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Many times, you will need to run a program and it may not be in the Applications menu. Normally, you would have to open a terminal and launch the program from there, but there is an easier way. By pressing ALT and F2, you can initiate a Run dialog that allows you to launch a program (with any necessary switches/options) without having to bind it to a terminal.
By default, programs launched with this method run with your own account's permission levels, but it is possible to launch programs that need superuser permissions by running “gksu $program”. Gksu is a frontend for Sudo that allows temporary privilege escalation. You can also view a full list of programs (hidden by default) and populate the run dialog with them by clicking on the list entry. Both native and Wine programs will appear in the list.
Gksu has its own benefits as well. Although it defaults to root, running gksu by itself will produce a dialog that shows a list of ALL users and services. You may then launch a program from any account.
Ubuntu offers many options for working with open windows. Some require compositing to be enabled while others will still work on non-accelerated systems:
• To shade a window, (i.e. hide all but the title bar) ensure that compositing effects are enabled and move your pointer to the title bar. To hide a window, scroll up with your mouse wheel. To show the window again, scroll down.
• Sometimes, it is necessary to keep a window on top of the others even when it loses focus. To do this, right-click on the title bar and select the “Always On Top” checkbox. To restore normal behavior, clear the checkbox by clicking on it again.
• Since Ubuntu and most other distros have support for multiple desktops, (also called workspaces) it is convenient to allocate open programs between them to keep things from getting too crowded on your monitor. To move a program to a different desktop, right-click on the title bar and select either “Move to Workspace Left/Right” or “Move to Another Workspace”. Furthermore, it is possible to drag windows from one desktop to another using the mouse if certain compositing effects are enabled.
When you are setting up a dual-boot system with Ubuntu, it is possible to import your documents and settings (web browser favorites, etc.) During installation, Ubiquity (the Ubuntu installer) will detect any Windows partitions that exist on the system and will present you with an opportunity to migrate your settings to Ubuntu. By expanding the list, you are able to pick and choose which parts of the system to import (selecting the main checkbox will import all of them).
Home directory encryption is a feature that was introduced in Ubuntu 9.04. During installation you have the option of checking a box in the setup utility that will cause your home directory to be encrypted automatically. This will help prevent your files from being compromised. Encryption/decryption is automatically handled behind the scenes, so you don't need to worry about securing your files manually. On the first boot after setting up an encrypted home directory, you will be prompted to learn the master password for your home directory. (To view it again, run the “encryptfs-unwrap-passphrase” command.) This master encryption password is automatically generated by Ubuntu and is NOT your login password. You will need this master password to recover your files if you are not able to boot normally, so store a hard copy of it in a safe place.
Comments are closed on this article
Philips
November 09, 2011 at 9:46pm
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Philips
September 27, 2011 at 2:39pm
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balaknair
December 08, 2009 at 12:55pm
"(To view it again, run the “encryptfs-unwrap-passphrase” command.)"
The command should be
ecryptfs-unwrap-passphrase
arkarkwin
November 27, 2009 at 7:26am
Ubuntu Rocks and it makes my dream come true. I norally would go with dual booting or compeletly run Linux in Vista based machine but after getting myself a window 7 laptop and an upgrade for my Desktop, I just couldn't let window 7 go I don't want to dual boot on my Laptop because HP already partition 4 drives in single Hard Disk, but with Wubi, I don't have to. Good article, thanks you.
shamus53
November 23, 2009 at 2:00pm
The web is useless without flash. For instance the addictive game at http://gumbota33.mybrute.com is entirely flash based (though coded in open source HaXe). Installing the flash plugin for firefox should be on any list like this.
tweeve
November 17, 2009 at 11:11pm
there are some risks with installing with wubi. While it wont mess up your windows partiton. If something happans to the ntfs partiton or a bad windows crash I have seen it currupt the wubi partiton and completey mess up the ubuntu install. I lost 3 weeks of programing homework that way.
Ratso
November 17, 2009 at 10:56pm
Very good article! Often I read articles with titles like this and don't learn anything new, but your article was informative. A couple of other things that I found helpful were:
-- Accessing different terminals to shut down programs that have frozen (this happens sometimes with Firefox and some games to me). Use Alt Ctrl and any function key F1 through F7 (F7 being the default xwindows terminal). I log in and then use the "top" command from the command line to find the pid (process id number) of the frozen or run away application. After finding the number, type "kill -kill 2145" (where 2145 is an example pid). Then go back to terminal 7 with "Alt Ctrl F7" to find the troublesome application gone. This is sort of like using the task manager in MS Windows to kill an application or process.
-- VirtualBox. I can now run Windows XP (or any other version) from Ubuntu if there is some Microsoft App that I can't live without but I still want to have Ubuntu. I sometimes double check stuff I've saved in MS format in OpenOffice in a wordviewer on an XP virtual machine on VirtualBox. If you take snapshots after you update your XP virtual machine and you then get a virus, it takes one minute to restore your XP virtual machine, as opposed to hours to restore a normal (non virtual machine) XP install that is badly corrupted.
dirtvoyles
November 17, 2009 at 10:05pm
I get to be 'that guy'. I would have emailed this, but couldn't find an easy link.
On page three, I believe it should be 'ecryptfs-unwrap-passphrase' instead of 'encyrptfs-unwrap-passphrase'.
At least on Kubuntu that's what I use.
savage4naves
November 17, 2009 at 6:22pm
just installed ubuntu x64 on my pc via VMware...can't wait to use this linux guide!
