When most people think of Linux, the first thing they think of is the dreaded command line interface. Few people know about the multitude of graphical user interfaces (GUIs), sometimes referred to as desktop environments, available for Linux. Red Hat 6.0, and in fact, most newer versions of Linux, come with several desktop environments, including the two most popular: the GNU Network Object Model Environment (GNOME) and the K Desktop Environment (KDE). Other GUIs, include AnotherLevel, FVWM, IceWM, and NextStep.
Which GUI is best for you depends on your personal preferences. We find KDE to be easy to use and recommend it to beginning users. GNOME looks a little better, but some simple tasks, such as creating s symbolic link (similar to a shortcut in Windows 9x), are a little more difficult than they should be. As a result, we’ll focus on how to get KDE running on your system. From there, it should be obvious how to get into the other GUIs available with the Red Hat distribution (or whatever distribution you might use).
( NOTE: Because of the number of supporting applications that come with different distributions, these techniques may not work for you if you’re using a distribution other than Red Hat 6.0 or a distribution based on Red Hat 6.0, such as Mandrake 6.1 or MacMillan’s Mandrake 6.5.)
A New Environment
The fastest way to get into a desktop environment is to type startx at the command prompt and press ENTER. Depending on your distribution, Linux will start GNOME or KDE. You might see a few configuration messages when you run each desktop for the first time.
If you’re using Red Hat 6.0, the startx command will probably start GNOME. Feel free to poke around and explore GNOME if you want. When you’re ready to move into KDE, click the Main Menu button (it looks like a foot) on the far left of the toolbar at the bottom of the screen. (This is analogous to the Window’s Start menu.) Click KDE Menus, System, and then Desktop Switching Tool. Make sure the Change Only Applies To Current Display checkbox is clear. If you check the box, you’ll have to check any time you want to switch desktop environments.
Click OK and then log out of GNOME by clicking the GNOME menu and then clicking logout. This will take you back to the command prompt. Type startx again and press ENTER to start KDE.
Switch Environments
If you want to quickly switch desktop environments, you might want to run the K Desktop Manager. Log in as root, type kdm at the command prompt, and press the ENTER key. You’ll then see a Login field and a Password field in a box in the middle of the screen. Enter the proper login and password and then choose which desktop you want to run from the drop-down box. You can select from KDE, GNOME, AnotherLevel, or any one of several others. (NOTE: Make sure you select your desktop environment after entering your user name and password.) Once you choose the proper environment and have your login information entered, press ENTER or click the Go! button. You can also shutdown or reboot the system by clicking the Shutdown button and choosing the proper option.
GNOME also has a desktop manager you can use to switch between environments. Just type gdm instead of kdm at the prompt and press ENTER. The one drawback to both of these managers is that you cannot get back to the command line once you start KDM or GDM. You should also remember that some GNOME applications won’t function if you select KDE as your default desktop using the Desktop Switching Tool and then select GNOME as your desktop environment from KDM or GDM. To fix this, use the Desktop Switching tool again and select GNOME.
Change The Runlevel
If you’d rather get right to KDM or GDM and skip the command line altogether, you can change your system’s initial runlevel. A runlevel defines what applications are running on a Linux system. The default runlevel is usually three. This runlevel provides full functionality, but it will leave you at the command prompt. On most Red Hat distributions, changing the runlevel to five will start your system in full graphical mode, bypassing the command prompt altogether. Runlevels are not standard across distributions, so check your documentation to make sure you select the proper runlevel.
There are several ways to change the runlevel. The easiest way is to edit the inittab file in the /etc directory. If you’re in KDE, simply click the icon with a house and a folder in the toolbar to open the K File Manager. Type file:/etc in the Location field, press ENTER, and scroll down until you find the inittab file. Click the file once to open it in a text editor. Scroll through the file until you find a line that looks like this:
id:3:initdefault
As you may have guessed, changing the three to a five in the line above is all you have to do to change the default runlevel. Before you do so, make sure you can get into KDE and are not having any problems running in graphical mode. In addition, make sure not to accidentally set the runlevel to zero or six; these runlevels are used to shutdown and reboot the system, respectively.
If you should make a mistake and enter the wrong runlevel or have a problem running in graphical mode, you can choose a runlevel at startup if you’re running the Linux Loader (LILO). Simply type linux followed by the desired runlevel and press ENTER.
Keep Exploring
The graphical desktop that comes bundled with Linux makes doing routine tasks much easier. The graphical file managers do a decent job of supporting drag and drop, and KDE and GNOME both have context-sensitive right-click options. For now, explore these new graphical environments and some of the applications that come bundled with them.
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