Brajeshwar

We’ve been advocating the use of command line interface since day one of our Linux adventure. This was not meant to make it sound ‘geeky’; nor does it make you stand out and sophisticated. The idea was clear — to make things more apt and generic. However, if you’re still afraid of trying things out on a terminal and wish to have a ride with all-things-graphic, we’ve come up with a few measures which get things done via a GUI.

The other reason for you having the need to hit on a GUI tab rather than using your keyboard is perhaps you being lazy! I’ve seen a lot of Linux users being lazy and using the graphical version of several daily use system features/applications. Of course there is nothing wrong in this, until the user finds comfort.

Let’s have some GUI tips which you can use on your Ubuntu Box. They will also run on other distros but the layout of the menu may be a bit different.

1. Configuring boot options: If you’re annoyed with an array of boot menu choices and wish to keep it clean and simple, or you wish to alter the colors, timeout, etc. you may install Startup Manager. In order to install it, click on Applications > Add/Remove. Select “Show All available Applications” and confirm. Type “startup manager” in the search bar. Check the package with this name and apply changes. You’re done! The application can now be found at System > Administration > StartUp-Manager.
2. Better display on LCDs: It’s pretty ubiquitous these days for you to have a LCD monitor/screen. The default installation is not the best for you in such a case. To have better fonts and visualization, got to System > Preferences > Appearance > Fonts tab. Select “Subpixel Smoothing”. Voila! Notice the change.
3. Automatically open the currently running applications at each boot of the system: If you have a set of applications to run with each boot of your system, you may set them to. Go to System > Preferences > Sessions > Options. Click on “Remember currently running applications”.
4. Enable backports on Ubuntu: Even after a new release of a package arrives, few packages may remain old. But thanks to the community of Ubuntu lovers, most of the popular packages are updated once a release happens! You may enable this feature by going to System > Administration > Software Sources. Click on Updates tab and check Unsupported Updates.
5. Light Clipbloard manager: There may be instances when you copy some text and thereafter copy somthing else accidentally. To keep a track of previously copied text, you may install this lightweight tool named Parcellite. Just remember to add it to your startup list so that it runs on each boot on its own. Doing it manually all the time would be a pain for sure!

These were a few tips for Linux fans who love doing things the GUI way.

Praval, the author of this article is available as a freelance writer and technology blogger. He writes reviews and stuffs related to Wordpress, Linux, Information marketing, Open Source Software, Life hacks and technology in general. He also provides information marketing solutions to his clients. You may reach him at Praval.com