About GNOME
GNOME 2.0 is an open source desktop environment and window manager for UNIX and Linux systems. It is now available on all ITS managed Solaris 2.9 workstations on campus.
Starting GNOME
GNOME can be started from the Solaris xdm menu by clicking on the
Sessions button and selecting GNOME. Then log into the machine using your
USC username and password.
If you have never logged into the SUN workstations before, you may get
the following prompt. Select GNOME 2.0
Desktop and click OK.
GNOME will then show its splash screen, load components for a few seconds, then start.
Starting Programs
Pre-defined links to programs can be found in the GNOME (foot) menu in the upper
left corner of the screen. Click on the GNOME menu (the foot), then click on Applications. In that menu you will find
programs such as Netscape 4, a CD player, gnome-terminal, as well as
all of the configuration for GNOME.
Since the programs in this menu account for less than 1% of the total programs available on the Solaris systems, you may still need to make your own links or use a terminal to call other commands and programs. Adding your own links is covered in the Customizing GNOMEsection of this document.
All the programs you run will show up on the Window List bar at the bottom of the screen. For instance, if you were running a gnome-terminal, your Window List would look like this:
Minimized programs appear in the Window List with a gray icon and their name in square brackets.
Confirming Changes
It is important to note that there are very few OK or Cancel buttons
in GNOME. Most settings you change (pulldown menus, checkboxes, etc.)
take effect immediately. You simply need to close the dialog when you
are done.
Nautilus
Nautilus is the graphical file browser for GNOME. You can access
Nautilus by double-clicking on the username's Home icon on your Desktop.
The preferences for Nautilus can be found in the Edit menu under Preferences.
Trash Can
The trash can on your GNOME desktop stores files that are pending
deletion. It is an icon under your Home directory called Trash. You can delete files from your home
directory by dragging them to the trash. Nautilus also has a function
called Move to Trash. When the Trash is
not empty, its icon shows papers in it. It is important to note that
files in the Trash continue to take up space on your Solaris account
until you right click on the Trash and select Empty Trash, then click on the Empty button.
gnome-terminal
GNOME Terminal is a GNOME replacement for xterm. It can be found in
the GNOME menu under Applications and System
Tools. The icon is called Terminal.
There is also a launcher for it on the top panel next to the Actions menu by default. GNOME Terminal can be
accessed from any X-capable machine connected to a USC Solaris 2.9 machine.
So for instance, you can set the remote command for xwin-32 for
Windows or X11 for OS X to be /usr/bin/gnome-terminal.
gnome-terminal Tabs
GNOME Terminal supports multiple tabs, which allow you to keep many
shells connected to any number of different servers in the same
window. You can open new tabs by pressing Control-Shift-T, or by selecting File, New Tab, then
any profile from the list. You can switch between tabs by clicking on
them or using Control-PageDown.
gnome-terminal Customization and Profiles
You can customize the way GNOME Terminal looks and functions by going
to Edit then Profiles.... Select the profile you wish to
edit and click on the Edit button. Most
of the options in this dialog are pretty straightforward, so it is up
to you to explore them and customize the terminal to your liking.
However, it you should make sure Run command
as a login shell is selected from the Title and Command tab. This will make sure that
important files like your .login and
.cshrc are loaded when the
terminal starts up.
Last updated:
February 04, 2011