Novell LINUX ENTERPRISE DESKTOP 10 SP2 - KDE 08-05-2008, SUSE LINUX ENTERPRISE DESKTOP 10 SP2 KDE User Manual
SUSE Linux Enterprise
Desktop
www.novell.com10 SP2
May08,2008 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 OpenOfce.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 Conguring Desktop Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
2.3 Conguring 3D Desktop Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
2.4 Conguring the Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
2.5 Conguring System and Security Aspects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Part II Ofce and Collaboration 65
3 The OpenOfce.org Ofce Suite 67
3.1 Understanding OpenOfce.org . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
3.2 Word Processing with Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
3.3 Using Spreadsheets with Calc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
3.4 Using Presentations with Impress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
3.5 Using Databases with Base . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
3.6 Creating Graphics with Draw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
3.7 Creating Mathematical Formulas with Math . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
3.8 Finding Help and Information About OpenOfce.org . . . . . . . . . . 99
4 Kontact: E-Mailing and Calendaring 101
4.1 Kontact Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
4.2 Mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
4.3 Contacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
4.4 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
4.5 Syncing Data with a Handheld . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
4.6 Kontact for GroupWise Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
4.7 For More Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
5 GroupWise Linux Client: E-Mailing and Calendaring 117
5.1 Getting Acquainted with the Main GroupWise Window . . . . . . . . 117
5.2 Using Different GroupWise Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
5.3 Understanding Your Mailbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
5.4 Using the Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
5.5 Using Shortcut Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
5.6 For More Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
6 Synchronizing a Handheld Computer with KPilot 135
6.1 Conduits Used by KPilot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
6.2 Conguring the Handheld Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
6.3 Conguring the KAddressBook Conduit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
6.4 Managing To-Do Items and Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
6.5 Working with KPilot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
7 Instant Messaging with Kopete 143
7.1 Conguring Kopete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
7.2 Chatting with Friends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
7.3 Customizing Kopete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
7.4 For More Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
8 Using Voice over IP with Ekiga 149
8.1 Conguring Ekiga . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
8.2 The Ekiga User Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
8.3 Making a Call . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
8.4 Answering a Call . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
8.5 Using the Address Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
8.6 For More Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
9 Accessing Network Resources 157
9.1 General Notes on File Sharing and Network Browsing . . . . . . . . . 158
9.2 Accessing Network Shares . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
9.3 Sharing Folders in Mixed Environments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
9.4 Managing Windows Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
9.5 Conguring and Accessing a Windows Network Printer . . . . . . . . 166
9.6 Conguring Shortcuts to Network Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
9.7 Conguring and Using a Small Web Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
10 Encryption with KGpg 175
10.1 Why Signing and Encrypting? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
10.2 Generating a New Key Pair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
10.3 Exporting the Public Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
10.4 Importing Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
10.5 The Key Server Dialog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
10.6 Text and File Encryption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
10.7 For More Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
11 Searching with Kerry 185
11.1 Searching Using Kerry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
11.2 Conguring Kerry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
12 Managing Printers 189
12.1 Installing a Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
12.2 Modifying Printer Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
12.3 Deleting a Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
12.4 Starting Print Jobs in KDE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
12.5 Monitoring Print Jobs in KDE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
Part III Internet 197
13 Managing Network Connections 199
13.1 Using KNetworkManager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
13.2 KInternet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
13.3 Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
14 Browsing with Konqueror 209
14.1 Tabbed Browsing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
14.2 Automatic Scrolling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
14.3 Proles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
14.4 Saving Web Pages and Graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
14.5 Searching with Konqueror . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
14.6 Bookmarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
14.7 Java and JavaScript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
14.8 Enabling Advertisement Blockers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
14.9 For More Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
15 Browsing with Firefox 217
15.1 Navigating Web Sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
15.2 Finding Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
15.3 Managing Bookmarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
15.4 Using the Download Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
15.5 Password Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
15.6 Customizing Firefox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
15.7 Printing from Firefox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
15.8 Opening MHTML Archives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
15.9 For More Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
16 Transferring Data from the Internet 229
16.1 Adding Transfers to the List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
16.2 Adding Transfers from a File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
16.3 Timer-Controlled Transfers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
17 Reading News Feeds with Akregator 233
Part IV Multimedia 235
18 Manipulating Graphics with The GIMP 237
18.1 Graphics Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
18.2 Starting The GIMP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
18.3 Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
18.4 Saving Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242
18.5 Editing Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
18.6 Printing Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
18.7 For More Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
19 Managing Your Digital Image Collection 255
19.1 Conguring Your Camera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
19.2 Downloading Pictures from the Camera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
19.3 Retrieving Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
19.4 Managing Albums . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
19.5 Managing Tags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
19.6 Creating Powerful Search Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
19.7 Exporting Image Collections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
19.8 Viewing and Editing Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
19.9 Useful Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
19.10 Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
19.11 For More Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
20 Playing Music and Movies 277
20.1 Mixers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
20.2 Playing Music Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278
20.3 Handling Audio CDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
20.4 Playing Movie Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
21 Burning CDs and DVDs 289
21.1 Creating a Data CD or DVD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
21.2 Creating an Audio CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292
21.3 Copying a CD or DVD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
21.4 Writing ISO Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294
21.5 Creating a Multisession CD or DVD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
21.6 For More Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
A Finding the Information You Need 297
A.1 Included Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
A.2 Additional Resources and More Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300
B Moving from Windows to Linux 303
B.1 Starting Applications from the Main Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304
B.2 Managing Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
B.3 Using the Command Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
B.4 Customizing Your Desktop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306
B.5 Setting Up Printers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
B.6 Switching between Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308
B.7 Accessing Network Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
C Getting to Know Linux Software 311
C.1 Ofce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
C.2 Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
C.3 Multimedia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319
C.4 Graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324
C.5 System and File Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328
C.6 Software Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332
D Using the Fingerprint Reader 335
D.1 Supported Applications and Actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336
D.2 Managing Fingerprints with YaST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336
D.3 Managing Fingerprints with tf-tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338
D.4 For More Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339
E Support of Tablet PCs 341
E.1 Installing Tablet PC Packages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342
E.2 Conguring Your Wacom Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343
E.3 Using Common Tablet PC Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
E.4 Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351
E.5 For More Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352
Index 353
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 efcient 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.
Ofce and Collaboration
Use the ofce and collaboration software your SUSE Linux Enterprise offers, such
as the OpenOfce.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 efcient 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, or 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 conguring your desktop in Chapter 2, Customizing Your Settings (page 45).
The following description is based on the default conguration of the KDE desktop
shipped with your product. If you or your system administrator has modied 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 congured on your computer, usually all users must
authenticate—unless Auto Login is congured 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
Species 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 157). If your machine is congured
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 OpenOfce.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 conguring 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 dened 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 conguring your screen saver, see Conguring 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 dened in the KDE control center. Usually, to
log out with conrmation, 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
conrmation, 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 157).
Printer
Opens KJobViewer, which displays print jobs you have sent to printers. See Sec-
tion 12.4, “Starting Print Jobs in KDE” (page 192) for more information.
Firefox
Opens the Firefox Web browser. For more information, refer to Chapter 15,
Browsing with Firefox (page 217).
Ofce
Opens a new OpenOfce.org document. For an introduction to this ofce suite,
refer to Chapter 3, The OpenOfce.org Ofce Suite (page 67).
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 congure the appearance and behavior of your desktop, including the
main menu, desktop icons, or the panel, refer to Section 2.2, “Conguring Desktop
Objects” (page 49) and Section 2.4, “Conguring 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 identied, 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 Unied 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
Conguring Removable Media Handling
In the autodetection dialog, you can also congure 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 congure it to open an image
viewer application automatically:
1
In the autodetection dialog, click Congure.
2
A conguration 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 congure 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 Conguration 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 conguration dialog. Now every
time you insert a medium of this type, the congured 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 conguration 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 unied 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 209).
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, dening 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
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