Linux102-KDE

Just after login...

When you have logged in, you'll see a desktop that looks something like this

Web browser (Firefox)

Along the top row of icons on the desktop is an icon for Firefox web browser - I suggest you use this browser unless you have a preference for an alternate browser - there are many different browsers installed on Linux in MI

Along the bottom of the screen there are many icons in the left hand corner, the first of which is the "Geeko"

"Geeko" (and alternate web browsers)

The Geeko is like the "Start" button in MS Windows - click it and have a look at the applications in the different menus

Take a look at the Internet, the Web Browser menu to see all the different web browser applications installed.

Text Editors

Click on "Geeko" then Utilities, then Editor to see all the text editors installed on Linux - if you intend to use the KDE desktop, I recommend you use the "KATE" text editor. KATE is very similar to PSPad for those students who have taken the CP1082 module - it is a simple text editor with syntax highlighting, with a few tools for tidying up your HTML etc.

KATE

The main window looks like this:

Let's look at some of the things KATE shows you.

• at the bottom of the screen, you can see "LINE" and "COLUMN" - this is the line number and column that the cursor is currently on - this will be invaluable in finding problems with your code.
• one of the first things I do is turn on line numbering so that I can more clearly see when the problems are in my code - do this through the View menu or press F11 on the keyboard
• i also like to change the highlighting colour for my current line to something more obvious - go to the Settings Menu, Configure Kate, Fonts and Colours to do this if you like

Below is a screenshot with line numbers turned on, and a different current line highlight colour:

The command line (Konsole)

The last of the basics is to discuss the command line, as you'll need this from time to time to quickly change, move, etc. things around in your directories. There are many different wasys to get a command line in Linux - as we're in KDE we'll look at the default called Konsole, but there are many others if you don't want to use Konsole, you can click on "Geeko", System, Terminal to look at the others - they all do the same thing at the end of the day.

Along the bar at the bottom of the screen is a computer symbol that looks like a black screen with a command prompt - click this.