Basic Red Hat Linux Server Guide

Basic Red Hat Linux Server Guide
Posted :: Jun 15, 2004 by Impact

Upon entering Linux (Linux from now on will always refer to Red Hat 9.0) the user is prompted with a user-login. This is nothing new, nor anything special. If you are not editting the system configuration it would make sense to login as the personal user. However, since changing the system settings is required to configure the operating system so that it can eventually act as a server, start by logging in as the root user.

After a quick login, a main Linux desktop will appear. There are three main components that map out a brief overview of the desktop: "Root's Home", "Start Here", and "Trash".

"Root's Home" is a link to the folder "/root" pronounced "slash root". This is the root directory which contains some system files. A brief overview of folders will be covered a bit later. When logged in on a different user (non-root) your "(user_name) home," where (user_name) is the name of the logged in user and it points to "/home/(user_name)/". "/home/(user_name)", is like the My Documents folder in Windows. It holds the personal files for each user.
"Start Here" contains an applications folder and lists the programs that are currently installed on your computer, while offering a way to launch each by double-clicking on them. It also has system settings and preferences. More on each of these will follow shortly.
"Trash" is just like it sounds; it is almost identical to the "Recycle Bin" or "Trash Can" in other operating systems. Deleted files are moved here so you can look at them one last time before permanently deleting them.

There is also a bar along the bottom of the screen. The bar has a Red Hat in one corner, a few icons, a rectangular little window icon (with four pieces, one of them selected), a large blank space, and a clock.

"Red Hat" is very comparable to the Start Menu, in both position and function. It provides access to installed programs, system settings, a file search, and user tasks (switching users, restarting, and shutting down).

The icons will vary depending on the selected install options. They may include programs such as:

Mozilla Browser: A graphical web-browser that is very comparable to Netscape.
Evolution Email: An email client.
OpenOffice.org Writer: A word processor for typing (comparable to Microsoft Word).
OpenOffice.org Impress: A presentation creator that looks to be somewhat like Microsoft PowerPoint.
OpenOffice.org Calc Spreadsheet: Obviously a spreadsheet program that is probably much like Lotus123 or Excel.
Print Manager: Monitor and setup for printers.
Workspace Switcher (that rectangular window icon): Upon first login the upper left corner is selected. By selecting the other three pieces you can switch between workspaces. If you open a folder or a browser (or pretty much anything) in one of them and switch to another workspace all of the open items disappear. They are left behind in the old workspace. You are free to go back and find them how they were when you left them by simply clicking on the workspace they are in. This allows you to have multiple desktops to fill with whatever you want. It is much like having multiple monitors that you can switch between, but only one can be viewed at a time. You can also to drag an application from one workspace to another (just click and drag). This is probably something you will need to spend a few minutes to play with and practice.
Blank space: Any time a program is run, it is added to the blank space. You can switch between open programs by clicking each (very similar to Windows).