When you log in to a GNOME session, you will see a desktop similar to the one shown in Figure 6.1.
The desktop itself is where the icons lay (in the upper-left corner). In the following table, we explain what they represent.
Table 6.1. GNOME Desktop Icons
Icon | Meaning |
---|---|
![]() | Home Folder. Opens up the Nautilus file manager in your personal files directory (/home/queen). |
![]() | CD-ROM. Launches Nautilus and displays the CD-ROM's contents if the said CD-ROM contains data. However, for audio CDs, an error message will be shown. Do not worry, your machine is not broken: Nautilus cannot read audio CDs for now. |
![]() | Floppy Disk. Opens Nautilus showing the contents of the floppy disk, if any. An error message will be displayed if the floppy drive is empty. |
![]() | MandrakeOnline. Launches the MandrakeOnline wizard which allows you to set up a MandrakeClub account. Note that if it is the first time that you launched this wizard, you will be asked for your root password. |
![]() | Trash. Contains all the files that have been deleted. Note that the trash can only contains the files you deleted through Nautilus. If you were to delete files through a command line (such as the GNOME terminal), those files will have been deleted forever, hence they are not accessible through the trash-can icon. |
The icons on your desktop are all linked to different types of files, directories, web sites or applications. Here are the actions which will be undertaken if:
It is a data file, the appropriate program will start up with that data loaded. If no program has been associated to such a data file, you will be asked to choose which application to use;
It is a directory, the file manager will be launched and show the contents of that directory;
If it is a web address, GNOME will start Mozilla (the default web browser).
You can also right-click on any of these icons to produce a pop-up menu, which contains a list of actions. This list contains options such as Open, Open With, Rename and Properties (the latter also allows you to change some of the parameters of that icon).
At the bottom of the desktop sits the panel which contains 10 default components.
Table 6.2. GNOME Panel Objects
Next to the clock (going from right to left) is the utility, the workspace switcher (Section , “Workspace Switcher”) and the Window List. The first one has only one function: click on it to minimize/restore all windows on your desktop. The latter displays the applications which are open in the current virtual desktop.
In our example we see, from left to right, the GNOME terminal, and The GIMP, a powerful raster graphics application. At the extreme-right are the 4 workspaces. As you can see, the first one on the left is in blue, while the three other ones are in grey. The blue one is the “active” one, that is the one in which you are presently. We will speak more about workspaces in Section , “Workspace Switcher”.
Finally, there is a “hidden” menu which can be very useful: the Desktop Background menu. By right-clicking anywhere on the desktop (away from the icons, application windows, and panels), you will be able to access, your CD-ROM, floppy disk, and other removable drives. You can also launch a New Window (which opens Nautilus) a New Folder (which creates a new folder on your desktop), a New Terminal (Section , “GNOME Panel”, see the GNOME terminal description). It also enables you to change the desktop background image, place new icons on the desktop, etc.