Edubuntu Linux Contents Introduction Chapter 1. What is Edubuntu? Getting Started Chapter 2. The Desktop Chapter 3. Files and Folders Chapter 4. Mass Storage Peripherals Chapter 5. Printer & Scanner Chapter 6. Multimedia & Graphics access Chapter 7. OpenOffice.org Suite Chapter 8. The Shell Chapter 9. Package Maintenance & Update Chapter 10. More Info & Help Edubuntu Linux Guide
What is Edubuntu? Edubuntu Explained Edubuntu is a complete Linux-based operating system, that costs nothing and has a free community support. The Edubuntu community believes that software should be : Free of Charge. Usable by people in their own language. @ Available to customise and change. Easily usable by those with disabilities. These freedoms make Edubuntu different from other operating systems: not only are the tools you need available free of charge, you, and thousands of developers around the world have the right to modify your software until it works exactly the way you want it to. These are the reasons why Camara has chosen this operating system over Windows and Mac for your school. It has been designed to ensure the best start for students and teachers academically and professionally. CAMARA Linux Guide - Introduction - What is Edubuntu? 3
Logging In Each computer is password protected. You must login to you computer everytime you switch it on. After turning on your computer, the login screen will appear. Figure 1 To Login: Type in the username camara followed by the ENTER key. The password prompt will appear. Type in the password camara followed by the ENTER key. NOTE: Remember that usernames and passwords are case-sensitive, that means Camara or CAMARA will not work. Everything must be in lower case. 4
The Desktop The figure below shows a typical view of the Edubuntu Linux Desktop. Figure 2 There are 5 main parts of the desktop; The Menu System The Panel The Desktop The Taskbar Status Bar 5
What is the Main Menu? The Main Menu can be found by left clicking on the Applications button located at the extreme top left hand corner of the desktop (Figure 3). From the Menu System you can start many of the applications installed on your Edubuntu Operating system. Figure 3 NOTE: The Menu System consists of a Main Menu panel and sub-menu panels. A black arrow to the right of an entry in the Menu means that there is a sub-menu. There can be sub-menus within sub-menus. In this way applications in the Menu System can be organised for easy access. 6
Sub-menus To access the Sub-menu associated with a menu, move your mouse and hold it over the menu entry in question e.g. Office. A new sub-menu panel will appear. (Figure 4) Figure 4 NOTE: One left click of the mouse will open an application. 7
The Desktop Space The Desktop refers to the rest of the screen. (Figure 5) It contains icons which are shortcuts to application launchers, file folders, files and peripheral devices like floppy disks, CD-ROM drives and printers e.g. Camara Wikipedia Figure 5 Double-clicking on an icon representing an application will launch or execute the application. Commonly used applications files, folders are usually placed on the desktop space so that they are easy to find and open. 8
The Panel The long bar across the top of the desktop screen is called the Panel. (Figure 6) The Panel contains: Figure 6 the Main Menu icon, the application launcher icons a notification area. There are several application launcher icons on the Panel. Clicking on one of these will run an application. The notification area holds alert icons so that the user can be alerted to critical messages. NOTE: Applications can be added to the Panel and those that are less frequently used can be removed. The Taskbar The Taskbar spans the entire bottom of the screen and shows the names of all the running applications. (Figure 7) Figure 7 9
The Window Manager Interactive applications run on the desktop are usually displayed inside a Window. (Figure 8) This window can be accessed and manipulated using the window manager. Figure 8 The Titlebar The top edge of the frame has a Titlebar that contains the title of the application. (Figure 9) Figure 9 10
The Window Menu The small icon at the left hand corner of the titlebar is the Window Menu button. Left clicking on this button will display the Window Menu. (Figure 10) Clicking on these options will open, close and resize the window. Figure 10 You can perform operations such as minimise, maximise, scroll, move, reopen and resize any window from this menu. NOTE: At the top right edge of the titlebar there are three buttons which allow you to minimise, maximise, and close the window. (Figure 11) Figure 11 11
Using Windows NOTE: Here are some basic instructions to use the windowing system. More details can be obtained by running the Help application on the Systems Menu. The reference to Windows in this chapter has nothing to do with Microsoft software. Window Focus In order for a window to receive input from the mouse and the keyboard it has to be in focus. Only one window can have focus at a time. Windows that are not in focus have their titlebars greyed-out. Figure 12 To focus on a window place the mouse on the titlebar and click on it. If the window is not visible you can click on the taskbar on the Panel at the bottom of the Desktop to bring into focus the window you want. Maximise Windows Maximising a window means that the window is expanded to cover the whole desktop. Figure 13 12
Getting Started Minimising Windows Minimising means that the window is taken off the desktop and it appears as an icon in the taskbar on the Panel. Figure 14 You can maximise a window which has focused from the Window Menu or by clicking on the maximise button on the titlebar. You can similarly minimise the window. If the window does not have focus bring it into focus first by clicking on the taskbar on the Panel. Resizing Windows You can resize a window, i.e. change its size, by placing the mouse at an edge of the window and then left click, hold and drag the window to the desired size. Figure 15 13
Moving Windows To move a window to another place on the desktop, place the mouse on the titlebar, then left click, hold the mouse button and drag the window to the desired location. (As Figure 16) Figure 16 Closing Windows To close a window, left click on the close window button at the top right hand corner of the titlebar. Figure 17 NOTE: Closing the window will terminate the application and you will lose all unsaved work. 14
Edubuntu Logout When you have finished working on your system, you must logout. Logging out will tell the computer that you no longer want to use it. Any open files or applications will be closed. To Logout: Select the Systems menu from the panel and then Logout. Figure 18 At the dialog window select logout Figure 19 Click 15
Shut Down When you have finished using the computer and want to power it off, you will have to perform a system shutdown. NOTE: It is very important that you shutdown your computer properly using the Shutdown option. If you switch off your computer or plug it out without shutting down properly, your computer will break. To shutdown, at the Main Menu, perform a logout. Then at the login screen select the Shut down option at the bottom of the screen. (Figure 20) Figure 20 You will now have successfully logged out and shut down your computer. 16