The Desktop provides a useful metaphor for a modern office work environment. So on the Desktop we find that the applications that we want to run can easily be started or launched and the information and data that we need can easily be located.
Applications that we can run from the Desktop are to be found either from the Main Menu (and sub-menus therein), or as icons on the Panel and the Desktop itself.
To run an application from the Main Menu, open up the menu (or sub-menu) and click on the application listed in the menu bar.
To run an application from the Panel, click once on the icon representing the application.
To run an application from the Desktop itself, double-click on the icon representing the application.
Sometimes it is more handy to have the application as an icon on the Panel or Desktop where you can launch it more easily by just clicking on it, rather than in the Main Menu, especially if it is buried deep within several sub-menus. To achieve this open the Main Menu and select the application item listed in it by clicking with the rightmouse button. Click on the selection "Add this launcher to panel" and a copy of the application icon will be placed on the Panel.
To make a copy of this on the Desktop, you can drag the icon from the Panel over to the Desktop.
To delete an application icon from the Panel right-click on it and select the “Remove from Panel” option.
To delete an application icon from the Desktop, right-click on it and select the "Move to Trash" option.
2.1 Run Small Applications on the Panel
The Panel houses many useful utilities called applets. Applets are small applications that run on the Panel. As discussed in Chapter One, by default, the taskbar and the workspace switcher applets are placed and run on the Panel. Other useful applets that may be placed on the Panel include: Clock, sticky notes, and volume control.Placing an Applet on the Panel
To place an applet on the Panel, move the mouse over to an empty space on the Panel and right-click it. Select the item "Add to Panel" and from the sub-menus select the applet to place on the Panel. For example to place the "sticky notes" applet, select:
Add to Panel --> Accessories --> Sticky Notes
To prevent accidental removal of an applet, you can lock it on the Panel by right-clicking on its icon and selecting "Lock".
Removing an Applet from the Panel To remove an applet, right-click on the applet icon and select "Remove from Panel". If the applet is locked, you will have to unlock it first by right-clicking on the icon and selecting "Unlock".
Configuring the Panel To change the properties of the Panel, right-click on the Panel and select "Properties". Click to view screen shot Fig 2.5 General Properties of the Panel From the general properties menu you can change the orientation, size and (un)hide the Panel. From the background properties menu, you can change the colour of the Panel as well as its visual appearance.
2.2 Using Launchers to Run Applications
Launchers allow the user a quick way to access specific resources on the system. For example if a user needs to access a specific file in one of the folders often, he can create a launcher to run an application to open the file and this launcher can be placed it on the Desktop. In this way the resource (the file) can be accessed very quickly by just double-clicking on it.
To create a launcher on the Desktop, right-click on an empty area on the Desktop and select the item "Create Launcher". Enter the Name and the Command to run and if you want you can select an icon for it by clicking on the icon button.
Click to view screen shot Fig 2.6 Creating a Launcher
2.3 Exercises
1. The Mozilla web browser is a popular web browser application for Linux systems. It has an easily recognisable icon – a red dinosaur head.
- Locate the Mozilla application in the Main Menu and place it on the Panel as well as the Desktop.
- Launch the Mozilla application from: (1) the Desktop, (2) the Main Menu, and (3) the Panel
2. Configure the Panel so that it has the following properties:
- a background colour of solid blue
- contains the Geyes and Screenshot (locked) applets
3. Create a launcher to run the text editor command "gedit" on the Desktop. Use an appropriate icon for the text editor.
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Tutorial 2. Using the Linux Desktop
1. Basic Desktop Customization
2. Running Applications
3. Setting the Date and Time
