Linux Pocket Guide

Fedora: A First View

When you log into a Fedora (or other) Linux system, you’re likely to be greeted by a graphical desktop^[3] like Figure 1-1, which contains:

• A Windows-like taskbar across the bottom, with:

  — A “red hat” icon in the lower left, which when clicked, pops up a main menu of programs

  — Icons to run various programs, such as the Mozilla web browser, Evolution email program, and Print Manager for configuring printers

  — A desktop switcher (the square with four boxes in it), which lets you maintain and switch between multiple desktops

  — A blue checkmark indicating that your system software is up to date, or a red exclamation point warning you that it isn’t

  — A clock

• Other icons on the desktop, such as a trash can for deleting files, a floppy disk, and your home directory (folder) for storing personal files

Figure 1-1. Fedora graphical desktop

Fedora comes with several similar-looking interfaces, and the one you’re viewing is either GNOME or KDE.^[4] You can tell the difference by clicking the red hat icon to bring up the main menu, and choosing Help. The Help window that appears will clearly indicate GNOME or KDE.

^[3] Unless you’re logging in remotely over the network, in which case you’ll see a command line, prompting you to type a command.

^[4] Depending on your system configuration, the interface might look different. GNOME and KDE are very configurable, and Fedora includes a third ...