Debian: Try It; Youll Like It

By Ed Hurst Smashwords Edition Copyright 2013 by Ed Hurst Copyright notice: People of honor need no opyright laws! they are only too happy to gi"e redit where redit is due# $thers will ignore opyright laws whene"er they please# %f you are of the latter& please note what 'oses said about dishonorable beha"ior ( )be sure your sin will find you out* +,umbers 32:23Permission is granted to opy& reprodu e and distribute for non. ommer ial reasons& pro"ided the boo/ remains in its original form# Cover Art: Paste up of $pen Sour e and Publi 0omain art& reated by the author using 1%'P on a 0ebian omputer# 2aptop image is Publi 0omain! sour e# 0ebian art logo is 1P2"2! sour e# Co"er art falls under 1P2"2 and is freely a"ailable upon re3uest in se"eral ele troni formats& in luding a "ersion without the te4t# $ther boo/s by this author in lude Mystic Tales of Romance and A Course in Biblical Mysticism#

Debian: Try It; Youll Like It

%ntrodu tion 0: 5hy 0ebian 2inu4 1: %nstallation 2: 6he 78CE 0es/top 3: E"erything9s a 8ile :: Brotherhood of the Commandline ;: Safe Surfing <: 'ore Safe Surfing =: >6% and ,?%0%> 0ri"ers @: >nother Browser A: 'ultimedia 10: 8inal Considerations

Introduction 6his boo/ is aimed at the great a"erage middle of omputer users& profi ient but by no means a te hni ian# 6here are billions of omputers in this world and it seems most of humanity has en ountered at least one# 6hey ha"e be ome nearly ubi3uitous and "irtually ne essary for mu h of what humans do# 5e an e4pe t them to be ome e"en more important in the near future# 5hen operating on this s ale& we an9t a"oid thin/ing in broad generalities# 'ost omputers run some "ersion of 5indows& the operating system de"eloped by 'i rosoft# 6hey are easily one of the most powerful ommer ial influen es on the earth# ,othing here is meant to imply 'i rosoft is parti ularly e"il& but they don9t ne essarily operate in your best interests# 5e also do not suggest 5indows is inferior& but the priorities for its design do not put the user first# 5ith 'i rosoft& the software is not the produ t# Bou as the user are the produ t deli"ered to their orporate partners for mar/eting and other forms of manipulation for profit# System se urity is a priority& but not in the sense of gi"ing you ma4imum ontrol o"er the system# 'i rosoft se ures 5indows against atta /s on their profit margin# 6hat is how it wor/s with ommer ial software# %n the minds of most people& >pple is the se ond biggest& but they supply both the hardware and the operating system together# %t9s different in many ways from 5indows and is ad"ertised differently& sold to a different audien e# %t9s by far the most e4pensi"e option# 6heir attempts to ontrol and onstrain the user are e"en tighter than you e4perien e with 'i rosoft# >nd then there9s e"erything else# 'ost li/ely you9"e at least heard of something alled 2inu4# %n terms of numeri al presen e& it9s easily in third pla e# %t belongs to a mu h larger type of software de"elopment alled $pen Sour e# 6he underlying ode is wide open to anyone interested and able to parti ipate in writing it# >nyone an hange it to suit himself# 1ranted& when you ta/e away the profit moti"e& what9s left is not ne essarily any friendlier to the ommon user who an9t understand the ode& mu h less write his own# 'ost $pen Sour e de"elopers are in it for themsel"es& in that sense# 6hey are s rat hing their own personal it h for the most part& and you may not li/e the results# 8ortunately& a large number of de"elopers do ta/e some interest in the user9s e4perien e and ma/e room for some of the more ommon options users li/e to see# So maybe you are stu / with some aging 5indows 7P ma hine and as of >pril 201: it9s no longer supported with se urity updates# But the hardware still wor/s fine# Can you afford a new ma hineC Can you afford the ne4t new "ersion of 5indowsC Could your ma hine run it if you bought itC Bou are not stu / with that# Bou don9t ha"e to surrender to the profit.dri"en upgrade y le# Bou an still use your omputer and /eep it se ure and gain a measure of ontrol you ould not otherwise ha"e# 6he answer is repla ing 5indows with 2inu4 +it runs on 'a s& too-# %t9s 3uite possible the a"erage omputer user an learn to install and run 0ebian with at least as mu h sa""y as you ran 5indows# Bou don9t ha"e to be ome a omputer te hni ian to understand it! it9s not that hard# 6his whole boo/ was written on a 0ebian omputer#

0: Why Debian Linux Starting the hapter ount with Dero is sort of an inside Eo/e for omputer gee/s& parti ularly among those in"ol"ed in 2inu4# > typi al list of things starts with Dero# %t9s a metaphor for starting with a lean slate and getting it right& ta/ing ontrol of the results# Swit hing to 2inu4 doesn9t merely put you in harge of things! it grants a sense of power you won9t easily get from 5indows or 'a # But it9s really about the people in"ol"ed and the omputer sub ulture of 0%B# 6he primary reason 2inu4 omputers seldom get "iruses is the 2inu4 user ulture# 6here is a powerful sense of ta/ing omputer se urity seriously# Fust the introdu tory readings for guidan e in migrating omputers to 2inu4 will tea h you onstru ti"e paranoia# Bou won9t get this from 5indows users unless you go loo/ing for it& but in 2inu4 it is the first assumption of the entire user ommunity# Bou do get a "ersion of paranoia from using 5indows& with all the alerts and anti."irus& anti.malware& et # Howe"er& the big differen e is that with 5indows you /now you are helpless& in the sense you will e"er remain dependent on others# %n 2inu4 land& you are only as dependent as you want to be# Geal e4perts in 5indows ha"e a refle4 to /eep their information out of publi "iew# 6oo many of the 5indows se urity forums are terribly elitist in the pe uliar sense of& )5e /now what9s best and we will tell you what we want you to /now#* 2inu4 ommunities are not at all li/e that# Plenty of 2inu4 users don9t ha"e a lue& but those who do will gladly e4plain way more than you are to learn# So rarely would you get that from a 5indows e4pert that& when you do get it& you tend to grab that information and sa"e a opy of it somewhere# 6he pla es where they post su h information often flies under the radar# 2inu4 information is paraded in the streets and begs for attention# Bou don9t ha"e to be ome an e4pert to run 2inu4& but it9s a tually diffi ult to a"oid a higher le"el of e4pertise un ommon among 5indows users# 6his is partly the dynami of the sort of people drawn to 2inu4 in the first pla e# 6hey are loo/ing for something they an9t get with 5indows and part of that sear h if often hunting for open a ess to e4pertise# Bes& there are pre ious few "iruses and malware that run on 2inu4 omputers# Some maEor portion of that few is mere proof.of. on ept# 'ost of them re3uire the /ind of lueless user beha"ior more ommon among 5indows users and wholly un ommon among 2inu4 users# E"er hear of >ndroid& the smartphone $SC %t9s based on 2inu4 but aters to stupid users& so it gets plenty of malware# >lmost no des/top "ersion of 2inu4 does that# Besides& it9s the ellphone fun tions of >ndroid that open so darn many doors to malware in the first pla e& fun tions you won9t find in any other type of 2inu4# >ndroid is typi ally not onsidered 2inu4 in the minds of most people be ause it has su h a highly spe ialiDed use# E"ery other use of 2inu4 tends to be se ure# %ndeed& 2inu4 servers get more atta /s than 2inu4 des/tops# >gain& that9s be ause the single greatest li/elihood of idio y is a ser"er admin who runs the simplest and most easily ra /ed software a"ailable for their 2inu4 ser"er# 6hey use a 2inu4 ser"er be ause the $S is free andHor they belie"e it9s se ure& but then dump some goofy& trendy ser"er

Eun/ on top of it# 5orse& as non.parti ipants in the 2inu4 user ulture& they ha"e no lue how to perform the most basi se urity he /s and hores# > truly large per entage of the %nternet runs on good& se ure 2inu4 ser"ers ontrolled by well.trained ser"er admins# >nd if it matters to you& there are free >? pa /ages for 2inu4! Eust he / with >?1 or Bit0efender& for e4ample# Bou9ll noti e they prote t against 5indows "iruses e"en in their 2inu4 "ersions be ause the whole point is wiping out su h threats before they get passed on to a 5indows ma hine# >t last ount& the total number for 2inu4 "iruses is less than 100& and most of those are obsolete# 8ran/ly& it9s the mutual in ompatibility of the "arious distributions +brands- of 2inu4 that almost ne essitates ea h "irus be built spe ifi ally for the parti ular ma hine it atta /s# 6hen again& the default des/top installation isn9t running "ery many ser"i es& parti ularly those ser"i es ommonly e4ploited as entry points in other operating systems# But the number one selling point for 2inu4 is not all the rap you are li/ely to read from the fan.boys# 6hey ooDe with religious fer"or about running their fa"orite brand of 2inu4# 6hey9ll go on at length des ribing the Eoys of things almost no one e4 ept a fan.boy ares about# 6hey assume e"ery omputer user will appre iate what dri"es them# 6hat raDy 2inu4 enthusiast beha"ior is the primary reason the wider omputer user base is so slow to adopt 2inu4# 6he single greatest selling point is not e"en the ontrol 2inu4 gi"es you& but the sense of ontrol# 5e aren9t tal/ing about a false sense of se urity# 2iterally thousands of people are in"ol"ed in de"eloping 2inu4 and the software! the whole thing is wide open# Bou an loo/ at anything you an understand& and learn anything you don9t understand# 6here is nothing to hide and nothing can be hidden# Bou ha"e e"ery Eustifi ation for resting se ure that you an learn this and do it right& and it will wor/ as well as anything ould to /eep you in ontrol# >bsolute se urityC 5ho an really say Eust how se ure something is until it9s atta /edC Bou9d ha"e to learn a lot Eust to /now how to he / for su h atta /s& ne"er mind dis erning whether the atta /s were e"en ompetent# 5ith 5indows& that /nowledge is pretty obs ure stuff& and often re3uires spe ialiDed tools to interpret the raw data# 5ith 2inu4& it9s less obs ure data dumped into a fairly simple log file& if you want it# %t might be ompli ated& but it9s easy to get# 6he instru tions for reading that data are already installed on your omputer& most li/ely ( try loo/ing in )HusrHshareHdo H* for a folder li/e )iptables* if you want to /now about firewalls# $r the ountless 2inu4 manual pages already installed for Eust about any ommand you might hear about# 5hen the do umentation on your system is insuffi ient& you9ll often find something telling you where to get more on the ,et# But if you learn the basi information for one thing& it often applies to Eust about e"erything in 2inu4# >nd if that9s too obs ure for you& Eust use a sear h engine# 6he information is all o"er the ,et# Simply use the terms you are familiar with& or Eoin any user forum& or as/ any indi"idual 2inu4 user# 6hey only reason they might not answer is they are trying to help lots of other fol/s# 6here are thousands of fol/s out there who9"e fa ed a long list of really small troubles and are glad to tell about it& along with those few who fa ed more serious trouble# 6he entire 2inu4 user base wants you to be se ure and su essful# 'ost li/ely they will not be patroniDing to readers#

%n other words& it9s more about the people than about the operating system itself# Bou get to hoose what matters to you and how mu h you want to learn# %t9s all there in the open be ause of the user ulture# Bou aren9t simply getting a new $S! you are Eoining a large and friendly ommunity# 2inu4 is all about 0%B and ta/ing ontrol& be oming self.reliant# Why Debian, out of the other kinds of Linux out there 0ebian is easily one of the largest and most a ti"e bran hes of 2inu4 de"elopment& a large presen e with absolutely no dependen e on any single person or ommer ial entity# 5hen e"erything starts oming apart& 0ebian 2inu4 will li/ely be the last omputer operating system to fall simply be ause too many people are in"ol"ed in it# $n top of that& it9s Eust about the easiest type of 2inu4 for finding someone somewhere who either pa /ages that wild and obs ure 2inu4 appli ation you see/& or an e4plain in pretty simple terms how to build it yourself from the sour e ode# 'ost users agree that 0ebian is easily the most "ersatile bran h of 2inu4 de"elopment# 8inally& 0ebian is "ery /ind to aging omputer hardware# %f you ha"e a ma hine that is nearly new& 0ebian probably isn9t the best hoi e# Perhaps you should onsider $penSISE& 8edora or the most re ent Ibuntu release# >t the time this is written& Ged Hat Enterprise +GHE2- has ome out with a Beta of "ersion =# $n e it rea hes full release& the free ommunity lones of GHE2 +Cent$S or S ientifi 2inu4- won9t be far behind and will be good for re ent hardware# 6here are hundreds of other hoi es& but they would be "ery hard to wor/ with unless you had a friend on hand who /new that parti ular type really well# 5hile 0ebian isn9t the easiest& it is easier than most of the rest# 6his boo/ will try to put it in rea h of the a"erage refugee from 5indows# 1: Installation 2ots of fol/s offer "arious /inds of guides to installing 0ebian# 6his is Eust one more# Caveats: >s part of this image we are painting here& the author ma/es no apology for insisting 78CE is the only des/top en"ironment +0E- worth onsidering# Plenty ha"e written about their disappointments with 1,$'E and J0E& the two most popular 0Es# >nother rising star& 270E& isn9t ready for prime time& but might be o/ay for older and slower ma hines# Bou an e4plore whate"er other /inds of 0E you li/e later on& but this boo/ isn9t going to lead you there# 5e will start with the assumption that you will find 78CE usable# 8urther& unless you are running an awful lot of G>'& or you are running hea"y ser"er operations that we don9t dis uss here& there is nothing at all to gain from hoosing the <:. bit "ersion# 6here are also plenty of reasons to prefer 32.bit& most ha"ing to do with how many software proEe ts you are li/ely to use that don9t ompile well in <:.bit# Some software won9t e"en be a"ailable for some years to ome# Please don9t be misled by all the hype! 32.bit 2inu4 runs fine on ma hines up to <:1B of G>' and 0ebian9s installer will hoose the right "ersion of the /ernel automati ally to mat h your hardware#

6hat said& go here and li / on )debian.=#2#0.i3@<.4f e.C0.1#iso* to download the re ommended C0 imageK# Bou will need your omputer plugged in and onne ted to the %nternet& preferably "ia an ethernet able# Bou may also need a ess to another omputer for downloading spe ial pa /ages& usually what is alled )firmware* ( spe ial dri"ers not in luded by default for things li/e networ/ hardware# Bou an wait until the installer as/s for something spe ifi & or you an play it safe and get the whole olle tion in one big file here# !"f you are readin# this sometime after $ublication, the version numbers for the latest release %ill be hi#her, obviously& 'tart here and navi#ate throu#h the links on the $a#e, selectin# CD, i()* and somethin# that looks similar to %hat is %ritten above& Bou may need to resear h how to get your system to boot from a C0# $n e it boots& you9ll run through the normal settings that almost any $S will as/ about: language& /eyboard& et # >t some point you9ll be offered a menu# 6he graphi al install routine wor/s on most systems and is easier for newbies# %f it fails& you an start o"er and try the non.graphi al install& whi h is almost the same routine but not su h a pretty fa e# %t9s still not that diffi ult in )te4t mode#* 'ost of it is self.e4planatory to anyone who9s messed with omputers at all# %f you /now you don9t ha"e a lue& you really should read the offi ial installation guide in detail# 5hile you9re at it& there are se"eral Bou6ube "ideos that might help& but you ha"e to be aware they usually default to the 1,$'E des/top& whi h is simply not good on newbies# Note: Choose your )lo ation* based on time Done! don9t try to find your e4a t geographi al lo ation# >t some point you9ll be presented with a list of )tas/s* that will in lude des/top& base system& et # 6ypi ally it will pre.sele t )printer ser"er* ( don9t be onfused# 6his is ne essary if you intend to onne t any /ind of printer to your system& either by able or by wireless# %f you /now you won9t use your system that way& de.sele ted that by li /ing and remo"ing the he /.mar/# %f you are installing on a laptop& ma/e sure that the laptop item was hosen on the list be ause 0ebian /eeps that sort of stuff in a separate install and dete tion routine# 8or the rest of the options& there is some general ad"i e# %f you see an option to update pa /ages from the ,et as you go& sele t that# Bou9ll be as/ed to sele t a )mirror* as your primary sour e of pa /ages and updates# ,ormally the list will start with something lose to your geographi al lo ation& something pretty fast and reliable# 6here9s seldom anything wrong with ta/ing the first one on the list& unless you already /now the right answer# 5e an adEust this later using a spe ial tool 0ebian pro"ides +loo/ for )netsele t. apt*-& but right now we Eust need to let 0ebian ha"e a han e to add pa /ages not already on the C0& e4tra pa /ages that will ma/e your life easier# Bou9ll need two good passwords& one for the administrator a ount +)root*- and one for the user a ount from whi h you9ll routinely operate in 2inu4 +/eep it simple when hoosing a user name! abbre"iations are wise and lower ase letters most proper-# > minimum of A hara ters is re ommended for your passwords& and you should ombine the ad"i e found here and here# 6hese ideas still wor/ as well as anything will# 0on9t get lost on the partition business during installation# 5e are assuming here a omputer de"oted to 0ebian alone as the only $S& so hoose to repla e whate"er else is on there

and a ept the default partition s heme of putting e"erything in all one partition# Bou an de ide whether you want to parti ipate in the popularity ontest for pa /age sele tion# Bou pretty mu h ha"e to sele t to let 1GIB install as your boot manager# 0uring installation you may be ad"ised to get hold of some spe ial firmware +dri"ers-# 6he installer will pause while you de ide and sele t to pro eed or s/ip it# 8or e4ample& se"eral laptops re3uire something for Geal6e/ networ/ing# > 3ui / sear h using the terms )0ebian realte/ firmware* lead to a page where you an download the pa /age indi"idually# Bou9ll need to ma/e sure you are on the page for the "ersion of 0ebian you are installing# >s of this writing that9s 5heeDy! loo/ in the upper right hand orner of the page below the banner and ma/e sure you are in the right "ersion# S roll down to the bottom of the page for a list of ar hite tures you an download! we are using )i3@<#* Cli / on that and pi / a mirror in your geographi al "i inity# $n e you ha"e the pa /age& opy it to the top dire tory of any ISB memory sti /# %nsert& and then sele t to pro eed with loading the firmware# 6he installer should ha"e no trouble finding the pa /age if it9s not hidden in any folders on the memory sti /# 'a/e sure to put it in the top dire tory of the de"i e# 6he installer will load it and sa"e it& and then pro eed with the installation# >t some point the installer will tell you it9s all done and as/ you to be ready for the reboot# %t should /i / out the C0 and wait for you to sele t going farther# 6he system will reboot and should do some finish.up wor/& then drop you onto the login s reen# 'a/e sure you type in your user a ount name& then type in the password you hose for that a ount# Before the des/top fully displays& you should be as/ed to sele t whether you want the default toolbar or panel& "ersus an empty one that you onfigure from s rat h# 5e assume here that you need the first option be ause you don9t ha"e any idea what to do with the se ond# $n e you hoose& you9ll be presented with a default des/top that shows a toolbar a ross the top and maybe one at the bottom with large i ons# E4plore! the main menu button is upper left with the 78CE mouse logo# 6here are other i ons along the same toolbar indi ating different system fun tions# 6a/e a loo/ around and hange some of the settings to your taste# 'ost of it will ma/e sense if you ta/e time to thin/ it o"er# ,e4t: 5e9ll ta/e a detailed loo/ at ma/ing things pretty# 2: The XFCE Deskto 78CE is a wonderful des/top en"ironment& but it9s not the simplest to onfigure# 6here are se"eral items we need to onsider for des/top display# E4tra wide displays are popular right now for se"eral reasons& but aside from entertainment& it9s almost wasted spa e on either end# Espe ially on laptops where s reen real estate is at a premium& you ould ele t to mo"e the main toolbar from the top o"er to the right side# Bou an9t Eust grab it and drag it# Bou ha"e to right li / on the toolbar& hoose )Panel* from the onte4t menu be ause that9s what it9s a tually alled in 78CE# 6hen sele t panel preferen es# Bou9ll get a dialog window and a dashed red line will outline the panel in 3uestion# Cli / and un he / the bo4 for lo /ing the panel& then li / the sele tor abo"e it and hange from horiDontal to "erti al# 6his will ause the panel to stand upright somewhere on the

s reen# ,ow li /.and.drag from the handle at either end to mo"e it to the right side +or left if you li/e-# 2et it atta h itself& then repla e the he /.mar/ to lo / the panel in pla e# Bou would probably benefit from hanging the width to ;0 pi4els or so by mo"ing the slider# >t this point some of the labels will run sideways# Chan es are you really don9t need them on e you re ogniDe what the i ons mean# Besides& Eust ho"er the mouse o"er any item and you should get a pop.up hint bo4 with the same information# So while you ha"e this dialog open for panel onfiguration& sele t the )%tems* tab# 6his is where a lot of onfiguration details are hidden# Bou9ll get a small window with a list of what9s on the panel# Sele t any one of the items and you9ll ha"e the option to ma/e detailed hoi es of how it displays# Cli / on the first item& )>ppli ations 'enu#* 8rom the right side of this dialog& sele t the fifth button down& whi h should open the onfiguration dialog for that item# > new dialog will open and you an de.sele t the he / bo4 for )Show button title* and ma/e the rotated te4t go away so it ta/es up less spa e# Bou9ll noti e ea h of the other items on the panel are listed in this dialog and you an e4plore the "arious onfiguration options there# 8or e4ample& if you don9t need to use the mail notifi ation in the ,otifi ation >rea& sele t that in the list and open the onfig# Che / the bo4 to hide that from the list of what shows in the ,otifi ation >rea# $n e you are finished& lose the dialog and your panel is ready to use# $n laptops espe ially& it is useful to ma/e the bottom laun her panel disappear when not in use# 6hat panel offers the same set of ontrols as the other& and is labeled )Panel 2#* Bou an hange what buttons appear# %f you /now that something in the main menu is an item you will use often enough& you an open the menu from Panel 1& drag the item down to the other panel ( gi"e it a han e to re ogniDe what you are trying to do! be persistent ( and drop it where you want it# 6he panel will e"entually open a s3uare where you li/e# %f it turns out you are a little lumsy at this& then drop it anywhere on the panel# 6hen right li / and sele t )mo"e* to spe ifi ally engage that fun tion# Bou an easily remo"e buttons you don9t want to use there by right li /ing and hoosing that from the pop.up menu# Ba / on the main panel& you an wor/ through the onfiguration submenu to add some items not there by default# Bou might li/e to ha"e a networ/ing indi ator for wired or wifi onne tions# $n e added and it shows up on the panel& right li / to onfigure# Bou an hange the label to )5ifi* for e4ample& and then type in the 2inu4 name for that onne tion# Chan es are your wifi is alled )wlan0#* ,oti e that9s a Dero at the end of the label# 6his little tool allows you to see when traffi is mo"ing a ross your wifi onne tion! more to the point& you an see when it is not mo"ing# Similar /inds of things an be added& but don9t rowd the panel with stuff that isn9t important to you# Bou may need to onsider adEusting the width of the panel again if it9s too thi /ly populated# ,arrower means more room for stuff& but harder to see# Chan es are that by this time you realiDe the fonts loo/ lun/y# %t an easily be mu h better# %n a later lesson we will learn to add 5indows.type fonts& but for now& we9ll use what omes with the system by default# %n the >ppli ations 'enu& sele t Settings L Settings 'anager# Isually the first or se ond item is )>ppearan e#* $pen this dialog and li / on the )8onts* tab# Cli / the bo4 labeled )Enable anti.aliasing* on e or twi e until

a he /.mar/ appears# Cli / the sele tor below that labeled )Hinting* and hoose )full#* %mmediately the fonts should loo/ mu h sharper# Bou probably won9t need to mess with anything else there for now# 1o to some of the other tabs at the top and e4plore what you an do with the olor s heme& i on sets& et # 5hen you are through& you an li / the )$"er"iew* button and go ba / to ma/e similar hanges under the heading )5indow 'anager#* $n e you add more fonts& you an re"isit these settings to hange your default fonts displayed on.s reen# 8eel free to e4plore the other options in the Settings 'anager# 'ost people also want to ma/e their pointerHmouse mo"e a little 3ui /er& and it9s not too hard to figure that out# Sele t that item in the settings o"er"iew# 8or the most part& Eust in rease the a eleration fa tor and test repeatedly until you are omfortable# Bou9ll probably hange it se"eral times o"er the first few hours of use until you get it Eust right# 8or laptop tou hpads& things get ompli ated "ery 3ui /ly be ause there is no simple way of handling it# 0on9t lose heart! we9ll o"er this later in more detail# >gain& 2inu4 in general& and 0ebian in parti ular& are "ery mu h a 0o.%t.Bourself +0%Btype of omputer te hnology# Sometimes the defaults wor/ fine& but if you want more ontrol& it9s there! you9ll Eust ha"e to learn a bit# Bou an only get Eust so mu h hand. holding before you are on your own# %f something really matters to you& learn to fi4 it# Bou an9t be laDy with 2inu4& but the information is most ertainly not that hard to find# >nother popular item is the des/top ba /ground or wallpaper# Simply right. li / on any blan/ spa e on the des/top ba /ground and sele t )0es/top Settings#* 6he dialog offers your ba /ground as the first item of business# Bou an hoose from a number of images# %f you /now where to find them& you an hoose from your own olle tion# ,e4t: 8inding your files# !: E"erythin#$s a File 2inu4 is an implementation of the Ini4 omputer te hnology ( a type of Ini4& if you will# %n Ini4 2and& e"erything is a file# E"ery bit of hardware that the /ernel re ogniDes is treated as a file& too# So while 2inu4 an re ogniDe multiple hard dri"es& they aren9t listed as they would be in 5indows using single letters of the alphabet# 5hen you go hunting through your system& the "arious /inds of dri"es are listed under a )de"i e* folder# Bou won9t see )C:* and )0:* and so forth# Bou are more li/e to see )Hde"Hsda* and )Hde"Hsdb#* Please noti e that most fol/s use the terms )folder* and )dire tory* inter hangeably# 'eanwhile& the root of the file system is not designated by a letter& but the forward slash symbol by itself: H ( standing at the front of any string of letters and numbers representing parts of the rest of the file system# 6hus& any lo ation within the file system would start with the root +H- followed by the "arious sub.dire tories by whi h things are organiDed# 6here won9t be a )2inu4* folder li/e you ha"e a )5indows* folder& or )Program 8iles* be ause the Ini4 on ept is a little different# Bou9ll see the root of the file system bran hing off in things li/e )Husr* and )Hhome* and so forth# Gather than bog down with

all the mind.numbing details +this is a de ent tutorial-& we9ll fo us for now on that last item ( Hhome# $n your 78CE des/top by default is an i on labeled )Home#* 6hat9s your )home* in the file system# Bou own that stuff and an do pretty mu h what you li/e with it& be ause the rest of the system is prote ted from what goes on there# %f you double. li / that des/top i on& you9ll get a pretty simple file manager window& and this file manager is alled 6hunar# >s with any other graphi al system& you an either drag the orners or sides to get a different siDe +the pointer hanges shape to indi ate it-# $n the left is a olumn listing the most ommon pla es inside your home dire tory that most people "isit# 6e hni ally& the lo ation of your home within the file system is )HhomeH* followed by your login name# ,oti e that we put the forward slash between ea h dire tory label +instead of the 'i rosoft ba /.slash-# %t9s not absolutely ne essary to put the trailing slash on there& but it9s te hni ally pre ise to designate that it9s not a file& but a folder with more stuff inside it# >lso& in the standard 2inu4 Eargon& you9ll often see it written as )MH$'E* ( this is how we indi ate a system "ariable# %t translates to )home* for whoe"er has a home folder on the system under dis ussion# Bou may also see the abbre"iation )NH* +tilde slash-# 6here are also a lot folders and files you don9t always see# 6hey aren9t se ret& Eust /ept out of the way of normal operations# So to ma/e them hidden in that sense& we pla e a period +or )dot*- at the beginning of the name so we don9t ha"e to loo/ at it all the time# >ll your personal onfigurations are /ept in folders and files with dots in front of them ( )dot files#* %f you want to see them& in the menu of 6hunar li / on ?iew L Show Hidden 8iles so that you pla e a he /.mar/ in front of that menu item# 6hen you9ll see displayed in the window a onsiderably larger number of i ons# >s with any other graphi al file manager& 6hunar an be adEusted to hange how things are displayed# Some prefer a detailed list instead of i ons& but that may not be your up of tea# E4plore the menu and settings and de ide how it wor/s best for you# %n hoosing what olumns to display in that list "iew& one parti ular item is adding the )permissions* olumn +?iew L Configure Columns and he /.mar/ )Permissions*-# %n Ini4 2and we assign permissions to the file system and they are stri tly enfor ed by the /ernel# 6hat9s one of the reasons 2inu4 tends to be so stable and se ure: 6he system tightly restri ts who an do what with the "arious files# Be ause the administrator a ount +root- an do anything at all& we a"oid logging in with those redentials until ne essary& lest by a ident we delete something important# Inli/e other operating systems& root an delete the whole thing while the system is running# 6here are good reasons for this& to in lude you as owner ha"ing full authority o"er your own system& but we won9t o"er that in detail right now# %nstead& Eust /eep in mind that it re3uires root login redentials to do anything to the system& so we always run the system as a ommon user with limited power to mess things up# %f you really want to understand it in depth& try this tutorial# 8or now& we fo us on the most basi on ept# Ini4 is designed for multiple users& so e"en if you are on your own home omputer and you are the only user& the file system still assumes multiple users# E"ery file on the system has three basi types of permissions based on the "arious roles on the system# E"ery file is owned by somebody& and in regards to file ontrols& we all that person the )user* +u-# E"ery user belongs to se"eral )groups* +g- that may share

"arious le"els of permissions on some files# >ny others who legitimately log onto the system& but are not a part of your groups& are )others* +o-# 6hus& the permission ontrols will in lude designations with ombinations of )ugo* ( userHgroupHothers# %f you want to designate them all together& it9s )a#* 8or ea h of these roles& there are three le"els of permission: read +r-& write +w- and e4e ute +4-# 6here ould also be an absen e of any permission# Some files an be turned into e4e utable ommands& su h as s ripts +in 5indows 2and& that would be )bat h files*-# 6he differen e is not how the file is labeled& but what permissions it arries# Bou ould simply write a s ript of ommands in a series& sa"e that list of ommands to a file& and ma/e it e4e utable by setting the e4e ute permissions to run it as a s ript# 'eanwhile& you ould let other people run it& but not read it or hange the ontents# Permissions are spe ifi and e4 lusi"e& not in lusi"e# %n your file manager window& right li / on any file in your home folder +or subfolders-# 6he onte4t menu will in lude )Properties###* Sele t that and a dialog opens with se"eral tabs& one of them labeled )Permissions#* Bou9ll see the "arious drop.down items to hange permissions# Bou9ll also noti e the name of the user who owns it& the appli able group name for this parti ular file and something about )others#* $n ea h of these roles& you an set different le"els of permission# Bou an e"en lo / yourself out of your own files& though you retain the authority to hange that be ause you own it# 1roup membership is seldom of mu h interest on a single.user system& but it be omes important when you need permission to do ertain things from your user a ount# 6here are pro esses running with permissions in their own groups# Belonging to those groups allows you to use ertain pie es of e3uipment or to intera t with those pro esses& be ause you belong to the same group to whi h that pro ess is assigned# %t9s a omple4 way of ontrolling what an and annot happen on the system to a"oid losing ontrol of how it wor/s# 8or this reason& it is e4 eptionally diffi ult for someone to write malware for 2inu4# 6here are no se ret permissions and hidden ontrols# 5hen you log into your user a ount& you an surf the ,et and anyone trying to sti / files on your system through your browser an only ha"e your user a ount9s authority# 6hey an9t slip in a s ript or e4e utable file with full a ess to the system# 6he worst they an do is delete some of your personal files ( that9s what ba /ups are for ( but an9t atta / the a tual system without ta/ing a lot of effort# >s with anything omple4 li/e an operating system& there are always at least a few "ulnerabilities# >s noted pre"iously& 2inu4 appears to be mu h harder to e4ploit that way# >s for se urity holes in the underlying system& the 0ebian de"elopers are famous for pat hing stuff as soon as they dis o"er a hole# Se urity updates are pursued aggressi"ely# 6here is a strong system in pla e Eust hunting for su h problems& and it9s 3uite rare that the bad guys find them first# 'ost su h holes re3uire someone wor/ing dire tly against you while you are online& and most of us simply don9t ha"e anything they want that bad# %t9s too mu h wor/ for too little return# ,e4t& we will learn how to he / for updates on 0ebian#

%: &rotherhood o' the Co((andline 0ebian won9t for e you to use the ommandline! it will enti e you with the most opulent pro"ision for those who dare to learn the magi of the 2inu4 ommandline# 0ebian organiDes the software offerings into pa /ages and arefully tra /s their dependen ies# Bou ould Eustly a use the 0ebian managers of o"erly fragmenting their pa /ages& but it does gi"e the ad"antage of pre ise ontrol# 6he best way of asserting that ontrol is to use the ommandline# 5hile it might be a little tough on those Eust learning 2inu4& you get a little hand.holding for now# Bou ould do Eust about the whole Eob of pa /age management and updates from the graphi al interfa e if you wanted# %n the 78CE main menu& sele t: System L Synapti # Bou9ll need to pro"ide your root redentials to do anything with this& so be areful# Synapti offers fre3uent warnings and information windows# 'a/e it a habit to read them# Bou are unli/ely to understand e"erything you see at first& but gi"e yourself time and e"entually it will all ma/e good sense to you# $ne of the se rets of learning 2inu4 is realiDing that you might read the same thing a doDen times before it starts to sti /# ?irtually e"eryone who persists will get it sooner or later# Synapti opens up a bit small by default& so hit the se ond button on the upper right orner of the window frame to e4pand it full siDe# %t is organiDed li/e a lot of listing appli ations: a left.hand olumn of ategories& an upper window of listed items and a lower window for details of those items# 6here are se"eral pa /ages Eust about e"eryone should add that are not installed by default# $ne of them is the Chromium browser# 6his is the $pen Sour e "ersion of 1oogle Chrome# Bou an ha"e the latter if you wish& but it omes with some stuff added by 1oogle that ma/es it both a little more sli / and also a little more li/ely to betray your trust# 0ebian has a different browser by default& but it9s Eust smart se urity to /eep on hand more than one# ,ot only do "arious websites prefer one or another browser& but different browsers by design offer different types of ontrol to the user# 6he maEor reason for hoosing 0ebian in parti ular& and 2inu4 in general& is to ta/e ba / ontrol of your omputer# 2et9s install Chromium# 8irst& let9s ma/e sure the pa /age list is up to date ( it ould hange anytime 2:H=# >long the top of Synapti is a toolbar with large i ons# 6he first one on the left says )Geload* with some appropriate symbol! you should li / that first# > pop.up window informs you what is happening& downloading the fresh lists of what9s a"ailable# 5hen Synapti is ready& e"erything goes ba / to normal# Bou an s roll down the list window interminably and in somewhat alphabeti al order& or you an shorten your sear h# 6he i on that loo/s li/e a magnifying glass allows you to sear h for /ey words# Cli / that and in the dialog that opens up& type in ) hromium* +without the 3uotation mar/s& of ourse-# 6he top window will ha"e a mu h shorter list now# 6ypi ally& the first item in the list is e4a tly what we see/# 6here will be se"eral "ariations on the name& but we are going to depend on the system to handle the pa /ages on whi h Chromium depends# Cli / on the little s3uare in the left.hand olumn of the list and a pop.up window allows you to sele t one of se"eral options# 5e want to )'ar/ for installation* ( it won9t install immediately be ause you may want a lot of other stuff#

Howe"er& another window will pop up informing you of what dependen ies will be added# Fust ma/e the ob"ious hoi es& li / the buttons and the window will lose# 5e pretend for the moment that we are done# Ba / up to the toolbar with large i ons we see )>pply* ( li / this and wat h as more little pop.up windows inform you of what is happening# 5hen the pop.up offers you the option of losing it +the button at the bottom be omes a ti"e saying )Close*-& do so# Bou9ll noti e also the button between )Geload* and )>pply* is labeled )'ar/ >ll Ipgrades#* %f you open Synapti & say e"ery wee/& you an li / this after reloading and it should tell you if something signifi ant is hosen# 6his is one way of /eeping your system updated& but it la /s some of the fine.toothed ontrol you9ll learn to lo"e later# Enough for now that you /now it an be done this way and most of the time there are no hi ups# 6he most fre3uent diffi ulty omes when ertain /inds of pa /ages re3uire a little e4tra wor/ from you to update# 6hat9s why we ha"e the ommandline# Bou an do it from Synapti & but it9s simply not as reliable that way& nor an it be made as reliable as the ommandline# 2inu4 is li/e any other Ini4: %t9s a ommandline system first# Some time ago a pretty fa e was added& but it runs on top of the underlying operating system# 2inu4 itself seldom demands mu h from your hardware and does so at the lowest le"el possible# 2inu4 behind.the.s enes is ro / solid and reliable be ause of simpli ity itself# >dding a graphi al user interfa e +1I%- ine"itably re3uires tal/ing to a wide range of hardware in a wide range of onfigurations& and some of them are fran/ly "ery poorly done# So while an awful lot of wor/ has gone into the 2inu4 1I%& there will always be some problems# By the way& we all this 1I% )7* ( short for the 7 ser"er# 5hen things don9t happen to wor/ perfe tly& you an still get an awful lot done on the ommandline interfa e +C2%-# 0ebian in parti ular offers a "ery well thought out set of C2% pa /aging# %n theory& you ould do almost e"erything without 7 at all& and still ha"e e"erything the 1I% offers ( musi & "ideos& offi e appli ations& read P08s and display images& email and e"en surf most of the %nternet# Bour author has gone months when the only system a"ailable was not powerful enough to run a 1I%& and did all omputing from a 0ebian C2%# 5hen you start reading 2inu4 tutorials& you9ll see referen es to ommandline& C2%& terminal and onsole# 8or the most part& they are all the same# 6hat is& you open a window that offers a ommandline# 6here are se"eral different types# Howe"er& the term ) onsole* typi ally refers to operating without 7 at all# Bou will also see referen es to )the shell* ( an ient omputer.spea/ for the thin layer of software that allows you to use some "ery basi ommands to ommuni ate with the operating system# 6here are se"eral shells popular with 2inu4 users& but you only need to worry about the most ommon one& alled )bash#* 1et used to seeing that name as a primary referen e to the C2%# Bou re all at the bottom of your 78CE des/top was a +disappearing- panel# $ne of the items on there by default loo/s li/e an old style omputer monitor with a bla / s reen# %f you ho"er your mouse o"er this& it may say something about the ommandline# Cli / on that# 5hat you9ll see is a "ery plain window with some te4t displayed in the upper left orner# 6he olors an be hanged if you sear h through the menu for preferen es! the 2inu4 onsole is typi ally light gray te4t on bla /# 6he te4t you see may be rypti to you& but it indi ates the user a ount followed by the system9s name for itself +host

name-# 6hen there is a sort of symbol mar/ing what is alled the )prompt* ( the spot after whi h anything you type will show up# Bou ould type in something raDy and a identally mangle the way it operates& so we9ll as/ you to be patient and type only what you see in this lesson until we ha"e time to introdu e more about the C2% itself# 8or now& let9s learn how to manage pa /ages as we did with Synapti # 0ebian wor/ed out a fine system some years ago alled apt# 6here are a series of ommands with options related to using that term# 8irst& let9s type in the e3ui"alent of reloading the pa /age list# 6ype letter for letter what you see& /eeping in mind that you an use the BJSP& 0E2& right and left arrow /eys and edit what you type: apt.get update ,oti e the spa e there& be ause this tells the apt.get ommand what to do# Hit E,6EG# Bou9ll see the system pro essing the ommand& he /ing the "arious pla es where it loo/s for pa /age lists on the %nternet# 6hen the ommand prompt will return and wait for the ne4t ommand# So we type this and hit E,6EG: apt.get upgrade %nstead of updating the lists& we are telling apt to he / if any pa /ages need upgrading# 0epending on random ir umstan e& it9s li/ely you may see a response with a list of things showing in an indented blo / of te4t& and an option to sele t yes +y- or no +n-# $b"iously you should hit )y* and let it upgrade any pa /ages that need it# %t9s highly unli/ely to ause any problems at this point# $therwise& we need to pro eed with adding another few pa /ages you9ll probably want but don9t /now you9ll need# 6hose who surf the %nternet may ha"e noti ed that& despite all our efforts to mo"e away from some types of media display& a "ery large portion of the %nternet still lings to bad ideas# $ne of those is the >dobe 8lash Player# Bou an de ide you don9t want it and no one will blame you& but most people find it almost ne essary be ause too mu h of what they want on the ,et is still in the 8lash format# 0ebian9s apt will allow you to sear h the list of pa /ages using spe ifi sear h terms# 6he ommand is a little different& but you9ll probably figure out what it means# 5e want apt to sear h the a he of pa /age listings for something related to the 8lash Player& but the list would be "ery long still# %9ll gi"e you little hint based on the pa /age naming on"entions: apt. a he sear h flashplugin Calling it )flashplugin* narrows it down 3uite a bit# %n this shorter list& you will see an item labeled )flashplugin.nonfree#* 6his simply tells you that 8lash Player is not )free* in the sense of $pen Sour e& where you would be free to hange the ode# >dobe ontrols their ode tightly& so we ha"e to a ept it as is# So we want to install this& but right now we will loo/ at something useful for operating on the ommandline# Bou don9t always ha"e to type e"erything out by hand# Part of the 7 ser"er proto ols is something we all )mouse.paste* ( you an drag your mouseHpointer +holding down the left button- a ross a se tion of te4t displayed almost anywhere and the mouse pi /s it up in its own buffer& separate from the lipboard + ut& opy and paste- offered in almost e"ery 1I%# 6he mouse buffer will hold that te4t and

you an paste it by li /ing the middle button# %f you ha"e only two buttons& li / them both simultaneously and it should wor/ the same# 6hus& you an drag your mouse a ross the pa /age name )flashplugin.nonfree* and hold it in the mouse buffer# 6hen type this mu h: apt.get install 2ea"e a spa e at the end of that# ,ow pla e your mouse anywhere inside the terminal window where you typed that and li / the middle button# %n a terminal window& it pastes to the ursor# %t should paste the pa /age name behind the stuff you typed so you an hit E,6EG and it will try to install the pa /age# +Hint: %f you are reading instru tions li/e this on the same omputer where you are using those instru tions& you an mouse.paste the ommands& howe"er long and omple4& from the browser to your terminal#- Bou9ll get a brief warning about li ensing& but as you probably /now& you don9t ha"e mu h hoi e if you want 8lash Player# Fust pay attention to the prompts# 0uring installation of software of this sort& where some outside agen y ontrols the li ensing& you9ll run into all sorts of noti es& some re3uiring you to say )$J* spe ifi ally# 5hen you see su h a s reen of te4t and there9s an )$J* at the bottom& Eust hit the 6>B /ey to a ti"ate that and then E,6EG# $therwise you9ll get prompts for y and n& or similar options# >t the "ery least you should find the pro essing of 8lash Player installation to be a little entertaining# %t9s pretty on"oluted but the thing downloads and double he /s itself for all its parts& and then installs# $n e it9s done& you9ll get the prompt ba /# Bou now ha"e 8lash Player and all your browsers should be able to find it# Bou an use the menu of this terminal window to lose it& but the older orthodo4 method is to type )e4it* at the prompt& then hit E,6EG# %t will go away# 6hat9s all for this lesson# ): *a'e *ur'in# 8irst& a pop 3uiD: Bou will need a pa /age alled )gdebi#* Based on the pre"ious lesson& install it as you wish# %t will bring with it a few other pa /ages as dependen ies# %f you are using apt on the C2%& )gdebi* is the full name of the pa /age# $n e you ha"e it installed& this lesson ontinues# Bou may also want the pa /age alled )ttf.ms orefonts. installer* ( a olle tion of fonts parti ularly well suited for %nternet use# %t omes with a li ense# 6his is the 3ui /est and easiest way to get 5indows fonts +mentioned pre"iously for onfiguring the 78CE appearan e-# 6he problem with surfing the ,et is that most people aren9t paranoid enough# 5e ha"e no reason to be fearful& but the a"erage omputer user is entirely too trusting of what9s on the other end of that networ/ onne tion# 0espite the ommer ial reality of being in a dependent status as a user onne ting to the %nternet& on e you are on& you are among e3uals# 6he theory was e4plained long ago here# 5hile a maEority of ommer ially owned systems on the ,et assume a highly manipulati"e stan e as the norm& you ha"e a signifi ant ad"antage& in that it9s your omputer where things are displayed# Bou get to set some of the rules for intera tion with websites& and there isn9t mu h the ser"ers an do without simply refusing to ser"e up the information you re3uested# 6hat refusal is& for the time being& 3uite rare# 6he fol/s on the other end will whine and play mind games to see/ an ad"antage& but in the end& their in ome depends on deli"ering

the ontent# 6hey will ha"e a hard time pi /ing you out in the rowd of surfers and harassing you# 6he time it ta/es to ma/e detailed onfigurations to blo / those who won9t /iss their feet is often more trouble than they are willing to ta/e# ?irtually the entire %nternet is designed for the statisti ally dominant operating system plugged into the %nternet: 5indows# Be ause they are a business& 'i rosoft will grant other businesses some ad"antages o"er you& the user# Bou re all we noted pre"ious that running 5indows means the operating system is not the produ t being sold! the 5indows user is the produ t sold to "endors and ad"ertisers# By running 0ebian& you turn the tables and regain ontrol# Bou be ome an e3ual partner! you are running the same operating system as a signifi ant number of ser"ers on the ,et# 6he entral ne4us for the battle to preser"e your pri"a y is the web browser# 6here are doDens of browsers for 2inu4 and ea h is better at some things than others# Choosing Chromium is a ompromise& balan ing se"eral priorities against the wea/nesses# %t won9t offer e"erything you might want& but it also doesn9t for e you to a ept Eust anything the ad"ertisers and other reeps want to throw at you# Howe"er& in order to wor/ at all& browsers by their "ery nature will swallow a lot of data +holding it in a ) a he*- that isn9t really ne essary for you to onsume a tual information offered on the ,et# 6hey belie"e this e4 ess ele troni Eun/ will help them ma/e money but it is not at all good for you# 5e will use other software with the browser& and some if it in the browser& to help us preser"e some ad"antage against them# But don9t rely too hea"ily on the software to do it all for you# 6his is not a war where you an fire off your super missiles and forget about the target# %t re3uires a mindset of responsible wat hfulness# %f the %nternet is important to you& it9s worth as mu h time and attention as dri"ing on a rowded freeway# Bou might be using some pretty wimpy hardware& but 2inu4 in general& and 0ebian in parti ular is li/e dri"ing a tan/ with modular armor# Bou ha"e to ons iously install the right amount of armor to prote t without interfering with your normal operations# ,o one an gi"e you a pre.pa /aged sa""y to mat h your parti ular beha"ior& but we an put you in a position to sur"i"e until you an ma/e your own way ( the "ery nature of 0%B omputing# 6he biggest single issue is tra /ing# 5e9"e already seen how Chromium as a browser grants you slightly more pri"a y than it9s brother& 1oogle9s Chrome browser# 6hey are almost li/e twins in how they wor/ on your omputer! the differen e is how Chrome has se rets& and Chromium is open# But what wor/s on one generally wor/s on the other& so you ha"e a ess to all the same e4tensions that pro"ide ontrol and se urity on the ,et# 5e won9t ta/e the time to e4plore all the spe ifi dangers from that sort of tra /ing& but simply assert your inherent right to de ide# $n e you ha"e Chromium installed +pre"ious lesson-& there are adEustments you need to ma/e for omfort and se urity# Bou an find Chromium in the 78CE main menu under )%nternet#* 2aun h it and adEust the window siDe and lo ation to suit your tastes +we assume you /now you an drag the whole thing by li /ing and holding onto the top of the window frame-# %n the upper right orner of the window is an i on onsisting of three short parallel horiDontal lines! this is the main menu for Chromium# Sele t )Settings* ( this will open a new tab in the browser# Bou an ta/e a loo/ at what9s "isible so far# 6he top item& )Sign in* is a referen e to your 1oogle a ounts if you ha"e any# %t9s best not do this until you a tually need to use it for

some spe ifi reason# 5e shouldn9t put mu h trust in 1oogle any more than e"ery other predatory ad"ertiser# 'ost of what9s "isible there for settings you an figure out by playing with them# Inless you ha"e a preferred homepage somewhere already& hoose either Start Page or 0u /0u /1o ( both of these are sear h engines famous for preser"ing your pri"a y# 6he first one uses 1oogle9s sear h engine but doesn9t let 1oogle tra / you# 6he 0u / is based on Bande4 +another good one you probably ne"er heard of- and preser"es your pri"a y Eust the same# 6oward the bottom of the page& is a button to ma/e Chromium your default browser# 1ood idea& but it doesn9t always wor/ properly on 78CE# 6he proper way to do that: the 78CE Settings menu L Preferred >ppli ations# %f you don9t see Chromium listed in the drop.down for browser& Eust li / )other* and type into the little window ) hromium. browser* +as always& without the 3uotation mar/s-# %f Chromium ontinues to nag you& Eust sele t the option to 3uit as/ing you# 8arther down the settings page in Chromium is )Show ad"an ed settings###* Cli / on that# 6he first item displayed now is )Pri"a y#* Cli / )Content settings###* ne4t# > smaller window opens! for the first item you should sele t )Jeep lo al data only until % 3uit my browser#* 6his has nothing to do with sa"ing your passwords& but Eust about e"erything else websites inEe t into your system when you "isit their pages# Bou don9t ha"e mu h hoi e with images and s ripts& but you an be pretty restri ti"e on the other items listed there# Choose )Cli / to play* on plug.ins# %f you want to see a 8lash "ideo& you an li / it# $therwise& you9ll be distra ted by busy ad"ertising images you don9t really need to see# 5hen you9re done with that set of items& lose the window by li /ing )0one#* 6hen ta/e a loo/ at the list of he /.bo4es below the pri"a y heading# 5ithout going into all the details& it is re ommended that you de.sele t the first two items and sele t the rest# Bou an enable autofill and passwords& but don9t do that yet# %f you ha"e a really large number of passwords for a large number of sites where you ha"e to login& onsider using a password safe# 6here are se"eral& li/e JeePass& 2astPass and others# Howe"er& many people don9t trust any of the online pro"iders! a better alternati"e omes in the ne4t hapter# 8or now& disable that feature# 6a/e a moment to loo/ at the font settings under )5eb ontent#* Bou an ustomiDe in detail& and most people find the default fonts not the best +whi h is why we installed the 'S web fonts-& and the siDe is typi ally too large# %f you li / the ustomiDe button& a small window opens to allow detailed settings# 'o"ing the sliders will hange the sample te4t# 5hen finished& you an lose that small window# 'o"ing on down the list of ad"an ed settings& you probably should enable )Che / for ser"er ertifi ate re"o ation* and disable running ba /ground apps down at the bottom of this page of settings# 5hen you are finished& you an lose that tab and the settings will be automati ally sa"ed# 1o ba / up to the main menu for Chromium and sele t: 6ools L E4tensions# Bou won9t ha"e mu h& but there is a lin/ to the 1oogle Chrome store for e4tensions# Ge ently& 1oogle tested blo /ing free a ess to some anonymous users# %f you ha"e an a ount on one of 1oogle9s ser"i es& you an use that login to a ess the e4tension library# $therwise& you may ha"e to hunt them down indi"idually from the websites of those who ma/e them# >s it is& on the 1oogle site& not all of them are free& so pay attention# 6here

will be a sear h input bo4 on the page displayed there# Bou should sear h for and install three items: >dblo / +not >dblo / Plus-& 1hostery and Cli / O Clean# > fourth nifty add.on is the 0u /0u /1o sear h button# %nstead of entering your sear h terms in the IG2 bar at the top of the browser& you li / the du / i on on your browser and it opens its own sear h window# 6he sear h results will open up in a new tab# >ll of these e4tensions ome with their own tutorials# 1hostery has a onfiguration wiDard +hint: li / the )all* option on the blo / list-# 'ost people turn off the pop.up list +)bubble*- of what9s blo /ed on any gi"en page# %f you don9t understand why these e4tensions matter or how they wor/& you9ll simply ha"e to ta/e the time to read up on it# 6o a"oid the 1oogle a ounts tangle& try these lin/s: >dblo /& 1hostery and Cli / O Clean# Bou annot get the 0u / add.on& but you an set the 0u / as your default sear h engine using the instru tions they offer by going to their home page& right. li /ing in the address bar at the top and sele ting: Edit sear h engines# 5hen the Chromium options page opens with the sear h engine manager& ma/e sure to sele t your new sear h engine as the default# %f you prefer Start Page& they offer a lin/ to an installer to add their sear h engine# 6he little dialog that pops up is pretty mu h the same ontent as you would see in the Chromium settings# 6here are some other se urity tools and you9ll get the feeling they tend to o"erlap somewhat& yet none of them does it all# $ne final se ure surfing addition re3uires that you install a pa /age made for 0ebian& but the one in luded with 0ebian is a little out of date: Blea hBit# Ising your new 0u /0u /1o sear h tool or Startpage address.bar sear h option& enter )blea hbit download#* %gnore any sponsored lin/s at the top and noti e what omes up first: a page on a website alled )Sour e 8orge#* %n general& something you get from that site is li/ely safe and sane& but it so happens that Blea hBit is espe ially trustworthy# Bou an li / on the lin/ to that page and simply wade through the series of pages li /ing the lin/s to download the 2inu4 "ersion for your 0ebian system# %t will be listed on the download page as )0ebian = +5heeDy-* ( get used to seeing "ariations of this# 5hat you get will be dropped into your 0ownloads folder& whi h is in your home dire tory# 6his will be a )deb* pa /age and it9s not "ery large# %f you open 6hunar +file managerand li / on the lin/ to your 0ownloads folder& you9ll see an i on for a pa /age and the name )blea hbit* in part of the te4t# 6he pa /age is made for 0ebian and at the beginning of this lesson we installed the utility for handling this without the ommandline& whi h an get "ery ompli ated "ery 3ui /ly# 6he gdebi utility sa"es you a lot of hearta he# Fust right. li / the pa /age i on and in the onte4t menu you9ll be presented with the option to install with gdebi# Sele t that! a window pops up demanding your root redentials password# $n e you9"e gi"en that password& another window opens# 1i"e it time to pro ess# Bou may see a noti e that an earlier "ersion of the pa /age is a"ailable& but we /new that already# 5e want the latest and greatest "ersion# Cli / the big )%nstall* button and let it do its Eob# Se"eral things will flash on your display& but e"entually it all settles down and that button hanges to )Geinstall* ( that means you are done# Close that window# Blea hbit shows up in your 78CE main menu under System ( you aren9t li/ely to e"er need the lin/ for )Blea hbit as >dministrator* so you an ignore that and run the first

one# > small window opens up& and a smaller one pops up on top for onfiguration options# 6here is nothing there that needs your attention so lose that little pop.up and loo/ at the main appli ation window# Blea hbit allows you to hoose what sort of things it will remo"e# 6his is alled a ) a he leaner* ( it deletes all the tra /ing Eun/ that websites use to in"ade your pri"a y# 8or the most part& you should be able to identify the "arious things listed in that long olumn on the left side of the window# $ne of the first items is Chromium# Bou should sele t e"erything e4 ept Passwords and Sear h engines# %f you intend using 0ebian9s % eweasel +8irefo4- browser& you an sele t similar options under the 8irefo4 heading# Bou probably won9t need mu h else right now# Howe"er& if you ha"e run any 8lash "ideos& Blea hBit will dete t the 8lash oo/ies# %f not& he / ba / later# Sele t both items related to 8lash# ,oti e that Blea hbit has two large i ons on the upper left orner# 6he first is to inspe t the ontents of your "arious browser a hes! the se ond deletes them# Puite honestly& you should run this e"ery time you lose your browser& se"eral times a day# ,e4t: more safe surfing# +: ,ore *a'e *ur'in# 6he Chromium e4tensions we installed do se"eral things# 1hostery and >dblo / wor/ together to blo / the worst ad"ertising# 1hostery may need some fine.tuning so you an use ertain features on some sites ( posting omments& for e4ample# $r perhaps you ha"e a 5ordPress blog! 1hostery blo /s your 1ra"atar i ons by default# Bou an learn how to turn off blo /ing for whate"er you li/e# 5hen you are on a page with stuff blo /ed& hit the ghost i on and hange the settings for that page# >dblo / at hes more Eun/ by default and allows you the option of pi /ing out something you don9t li/e and adding it to your pri"ate list for blo /ing# Bou an blo / things spe ifi to ea h website or for e"ery website# %t does re3uire a bit of study to use it orre tly& but it9s worth the time# 6a/e a loo/ at the onfiguration options that display when you li / those i ons in your browser9s window frame# Cli / O Clean does something similar to Blea hbit& but does it while your browser is still open# Some websites are notorious for ignoring the proto ols and rules about tra /ing& and a few outright lie about what they do# >fter "isiting some websites& you need to run Cli / O Clean as soon as you lea"e# 6hat would be most maEor news media outlets& anything that pretends to be li/e a magaDine +Q0,et& >rs 6e hni a& 5ired& et #- and espe ially so ial media sites li/e 8a eboo/# %f you log onto su h sites& always log out to lea"e it and always run Cli / O Clean after you lose that tab in your browser or go to another page# $n e you ha"e set the options you want deleted& you an simply li / the i on& and then sele t )Clear pri"ate data#* %n re ent months the on ept of en ryption has made the te hnology news 3uite often# 6he idea is to pre"ent outside parties reading some portion of what you send and re ei"e o"er the %nternet# Some of this is built into your browser& en rypting your )session* ( the olle ted intera tions you ha"e with a parti ular website at one time# 6hat would be espe ially important if you do any of your ban/ing online# By default& ChromeHChromium does not en rypt your passwords for you& so you shouldn9t allow the

browser to store them dire tly# Howe"er& you an get Chromium to intera t with an en rypted )/ey ser"er* already running on your own omputer# 6he basi software is installed by default on "irtually e"ery 2inu4 omputer& 0ebian in luded# %t9s alled 1nuP1 +1,I Pri"a y 1uard- or simply )gpg* for short# %t9s a C2% program by default and ta/es some effort to learn# 6here9s a /ey ser"er along with it& another C2% program# Howe"er& you an install a graphi al front end that gi"es you some ontrol o"er how the ser"er a ts& and add a few omponents behind the s enes that you an lin/ up with Chromium# 6he pa /age is alled seahorse and you an install that now if you plan to use it# 5e9"e already o"ered installing pa /ages# Sometimes& after installing you will need to reboot your omputer to ma/e it run properly# %f so& on e you ha"e logged ba / into your user a ount and on the des/top again& the ser"er is already running in the ba /ground# Bou probably don9t e"en need to intera t with seahorse dire tly# 2ogging into your a ount should log you into the /ey ser"er& as well! it9s the same password by default# ,ow we ha"e to tell Chromium spe ifi ally to use this ser"i e# 5e need to hange how Chromium is laun hed from the i ons and menus# 6here are two ways to do this# 1. Create a desktop launcher: Gight. li / on the des/top ba /ground and hoose )Create 2aun her#* > small window pops up and you an hoose the name that will display with the i on# > nifty feature here is that if you start typing )Chromium* as the label& the interfa e will offer to finish the Eob for you# > se ondary line drops down from this input bo4 and offers to reate a Chromium laun her! li / on that and let it fill in the blan/s for you# ,o need to hunt down the i on or anything else# Howe"er& we need to hange the ) ommand* part# Cli / in that bo4 and slide down to the right.hand end +i#e#& try the E,0 /ey-# Hit the SP>CE bar and add this te4t: ..password.storeRgnome %t so happens seahorse is part of the 1,$'E des/top proEe t& but it wor/s fine on 78CE# Hit the )Sa"e* button and lose this dialog# 2. Change the launcher on the bottom panel: 1et the bottom panel to pop up# %f you ha"e hanged your default browser to Chromium& it will be asso iated with the i on that loo/s li/e a globe# $therwise& you may ha"e dragged a laun her down from the menu# Gight. li / and sele t )Properties#* %n the window that opens up& along the right side& the last i on at the bottom allows you to edit the laun her# Cli / that and open another window that loo/s identi al to the laun her onfiguration for the des/top# Ise the same string of te4t and simply paste at the end of the ) ommand* line# %t would be ni e if we ould hange the laun her in the 78CE main menu& but it9s not at all simple on 0ebian# Bou9ll need to ma/e sure you use the laun hers you reated yourself# 6hat way& from now on& when you start Chromium from your laun hers& it will automati ally onne t to the seahorse /ey ser"er and store your passwords there# ,ow you an go ba / and hange the onfiguration in Chromium under Settings in the menu and enable sa"ing passwords# %t will sa"e them in an en rypted form in the /ey ser"er# 6his same method wor/s with the ommer ial 1oogle Chrome browser& but be ause of how 1oogle builds it& you may e4perien e somewhat buggy beha"ior# 6hat is& it might

not always load the passwords from seahorse for some un/nown reason# Chromium tends to be more onsistent on this# Seahorse also wor/s for en rypting files and e"en email# 6here are se"eral good tutorials o"ering this and we ha"e no need to dupli ate that here# 6ry this one for general instru tions# 6here is one small item we need to fi4 before this is all done# Be ause of some pe uliar defaults in the way these things are pa /aged& we need to hange the way the /ey ser"er is onfigured# %n Ini4 2and& this sort of thing isn9t stored in some ar ane database& but simple te4t files# 5e are going to hange some of those te4t files so that this /ey ser"er made for 1,$'E re ogniDes 78CE as a proper en"ironment in whi h to run# Bou9ll need to open that terminal window again# 6his time we9ll also raise our authority le"el to root by using the su ommand: su root >fter you hit E,6EG& you9ll be told to enter root9s password& but you9ll be typing blindly# 6his pre"ents anyone loo/ing o"er your shoulder from seeing that password so easily# $n e you su eed in laiming root authority& s rape the following te4t with your mouseHpointer and then mouse.paste it into your root terminal session! it9s all one line# sed .i#ba/ SsH$nlyShow%nR1,$'E!Inity!H$nlyShow%nR1,$'E!Inity!78CE!Hg9 Het H 4dgHautostartHgnome./eyring.K#des/top %n essen e what this parti ular omple4 ommand does is hange a handful of onfiguration files so that they all say that the 1,$'E /ey ser"er an run on 78CE# ?ery often you9ll go loo/ing online for instru tions to fi4 something li/e this and it will be deli"ered as a ompli ated te4t ommand to be s raped from your browser window and pasted into a terminal window# 0on9t pani if you an9t opy this line# %t9s simply the 3ui /est answer& but you an do it manually# 5hile still logged in as root& simply na"igate to where those files are# d Het H4dgHautostartH 6here are four files that start with )gnome./eyring* with "arious ombinations of labels# Bou an edit ea h one separately with ease using the ,ano Editor# $n the ommandline& type: nano gnome Hit the 6>B /ey and it will finish partway# 5hat happens is the 6>B /ey tells the ommandline to finish it for you so you don9t ha"e type long filenames and ris/ getting something wrong# $n e you ha"e typed enough that the system re ogniDes whi h file is indi ated& the 6>B /ey sa"es you typing so mu h# %f there happens to be se"eral files with similar names& hitting 6>B will not wor/ 3uite that well! it will type for you as mu h as they all ha"e in ommon and wait for you to indi ate the differen e for the rest of it& when you an hit 6>B again# 8or the first one& it will display )gnome./eyring.) and wait for you to distinguish whi h of the four files that start with that# %f you type g and hit 6>B again& it will finish and gi"e you: nano gnome./eyring.gpg#des/top

%f you hit E,6EG& this will open a simple te4t editor with ertain ommands listed at the bottom of the s reen# Ising the P10, /ey& s roll down until you see a line that starts with )$nlyShow%nR1,$'E!Inity!*# Change this by adding without any spa es )78CE* and another semi olon# Be ause this is the C2%& you anTt li / to mo"e the ursor! use the arrow /eys until your ursor is where you need to type# 2oo/ing at the ommands at the bottom of the s reen& you see something that may seem rypti to you# 6he old Ini4 on"ention is that the aret +U- signifies the C6G2 /ey# CapitaliDing the letters is to ensure you an distinguish them& not be ause you need to type it that way# 6hus& to sa"e this file& hit C6G2V$ ( hold down C6G2 and hit o# Closing this editor is a separate step: C6G2V7# Bou need to repeat this pro ess until you ha"e hanged all four of those files: gnome./eyring.gpg#des/top gnome./eyring.p/ s11#des/top gnome./eyring.se rets#des/top gnome./eyring.ssh#des/top Change ea h one in the same way& adding 78CE to the list of des/tops that an run the /eyser"er# ,ow type in )e4it* twi e& on e to surrender the root redentials and a se ond time to lose the window# Bou may need to reboot for this to ta/e effe t# "m$ortant note+ >lmost e"erything you ould possibly need to /now about running 0ebian is already posted somewhere on the %nternet# 6here are no se rets& but some issues are rather obs ure# Bou will need to ta/e the time to learn how to use your fa"orite sear h engine to find that information# 6he 0ebian user ommunity is one of the largest of all the "arious de"elopment bran hes of 2inu4# > onsiderable amount is pro"ided by the 0ebian proEe t itself& but is often terse and assumes a higher le"el of e4perien e than most newbies bring to the tas/# %t9s worth the in"estment to learn the 0ebian approa h to things# %n the ne4t lesson we will o"er pe uliar hardware dri"er issues the 0ebian 5ay# -: .TI and /0IDI. Dri"ers 6he fol/s who ma/e omputer hardware aren9t always on good terms with the fol/s who de"elop 2inu4# Bou9ll hear both sides blame the other and it really doesn9t matter if what you need is simply to use the hardware you happen to ha"e# 'ost of the time& 2inu4 will wor/ fine with what you ha"e& but we9"e already seen during installation how it9s not always that simple# 6his is parti ularly the ase with graphi s hardware made by >6% +Gadeon- and ,?%0%># 'ost of the older hardware by these two giant ompanies is already going to wor/ as well as it an# Some of the newer stuff re3uires a little e4tra onfiguration by the user# 8ortunately& the fol/s who ma/e the hardware do pro"ide spe ial dri"ers for 2inu4& but the 2inu4 fol/s aren9t entirely happy with it be ause it9s not $pen Sour e# 0ifferent /inds of 2inu4 an ma/e it hard or easy to use# 0ebian fol/s ha"e made it pretty easy& though it9s not always easy to find#

6here are two paths for your Gadeon graphi s on 0ebian# %t9s possible to get a reasonable performan e by installing the spe ial pa /age )firmware.linu4.nonfree* and rebooting# 6his is simply another ase of 0ebian9s internal politi s of de"elopment that these dri"ers aren9t already installed by default# Bou an find an e4planation here with lin/s to some of the different hardware dri"ers o"ered by this poli y# Still& this is the re ommended way for most systems# %t will allow you to do most omputer tas/s& in luding show "ideos& but it will not pro"ide the most powerful fan y 30 rendering# Bou still need this firmware either way# %f you really must ha"e the latest and greatest 30 dri"ers& >'0H>6% Gadeon is o"ered with its own page on the 0ebian 5i/i# %f you followed the installation instru tions at the beginning of these lessons& you may not ha"e to worry about hanging the sour es#list file as noted on that page# Still& login as root and ta/e a 3ui / loo/ in )Het HaptHsour es#list#* 8ollow the instru tions on the 0ebian 5i/i for dis erning whi h "ersion of the Gadeon ards you ha"e and whi h "ersion of the Catalyst dri"ers you need# 5e are using 5heeDy& so that9s the se tion you use# 6his page will as/ you to use a different tool for installing +aptitude-& so you9ll learn something new# Fust open your terminal window and use the same method for obtaining your root redentials as in the pre"ious lesson# 6hen use your mouse to s rape and paste those ommands into your terminal and wat h it all go to wor/# Bou9ll need to reboot your omputer when it9s all done& so surrender root and e4it the terminal and all your other open appli ations and li / the other button ne4t to the 78CE main menu to logout of your system# $ne of the options that pops up in the window is )Gestart&* whi h is what we want to do here# 6he instru tions for ,?%0%> dri"ers are Eust as easy as for Gadeon# E"en better& there is no firmware you ha"e to hunt down# 6he default dri"er + alled nou"eau- does a pretty good Eob if you don9t really need 30# 1amers and hea"y graphi s rendering software generally re3uire a good 30 display# 0espite laims to the ontrary& most other fol/s do noti e some differen e on e the spe ial dri"ers are installed# 'ost things on your display will paint more 3ui /ly onto the s reen# 6he 2inu4 "ersion of ?al"e9s Steam engine games re3uire it& but you9ll need to do a lot of resear h to run Steam# 6he point to remember is that& be ause the 0ebian user ommunity is so "ery large and so used to 0%B omputer use that you are 3uite li/ely to find at least one person offering useful instru tions# $ften they will ma/e them simple enough that Eust about anyone who has gotten this far in this boo/ an ma/e it wor/# 0epending on what you try to do& you9ll find yourself learning how to ompile from the sour e ode your own spe ialiDed "ersion of some software# Part of the reason was hinted at abo"e: the politi s of 2inu4 software and how the rest of the world li/es to do things# 6he one greatest strength of 0ebian is the sheer numeri al siDe of the ommunity& but that is also its greatest wea/ness be ause it is also one of the most politi al bran hes of 2inu4 de"elopment# 6here is no es aping it& so get used to it# 6he good part is that there are enough fol/s who don9t are about the politi s that they will help ma/e it possible for you to get what you need#

%n the ne4t hapter we9ll loo/ at installing something you simply won9t get from 0ebian be ause of software politi s& and in the pro ess we9ll use the C2% some more# 1: .nother &ro2ser So we ha"e the Chromium browser& but maybe you prefer the other maEor browser family& alled 'oDilla# 5e ha"e noted already that 0ebian doesn9t use the offi ial labels for 8irefo4& but alls it % eweasel# 6hat9s some more of the politi al stuff we don9t really are about# 6hey also don9t offer the latest "ersion of 8irefo4H% eweasel# >s it is& 8irefo4 isn9t e"en the original produ t& but is itself the produ t of politi s within the de"eloper ommunity in"ol"ed in "arious 'oDilla 8ondation proEe ts# 5ay ba / when& this was the ,ets ape browser# %t had a built.in email lient +,ets ape Communi ator- and some other stuff# 6he owners released ,ets ape ode into $pen Sour e and it needed some serious help# 6he first impro"ed "ersions were alled 'oDilla# E"entually the ore proEe t was Eust a browser alled 8irefo4# 6he 'oDilla name be ame used for other things& but the original software pa /age is now alled Seamon/ey# 6he leadership at 'oDilla doesn9t hate it& but they aren9t all that supporti"e of it& either# So most of the fol/s wor/ing on Seamon/ey are "olunteers /eeping it ali"e# %t9s faster and lighter than 8irefo4& has more tools in luded& and is really easy to get# +%f you prefer 8irefo4& Eust read along and realiDe that most of the same instru tions apply#0ebian has a "ersion of Seamon/ey alled % eape& and it9s also not the latest& so we are going to install the real thing# %t so happens that the Seamon/ey fol/s always /eep a fully usable pa /age that runs Eust fine on 0ebian without any spe ial tri /s# %f you go to their main page using your 0ebian omputer& the website will dete t and offer you an immediate download of the orre t "ersion# So li / that blue lin/ and be prepared to wait a bit as you pull down 22'B# %f English is not your preferred language& you an li / the lin/ below that to find a list of other language "ersions# So what do we do with that big wad sitting in your 0ownloads folderC %t9s not in the 0ebian )deb* format so li /ing on it won9t summon the gdebi installer# %nstead& we are going to learn how to handle it from the ommandline# $pen your terminal appli ation# ,oti e that the prompt has you at your home dire tory# 5e need to mo"e oursel"es into the 0ownloads folder# %t9s not so hard: d 0ownloads %t9s the same ommand used on lots of operating systems& in luding the 5indows ommand prompt# %t9s the abbre"iation for ) hange dire tory#* 5hat do we ha"e hereC 2et9s as/: ls 6hat9s )2S* in the lower ase# 6his is the ommand to list the files present# $ne of them will say )seamon/ey* followed by some numbers and dots and finally a tar#bD2# 6hat tells us it is a tar ar hi"e that is ompressed using BDip "ersion 2# Bou9ll get used to those terms e"entually# 6ar is an old Ini4 method of bundling a bun h of files together in their proper order& in luding folders and sub.folders# 6here are se"eral different ompression tools and bDip2 is "ery ommon in the 2inu4 world#

5hile it9s possible to do this all at on e& you won9t learn as mu h that way# 8irst we unDip it& but we need to learn a new tri /# 6ype this: bunDip2 sea >s before& hit the 6>B /ey# $n e the full file name is all there& hit E,6EG# %n fa t& unless you9"e been downloading a lot of stuff in between these lessons& it should easily wor/ as soon as you get s and hit 6>B be ause no other file there beings with )s#* >s for the ommand itself& we aren9t Dipping it up& so it9s )b.unDip* and we ha"e to add the 2 be ause there is a different "ersion without the 2# So we are telling the system to run the bDip2 utility to un ompress the file# 5hen it9s done& what do we getC 6ry that ls ommand again& and you should see that the )bD2* part is gone from the name# %t9s Eust a tar file# 6he tar ommand is not 3uite the same and re3uires using swit hes to a ti"ate spe ifi fun tions# 8irst& we want to e4tra t the ar hi"e +4-& and we would li/e some information about it +" for )"erbose*-& to list the files as they ome out# $f ourse& we ha"e to be spe ifi to tell it whi h file& so whate"er follows the +f- swit h is the thing we want e4tra ted# 6o use any swit h& or all of them together +) on atenated*- we put a spa e after the ommand& then a hyphen with all the single letter swit hes: tar .4"f sea 6hat )f* has to be last# Hit the 6>B /ey again and it should hoose the right file& so hit E,6EG# > long list of files will whiDD down the s reen# 5hen it9s done& you an issue ls and you9ll see the tar file is still there& but there is now a new folder alled )seamon/ey#* Bou an tell it9s a folder be ause the letters display in blue instead of the default te4t olor# Qipped files and tar ar hi"es are typi ally in red letters& ordinary te4t files in the default olor& and other files in "arious other olors# 6here are se"eral different ways of handling this folder that ontains e"erything to ma/e Seamon/ey run# 6he most ommon way is to log in as root and mo"e it into the file system somewhere# So use the su ommand and gi"e your root password while we are still in this same 0ownloads folder# 6hen we mo"e the folder to a safe pla e# 8or now& the standard lo ation is in the HusrHlo alH part of the file system# >s root: m" #Hseamon/eyH HusrHlo alH 6hat9s the abbre"iated ommand )mo"e* and the dot in front of slash spe ifi ally tells the system we are pointing to this folder inside our urrent dire tory ( urrent dire tory is noted as a single period# 5e spe ifi ally add the trailing slash to the )seamon/ey* folder and mo"e it to somewhere else# %f you hit ls again& you won9t see the blue label for seamon/ey any more# But if you as/ your ls ommand to loo/ in that other lo ation& you should see it listed: ls HusrHlo alH 8rom here on out& when you see a ommand plastered on the page li/e that& you should /now to automati ally hit E,6EG e"ery time# Bou should see the seamon/ey folder listed there#

,ow& let9s reate a laun her so we an use it# Bou an do this on the disappearing panel or on your des/top# %n the first line of the laun her dialog we enter )Seamon/ey#* Bou an lea"e the ne4t line blan/# %nstead of typing in a ommand in the third& simply li / the button with the folder i on on the right end of the line and loo/ at the window that pops up# 'ost of the time& it should open to )HusrHbin#* %t may ta/e awhile to load the stuff there& but e"entually the main window will fill with the list of stuff in that folder# Ip near the left.hand side of the top you9ll see buttons in a row indi ating ea h of the folder designations in se3uen e# Bou9ll see )usr* and )bin#* Cli / the first one be ause it9s )ne4t door* to where you are right now# %n the new window list you9ll see )lo al#* 0ouble. li / that and the buttons a ross the top will hange# ,ow the list shows what9s inside the )HusrHlo al* folder# 0ouble. li / on )seamon/ey#* %nside that folder you9ll see fairly long list# Hunt down a simple )seamon/ey* file and double. li / on that# ,ow the laun her dialog shows your ommand properly# 5ould you li/e the offi ial i onC Cli / on the button that says )no i on* and you9ll get another dialog to hunt down the images a"ailable# 6he initial window will open to display all the standard system i ons# >t the top of that window is a drop.down! li / and sele t at the bottom )%mage 8iles#* 6hat will open a different dialog that should wor/ the same as sear hing for the )seamon/ey* ommand& so here is the lo ation: )HusrHlo alHseamon/eyH hromeHi onsHdefaultH*# Sele t the file labeled )default:@#png#* 5e are finished with the laun her so you an sa"e it and lose the dialog# 6est your laun her now# Seamon/ey ontains a lot more detailed options than 8irefo4& but not so many e4tensions are a"ailable# 8or e4ample& you an9t get 1hostery# Bou an get >dblo / Plus and you should& using the menu system to find )>dd.ons#* 6here may be other e4tensions you li/e from the list of what9s a"ailable& but we need something that is built into Chromium ( a way to /eep 8lash "ideos from playing automati ally# 6his is another pla e where software politi s ma/es things a little diffi ult# 6here is a 8lashblo / e4tension& but not in the offi ial list# 8ind it here and loo/ at the green s3uares# 6he one on the right is for us# Cli / that and you will be ta/en to the latest "ersion for Seamon/ey& with the "ersion number highlighted for you at the top of the bo4 with the word )%nstall#* Fust li / that and you9ll get it 3ui /ly# 6a/e the time to wal/ through the entire set of preferen es +Edit L Preferen es-& but you don9t ne essarily ha"e to fill in the information for your email if you don9t want to use Seamon/ey that way# 6here are two items of interest# Bou an for e animated graphi s to stop playing after on e through# Bou an also tell Seamon/ey to lean its a he without ha"ing to install Cli / O Clean# 6hat way& while surfing around& you an stop and hit: 6ools L Clear Pri"ate 0ata### Configure it to delete what you want& and then ma/e sure you don9t ha"e it as/ you ea h time if you /now what you li/e# > signifi ant differen e between 'oDilla browsers and all the others is the option to modify the default history settings so that you re3uire your browser to present a noti e for e"ery oo/ie thrown at it# %t9s a little o"erwhelming at first& sin e you9d learn some sites are tossing two doDen or more oo/ies all at on e& many from other domains# %t9s annoying to wade through that many in layers on top of your display& but there is a point to it# Bou an hoose to a ept& a ept for session only& or blo /# $n e you9"e told your browser& you an tell it to /eep tra / of that de ision for future referen e! he / the

)remember* blo /# $n e you ha"e your browser trained& it will remember and handle e"erything a ording to your preferen e# 6hus& you won9t need to delete oo/ies routinely& neither from the built.in tools nor when you onfigure Blea hBit for Seamon/ey or 8irefo4# >s with most browsers& you an he / to see if it9s up to date with the latest "ersion from the menu: Help L Che / for Ipdates# Be ause of how we installed Seamon/ey& it will often update itself without ha"ing to repeat the entire installation routine# Inless you ele t to /eep tra / of su h things more dire tly +there are mailing lists that do nothing more than notify people of software updates-& you should run this he / from the menu Eust about wee/ly& be ause there are se urity updates e"ery now and then# %f ne essary& t9s pretty simple to repeat this same installation pro ess ea h time# 5e are almost there# 3: ,ulti(edia 0ebian omes with most of what you need by default# 5e need to add Eust a few items for the ommon media playba /# Past releases of 0ebian didn9t in lude a full range of ode s for playing e"en some of the more ommon file types# Howe"er& that hanged with 5heeDy# By default& the 78CE des/top omes with ?2C& a media player that an handle Eust about anything in terms of file format# Howe"er it is Eust a bit ran/y with remo"able media& su h as audio C0s and "ideo 0?0s# 6here is an optional pa /age normally offered for 78CE alled Parole# %t9s Eust a well made front.end for something already installed on your system by default: 1Streamer# %f you plan to play any C0s or 0?0s& the pa /age name is parole# $f ourse& that won9t be 3uite enough with most 0?0s# Bou9ll also need 2ib0?0.CSS# Bou may re all a ontro"ersy o"er this little bit of ode that unlo /s 0?0s so that fol/s an play them on omputers that don9t fully ooperate with the wishes of the maEor media ompanies# 6he simplest answer is to obtain the pa /age from this 86P site# 2oo/ at the olle tion of files there and sele t the latest "ersion of )libd"d ss2* for your omputer +i3@<-# Bou don9t need the one mar/ed )de"* unless you plan on building appli ations that use this little pa /age dire tly# $n e downloaded& it9s easy to install with gdebi# Bou an read more on the 0ebian 5i/i# 6here was a time when using the e4ternal 0ebian 'ultimedia ProEe t was the only way to get the really good stuff& but it9s no longer re ommended& espe ially sin e the mainstream of 0ebian de"elopment o"ers pretty mu h the same ground# Bou9ll noti e on the wi/i page that if your system is missing anything you a tually use& you an always add the )liba" ode .e4tra.;3* pa /age& whi h repla es some of the normal stuff you already ha"e# >s a general se urity pra ti e& don9t install anything that you don9t a tually use# ,ow let9s onsider something Eust a little more ad"an ed# Part of the $pen Sour e ulture9s defian e of those who try to ta/e ontrol of your omputer for their own ommer ial benefit is a perfe tly legitimate tri / for olle ting "ideos& and more espe ially& musi you might enEoy from the li/es of Bou6ube# 5hen you "isit a "ideo site that uses 8lash Player& that "ideo is a tually downloaded onto your system and /ept in your browser a he# %t is not in a format you an re ogniDe& but it9s there# $n e the file

is on your system& you an theoreti ally do as you wish with it# 5hy not use a different tool to pull down that "ideoC 6hat tool would be a s ript alled youtube.dl# Bou an read all the do umentation if you li/e& but we will ta/e a 3ui /.n.dirty loo/ at how to use it# $n the page lin/ed on the 1itHub site& you an li / on the big blue date of the latest release& or follow the instru tions pro"ided Eust below it# Bou an put that file where you li/e& but a lot of people /eep it in their 0ownloads folder where they use it most# ,oti e that you ha"e to hange that file before it will wor/ properly# $n the page there are instru tions to turn it into an e4e utable s ript& but they assume a need for the )sudo* ommand that doesn9t apply to us# 5hene"er you see su h instru tions on the ,et& Eust remember that you log into the root a ount and don9t need that )sudo* business# Ba / in Chapter 3 we learned about permissions# $ne of those permissions is e4e ution# Bou an hange this using 6hunar and adEusting the file9s hara teristi s +right. li / L Properties-# Bou an also do it from the C2%# %n your terminal window& mo"e to where"er the file is& and use the ommand hmod ( ) hange mode#* 5e9ll use the swit hes that identify who and what: either the user +u- or all +a- and add +V- e4e ution authority +4-: hmod aV4 youtube.dl %f you run the )ls* ommand in that folder& you9ll see it9s now bright green& to signify it9s e4e utable# 6o learn all the possibilities& you an run it with the )help* flag# Howe"er& sin e this file is not in your normal path of e4e utable files& you9ll need to note for the system where that file is by putting in front the notation of )inside the urrent dire tory* +#H- so it loo/s li/e this: #Hyoutube.dl ..help Bou9ll get a full list of options and how to in"o/e them with different /inds of flags# Before we a tually grab a "ideo& let9s add a ouple of e4tra tri /s that this little s ript an do to simplify things# Bou9ll need to install two pa /ages: )rtmpdump* and )ffmpeg#* 6he s ript will all upon these as needed! the first will strip out restri tions and the se ond an be used to on"ert the format# ,e4t& you9ll need to sele t a "ideo! the IG2 typi ally omes in this format: )http:HHwww#youtube# omHwat hC"R4444444444#* 6hose 7s repla e the randomly assigned hara ters you normally see# Bou an study the options and learn how to use them& but here is the in antation for pulling down our fa/e e4ample& stripping out the "ideo and lea"ing the sound tra / in a"erage 3uality 'P3 format: #Hyoutube.dl (restri t.filenames .4 (audio.format mp3 http:HHwww#youtube# omHwat hC "R4444444444 6his is all one line& and will typi ally drop a simplified filename you an hange by using the mo"e ommand +m"-! mo"ing and renaming are all the same a tion as far as the system is on erned# Bou an use anything you li/e! this is Eust a sample of what9s possible: m" 8un/y8ile,ame#mp3 >rtist.ShortSong6itle#mp3 ,ow you ha"e a sound file of moderate 3uality that isn9t too awfully large and an be played ba / at will using ?2C or Parole# Bou an use 6hunar and drag it& to say& your 'usi folder#

8inally& we need to mention P08 readers# %t is possible to get an offi ial >dobe Geader for 2inu4& but it isn9t su h a good idea# >side from being a little buggy& it ta/es an e4 eptional amount of omputing power to use# 6here are easily a doDen better hoi es made for 2inu4 and all of them easy to install from 0ebian9s own olle tion of appli ations# 78CE omes with a rather simple )eP08"iewer* whi h is "ery 3ui / but la /ing in features# Bou might easily prefer something alled )0o ument ?iewer* +pa /age name is e"in e- or the mu h older styled 1host?iew +pa /age name g"-# 8or an a tual eboo/ "iewer +epub& mobi& lit& and other formats- you might want Calibre +pa /age name alibre-# 8or other types of spe ialiDed software& the simplest way to find something is to sear h the pa /age lists in either Synapti or on the C2% for something with the apability you need# $n the C2%& it9s: apt. a he sear h apability Fust repla e the world ) apability* with whate"er it is you see/# 5hile the list will return a lot of stuff that won9t help you& su h as "arious lib.this and lib.that& you an often tell by the des ription what ea h item does# Something that loo/s promising an be resear hed "ia your fa"orite sear h engine# 10: Final Considerations >s noted from the start& this is 0%B omputing& but you aren9t alone by any means# 8irst& let9s o"er some final items# %f you ha"e a olle tion of 6rue6ype fonts you want to use& you an add them to your system most easily by reating a dot.folder in your home dire tory: )#fonts#* Copy your fonts there and they should be a"ailable almost immediately# >lso& if you want to use the C2% more& it is highly re ommend that you learn to use the 76erm# %t9s on your system& but not normally lin/ed in the menu# Create a laun her on the des/top andHor your laun her panel# Jeep in mind that if you ha"e a large display& the font siDe should be )A41;#* $therwise& espe ially on laptops& you9ll probably need )@413*! that9s what you put after the font swit h +.fn-# Here is a sample of the laun h ommand with traditional olors: 4term .fn @413 .bg bla / .fg lightgray Gesear h: the ursor swit h +. r- determines the olor of the ursor blo /# 6ry ). r s/yblue* at the end of that ommand& or some other olors by name# %f you are truly ambitious& learn how to personaliDe your C2% prompt! it affe ts any pla e you login on that system& in luding the a tual onsole& be ause you sa"e it in your )NH#bashr #* >n e"en longer and more te hni al "ersion is here# >s promised: tou hpad users will probably need one spe ial tool# 6he pa /age name is )gpointing.de"i e.settings#* %nstall this# Bou9ll need to all it up from the C2% using the same name as the ommand# > graphi al window will open and gi"e you an opportunity to onfigure the most ommon tou hpad and mouse settings#

%t9s possible this tool won9t wor/ as you li/e# %f su h is the ase for you& you9ll need to do some resear h on how to use something on the C2% alled )syn lient* and ma/e test settings# 6hey are temporary& lasting only for that login session# Bou an adEust things in rementally li/e the a eleration fa tor +'inSpeed-& turn on s rolling +?ertEdgeS roll-& hange the tap.to. li / sensiti"ity +?ertHysteresis-& et # 6his page from another brand of 2inu4 alled >r h is a good starting pla e# 5hen you ha"e ea h setting you li/e& sa"e them in a te4t editor +li/e 'ousepad-# Colle t them into a file as e4plained there and hange them to the proper format& and reate the ne essary lo ation to store that file with the proper name# 6he instru tions there will wor/ for 0ebian# Bou9ll need root redentials for that# Something li/e: m/dir Het H711H4org# onf#dH Bou9ll sa"e your file in that folder with the name the page shows you# Bou9ll still /eep your temporary settings until you need to logout# 5hen you reboot& those settings will load and be ome more permanent# 6his and so mu h more is out there# %deally& you would ma/e friends with a 0ebian user in meat spa e# 6here9s nothing li/e finding a fellow.tra"eler to /eep you sane# ,e4t most useful is Eust about any 2inu4 user# Infortunately& most serious 2inu4 users are e4 eedingly partisan in fa"or of their own brand of 2inu4# %t9s more a matter of their urrent pleasure than a realisti analysis of your needs# 6he Deal borders on religious fanati ism at times so be warned# 6o some degree& you ould run into the same problem if you Eoined some online forums& whi h is about the ne4t best thing to a li"e human onta t# Bou9ll need to spend some time reading the prere3uisites& as su h a busy forum an9t wor/ if it9s littered with ill. onsidered noise and the same 3uestions repeated endlessly# Bou an use the built.in sear h fun tion to sa"e time# %t ma/es sense to simply read some of the problems posted and how fol/s reply& or how they may not# 6he offi ial 0ebian forums are populated with some de ent fol/s& but most of them seem oriented on system administration# 'ere des/top use is but a minor interest there& but they will help you if they ha"e time and /now the answer# 6hey do ha"e a de ent Beginner9s 1uide& a tually more li/e a set of lin/s to e4ternal referen es& posted permanently# Ea h maEor bran h of 2inu4 de"elopment has a forum of some sort& dedi ated to fol/s who use that one brand of 2inu4# 6here are other /inds of 2inu4 forums and general omputer user forums o"ering more than Eust 2inu4# Ea h has its own good and bad points# %f nothing else& simply learning how to use a sear h engine really well is more than enough for a lot people# 2inu4 users in general& and 0ebian users in parti ular& run all o"er the map in terms of personality# Howe"er& there is a preponderan e of fol/s who are great with omputers largely be ause they are so inept with their fellow humans# Fust being an ordinary user who simply wants to get their wor/ done may well put you at odds with people who find you insuffi iently enthusiasti about the pe uliar philosophy of $pen Sour e Software and 2inu4# Sometimes it helps to remind them that you Eust want to get your wor/ done# 6hus& most of the boo/s and websites dealing with 2inu4 tend to be highly tilted to the te hnology fan.boy rowd# 6his& while the greatest tea hers are those who an remember

not /nowing what they now tea h& and are ready to help you ross this territory that is wholly new to you# Bou really do need to learn more about the 2inu4 ommandline# 6here are times when you9ll simply ha"e to use it be ause something went wrong and only "ia the C2% an you fi4 it# 6he same goes for 5indows& 'a and a great many other operating systems +your author has had to use it on those others 3uite often-# > ouple of pla es that might be espe ially helpful on the C2%: 2inu4 Command is a ni e& fairly short ourse in be oming a 3uainted# Here is a "ery brief des ription of some ommonly used ommands and the basi ideas# 8inally& for a more traditional a ademi approa h& the Ini4 6utorial for Beginners from the Ele troni Engineering 0epartment of Surrey Ini"ersity in the IJ is as good as it gets# 0ebian has a wealth of information& in luding manuals and guides& some of whi h you an a tually install as pa /ages# $ne the most useful tools is the 0ebian Geferen e Card& whi h is a P08 file of two pages with a "ery brief olle tion of some of the most useful ommands for the C2%# %f you install any of these& they9ll show up in the 78CE main menu under )> essories#* Cli /ing on the menu will open your default web browser with an internal webpage that lin/s to se"eral different translations# 8ran/ly& you will only remember well what you a tually use# 6he more you use it& the more omfortable it gets# 6his is an entirely different world# But it9s a world that has a omplished a lot out of the spotlight and la /s publi ity only be ause it la /s the high profits to pay for hea"y onsumer ad"ertising# So mu h of it is done for free by people who aren9t the best at understanding publi ity that it remains less well /nown than the ommer ial operating systems that are simply not any better in terms of user e4perien e# 6ry to a"oid thin/ing that different is either good or bad# Bou ha"e now begun to e4plore 2inu4# 1et used to the mindset that you an do Eust about anything you really want& e"en if it may ta/e some time# $n e you get omfortable with this new way of thin/ing about omputers& you9ll wonder how you e"er got along the old way# 6his is your omputer! ta/e harge# WWW 6he author gratefully re ei"es donations and is 3uite willing to tea h this or similar ourses in person# Conta t the author: Email ( eddieXsoul/iln#org Blog ( 0o 5hat9s Gight Site ( Jiln of the Soul