Skip to Main Content
Linux Desktop Hacks
book

Linux Desktop Hacks

by Nicholas Petreley, Jono Bacon
March 2005
Beginner to intermediate content levelBeginner to intermediate
342 pages
15h 55m
English
O'Reilly Media, Inc.
Content preview from Linux Desktop Hacks
160
Chapter 7
CHAPTER 7
Terminal Empowerment
Hacks #49–54
Linux distributors are anxious to shed the idea that Linux is too complex
and to prove you can do anything in Linux from a graphical desktop with-
out having to resort to entering a single command at a command line.
Fedora Core doesn’t even include a terminal icon on its launcher panel, as if
to communicate the message that only outdated geeks and power users need
to resort to command-line tools.
Linux users “in the know” recognize that an easy-to-use graphical interface
is ideal only for some users and some tasks. Other tasks, however, demand
the power of the command line and/or text command scripts.
In addition, some of us simply like some text-based applications. I, for one,
still often use the text-based Mutt email client simply because Mutt sup-
ports macro commands that help you plow through the stacks of new mail
more quickly than with any graphical email client.
So, whether you’re an outdated geek and proud of it, a power user, or some-
one who simply likes using text-based programs, this chapter is for you.
Indeed, this chapter assumes you not only like to use X-based terminals, but
you prefer to use the lightweight terminals instead of the GNOME and KDE
terminals, which consume far more resources.
The last three hacks, “Display PDF Documents in a Terminal”
[Hack #53],
“View Microsoft Word Documents in a Terminal”
[Hack #52], and “View ...
Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
and much more.
Start your free trial

You might also like

Linux Server Hacks, Volume Two

Linux Server Hacks, Volume Two

William von Hagen, Brian K. Jones
Introducing Linux Distros

Introducing Linux Distros

Jose Dieguez Castro

Publisher Resources

ISBN: 0596009119Supplemental ContentCatalog PageErrata