPDF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

1.15 Controlling Sound with KMix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

1.16 Managing Packages with the ZEN Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

1.17 For More Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

2 Customizing Your Settings 45

2.1 The KDE Control Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

2.2 Conguring Desktop Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

2.3 Conguring 3D Desktop Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

2.4 Conguring the Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

2.5 Conguring System and Security Aspects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Part II Ofce and Collaboration 61

3 The OpenOfce.org Ofce Suite 63

3.1 Understanding OpenOfce.org . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

3.2 Word Processing with Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

3.3 Using Spreadsheets with Calc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

3.4 Using Presentations with Impress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

3.5 Using Databases with Base . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

3.6 Creating Graphics with Draw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

3.7 Creating Mathematical Formulas with Math . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

3.8 Finding Help and Information About OpenOfce.org . . . . . . . . . . 96

4 Kontact: E-Mailing and Calendaring 97

4.1 Kontact Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

4.2 Mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

4.3 Contacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

4.4 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

4.5 Syncing Data with a Handheld . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

4.6 Kontact for GroupWise Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

4.7 For More Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

5 GroupWise Linux Client: E-Mailing and Calendaring 113

5.1 Getting Acquainted with the Main GroupWise Window . . . . . . . . 113

5.2 Using Different GroupWise Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

5.3 Understanding Your Mailbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

5.4 Using the Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

5.5 Using Shortcut Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

5.6 Learning More . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

6 Synchronizing a Handheld Computer with KPilot 131

6.1 Conduits Used by KPilot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

6.2 Conguring the Handheld Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

6.3 Conguring the KAddressBook Conduit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

6.4 Managing To-Do Items and Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

6.5 Working with KPilot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

7 Instant Messaging with Kopete 139

7.1 Conguring Kopete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

7.2 Adding Contacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

7.3 Adding Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

7.4 Using Kopete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

8 Using Voice over IP with Ekiga 143

8.1 Conguring Ekiga . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

8.2 The Ekiga User Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

8.3 Making a Call . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

8.4 Answering a Call . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

8.5 Using the Address Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

8.6 For More Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

9 Accessing Network Resources 151

9.1 General Notes on File Sharing and Network Browsing . . . . . . . . . 152

9.2 Accessing Network Shares . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

9.3 Sharing Folders in Mixed Environments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

9.4 Managing Windows Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

9.5 Conguring and Accessing a Windows Network Printer . . . . . . . . 160

9.6 Conguring Shortcuts to Network Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

9.7 Conguring and Using a Small Web Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

10 Encryption with KGpg 169

10.1 Generating a New Key Pair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

10.2 Exporting the Public Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

10.3 Importing Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172

10.4 The Key Server Dialog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

10.5 Text and File Encryption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

10.6 For More Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

11 Searching with Kerry 179

11.1 Searching Using Kerry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

11.2 Conguring Kerry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

12 Managing Printers 183

12.1 Installing a Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

12.2 Modifying Printer Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

12.3 Deleting a Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

12.4 Starting Print Jobs in KDE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

12.5 Monitoring Print Jobs in KDE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188

Part III Internet 191

13 Managing Network Connections 193

13.1 Using KNetworkManager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193

13.2 KInternet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

13.3 Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

14 Browsing with Konqueror 203

14.1 Tabbed Browsing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204

14.2 Automatic Scrolling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204

14.3 Proles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205

14.4 Saving Web Pages and Graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205

14.5 Searching with Konqueror . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205

14.6 Bookmarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208

14.7 Java and JavaScript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208

14.8 Enabling Advertisement Blockers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

14.9 For More Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

15 Browsing with Firefox 211

15.1 Navigating Web Sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

15.2 Finding Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213

15.3 Managing Bookmarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214

15.4 Using the Download Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216

15.5 Customizing Firefox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217

15.6 Printing from Firefox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

15.7 For More Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220

16 Transferring Data from the Internet 221

16.1 Adding Transfers to the List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221

16.2 Timer-Controller Transfers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222

17 Reading News Feeds with Akregator 223

Part IV Multimedia 225

18 Manipulating Graphics with The GIMP 227

18.1 Graphics Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

18.2 Starting The GIMP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228

18.3 Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230

18.4 Saving Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232

18.5 Editing Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233

18.6 Printing Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241

18.7 For More Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242

19 Managing Your Digital Image Collection 243

19.1 Conguring Your Camera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244

19.2 Downloading Pictures from the Camera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245

19.3 Retrieving Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246

19.4 Managing Albums . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246

19.5 Managing Tags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247

19.6 Creating Powerful Search Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249

19.7 Exporting Image Collections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250

19.8 Viewing and Editing Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252

19.9 Useful Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260

19.10 Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262

19.11 For More Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263

20 Playing Music and Movies 265

20.1 Mixers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265

20.2 Playing Music Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266

20.3 Handling Audio CDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272

20.4 Playing Movie Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

21 Burning CDs and DVDs 279

21.1 Creating a Data CD or DVD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279

21.2 Creating an Audio CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282

21.3 Copying a CD or DVD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283

21.4 Writing ISO Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284

21.5 Creating a Multisession CD or DVD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285

21.6 For More Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286

A Finding the Information You Need 287

A.1 Included Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287

A.2 Additional Resources and More Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291

B Moving from Windows to Linux 293

B.1 Starting Applications from the Main Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294

B.2 Managing Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295

B.3 Using the Command Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295

B.4 Customizing Your Desktop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296

B.5 Setting Up Printers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297

B.6 Switching between Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298

B.7 Accessing Network Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299

C Getting to Know Linux Software 301

C.1 Ofce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301

C.2 Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306

C.3 Multimedia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309

C.4 Graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314

C.5 System and File Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318

C.6 Software Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322

D Support of Tablet PCs 325

D.1 Installing Tablet PC Packages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326

D.2 Conguring Your Wacom Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327

D.3 Using Common Tablet PC Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331

D.4 Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335

D.5 For More Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336

Index 337

About This Guide

This manual introduces the KDE desktop of your SUSE Linux Enterprise® and a variety
of applications you will encounter when working with the KDE desktop. It guides you
through using these applications and helps you perform key tasks. It is intended mainly
for end users who want to make efcient use of KDE in everyday life.

The manual is subdivided into the following parts:

KDE Desktop

Get to know your KDE desktop and learn how to cope with basic and daily tasks,
using the central KDE applications and some small utilities. Get an impression of
the numerous possibilities KDE offers to modify and individualize your desktop
according to your needs and wishes.

Ofce and Collaboration

Use the ofce and collaboration software your SUSE Linux Enterprise offers, such
as the OpenOfce.org suite, several e-mailing and calendaring programs, and ap­plications for online conversations. Also nd vital information concerning the
management and exchange of data on your system: how to share les on the net­work, how to effectively search and encrypt data, and how to manage printers.

Internet

Learn how to use NetworkManager or KInternet to connect to the Internet. Explore
the Internet applications included in your SUSE Linux Enterprise, such as Konqueror
or the Firefox Web browser, a download manager, or a news feed reader.

Multimedia

Find topics such as graphics applications, digital cameras, sound applications, and
CD and DVD writers.

1 Feedback

We want to hear your comments and suggestions about this manual and the other doc­umentation included with this product. Please use the User Comments feature at the
bottom of each page of the online documentation and enter your comments there.

2 Additional Documentation

There are other manuals available on this product. If you want to have a look at the
other end user documentation for SUSE Linux Enterprise, the following manuals might
be interesting:

Installation Quick Start

Lists the system requirements and guides you step-by-step through the installation
of your SUSE Linux Enterprise.

GNOME User Guide

This manual introduces the GNOME desktop of your SUSE Linux Enterprise and
a variety of applications you will encounter when working with the GNOME
desktop. It guides you through using these applications and helps you perform key
tasks. It is intended mainly for end users who want to make efcient use of appli­cations running on the GNOME desktop.

For an overview of all manuals for SUSE Linux Enterprise, refer to http://www

.novell.com/documentation/sled10/, where you can also download the

manuals. You can also access the information online in the help center of your desktop.

3 Documentation Conventions

The following typographical conventions are used in this manual:

• /etc/passwd: lenames and directory names

• placeholder: replace placeholder with the actual value

• PATH: the environment variable PATH

x KDE User Guide

• ls, --help: commands, options, and parameters

• user: users or groups

•

Alt, Alt + F1: a key to press or a key combination; keys are shown in uppercase as

on a keyboard

•

File, File > Save As: menu items, buttons

•

Dancing Penguins (Chapter Penguins, ↑Another Manual): This is a reference to a
chapter in another manual.

About This Guide xi

Part I. KDE Desktop

1

Getting Started with the KDE
Desktop

This chapter assists you in becoming familiar with the KDE desktop of your SUSE
Linux Enterprise®. If you have not yet installed your system, see Installation Quick
Start at http://www.novell.com/documentation/sled10/.

KDE stands for K Desktop Environment and is a graphical user interface that has many
applications designed to help you in your daily work. KDE also offers many choices
to modify your desktop according to your needs and wishes. Read more about cong­uring your desktop in Chapter 2, Customizing Your Settings (page 45).

The following description is based on the default conguration of the KDE desktop
shipped with your product. If you or your system administrator has modied the defaults,
some aspects may be different, such as appearance or keyboard shortcuts.

1.1 Logging In and Selecting a
Desktop

If more than one user account is congured on your computer, usually all users must
authenticate—unless Auto Login is congured for a certain user. Auto login logs the
user in to the desktop environment automatically on boot. Enable or disable this feature
during installation or at any time using the YaST user management module.

If your computer is run in a network environment and you are not the only person using
the machine, you are usually prompted to enter your username and password when you

Getting Started with the KDE Desktop 3

start your system. If you did not set up your system and your user account yourself,
check with your system administrator for your username and password.

The program managing the login process depends on the desktop environment installed
on your system. For KDE, it is KDM. If the GNOME desktop is additionally installed
on your system, it may be GDM.

As shown in Figure 1.1, “A KDM Login Screen” (page 4), the default KDM login
screen provides input elds for username and password and the following menu items:

Session Type

Species the desktop to run when you log in. If desktops other than KDE are in­stalled, they appear in the list. Make changes only if you want to use a session type
other than your default (usually KDE). Future sessions are automatically of the
same type unless you change the session type manually.

System

Performs a system action, such as shutting down the computer or starting different
login actions. Remote Login enables you to log in on a remote machine.

To start a normal login, just enter your username and password.

Figure 1.1

A KDM Login Screen

4 KDE User Guide

If your system administrator has created an encrypted home directory for you (which
is useful as a protection against theft or unauthorized removal of the hard disk), your
home directory is mounted on login. After login, you can directly access the data as
usual—without entering another password.

NOTE: Connecting to an Active Directory Server

To access shared network resources, you can also authenticate a KDE client
machine against an Active Directory server. For further details, refer to Chap-

ter 9, Accessing Network Resources (page 151). If your machine is congured

for this kind of authentication, the login screen also provides an additional
eld. In this case, proceed as follows during login:

1. Select the domain from the list.

2. Enter your Windows* username.

3. Enter your Windows password and press Enter.

1.1.1 Controlling a Session

The Session Manager starts after your username and password are authenticated by the
login process. The Session Manager lets you save certain settings for each session. It
also lets you save the state of your most recent session and return to that state the next
time you log in.

The Session Manager can save and restore the following settings:

• Appearance and behavior settings, such as fonts, colors, and mouse settings.

• Applications that you were running, such as a le manager or OpenOfce.org.

NOTE: Saving and Restoring Applications

You cannot save and restore applications that Session Manager does not
manage. For example, if you start the vi editor from the command line in
a terminal window, Session Manager cannot restore your editing session.

Getting Started with the KDE Desktop 5

For information about conguring session preferences, see KDE Components
(page 47).

1.1.2 Switching Desktops

If you installed both the KDE and the GNOME desktops, use the following instructions
to switch desktops.

1

If you are logged in to KDE, select Log Out > End Current Session from the
main menu. On the login screen, click Session Type.

2

Select the GNOME desktop.

3

Enter your username.

4

Enter your password. The GNOME desktop is started.

See GNOME User Guide at http://www.novell.com/documentation/

sled10/ for more information about using the GNOME desktop.

5

To switch back to KDE again, click Desktop > Log Out on the panel of the
GNOME desktop then click OK. The session is closed and the login screen
reappears.

6

Before logging in again, click Session Type and select KDE in the login screen.
If you do not select a new session type, your next session will be of the same
type (GNOME) as the session before.

1.1.3 Locking Your Screen

To lock the screen, do either of the following:

•

From the main menu, select Lock Session.

•

Use the keyboard shortcut dened in the KDE control center. Usually, this is Ctrl
+ Alt + L.

6 KDE User Guide

TIP: Looking Up KDE Keyboard Shortcuts

If you are interested in other KDE keyboard shortcuts, look them up in the
KDE control center, described in Section 2.1, “The KDE Control Center”
(page 45).

For quick access, you can also add the Lock and Logout icons to the panel. To do so,
right-click the panel then click Add Applet to Panel. In the following window, select
Lock/Logout Buttons and click Add to Panel.

When you lock your screen, the screen saver starts. To unlock the screen, move your
mouse to display the locked screen dialog. Enter your username and password then
press Enter.

For information about conguring your screen saver, see Conguring the Screen Saver
(page 50).

1.2 Logging Out

When you are nished using the computer, you can log out and leave the system running
or restart or shut down the computer. If your system provides power management, you
can also suspend the computer, making the next system start much faster than a complete
boot.

To log out and leave the system running, do one of the following:

•

From the main menu, select Log Out > End Current Session.

• Use the keyboard shortcut that is dened in the KDE control center. Usually, to
log out with conrmation, this is Ctrl + Alt + Del. In the following dialog you still
have the choice to cancel the logout process. If you want to log out without any
conrmation, press Ctrl + Alt + Shift + Del.

•

Click the Logout icon in the panel. If your panel does not include the logout icon,
you can add it to the panel as described in Section 1.1.3, “Locking Your Screen”
(page 6).

Getting Started with the KDE Desktop 7

1.3 Desktop Components

The graphical desktop environment should not pose any problems for former Windows*
or Macintosh* users. The main components of the desktop are the icons on the desktop
and the panel at the bottom of the screen.

Figure 1.2

An Example KDE Desktop

Desktop icons represent les, directories, applications, functions, and removable media,
like CDs or DVDs.

The desktop has the following icons by default:

Trash

Contains les and folders that have been deleted. For information about using the
trash can, see Section 1.3.4, “Managing the Trash Bin” (page 17).

My Computer

Displays information about hardware, network status, operating system, hard disks,
common folders, and removable devices. For more information, refer to Sec-

tion 1.3.3, “Accessing Removable Media” (page 15).

8 KDE User Guide

Network Browsing

Displays network services you can access. Some of the services might require au­thentication. To learn more, refer to Chapter 9, Accessing Network Resources
(page 151).

Printer

Opens KJobViewer, which displays print jobs you have sent to printers. See Sec-

tion 12.4, “Starting Print Jobs in KDE” (page 186) for more information.

Firefox

Opens the Firefox Web browser. For more information, refer to Chapter 15,

Browsing with Firefox (page 211).

Ofce

Opens a new OpenOfce.org document. For an introduction to this ofce suite,
refer to Chapter 3, The OpenOfce.org Ofce Suite (page 63).

The panel (in KDE also called “Kicker”) is a bar, typically located at the top or the
bottom of the screen. It is designed to provide information about running applications
or the system and easy access to some important functions or applications. If you hold
your pointer over an icon, a short description is displayed.

Figure 1.3

KDE Panel (Kicker)

The panel typically consists of the following areas:

Main Menu Icon

By default, the left end of the panel has an icon that opens the main menu (in KDE
also called K menu), similar to the start button on the MS Windows desktop. The
main menu has a well-ordered structure for accessing the main applications. It also
contains menu items for major functions like logging out or searching for applica­tions. For more information, see Section 1.3.1, “Accessing the Main Menu”
(page 10).

Quick Launcher

Next to the main menu icon, nd the quick launcher. It holds some icons for the
most important functions or applications to enable you to start them without going
through the main menu. It also contains an icon for the Help Center, which provides
online help for your system.

Getting Started with the KDE Desktop 9

Desktop Previewer

Next to the quick launcher, nd the desktop previewer, which shows your different
desktops. These virtual desktops enable you to organize your work. If you use many
programs simultaneously, you might want to run some programs in one desktop
and other programs in the other desktop. To switch between desktops, click the
desktop symbol in the panel.

Taskbar

The taskbar is located next to the desktop previewer. By default, all started appli­cations and open windows are displayed in the taskbar, which allows you to access
any application regardless of the currently active desktop. If you click a window
title in the taskbar, the application is moved to the foreground. If it is already in
the foreground, clicking minimizes the application.

System Tray

The rightmost part of the panel usually holds the system clock, the volume control,
and several other helper applications.

To learn how to congure the appearance and behavior of your desktop, including the
main menu, desktop icons, or the panel, refer to Section 2.2, “Conguring Desktop

Objects” (page 49) and Section 2.4, “Conguring the Panel” (page 55).

1.3.1 Accessing the Main Menu

Open the main menu by clicking the icon to the far left of the panel. Alternatively, press

Alt + F1. The main menu is subdivided into these sections: Most Used Applications,

All Applications (a menu with all applications sorted according to categories), and Ac­tions. Applications that you start most often appear in the Most Used Applications

section.

The function-oriented menu structure makes it easy to nd the right application for
your purpose even if you do not know the application names yet. If you already know
the name of an application (or at least a part of its name) but are not sure how to start
it from the main menu, you can use the search function provided in the All Applications
section.

10 KDE User Guide

Figure 1.4

Main Menu Search Function

Just type a part of the application name into the search eld without pressing the Enter
key afterward. If the application is installed on your system, the menu structure leading
to this application is highlighted in the main menu.

The following section provides information about a number of actions that can be trig­gered from the main menu.

Recent Documents

Lists the most recently opened les or folders. When you select a document, the
application to view or edit this document is started. You can also clear the history
of documents.

My System

Gives quick access to some places often needed, such as your home directory or
media devices.

Run Command

Opens a dialog where you can enter an command to start the application. The name
of the command is often (but not always) the application name written in lowercase.
You can use autocompletion of the command by typing the rst letters then pressing

→|. If the command was executed before and can be uniquely identied, it is

completed to full length.

Switch User

To start a second session with a graphical user interface on your machine, select
Start New Session. Your current session remains active while you are taken to the
login screen where you can log in as a different user. You can access the rst session
by pressing Ctrl + Alt + F7. To access a new session, press F8 instead of F7. Addi­tional sessions can be accessed by pressing Ctrl + Alt + F9 to F12.

Getting Started with the KDE Desktop 11

Lock Session

If you leave your computer you can prevent unauthorized access by others by
locking your screen. After locking, a screen saver starts. Access to the session can
only be regained with a password. To unlock, enter your normal login password.

Log Out

Opens a dialog with several options: you can end the current session, turn off the
computer, restart the computer, or cancel the logout. End Current Session leaves
your system running and restores the applications for your next login. If your system
provides power management, you are also offered to suspend the computer, making
the next system start much faster than a complete boot.

1.3.2 Inserting or Connecting Removable
Media

If you insert or connect removable media to your computer (such as CD-ROMs, digital
cameras, or USB sticks), these are usually automatically detected. In KDE, a dialog
appears, showing the medium type detected and offering several options of what to do
with the new medium. The list of options depends on the type of medium inserted.

Figure 1.5

Automatic Detection of a USB Stick in KDE

To view the data with a le manager, select Open in New Window and click OK. The
Konqueror le manager appears, showing the contents of the removable device.

12 KDE User Guide

Figure 1.6

Viewing the Contents of a USB Stick

For the same action to be performed every time you insert a removable medium of that
type, activate Always do this for this type of media in the detection dialog before clicking
OK.

If you insert or connect a removable medium to the system that has been encrypted
with LUKS (Linux Unied Key Setup), KDE recognizes this and prompts for the
password as shown in Figure 1.7, “Automatic Detection of an Encrypted USB Stick”
(page 13). Enter the password to access the encrypted medium.

Figure 1.7

Automatic Detection of an Encrypted USB Stick

For information about encrypting removable media, refer to Section “Encrypting the
Content of Removable Media” (Chapter 42, Encrypting Partitions and Files, ↑Deploy­ment Guide).

Getting Started with the KDE Desktop 13

Procedure 1.1

Conguring Removable Media Handling

In the autodetection dialog, you can also congure how KDE should handle several
types of removable media. For example, if you know that a certain type of medium
that you use often always contains photos, you can congure it to open an image
viewer application automatically:

1

In the autodetection dialog, click Congure.

2

A conguration dialog appears, showing a list of all available actions.

3

Click the Medium types drop-down list and select the type of medium for which
to congure a certain action. The list of available actions now only shows actions
applicable to the medium type selected.

4

Select the action to apply and click Toggle as Auto Action.

Figure 1.8

KDE Conguration Dialog for Removable Media

5

Click the Advanced tab and make sure the Enable medium application autostart
after mount check box is selected.

6

Click OK to apply the changes and close the conguration dialog. Now every
time you insert a medium of this type, the congured action is executed automat­ically and the autodetection dialog does not appear any more.

14 KDE User Guide

Procedure 1.2

Restoring Default Media Handling Options

To reset the action assigned to the type of medium and restore the default options,
proceed as follows:

1

Start the KDE control center from the main menu by selecting Personal Settings.

2

In the left-hand navigation bar, click Peripherals > Storage Media. The congu­ration dialog appears on the right.

3

Click Default and Apply. The next time you insert a medium, the autodetection
dialog appears again, leaving you the choice of what to do with the medium.

1.3.3 Accessing Removable Media

KDE offers several ways to access removable media at any time. Clicking My Computer
on the desktops opens a view as shown in Figure 1.9, “My Computer” (page 15).

Figure 1.9

My Computer

Getting Started with the KDE Desktop 15

If you start Konqueror as a le manager (see Section 1.4, “Managing Folders and Files

with Konqueror” (page 17)) and click Storage Media on the start window or enter

media:/ in the location bar, Konqueror displays the storage devices as shown in

Figure 1.10, “Displaying Media in Konqueror” (page 16).

Figure 1.10

Displaying Media in Konqueror

You can also name removable devices, such as USB sticks, with Konqueror. Right­click the USB stick in Konqueror and select Properties. On the General tab, enter a
name in the input eld and click OK. When inserting the stick the next time, Konqueror
displays the name of the stick.

A small green arrow indicates that a medium has been mounted (integrated into your
le system, which is necessary to access the data on the medium). In SUSE Linux En­terprise, you normally do not have to care about mounting removable devices because
this is done automatically by default.

16 KDE User Guide

NOTE: Removing Media Safely

If you want to remove or disconnect a medium from your computer, make
sure that the data on the medium is currently not accessed by any application
or user. Otherwise risk a loss of data. To safely remove the medium, proceed
as follows:

1. Open a view that displays all removable media.

2. Right-click the medium to remove and select Safely Remove or Eject.
Safely Remove unmounts the medium after which you can disconnect the
medium from your computer. Eject automatically opens the CD or DVD
drive of your computer.

1.3.4 Managing the Trash Bin

The trash bin is a directory for les marked for deletion. Drag icons from the le
manager or the desktop to the trash bin icon by keeping the left mouse button pressed.
Then release to drop them there. Alternatively, right-click an icon and select Move to
Trash from the menu. Click the trash bin icon to view its contents. You can retrieve an
item from the trash if desired.

Files removed with Delete are not moved to the trash bin, but deleted completely. To
delete the les in the trash bin completely, right-click the trash bin icon then click
Empty Trash Bin.

1.4 Managing Folders and Files with
Konqueror

Konqueror is a unied Web browser, le manager, document viewer, and image
viewer. The following sections cover using Konqueror for le management. For infor­mation about Konqueror as a Web browser, see Chapter 14, Browsing with Konqueror
(page 203).

Getting Started with the KDE Desktop 17

Start Konqueror as a le manager by clicking the house icon in the panel. Konqueror
displays the contents of your home directory.

Figure 1.11

The File Manager Konqueror

The Konqueror le manager window consists of the following elements:

Menu Bar

The menu bar holds menu items for actions like copying, moving, or deleting les,
changing views, starting additional tools, dening your settings, and getting help.

Toolbar

The toolbar provides quick access to frequently used functions that can also be
accessed through the menu. If you hover the pointer over an icon, a short description
is displayed. To the right, the toolbar features the Konqueror icon, which is animated
while a directory or Web page is loaded.

Location Bar

The location bar shows the path to the directory or le in your le system. You
can enter a path to a directory directly by typing it in or by clicking one of the di­rectories in the display eld. Delete the contents of the line by clicking the black
symbol with a white X located left of the location bar. After typing an address,
press Enter or click Go to the right of the input line.

Unlike a Windows operating system, Linux does not use drive letters. In Windows,
you would address the oppy drive as A:\, Windows system data is under C:\,

18 KDE User Guide