At the end of 2006 with discouraging reports about Vista arriving on Slash Dot and other news sources every day I set a goal: a totally Linux home office. I downloaded my long-time favorite distribution from Open SUSE and installed openSUSE 10.2 Linux in “dual boot” mode on my existing aging Dell Dimension XPS T550. Linux ran well and I began solving the inevitable problem of compatibility with legacy application files from MS Word and Excel to Quicken and others. Eventually I tired of dual booting and running on ancient hardware, though Linux runs efficiently. I also decided that my goal was no longer a Linux-only office. Instead my goal was the best of both worlds: a Linux machine and a Windows machine working together. On March 2, 2007 after looking at many different laptops I bought a Gateway MX8711 laptop from a local Best Buy. I had looked at many others, but I did not want to buy one sight unseen and I liked the looks of the MX8711 best. I’ve been very pleased with my purchase.

The MX811 came with Windows Vista. I played around with it a little bit – enough to see that it is, from a users standpoint at least, Windows XP all over again with a few bells and whistles and more file permission grief. I installed openSUSE 10.2 at first as a dual boot. I did this several times playing around with various configurations until I was getting some sort of hard disk error. I believe that Windows Vista was getting in the way. So, in the course of either a fresh Vista install or a fresh SUSE install I deleted all disk partitions so that the next openSUSE install was looking at a blank hard disk. I allowed it to partition the disk as it wished and when all was said and done I had a Linux-only laptop.

At this writing, four months later, my Linux laptop has become my primary desktop machine. My old Windows XP system on the XPS T550 still runs most of the time and is primarily a storage server to my laptop. I still have most of my documents on that system. I “remote” into the XP system to run a very few applications under windows, most notably software for scanning with my Canon MP530 all-in-one printer/scanner/fax/copier. I am extremely happy with my Linux laptop. It does everything I want it to and does it fast. I can run windows applications on it under Linux faster that I can on the old Dell desktop – things like Internet Explorer and Word.

The rest of this document will attempt to explain how I managed to get to this state of Linux nirvana. It did not happen over night, but it did turn out better than expected.

OpenSUSE 10.2 Out of the Box

Installing openSUSE 10.2 on the MX8711 was easy – especially after I deleted all existing partitions on the hard drive and let Linux have it all. All of the basics worked out of the box including networking. I had a fully functional laptop from the start. Not everything worked exactly as I wanted. I had issues configuring the laptop display. I could not get more than 1024x768 on by beautiful 17” Ultrabright™ display. I could not get the built-in wireless card working. I also wanted to keep using some applications like Quicken, and I wanted to run as many of these as possible on Linux not Windows. But the bottom line is that I had a functional Linux laptop upon the first install.

The Window Manager Choice

I think the most important thing to pay attention to during the install is the window manager, i.e. the software that creates the graphical desktop environment. Ubuntu distributions themselves come in window manager flavors with Ubuntu using Gnome and Kubuntu using KDE. I recommend with an openSUSE install that you install Gnome, KDE, and Window Maker so you can try all three, and in particular have Window Maker as an option since it is fast and efficient and the others are resource hogs. If you are wanting to run the desktop remotely over a network, you’ll probably have to use Window Maker.

OpenSUSE vs. other Distributions

Years ago when Linux was just beginning to become popular (circa 1997) I had begun with a Red Hat distribution. In 1998 I was doing some part time work for a local company and was going to set up a Linux server to serve up file systems to locally networked Windows machines. I happened to attend a Perl conference in San Jose, California and was handed a free copy of SUSE Linux. I gave it a try on the customer’s designated Linux server. I liked the install and configuration utilities so well that I never went back to Red Hat. I had had discussions with a friend at work who was an avid Linux user and a big SUSE fan. So when I set my sights on a Linux home office I chose SUSE. Since that time I have tried two versions of Ubuntu, Mandriva, Knoppix, and “SystemRescueCD.” I use SUSE mostly, but I use Mandriva on a company laptop when I’m on the road to access the Internet. After trying these other distributions I still favor SUSE. I find SUSE to give the most professional presentation of all of them, though Mandriva is a close second in my estimation. I have found that using a major Linux distribution is a plus. Many software packages are ready to go for SUSE, but you may have to compile and configure them yourself if you use Mandriva, let’s say. That was certainly true of TrueCrypt in my recent efforts to get that application running under Mandriva (still have not as of this writing).

Of course there are versions within versions. You can buy the enterprise edition of SUSE for a very reasonable price, and you may have better luck getting things working “out of the box.” You can join the Mandriva Club for an annual subscription fee and get all sorts of extras that you won’t get in their free version. But so far I have gone the frugal route and have not paid for any of my Linux distributions.

I think that once you choose a favorite distribution you will find many reasons to stick with your choice. There are lots of little things you learn about any one distribution that will be slightly different in another. I think the ideal is to play around with a number of distributions and choose for yourself.

Standard Linux Gotchas

I used Linux a lot in the ‘90s, Linux is now my primary home desktop system, and I use a virtual install of Linux in the office all day long, and I have encountered some common “gotchas" in every case:

Screen configuration.
Wireless configuration.
Software applications.

For some reason, configuring X (the standard Linux Graphical User Interface, i.e. GUI) has always been for me problematic. And until very recently, wireless was often beyond the reach of many Linux users. And if you’re a typical computer user like me, there is some software you’d rather not part with unless you have to. Will you be able to run that software under Linux? Will you find a Linux version (that you can afford) or can you get the windows version to run under Linux?

None of the gotchas are showstoppers. It took me a while, but I now have the proper resolution on my monitor, I have wireless working, and there is only one application I need windows for and that is the scanning software for my Canon MP530. Does Linux offer software that scans documents? Absolutely, but I don’t like it very well, and I do very much like the software that came with the MP530 that of course only runs under Windows. (I have not tried it under Linux.)

MX8711 Gotchas

Daniel Stravinsky has successfully installed Fedora 7 Linux on a Gateway MX8711 laptop, and you can ready about his install at in his “Said Simple” site. He had the same issues as I had, but I think he has done a better job than I have. His implementation is also listed on Linux on Gateway Laptops as is mine. The usual problems are addressed: screen resolution, wireless card, and also sound. My workarounds are mentioned on my MX8711 site (OpenSUSE 10.2 on a Gateway MX8711). I continue to put up with the fact that my sound works sometimes and not other times. If I reboot often enough when it is not working, it will start to work. Since sound is usually not a bit deal for me, I have not pursued a fix.

Additionally once and a great while I get lines on my display that won’t go away. I shut the PC off and boot it up again and they are gone. I accept such things, because I took the shortcut to success: I took a gamble with an off-the-shelf laptop and it paid off. Things work great almost all the time. That’s all I care about at this time.

Linux on Laptops

If you’re installing Linux on a laptop, do check out Linux on Laptops. If you’re installing on a Gateway Laptop, take a look at their Linux on Gateway Laptops.

Getting the Proper Display Resolution

Resolving display issues can be tricky. Mandriva Linux worked the best on the one laptop I use it on. I accidentally solved my display problem with a work around: one day I was playing with “dual head” mode. I.E. having two monitors for my laptop at once: the primary and a secondary. I ended up with 2880x900 mode which works. The window manager things I’m using two monitors, but I don’t really care. It puts my primary monitor in 1440x900 and that’s all I care about. I am free from the 1024x768 hole I was in at first.

In theory every distribution should give you tools to fix any display problem you have. In practice the tools don’t always work and are often confusing to use. In openSUSE you use Yast as always. So, you run Yast and navigate to “Hardware” and then “Graphics Card and Monitor.” There you set your resolution and options and with any luck that’s all you have to do. If that does not work you can just play around as I did and you might stumble on something that works.

If you are truly fearless you can dive into the “xorg.conf”file which on my system is “/etc/X11/xorg.conf.” Whatever you do: put a copy of your working xorg.conf file somewhere for safekeeping before you start to modify it. You could use <ctrl><alt>F1 to open a text console, edit the file with “vi” let’s say, and then restart X windows. On my system logged in as root I would issue the “rcxdm restart” command. You can get to your X session if you aren’t put there automatically by <ctrl><alt>F7.

Windows Software on Linux

When I first got my MX8711 up and running with Linux my primary focus was software applications. I wanted to use this wonderful machine I had just purchase as much as possible. I had been a Windows user for years. I had some software I thought I would prefer not to part with and some I could not.

Cheating Big Time: rdesktop

Of course the simplest way to run Windows software “under Linux” is to simply “remote into” the windows system. “RDP” is Microsoft’s “remote desktop protocol,” and Windows XP Professional allows one (1) user to connect remotely to the PC if configured to do so. And when that person is logged on remotely, you will not be able to use the console at the same time. Microsoft wants to make money. It wants to charge you more money whenever possible. So, I had to by XP Professional to get RDP and I’d have to pay even more for a version of Windows that would allow more than one person to log onto my server. This is not the case with Linux. You won’t be charged a penny more to let hundreds of users connect with your Linux machine if you want to allow them.

Anyway if you run “rdesktop” you can log onto a Windows system remotely and obviously run any Windows software that is installed on that system. I use this all the time. Here’s a snapshot of one of my “rdesktop” sessions to my Windows desktop:

WINE: Wine is not an Emulator

WINE is a project that implements windows APIs (application program interface) in Linux. When a Windows application runs under WINE it does not know it is not running on windows. It makes calls to APIs and does not know that it is running the WINE version not the Windows version. My experience with WINE is that it works very well for older windows applications. I have Office 2000, Quicken 99, and IE6 running very well under wine. I have also had a VB application that uses the MS Access Database running.

Additional Help from Codeweavers

I also purchased Codeweavers “Crossover Linux” to make my experience with WINE easier. It’s so easy to create new WINE “bottles” and experiment with new software installation with Crossover Linux. It seemed easier to get my favorite applications up and running with Crossover than with WINE alone.

Internet Explorer on Linux : Why ?

I had one simple reason to run Internet Explorer under Linux: QuickBooks. I did not want to have to run Windows just to continue to use QuickBooks. The only way I could see to affordably accomplish this was to run their online version. It is ironic that anyone would invent a platform-dependent application for a platform independent framework such as a browser, but so it is: QuickBooks Online currently requires ActiveX and that means Internet Explorer.

Before I was sold on Codeweavers Crossover Linux I tied IEs 4 Linux, and I use the version of IE6 it installed for me on a daily basis. It runs flawlessly, and I can run QuickBooks faster under it on my MX8711 than I can natively on my old Dell desktop.

Quicken 99

I was using a later version of Quicken that Codeweavers say they support, but I could not get it to run under Linux. I finally found I could export my data from the more recent version of Quicken and import it into Quicken 99 and that Quick 99 ran fine when installed using Codeweavers Crossover Linux and running under WINE. I also found that Quicken 99 runs so much faster than the later version of Quicken – and I miss almost nothing about the later version of the application. I do miss some of the minor changes to the user interface, but that’s it – nothing really important.

Oh, and by the way, I trued the GnuCash, but I needed something that ran under both Windows and Linux. And while GnuCash is available for Windows I didn’t like it. More important I did not think my wife would like it. She’s a Windows user and is happy with Quicken 99. So, we share a file that is served by the Windows XP system and I run Quicken 99 mostly on Linux though I can run it on Windows if I want.

Office 2000 vs. Open Office

I run MS Word and Excel as installed from an old Office 2000 for small business CD I have lying around and don’t use on Windows any more. This allows me to run Word and Excel under Linux when I want to. I use Open Office also, but sometimes I prefer Word and Excel – particularly for existing files. I have seen Open Office reformat existing word documents in ways I don’t care for. But this is all in keeping with the “best of both worlds” goal: if I prefer Windows software, I run it. But most of what I run is on Linux. Office runs great under WINE. I once again used Crossover Linux to install it to run under WINE.

Editorial: The High Cost of using Microsoft Products

Using Linux has opened my eyes to the high cost of doing business with Microsoft. In Windows if you want a new feature or a new bit of software, you will very often have to pay for it. This is never clearer to me than when I use “rdesktop” to remote into my Windows XP machine as shown above. If I am already logged onto Windows directly at the console (the local keyboard and monitor), the existing session will be locked as I log into Windows remotely over the LAN (local area network). So yes: I can log on remotely, but any local session will be locked. Shame on me for wanting to get more use out of the wonderful hardware I bought. With Linux, on the other hand, I can run as many remote sessions as my hardware and software configuration can stand and still have my local sessions remain unaffected. Best of all, Linux is a descendent of Unix operating systems. That means they were designed from the word go with multiple users and multiple tasks in mind. It is much easier on Linux to do wide range of things all at once, and you will not usually notice any one process slowing others down. Windows is notorious for bringing other processes to a halt during some I/O operations (networking). Just try listening to some bit of music while you transfer a file from one PC to the next. There is often a second or two when the music will stop until the transfer has completed. The bottom line is that Microsoft is happy to provide all sorts of functionality for you as long as you’re willing to pay, and pay, and pay some more. Linux was built by people who wanted vast functionality and great software for less money.

Accessing Windows File Shares using Samba

So, now I have my favorite Windows applications running on my Linux laptop. My first motivation for running Windows applications is to access thousands of word and other files sitting on my Windows desktop. This is not a problem at all. Windows makes it easy to create network “file shares,” and Linux makes it easy to access those shares using an application called “Samba.”

Creating a Windows File Share: Things You Need to Know

On the one hand Windows tries to make things easy for everyone, but doing so hides details that sometimes you need to know. To create a new share, run windows explorer. For example, right click on “My Computer” and select explorer. Navigate to a folder you want to share. Let’s say its d:\for_linux. Right click on “for_linux” and select “Sharing and Security.” Then check the box that says “Share this folder on the network.” Give the share a name like “FOR_LINUX” or whatever you like. Then decide if the network user is allowed to modify files or not. Check the box “Allow network users to change my files” if you want the network user (the Linux client in this case) to add, change, or delete files to this share. When you’re done with these options, click on “Apply.” Windows will then apply the appropriate file permissions to that folder and any and all files and subfolders and their files. And here’s what you need to know: if you have trouble, you will have trouble with how Windows manages permissions on your share. You can always remove the share temporarily and put it back to make Windows refresh the proper permissions. You can also use Linux-like tools from Cygwin available at http://www.cygwin.com/ such as “chmod” to open up permissions when Windows has for some reason in its infinite wisdom restricted permissions.

Gaining Access to the Windows Share

Here is how I set up access to a windows share on my openSUSE 10.2 system. As root I edit the “/etc/fstab” to specify a new file system of type “CIFS” (Common Internet File System). Here’s a typical line:

· //dellt550/f_backup /windows/f/backup cifs credentials=/etc/samba/credentials,uid=my_user_name,gid=100

This line says that when we mount the Windows “f_backup” share hosted by “dellt550” at /windows/f/backup on the Lunux machine as a CIFS file system and use the credentials stored in “/etc/samba/credentials.” That file contains two lines that specify the user name and password used to connect to the Windows machine. The two lines would something like:

username=vern
password=freckleface

And at the end of the line in the fstab file I specify which user and group the mounted file system will belong to. Group 100 on my system is the “users” group.

Finally you must mount the file share. I like to mount all my shares manually when I want them by having a “mount” command in a shell script. In this case the command would be: “mount /windows/f/backup” and that would mount the \\dellt550\f_backup windows share and I would find it on my Linux machine under /windows/f/backup. You can umount the share with “umount /windows/f/backup.” Only root can run “mount” and unmount, but you can use “sudo” to allow selected users root access to selected commands. Look for more about “sudo” below.

Sharing Your Linux Files with Windows

If you want to make a Linux folder and its subdirectories accessible remotely to Windows you will need to make sure that the “Workstation” service is running. This will likely already be running, but if you went to the trouble that I did to shut down unnecessary services, it might not be. From a command line (MSDOS) run “net start Workstation” to start this service. To make sure the service is always running you can right click on “My Computer” from the desktop, select “mange” then double click on “Services and Applications” and then double click “Services.” Look for the Workstation service and make sure it is set to “automatic” as opposed to “manual.”

On the Linux side there is more than one way to configure Samba to share folders with windows, but here is the way I found to be easiest under OpenSUSE 10.2:

Log in to your system as “root,” (equivalent to “Administrator” in Windows).
Edit /etc/xinetd.d/swat (SWAT stands for “Samba Web Administration Tool”) and change “disable = yes” to “disable = no”
Restart the xinet daemon (a daemon under Linux is equivalent to a service in Windows) by running “rcxinetd restart”
Open a browser window and run http://localhost:901. This gives you access to SWAT, the Samba Web Administration Tool.
Now you must create one or more “shares” just like you do on Windows. I typically set my shares up as read only: no, guest ok: no, browseable: yes, evenlog options available: yes and I go into advanced options and specify certain users as being valid both as uses and administrators. I also allow specific hosts by IP address only.
Once a share is created, go to the “Status” page and start or restart “all.” This starts the smb deamon (“smbd”) and the “nmb” deamon (“nmbd”) which are the SMB (the Server Message Block protocol implements windows file sharing) and NetBios over IP protocol (which implements name service requests for SMB) respectively.
Since I am specifying that only certain users can connect and access my Linux hosted windows file shares, I must tell samba what the user name is and the password. So, once again from a “root” command prompt I run:

smbpassword –a my_user_name
When prompted I give the password.
When windows connect to this share, I will have to specify this user name and the correct password.

And finally I must open up the Linux firewall to allow Windows users to connect to my shares. Under openSUSE 10.2 I run “Yast” and navigate first to “Security and User” then “Firewall” then “Allowed Services” and add “Samba Server.”

On the windows machine I then right click on “My Computer” and select “Map Network Drive.” I specify the desired drive letter, the specified share path such as \\linux_server\my_share and then I click on “different user name.” This is where I type in the user name I specified with the “smbpassword” command above and the appropriate password. If all goes well when I click “finish” I will now have access to a Windows share hosted by a Linux server.

The Linux Desktop

I now had all the Linux/Windows integration I wanted to make heavy use of Linux with access to legacy windows software and files as needed. But I still had not solved my screen resolution issue, which meant that graphics were not displayed with the correct aspect ratio. That means that images were stretched and distorted. At first I didn’t care so much about that, because I was using my windows machine as a terminal to access my Linux machine. I’d fire up my Linux laptop on my LAN, close the lid, and log into it from Windows. When I finally solved my display issue I began doing the opposite. I now use my Linux machine to remote into my Windows XP using “rdesktop” as noted above.

Linux from Windows

There are two ways I could access Linux from windows. I could get to a command prompt using “ssh” (the secure shell login) or I could run the Linux desktop using the X Windows protocol over the LAN. X Windows is not very secure. Unless you know what you’re doing and run it through ssh you don’t want to be using it over a network. However on a LAN behind the appropriate firewall (like my Linksys router) where the local machines are not accessible to the outside world, it’s just fine. To use the Linux desktop remotely:

Install an X client under windows. I like Cygwin/X, and it’s free. Its downloadable from http://x.cygwin.com/.
Next you must configure Linux to allow a remote X connection. In openSUSE 10.2 I did the following as root:

Edit /etc/sysconfig/displaymanager, find the line that says DISPLAYMANAGER_REMOTE_ACESS=”no” and change it to change it to “yes.”
Edit etc/opt/gnome/gdm/custom.conf, find the “[xdmcp]” lable and then make sure that “Enable=true” appears in that section.
And finally you must open up the firewall to allow remote X connections. The standard port for this is 177. So I run “Yast” and navigate to “Security and Users” and then “Firewall” then “Allowed Services” and I click on “Advanced” and add 177 as both TCP and UDP ports.

Then on the Windows machine where I installed Cygwin/X I run “Xwin –query mx8711” where mx8711 is my Linux host name. With any luck X will start up and you will get to a login screen.

Windows from Linux

I mentioned “rdesktop” above. Now that my Linux laptop is my primary desktop I remote into Windows when I need to using “rdesktop.” The command I use is “rdesktop -r sound:local -u Administrator -g 1300x800 dellt550” which automatically waits for me to enter the Administrator password for the Windows machine. I have an icon on my Linux desktop that runs this for me.

Which Window Manager?

With Windows you don’t usually get to choose your desktop. With Linux there are lots of choices. First of all you don’t have to run a window manager at all. You can log in and get a lot done from a command line. Command terminals are already available at the press of a button. <ctrl><alt>F1 should get you to a text-based login prompt. You find another login at <ctrl><alt>F2-F6. At <ctrl><alt>F7 you should find your graphical login, if you are running X windows which most distributions run by default. <ctrl><alt>F10 gets me to a screen full of system messages. And as you’d expect from Linux you can have multiple X sessions going at the same time. You will find those at <ctrl><alt>F9, etc. But we still have to decide which window manager to run. I.E. which desktop software will you run? I have used a lot of them over the years. I use to use FVWM. It is not so popular anymore at least not in the Linux realm, but it is available. If performance is an issue, which it often is for any remote desktop sessions over a network, I prefer Window Maker. However, Window Maker is not so much like MS Windows, so there’s a learning curve. But it is fast and efficient. Gnome is popular and I think KDE is most popular. Now that I login directly to my laptop instead of accessing X over the network, KDE is my preferred window manager.

Window Maker Quick Start Tips

Window Maker is different. You can get a good intro from Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Window_Maker. A few of tips to get you started are:

You will probably not be able to resize windows unless you grab the bottom frame of the window and in particular the left and right ends of the frame.
Your cursor may not change when you point to the part of the window you must grab to resize it. This really three me at first, because I thought there was no way to resize it. If you’re lucky it will change to indicate you can grab and pull to resize. But if not, just grab and pull to begin resizing.
Right click on the top of the window to select from a list of options like “miniaturize” (Windows minimize), etc.
Click on the desktop background with right, middle, and/or left mouse buttons to bring up various menus of things to run and do.

KDE Tips and Tricks

Start Menu Configuration

Windows users should feel reasonably at home in KDE right from the start, but KDE in openSUSE is, by my way of thinking, even better than KDE in other distributions I have used, because it comes configured by default to use a more Windows Vista like command control center that allows you to easily search for programs to run. This look-and-feel is called the “SUSE Start Menu Style.” You can use the standard KDE start menu if you like. Just bring up the start menu and search for “kde control” and then choose “Configure Desktop.” Navigate to “Desktop” then “Panels” and click on the “Menus” tab. Find the “Start menu style” pull down and you’ll be able to select “SUSE” and “KDE.” If you choose “KDE” you’ll begin to see a start menu more like other distributions. However, imho, you won’t find a nicer looking configuration out of the box of KDE than under openSUSE.

Desktop on the Taskbar

Windows lets you link the desktop to the taskbar by right clicking on the taskbar and selecting the “Desktop” toolbar. I happen to think that is one of the most useful features of all. It took me a while to figure out how to do that in KDE. It’s really easy and here’s how to do it:

Run “konqueror” which should already be on your taskbar, but if not, it should not be hard to find.
Go to your home folder (like /home/vern) and find your “Desktop.”
Now left click on and drag the desktop icon to your taskbar taking care to put it where you want it. It will stay where you wan it.
You will be presented with two options. Choose “Add as Quickbrowser.” You will then see the Desktop icon on your taskbar and you will have the same functionality as you had with the Windows desktop toolbar – only better by my way of thinking because I like KDE much better than MS Windows.

Adding New Icons to the Desktop

I use my desktop to manage my favorite functionality. If you do too, you may find the following helpful as you start using KDE. To add a new program icon to your desktop (equivalent to adding a new shortcut in Windows) do the following (if the button I tell you to use doesn’t work, let’s say the middle button, try the right of the left you or I may have customized the buttons):

1. Click the middle button, select “Create New” and then “Link to Application.”

2. A default icon will be presented, on my system it looks like a blue gear. This is the icon that will appear by default on your desktop. Click on it to change it if you like. Pull down menus and buttons allow you to find all sorts of cool icons or brows and find some yourself. If you browse for specific files, look for “.xpm” files.

3. To the right of the icon, you can type the text that will appear under your icon on the desktop.

4. You will most likely need only to click on the “Application” tab to configure the Description of the command, the working path (windows start-in directory) and the command itself which you can type in yourself or browse to and select.

5. Finally click on “OK” and you’re done.

You can create new folders and a host of other icons also by simply choosing something other than “Link to Application” as in the example above.

Multiple X Windows Sessions

In openSUSE 10.2 using the SUSE style of start menu, you can easily navigate from the Start menu to “Leave” and then choose “Switch User” and then “Start a new Session.” Once logged in I can get back to my original session with <ctrl><alt>F7 and back again to the new session at <ctrl><alt>F8. I have been able to start up to four X sessions at once accessible at <ctrl><alt>F7, F8, F9, F11, and F11. Plus I have my non-GUI sessions available at F1-F6. It’s a beautiful thing. And once again I note that I didn’t have to pay one extra penny for such features.

Multiple Desktops

All the window managers I’ve mentioned allow multiple “desktops.” This means that you have the benefits of multiple login sessions in one login. You can clutter up one desktop with one set of programs and then go to another fresh desktop and begin the clutter. You can configure the window manager to have any number of desktops. In KDE simply click on the middle mouse button (or the right or left buttons) and choose “configure desktop.” Then choose “Multiple Desktops” and set up as many desktops as you like. They will appear on your task bar. Click on the one you want to use at the moment. But please, don’t send any extra money to use this feature. Windows (through XP at least) has no such feature. If Vista has it, you probably have to buy a more expensive version.

The Holy Grail: Wireless Networking

When I first installed Linux on my new laptop my sage and experienced Linux mentor at work wisely advised: don’t expect to get wireless working. I believed him, for a while. In his defense: he had had Linux working for so long and had tried wireless long ago that he was probably right. Nowadays you should be able to get wireless working. I am happy to report that I use my built-in wireless card all the time now. Looking back the biggest obstacle I had to overcome was inexperience. I did not know what I was looking at. I probably came close to having it working a couple of times before I finally put all the pieces of the puzzle together. You might be lucky and your distribution will just automatically recognize and work with your wireless card. I found that Mandriva Linux recognized the network card on my company laptop and I was in. I had to work harder and I’ve had more problems on my personal laptop. Here are some tips:

1. Find the right driver. If you can’t get a Linux driver for your card, get a windows driver.

2. If you’re using a windows driver and you have the right “.inf” file, then install it as root using “ndiswrapper” like:

a. ndiswrapper –i bcmwl5.inf

b. What is ndiswrappter? It is to wireless APIs what WINE is to Windows APIs. It allows the windows wireless driver to make its system calls without ever knowing it’s not running on Windows.

3. Confirm the install by listing the installed driver:

a. ndiswrapper –l

4. Write “configuration for modprobe”

a. ndiswrapper –m

5. Make sure your wireless device is on. Most laptops allow you to turn the wireless off with a function key.

6. Load the ndiswrapper into the kernel:

a. modeprobe ndiswrapper

7. Restart the network and the network manager:

a. rcnetwork restart

8. In KDE right click on the network manager icon usually on the right had side of the taskbar. Choose the wireless network you want to connect to, and be prepared to give passphrases if secured.

Ideally step 8 is the last step you’ll have to take. There are ways to automatically load the ndiswrapper at boot time. I had that working for a while then it stopped after a system upgrade. So, I just have a shell script I run (equivalent to a Windows batch command) that contains the following code:

modprobe ndiswrapper

function start {

iwconfig wlan0 key <my WEP hex access key>

iwconfig wlan0 essid <the name of my router like “linksys”>

rcnetwork restart

}

start;start

Anti Virus and Network Protection in General for Linux

Some claim that you don’t need anti-virus programs for Linux. I agree somewhat, but where there’s a window that can be broken someone will throw a stone at it. The fact that Linux exists means someone would like to break into it. The more popular it becomes, the more popular it will become to break into it. You must protect yourself. First of all you should work behind a network router at the minimum even if you have only one PC on your home network. You should never expose your PCs directly to the Internet unless you cannot avoid it as may be the case when you’re on the road work