Linux Mint Essentials

Linux Mint Essentials

by Jay LaCroix
Released May 2014
Publisher(s): Packt Publishing
ISBN: 9781782168157

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Book description

A practical guide to Linux Mint for the novice to the professional

In Detail

Linux Mint is one of the most popular and proven distributions for beginners and advanced users alike. Out of the box hardware and multimedia support makes Mint your go-to choice for general computing. Its ease of use has transformed it into a celebrated Linux distribution.

This is an all-inclusive guide to Linux Mint, and will teach you everything you need to know in order to use a Linux Mint system. The book starts with the installation process and covers task-oriented topics such as browsing the Internet and installing software as well as shell commands. This guide walks the reader through installing and maintaining Linux Mint on a personal computer.

Using task-oriented examples, readers will journey through understanding what sets Mint apart from the competition, how to maintain it, and how to use it. Topics covered in the book include getting acquainted with Cinnamon, navigating the filesystem, software management, an introduction to the terminal, and more!

What You Will Learn

  • Explore Linux Mint's functions
  • Configure and install the distribution
  • Discover the Cinnamon user interface
  • Manage user permissions
  • Understand how to launch programs
  • Learn how to use shell commands
  • Set up Mint Firewall to prevent attacks and explore disaster recovery
  • Play music and videos
  • Manage digital camera photos
  • Troubleshoot your Mint system

Table of contents

  1. Linux Mint Essentials
    1. Table of Contents
    2. Linux Mint Essentials
    3. Credits
    4. About the Author
    5. About the Reviewers
    6. www.PacktPub.com
      1. Support files, eBooks, discount offers and more
        1. Why Subscribe?
        2. Free Access for Packt account holders
    7. Preface
      1. What this book covers
      2. What you need for this book
      3. Who this book is for
      4. Conventions
      5. Reader feedback
      6. Customer support
        1. Errata
        2. Piracy
        3. Questions
    8. 1. Meet Linux Mint
      1. Why choose Linux?
      2. What is a distribution?
      3. Is Linux hard to learn?
      4. What Mint does differently
      5. Releases and support
      6. Mint-specific tools
      7. Interacting with the Linux Mint community
      8. Creating community and forum accounts
      9. Meet the community
      10. Summary
    9. 2. Creating Boot Media and Installing Linux Mint
      1. Which version to download
        1. The Linux Mint KDE edition
        2. The Linux Mint Xfce edition
        3. The Linux Mint MATE edition
        4. The Linux Mint Cinnamon edition
      2. The different methods of installing Linux Mint
      3. Creating a bootable DVD
      4. Creating a bootable USB flash drive
      5. Testing your live media
      6. Planning your partitioning scheme
      7. The installation process
      8. To encrypt or not to encrypt
      9. Summary
    10. 3. Getting Acquainted with Cinnamon
      1. Getting familiar with Cinnamon
      2. Logging in to Cinnamon
      3. Launching programs
      4. Monitoring tasks
      5. Utilizing workspaces
      6. Notifications
      7. Creating launchers
      8. Bundled applications
      9. File management with Nemo
      10. Configuring the settings of Cinnamon
      11. Changing the default search engine in Firefox
      12. Changing themes
      13. Summary
    11. 4. An Introduction to the Terminal
      1. Why should we use the terminal?
      2. Accessing the shell
      3. Executing commands
      4. Navigating the filesystem
      5. Managing files
      6. The nano text editor
      7. Reading manual pages with the man command
      8. Searching for files
      9. Using the watch command
      10. Introduction to scripting
      11. Summary
    12. 5. Utilizing Storage and Media
      1. Accessing removable media
      2. Formatting flash drives
      3. Mounting and unmounting volumes
      4. Automatically mounting volumes at boot time
      5. Analyzing disk usage
      6. Understanding gibibytes versus gigabytes and mebibytes versus megabytes
      7. Burning CDs and DVDs
      8. Using the USB Image Writer
      9. Understanding how Universally Unique Identifiers work
      10. Summary
    13. 6. Installing and Removing Software
      1. Managing packages in Linux Mint
      2. Using the Mint Software Manager
      3. Installing new applications
        1. Frozen Bubble
        2. FileZilla
        3. Minitube
        4. Steam
      4. Removing applications
      5. Using the Synaptic Package Manager
      6. Configuring software sources
      7. Advanced package management
      8. Keeping your system up to date
      9. Summary
    14. 7. Enjoying Multimedia on Mint
      1. Understanding issues concerning codecs
      2. Playing music files
      3. Ripping an audio CD
      4. Editing MP3 tags
      5. Playing video files
      6. Playing a DVD
      7. Viewing photos
      8. Editing photos with GIMP
      9. Accessing your webcam
      10. Recording your desktop
      11. Summary
    15. 8. Managing Users and Permissions
      1. Creating new users
      2. Changing passwords
      3. Revoking access temporarily
      4. Removing user accounts
      5. Running commands or programs as other users
      6. Administrative access via sudo and visudo
      7. Understanding file and directory permissions
      8. Modifying file and directory permissions
      9. Summary
    16. 9. Connecting to Networks
      1. Connecting to a wired network
      2. Setting up a static IP
      3. Connecting to a wireless network
      4. An introduction to SSH
      5. Accessing your system via SSH
      6. Accessing FTP servers
      7. Sharing files with Samba
      8. Sharing files with NFS
      9. Summary
    17. 10. Securing Linux Mint
      1. Choosing secure passwords
      2. Encrypting your home folder
      3. Configuring and testing the iptables firewall
      4. Installing and configuring ClamAV
      5. Blocking access to specific websites
      6. Backing up and restoring important data
      7. Creating and restoring snapshots
      8. Hardening your system
      9. Summary
    18. 11. Advanced Administration Techniques
      1. Creating command aliases
      2. Making aliases persistent
      3. Killing processes
      4. Setting up cron jobs
      5. Preparing to move to a new release
      6. Exporting and importing package lists
      7. Using variables and conditional statements in Bash
      8. Monitoring resource usage
      9. Monitoring CPU temperatures
      10. Sending system reports via e-mail
      11. Summary
    19. 12. Troubleshooting Linux Mint
      1. Performing the initial triage
      2. Troubleshooting in Software Rendering Mode
      3. Diagnosing boot issues
      4. Recovering data
      5. Perusing system logs
      6. Reinstalling GRUB
      7. Testing the RAM
      8. Pinpointing audio issues
      9. Solving problems with networking
      10. Solving slow frame rates in games
      11. Getting help from the community
      12. Summary
    20. A. Reinstalling Mint while Retaining Data
      1. Considering LTS releases
      2. Why an upgrade utility isn't included
      3. Preparing for the migration
      4. Installing Linux Mint while retaining /home
      5. Importing a list of packages for reinstallation
      6. Summary
    21. B. Using the MATE Edition of Linux Mint
      1. Introducing MATE
      2. Understanding the differences between MATE and Cinnamon
      3. Launching applications
      4. Customizing MATE
        1. Desktop background
        2. Screensaver
        3. Panel applets
        4. Desktop themes
      5. Summary
    22. C. Using the KDE Edition of Linux Mint
      1. Understanding the KDE desktop
      2. Using Dolphin – KDE's file manager
      3. Adding Plasmoids to the desktop
      4. Discovering Mint KDE's default applications
      5. Utilizing Activities and Virtual Desktops
      6. Configuring network connections
      7. Summary
    23. Index

Product information

  • Title: Linux Mint Essentials
  • Author(s): Jay LaCroix
  • Release date: May 2014
  • Publisher(s): Packt Publishing
  • ISBN: 9781782168157