Chapter 7. Home sweet /home

Table of Contents

1. General good housekeeping
1.1. Introduction
1.2. Make space
2. Your text environment
2.1. Environment variables
2.2. Shell setup files
2.3. A typical set of setup files
2.4. The Bash prompt
2.5. Shell scripts
3. The graphical environment
3.1. Introduction
3.2. The X Window System
3.3. X server configuration
4. Region specific settings
4.1. Keyboard setup
4.2. Fonts
4.3. Date and time zone
4.4. Language
4.5. Country-specific Information
5. Installing new software
5.1. General
5.2. Package formats
5.3. Automating package management and updates
5.4. Upgrading your kernel
5.5. Installing extra packages from the installation CDs
6. Summary
7. Exercises
7.1. Shell environment
7.2. Graphical environment

Abstract

This chapter is about configuring your environment. Now that we know how to use an editor, we can change all kinds of files to make ourselves feel better at home. After completing this chapter, you will know more about:

  • Organizing your environment

  • Common shell setup files

  • Shell configuration

  • Configuring the prompt

  • Configuring the graphical environment

  • Sound and video applications

  • Display and window managers

  • How the X client-server system works

  • Language and font settings

  • Installing new software

  • Updating existing packages