C H A P T E R  9

Personalizing Ubuntu: Getting Everything Just Right

If you've read this book from Chapter 1, by this stage you no doubt have become comfortable with Ubuntu. You've started to realize its advantages and are on the way to making it your OS of choice.

But things might still not be quite right. For instance, you might find the color scheme is not to your taste. Or maybe your login picture is not entirely satisfactory. Maybe you simply want to get away from the default theme and stamp your own identity on the desktop. That's what this chapter is all about: personalizing Ubuntu so you're completely happy with your user experience. To do this, you will thoroughly examine the GNOME desktop and explore its potential. You'll also add some panache to that most important application, the web browser, so it fits perfectly into your desktop.

Unity or Classic

Amongst the most significant changes in Ubuntu 11.04 is the introduction of a new graphical interface: Unity. The purpose of Unity is to make working with Ubuntu even easier. The most frequently used applications are available from the Unity Launcher in the left part on the screen, and there is a well-integrated search function that helps you easily find the application you need. Ubuntu does offer you a choice, though; if you prefer working from the classic interface, you can select it as an alternative.

If your hardware supports both interfaces, you'll get Unity by default, with the option to activate the classic interface if you'd rather use that. If the graphical card in your computer doesn't meet the hardware requirements, you'll get the classic interface by default, with no option to switch to Unity.

For sure, if you're a long-time Ubuntu user who's used to the classic interface, it will take some time to get accustomed to the new interface, but you can switch any time you want while logging on (or you can make the change permanent). Here, you'll learn how to do both.

Choosing Your Session Type Permanently

To select the session type from which you want to work permanently, click the Power button in the upper right corner of your screen. From the menu that displays, choose System Settings to get access to the System Settings menu. You'll now see the Control Center. In there, select Login Screen (under the System heading) and click Unlock to get access to the different options that are available. After entering your password, you'll be able to specify how the login screen should be configured. In the lower part of this window (see Figure 9-1), you'll see a drop-down list where you can select your default session type. Choose from the following options:

Figure 9-1. From the System Settings menu, you can select which display mode to use by default.

• User Defined Session: Use this to start a session for which you have defined the properties yourself.
• Ubuntu (Safe Mode): Select this to start Ubuntu in Safe mode. This is mode in which a minimal amount of drivers will be loaded to maximize the chances that Ubuntu will be able to load successfully.
• Ubuntu Classic (No effects): Use this if you don't want to use Unity, but rather the Ubuntu Classic interface and no additional graphical effects. This mode is recommended if your computer has a graphical card with limited capabilities.
• Ubuntu: If your hardware supports it, this is the default mode that uses Unity.
• Ubuntu Classic: If your display hardware doesn't support Unity, this will be the default mode. You can also select this mode to work without Unity.
• Recovery Console: Select this to reboot your computer in a minimal Recovery Console Mode, but be aware that you do need good Linux command-line skills to work with your computer in this minimalistic mode!

Changing the Look and Feel

Ubuntu is similar to Windows in many ways, but the developers behind it introduced improvements and tweaks that many claim make the software easier to use. For example, Ubuntu offers multiple virtual desktops (also called workspaces)—long considered a very useful user interface feature that hasn't found favor in Microsoft's designs.¹

If you work in the Ubuntu Classic mode, the Ubuntu desktop moves the Programs menu (known in Ubuntu as the Applications menu) to the top of the screen, leaving the whole width of the screen at the bottom to display taskbar buttons. This is very sensible, because the buttons don't look cramped when more than a handful of applications are open. In Unity, you don't see any menus by default, just the Unity launcher that is on the left part of your screen. However, if you're not satisfied with Ubuntu's out-of-the-box look and feel, almost every aspect of the desktop experience is available for tweaking.

You might be used to changing the desktop colors or wallpaper under Windows, but Ubuntu goes to extremes and lets you alter the look and feel of the entire desktop. Everything from the styling of the program windows to the desktop icons can be altered quickly and easily.

Altering the Theme

Ubuntu refers to the look of the desktop as a theme. Whether you opt to use GNOME or KDE as your main desktop, Ubuntu allows you to radically personalize the whole visual experience. Several themes come with the distribution, and you can download many more. Each lets you change the way the windows look, including the buttons, scrollbars, window decoration, and icon set (although some themes come without additional icons). There is also a small selection of assistive themes designed to improve the desktop experience for partially sighted users.

However, unlike Windows themes, GNOME themes don't usually change the fonts used on the desktop, and the background will probably remain broadly the same. You can change these manually, as described in the “Setting Font Preferences” and “Changing the Desktop Background” sections a bit later in this chapter. The other difference is that GNOME has these facilities built in—you won't need to buy or install extra software just to change the desktop appearance.

To alter the theme, click the Power button in the upper right part of your screen. Next, select System Settings to open the Control Center. From there, select the Appearance application. Then it's simply a matter of choosing a theme from the list on the Theme tab in the Appearance Preferences dialog box, as shown in Figure 9-2. Each selection has a small thumbnail to show you what the theme looks like. When you select one, it will be applied immediately to the desktop, including any open applications and windows. To get a really good idea of how the theme looks, you can open a Nautilus window by clicking the Home Folder icon in the Unity Launcher. This will give you a feel for how the icons, window decorations, and widgets such as scrollbars and menu bars look in a real-world context.

Figure 9-2. Ubuntu comes with several theme choices.

The default theme in Ubuntu is called Ambiance. Radiance is a similar theme, but with a different color palette. Remember that you'll be working with the theme on a daily basis, so it should be practical and not too distracting. Those miniature Close, Minimize, and Maximize buttons might look stylish, but they're useless if they're so small that you can't reliably click them with your mouse; and if your eyes are constantly wandering to a beautiful but overpowering title bar, you won't be concentrating on your work or play. Depending on the theme you select, the Close, Minimize, and Maximize buttons can be in different places in the top bar of each window. Ambiance in particular sets them to the left in the following order (from left to right): Close, Minimize, and Maximize, whereas Clearlooks uses a more traditional, Windows-like positioning and order.

In addition to changing the overall theme, you can also modify individual theme components and even download more theme components.

Changing Individual Theme Components

You can alter the five aspects that constitute a GNOME theme: the controls (sometimes known as widgets), color scheme, window borders, icons, and mouse pointer. To make changes to a theme, select it on the Theme tab of the Appearance Preferences dialog box and then click the Customize button. You will see the Customize Theme dialog box, as shown in Figure 9-3.

Figure 9-3. You can customize a theme by choosing your own controls, colors, window border, icons, and mouse pointer.

Click each tab to see your choices:

Controls: These are the elements you click within dialog boxes and windows: buttons, scrollbars, check boxes, radio buttons, and so on. The chief difference between one set of controls and another relates to their 3D effect—some are inset against the background, and some appear to be prominent. Some controls are shiny, and some appear flat. Additionally, some are rounded and some are square. Rounded controls feel friendlier, maybe even playful, while square controls tend to feel more businesslike.

Colors: You can set the background and text color of windows, input boxes, selected items, and tooltips. However, note that controls nearly always come with their own color schemes, which override any changes you make to color settings. A few controls not only override color settings, but also do not support tweakable color schemes. Examples include the HighContrastInverse and HighContrastLargePrintInverse controls. If you adjust these, ensure that you have enough contrast between the various elements; otherwise, you may end up with eye strain or a headache!

Window Border: The options on this tab control the borders of program windows and dialog boxes. Particular attention is paid to the top of the window, where the program name appears along with the Close, Minimize, and Maximize buttons.

Icons: This tab lets you control which icon set is in use. An icon set includes icons for everything you see on the screen or in menus, including folders, the Trash, programs, hard disks, network servers, and so on. Selecting a new icon set will change all icons.

Note The Icons tab of the Customize Theme dialog box doesn't let you change the icons for specific desktop items. You can change any icon that is on your desktop by right-clicking the icon, selecting Properties from the menu that appears, and then clicking the icon preview button at the top left of the dialog box. Note that most stock icons are stored in /usr/share/icons, but if you've downloaded a particularly fine icon into your Home folder, click the Browse button and locate that. Any icons you change individually in this way won't be affected by changes made to the icon set.

Pointer: On this tab, you can set the appearance of the mouse pointer. Aside from the pointer's design, you can change its size (although this is not supported on all mouse pointers) by adjusting the Size slider. A larger mouse pointer might help the visually impaired. A small mouse pointer would be appropriate for low-resolution or small screens like those on ultraportable laptops.

If you change any of these options, the Theme thumbnail will change to the first one in the Appearance Preferences window, labeled Custom. To preview the effects fully, the best policy is to keep a Nautilus window open. When you've made your choices, you can save the theme for further use. Click Close in the Customize Theme dialog box, and then click the Save As button on the Theme tab of the Appearance Preferences dialog box. You'll need to give the theme a name and, if you wish, a short description for future reference. By putting a check in the Save Background Image check box, the theme will also remember the background that's in use. Once saved, the theme will be available for selection from the Theme tab, where the themes are listed in alphabetical order. If you selected the Save Background Image check box, when you select the theme in the future, the background will be suggested at the bottom of the Theme tab. To select it, just click the Apply Background button.

If you don't save the theme, as soon as you select another one, the changes you made will be lost.

Installing Additional Components

If you get tired of the built-in possibilities, you can download additional theme components, such as window borders and controls, to enhance your desktop experience. Two popular web sites (among others) that you can visit are GNOME Art (http://art.gnome.org) and GNOME-Look (http://gnome-look.org). The GNOME Art web site is officially supported and is opened when you click the “Get more themes online” link on the Theme tab of the Appearance Preferences dialog box. GNOME-Look tends to be driven more by enthusiasts. Both offer a massive choice of theme components.

The GNOME Art site, shown in Figure 9-4, gives you access to just about every theme ever created for GNOME. In fact, the site also contains background selections, icons, and much more. All of the offerings are free to use.

Figure 9-4. The GNOME Art site contains the latest themes, and you can use all of them with Ubuntu.

Installing new theme components is easy, and the instructions here work just as well for the GNOME-Look site. If you wish to install a new window border, for example, click the link to browse the examples, and when you find one you like, click to download it. It will be contained in a .tar.gz or .tar.bz2 archive, but you don't need to unpack it (be sure to select the Save File option from the Firefox dialog box). Simply open the Appearance Preferences as described earlier in this chapter, and click the Install button on the Theme tab. Then browse to the downloaded theme and click Open. You can also just drag the .tar.gz or .tar.bz2 file onto the Theme tab of the Appearance Preferences dialog box for an instant installation. Either way, you'll be asked whether you want to use the new theme component immediately. You can say yes, or choose it later from the Customize Theme dialog box (opened by clicking the Customize button in the Appearance Preferences dialog box), where it will be available on the relevant tab.

You can delete the downloaded file when you're finished, because the information will be copied automatically to the correct place.

Changing the Desktop Background

It's easy to switch backgrounds under Ubuntu. You can also add your own images and set background size, or select a background color if you don't wish to use an image. These changes can be made from the Background tab of the Appearance Preferences menu, as shown in Figure 9-5.

Figure 9-5. Ubuntu comes with a large choice of desktop background images, with even more available for download.

Switching and Adding Background Images

On the Background tab, you can select from a list of images. You can choose any of the installed images or, by selecting the thumbnail at the top left, opt for no image at all. In the case of the latter, you can use the drop-down toward the base of the window to choose the color background style (detailed in the following options), and the colors to include by using the selector(s). You have the following options to determine how your desktop colors are used:

Solid color: This option fills the desktop with one uniform color. You are provided one color button to set the color.

Horizontal gradient: This option fills the desktop with one color on the left, blending with another color from the right. You are provided two color buttons to specify both colors.

Vertical gradient: This option fills the desktop with a color on top, blending with another color at the bottom. You are provided two color buttons to specify both colors.

To specify the color or colors that will be used, click the color buttons beside the Colors drop-down list. The Pick a Color dialog box will appear. Select a color by clicking or dragging the color wheel. You can also use the eyedropper tool to obtain any color displayed on your screen, including anywhere on the desktop or in open windows. Simply click the tool on the color.

If none of this works for you, you can manually provide the hue, saturation value (HSV); red, green, blue (RGB) values; or color name by specifying the combination of hexadecimal digits (this will be familiar to web designers).

A preview of your selection is shown at the bottom left of the dialog box, in the right color preview bar. The previous color that you selected is shown in the left color preview bar. Click the OK button after you've chosen your preferred color.

If you want to use a picture of your own as the desktop background, click the Add button and then browse to the picture's location. In contrast to theme element installation, your own images are not copied to a new location, so if you delete a picture used for a background, the background image will disappear and be replaced with the normal background color.

Choosing a Background Style

From the Style drop-down list on the Background tab, you can select from the following choices:

Tile: If the picture is smaller than the desktop resolution, this option simply repeats the picture (starting from the top left) until the screen is filled. This option is primarily designed for patterned graphics.

Zoom: This option forces the picture to fit the screen, without any borders at the top and bottom. It avoids altering the aspect ratio. If the wallpaper isn't the correct aspect ratio, parts of the top/bottom or left/right of the image may be cropped off. In most cases, choosing Zoom will give you the best appearance.

Center: This option places the picture in the center of the screen. If the image is not big enough to fill the screen, a border appears around the edge. If it's bigger than the screen, the edges of the picture are cropped off.

Scale: This option enlarges the image if it's too small or shrinks it if it's too big, but it maintains the aspect ratio, thus avoiding distortion. However, if the picture is in a different aspect ratio than the monitor, it may have borders at the edges.

Stretch: This option forces the picture to fit the screen, including squashing or expanding it if necessary (known as altering its aspect ratio). If the picture isn't in the same ratio as the screen, it will look distorted. Most digital camera shots should be OK, because they use the same 4:3 ratio as most monitors (although if you have a widescreen monitor with a 16:9 ratio, a digital camera picture will be stretched horizontally).

Span: This option is new in Lucid Lynx. When you have multiple monitors, select this option to have the wallpaper centered between them.

Setting Font Preferences

Ubuntu lets you change the fonts that are used throughout the desktop and applications (referred to as system fonts). You can also alter how they're displayed, which is useful if you want to get the best image on an LCD monitor.

To change a system font, open the Appearance Preferences dialog box and click the Fonts tab, as shown in Figure 9-6. Click the button next to the system font you want to change, and then choose from the list. You can also set the font point size, perhaps to make the labels beneath icons easier to read.

By clicking the entries in the Rendering section of the Fonts tab, you can change how fonts look on your monitor. This will alter the antialiasing and hinting of the font. Antialiasing softens the edges of each letter to make them appear less jagged. Hinting affects the spacing and shaping of the letters. Used together, they can make the on-screen text look more pleasant and easier to read. Try each Rendering setting in sequence to see which looks best to you (the text in the dialog box will update automatically to show the changes). Nearly everyone with a TFT-based screen, including notebook users, finds the “Subpixel smoothing” option best.

Figure 9-6. You can alter the way fonts appear on the screen by using the Fonts tab of the Appearance Preferences dialog box.

Using Desktop Visual Effects

Provided your computer is compatible with enabling these effects and is utilizing the correct graphics card drivers (see the “Installing 3D Drivers and Activating Desktop Visual Effects” section in Chapter 7), you can introduce a range of cool, useful—and occasionally, just plain weird—effects to your computer desktop.

Three basic settings for desktop visual effects are available: None, Normal, and Extra. You can switch between them by selecting the System Settings tab, and then selecting the Visual Effects tab of the Appearance Preferences dialog box.

As you might expect, the None option turns off the effects. This can be useful if your computer slows down when the effects are in use or if you're using older hardware. The Normal setting implements the standard set of effects, offering subtle but not overly noticeable changes to the interface, and is the default choice if your computer is capable of effects. The Extra setting adds more effects, largely for fun but also with some offering productivity benefits. Additionally, you can opt to install some extra software that gives you even more fine-grained control over what effects are used. The following sections discuss each of these choices for visual effects.

Using the Standard Visual Effects

The standard visual effects, used when the Normal setting is chosen, add shadows to windows and also add minimize animations so that programs literally appear to shrink into the panel. You might also notice that inactive windows and their title bars are translucent. Additionally, when a window is opened or closed, the window will appear or fade away, respectively.

Virtual desktops: If you use virtual desktops, as described in Chapter 6, you'll be pleased to know that the desktop effects system enhances the experience. You can use the Ctrl+Alt keys in combination with the arrow keys on your keyboard to switch between virtual desktops. As you navigate from one virtual desktop to another, a grid in which each cell represents each virtual desktop will appear in the center of the screen, and a cell will be highlighted for a short period of time to let you know which virtual desktop you are on.

Application Switcher: As well as moving between virtual desktops, you can navigate through applications with the Application Switcher. Just press Alt+Tab to see the list of running applications in miniature view, arranged horizontally in the center of the screen, as shown in Figure 9-7. Press the Tab key repeatedly until you find the desired application at the center of the list. Release the Alt key to switch to the desired application. Minimized applications are represented by their application icon, because Ubuntu doesn't have the option of grabbing a live screen of them. Releasing the Alt key on a minimized window will open it out.

Figure 9-7. To use the Application Switcher, hold the Alt key and press the Tab key until you find the desired application at the center of the list.

Using the Extra Visual Effects

By selecting the Extra option from the Visual Effects tab of the Appearance Preferences dialog box, you can enable a handful more visual effects. These include all the features of the Normal effects and then some. For starters, you will notice that when you drag or maximize a window, the window becomes “wobbly”—part of it will linger behind the rest of the window, as if affected by momentum. The Application Switcher effect is also enhanced and will display previews of open programs in 3D form when you press Windows+Tab, as shown in Figure 9-8. This obviously requires you to have the graphics power to render, but if you do have it, the 3D switcher will even play live video in the previews.

Figure 9-8. The 3D Application Switcher is displayed by pressing Windows+Tab.

Personalizing Visual Effects

If you are unsatisfied with the default choices for visual effects, you can install the CompizConfig Settings Manager tool. This gives you complete control over the Compiz Fusion system, which provides Ubuntu's visual effects. Bear in mind that some of these settings are very technical, and little provision is made for those who are new to the effects subsystems.

You can install the tool by using the Ubuntu Software Center. Then enter compizconfig-settings-manager as a search term in the search box. In the list of results, locate the program Advanced Desktop Effects Settings and click Install. You'll need to enter your password when prompted.

After the tool is installed, choose CompizConfig Settings Manager from the System Settings interface. The CompizConfig Settings Manager window will appear, as shown in Figure 9-9.

Figure 9-9. The CompizConfig Settings Manager tool offers advanced customization of visual effects in Ubuntu.

Compiz Fusion works by packaging each effect as a plug-in, and CompizConfig Settings Manager simply lets you switch these plug-ins on and off, as well as change their settings. One of the most important settings you can change for most plug-ins is the keyboard combination that activates them.

On the right side of the main window is the list of plug-ins grouped into logical sections. You can enable them by selecting the check box beside them. You can also change the settings of the plug-in by clicking the plug-in name and icon. This opens the settings page for the plug-in, with a single or few tabs containing configuration settings. You'll also see a brief description of the effect on the left side of the program window. When you've finished, click the Back button.

In the left column, you can use the Filter text box at the top to search for a particular plug-in; the search results will be displayed on the right side of the window. Beneath the Filter section is the Category listing, which groups the plug-ins by purpose. Clicking any category will update the list of plug-ins on the right side of the window. To return to the main program window, click the Back button. The categories are as follows:

All: All available plug-ins will be displayed in the main window.

General: This section contains just the General Options plug-in, which provides configuration settings for keyboard shortcuts for some of the effects, virtual desktop size, display settings, transparency settings for windows, and more. Some of the settings are quite technical and are perhaps best left alone unless you know what you are doing.

Accessibility: This section contains plug-ins that will help people with physical disabilities use the desktop more conveniently with visual aids. It contains plug-ins to make the active window more visible, magnify the screen for visibility issues, change colors, and assist in finding the mouse pointer. To find out what keyboard combination is required to activate any particular effect, click the plugins icon to change its settings and look to the button alongside each heading. Note that when a setting specifies Button 2 or Button 3, these relate to the mouse, and the super key is commonly known as the Windows key on a standard keyboard.

Desktop: This section contains plugins that enhance desktop behavior. If you use virtual desktops, plug-ins such as Desktop Cube and Rotate Cube can turn these into sides of a 3D cube that rotates when you switch desktops, as shown in Figure 9-10. Desktop Wall and Desktop Plane render these workspaces as if they were part of one surface. You might notice that some plug-ins have the same functionality; CompizConfig Settings Manager will offer to disable any that do when you select a new option. Plug-ins such as Viewport Switcher and Expo make it easier to preview and navigate workspaces. Show Desktop and Fade to Desktop add special effects to clear the desktop of clutter. Like many effects plug-ins, these tie in with the existing features of Ubuntu—in this case, the Show Desktop feature and button, located at the bottom left of the desktop by default.

Note In the current configuration, there is no way to enable the famous rotating Desktop Cube that you can see in Figure 9-10 in a Unity environment. If you want to use the Desktop Cube anyway, you'll need to work in the Ubuntu Classic display mode.

Effects: This section contains plug-ins that add special effects to certain aspects of the desktop. Some you have already seen, such as Wobbly Windows, which is part of the Extras scheme. But others are more extreme. For example, there are several plug-ins that add eye candy to windows, such as Blur Windows, Animations, Fading Windows, and Window Decoration Reflection. 3D Windows, Cube Gears, and Cube Reflection add decorations as you traverse the 3D cube. Other plug-ins affect the entire screen, such as adding water puddles and wipers with the Water effect or adding fire on the screen with the Paint Fire on the Screen effect. Some need keyboard combinations to activate them—to find out what these are, click the plug-in icon.

Figure 9-10. The rotating desktop cube is just about the coolest special effect you'll see on a computer desktop.

Extras: This section includes effects useful for developers, as well as some plug-ins that simply could not be filed elsewhere. These include displaying the Compiz Fusion splash screen after logging in, benchmarking the performance of Compiz Fusion, viewing a thumbnail of a window by pointing the mouse at its entry on the Taskbar, and taking a screenshot. One notable plug-in is Annotate, which enables you to draw on the screen. This can be useful for demos and presentations when stressing key points.

Image loading: These plug-ins are technical and are required in the background to load image formats and text that will be used by other plug-ins for rendering. Do not disable them.

Utility: This section contains mostly plug-ins that work behind the scenes and a few that work externally. Unless you know what you are doing, you shouldn't change any of these settings or disable any of the plug-ins. If you have a fairly powerful machine, enable the Video Playback option, which puts live previews where application thumbnails are generated.

Window management: These plug-ins enhance window management functionality. For example, some of the plug-ins project the Taskbar in different ways, such as in 2D, in a ring, and in a 3D ring. Another example is the Group and Tab Windows plug-in, which you can use to group and tab windows. Fans of the Vista application switch method should go into Shift Switcher, look under the Appearance tab, and change Cover.

Beneath the Categories list is the Preferences option, which is used for adjusting internal settings of Compiz Fusion, such as the back-end profile, and including and excluding plug-ins. You can leave these settings untouched.

Finally, the Advanced Search option allows you to search through options within plug-ins. The search results will first be narrowed down to a list of plug-ins in the main window. After selecting from the list of plug-ins, a new list will be displayed with narrowed-down results containing a list of grouped options. After selecting from the list of grouped options, you'll see a narrowed-down list of options that you can use to configure the plug-in's settings.

USING DESKTOP WIDGETS

Dressing Up Firefox

You'll likely spend quite a lot of computer time looking at Firefox, the web browser. For this reason, it's a nice idea to take as much care over the look of this vital application as your desktop. Firefox has been themeable since the first version was released, but the Mozilla project, which oversees development of the application, has since added personas to the application's features, enabling you to instantly change the look and feel of the application. To get started, visit the project's web site (http://www.getpersonas.com) and click the Get Personas Plus button in the lower right part of the screen. This will download a small extension and ask you to restart your browser. After the browser has relaunched, you'll be presented with a very different-looking browser, as in Figure 9-11. You can change the skin by clicking the fox mask icon at the bottom right of the browser window and selecting a new one. This is a live list, so it is updated constantly. Changes should be almost instant, meaning you can reskin your browser depending on your mood.

If nothing in the list takes your fancy, create your own skin and share it with the world. See https://personas.services.mozilla.com for more.

Figure 9-11. Add some personality to Firefox and make it fit in with your desktop theme.

Firefox also has a large collection of other extensions that can alter the way the browser looks or works. For instance, Tree Style Tabs arranges your open tabs in a treelike structure on the left edge of your browser.

Changing Your Login Picture

The login screen will display a picture alongside your name. You can click this and type your password to log in. You might be familiar with a similar system under Windows or Mac OS X.

Users can choose their own login pictures by opening the About Me dialog box, shown in Figure 9-12. You can find this dialog box in the System Settings menu, or in the menu that appears if you click on your login name, in the upper right part of the screen. The About Me dialog box is designed for users to enter their personal details, such as their addresses, but they can also simply use it to choose photographs of themselves or to add pictorial icons. To do this, click the empty square alongside your name at the top of the dialog box. You'll be shown a file list of default icons to choose from, and you can also navigate to your own. Ideally, the image you choose should be square and 96×96 pixels, although if the picture is too large, it will be automatically scaled down. Click OK when you've finished.

Figure 9-12. The About Me dialog box

Adding and Removing Desktop Items

Virtually the entire Ubuntu desktop can be redesigned and restructured. If you're working in Ubuntu Classic mode, you can move the Applications menu from the top of the screen to the bottom to be more like Windows, for example, or you can add numerous desktop shortcuts to popular applications and/or files.

Creating a Launcher

Ubuntu's nearest equivalent to a Windows-style desktop shortcut is a launcher, and you can create a launcher that points to a program or a file. If a launcher is created for a file, Ubuntu will automatically launch the correct program to display the file. If you create a launcher to a .jpg file, for example, Ubuntu will know to launch the Eye of GNOME image viewer when the launcher is double-clicked.

You can create a launcher two ways. One way is to simply click and drag an icon from one of the main menus to the desktop. This effectively copies the menu's launcher to the desktop, rather than creating a new launcher, but the effect is the same.

The other way to create a launcher is to right-click the desktop and select Create Launcher. In the Create Launcher dialog box, select whether you want to create a launcher to a location or application from the Type drop-down list (the second option, Application in Terminal, will open a terminal window and run the program within it; this is only for specialized use). Then fill in the Name and Command fields. Alternatively, if you don't know the exact name and path of the file, click the Browse button, use the file browser dialog box to navigate to the file or program, and click to select it. (If you are creating a launcher to a program, you'll probably find it in /usr/bin, which stores most of the Linux programs you use from day to day.) The Comment field can be left blank. If it's filled in, it forms the tooltip text that will appear if you hover the mouse cursor over the launcher icon.

To choose an icon for your launcher, click the icon button on the left side of the Create Launcher dialog box. You can select from several predefined icons, as shown in Figure 9-13, or choose your own picture by clicking the Browse button and navigating to the location of a saved icon. As with desktop backgrounds and themes, there are many icon sets available at http://art.gnome.org. Additional icon sets can be added by choosing the Appearance item from the System Settings menu and looking under the Theme tab. In the bottom-right of the window, select Customize. You can drag and drop downloaded icon packs to the Icon tab, and they will be installed immediately. If you don't choose an icon, a stock GNOME icon is used.

Figure 9-13. Creating a launcher is easy. Just fill in the Name and Command fields, and choose an icon.

Using Ubuntu Tweak

If you've used Windows extensively, you may have come across an application called Tweak UI, which lets you perform some useful desktop operations. Well, Ubuntu has its own version, which is perfect for adding an icon to your /home folder, the computer, or the Deleted Items folder on the desktop. It can do lots of other things, but desktop icons are what we're interested in here.

To install the application, go to http://ubuntu-tweak.com and select the option Download Now! In the download dialog box, choose Save File to save the file to the Downloads folder in your home directory. After downloading it, from the Downloads window, double-click the package, which opens Ubuntu Software Center with the package you just downloaded selected in it. Click Install to install the package.

After the package is installed, you can run it by selecting Ubuntu Tweak from the dash. On its first run, the application will ask if you want to enable the Ubuntu Tweak stable repository, which allows you to automatically take care of updating the package. Click Yes to enable the repository and continue exploring the Ubuntu Tweak options. The tool offers a lot, including another way of finding and installing applications, but the section you need to look under is labeled Desktop. In here, choose Desktop Icons and from the predefined selection, choose the icons you'd like to see, and they will appear as you click the buttons, as in Figure 9-14. Deselect to remove. You can also rename the icons without renaming the actual folders, which could be useful.

Figure 9-14. If you're familiar with the desktop icon scheme in Windows, you can add your favorites by using Ubuntu Tweak.

Creating a Link

Launchers have one failing: they're recognized only by GNOME (and other desktop environments, such as KDE). You can't create a launcher to an application and use it from the command line or the Alt+F2 run application box, for example. In technical terms, a launcher isn't recognized by the underlying Linux file system.

The solution is to create a link to the file or program. This will actually create a symbolic link to the file. A link is very similar to a launcher, except it works on a file-system level.

To create a link, use Nautilus to locate the file you want to create the link to, right-click it, and select Make Link. The link will be created in the same directory as the original file, and you can then click and drag the new link to wherever you want it to appear, such as the desktop. You don't need to choose an icon, because the link inherits the icon of the original file. For example, if it's a picture link, it will inherit the thumbnail preview icon.

Personalizing the Panels in Ubuntu Classic

Panels are the long strips that appear at the top and bottom of the Ubuntu screen in the Ubuntu Classic view and play host to a choice of menus, applets, and icons. You can add a new panel by right-clicking a blank spot on an existing panel and selecting New Panel. The new panel will appear on one of the sides of the desktop. If you add a third one, in addition to the two default panels, it will appear on the right side of the desktop, vertically. You can also remove a panel by right-clicking it and selecting Delete This Panel.

By right-clicking a panel and selecting Properties, you can change its size and dimensions. For example, by unchecking the Expand box, you can make the panel shrink to its smallest possible size. Then, when you add new components (or, in the case of a panel containing the Window List, when a new program is run), the panel will expand as necessary. This can be a neat effect and also creates more desktop space. Selecting the Autohide feature will make the panel slide off the screen when there isn't a mouse over it. Choosing “Show hide buttons” will make small arrows appear on either side of the panel so that you can click to slide it off the side of the screen when it's not in use. Both techniques create more desktop space.

You can also change the panel's alignment to top, bottom, left, or right by changing the selection in the Orientation drop-down list.

Adding and Removing Menus in Ubuntu Classic

You can add either just the Applications menu or the entire set of menus (Applications, Places, and System) to the panel at the bottom of the screen. This can help those who long for the Windows Start button approach to access programs.

Adding All the Menus to a Panel in Ubuntu Classic

To add the Application, Places, and System menus to the panel at the bottom of the Ubuntu desktop, follow these steps:

1. Right-click a blank spot on the bottom panel and select Add to Panel.
2. In the dialog box that appears, click the Menu Bar option to add all three menus. You'll find this under the Utilities heading in the list; you'll need to scroll down to see it.
3. Click the Add button at the bottom of the dialog box.
4. Click the Close button.

Adding a Start-Like Button to a Panel in Ubuntu Classic

As an alternative to the Applications, Places, and System menus, you can add a Start-like button that offers submenus for all three menus. Here's how to add this button:

1. Right-click a blank spot on the bottom panel and select Add to Panel.
2. In the dialog box that appears, click the Main Menu option. You'll find this under the Utilities heading in the list; you'll need to scroll down to see it.
3. Click the Add button at the bottom of the dialog box.
4. Click the Close button.

Deleting a Menu in Ubuntu Classic

Creating new instances of the menus won't delete the old ones. If you create a new Applications menu at the bottom of the screen, for example, the old Applications menu will remain at the top of the screen. In fact, you can have as many instances of the menus on the desktop as you wish, although this won't be a good use of desktop space!

To delete any menu, simply right-click anywhere on that menu and select Remove from Panel.

Modifying the Menus in Ubuntu Classic

You can modify how your menus are displayed by right-clicking on one of them and selecting the option Edit Menus. You should be aware that the configuration is the same for all the menus in your desktop, if you have more than one.

You will be presented with a three-part window. To the left you will see the menu items, or categories. If you select one of those categories, its contents will be displayed in the Items section, in which you can check the items you want displayed on the menu, and uncheck those that are of no use to you. You can hide categories or individual applications. For example, select Applications in the Menus section, and uncheck the item Games. The next time you expand the Applications menu, the Games category will not be shown. But if you select the Applications Accessories menu and uncheck the item Calculator, the Accessories category will be displayed, but the Calculator won't.

You can create custom direct access for your own categories or applications. Just select in the Menus section the location of your new element, and click New Menu to create a new category, or New Item to create an application launcher inside the current category.

Click Close to save the changes, which will be effective immediately.

Moving Panel Items in Ubuntu Classic

To move a panel item, right-click it and select Move. Then drag the mouse to the new location and click the mouse button once to set the item in place. All panel items can be moved, including menus, and items can be moved between different panels. Any item that's in the way will be shifted to make space.

If the Move option is grayed out, right-click it and ensure that Lock to Panel doesn't have a check alongside it. This is especially relevant if you're trying to move an item into the space occupied by something else—if the other item is locked, it won't automatically shift out of the way!

Working with Applets in Ubuntu Classic

Almost everything you see on the desktop is considered by the GNOME desktop to be an applet, with the exception of application/file icons and the panels. A menu is a form of applet, for example, as is the Workspace Switcher.

Ubuntu provides many more applets that you can choose to add to the desktop to provide a host of useful or entertaining functionality. To add an applet, right-click a blank spot on a panel and select Add to Panel. Some applets require configuration when they're added, so you may need to right-click them and select Properties. For example, you'll need to set your location in the Weather Report applet's properties so it can provide accurate forecasting. Table 9-1 describes some of the most useful desktop applets. To remove an applet, simply right-click it and select Remove from Panel.

Summary

In this chapter, you learned how to personalize Ubuntu to your own tastes. You looked at changing the theme so that the desktop has a new appearance.

In addition, you learned how to add and remove applets from the desktop in order to add functionality or simply make Ubuntu work the way you would like.

In the next chapter, you will look at what programs are available under Ubuntu to replace those Windows favorites you might miss.