Book Image

Linux Mint Essentials

By : Jay LaCroix
Book Image

Linux Mint Essentials

By: Jay LaCroix

Overview of this book

A task-oriented look at Linux Mint, using actual real-world examples to stimulate learning. Each topic is presented in an easy-to-follow order, with hands-on activities to reinforce the content. If you are starting out with Linux from a different platform or are well versed with Linux Mint and want a guide that shows you how to exploit certain functionality, this book is for you. No previous Linux experience is assumed.

Related Content you might be interested in

Current Title:

Small book image
Linux Mint Essentials
Jay LaCroix
May, 2014 | 324 pages
No titles found
Table of Contents (17 chapters)
Preface
Preface
What this book covers
What you need for this book
Who this book is for
Conventions
Reader feedback
Customer support
Free Chapter
1
1. Meet Linux Mint
1. Meet Linux Mint
Why choose Linux?
What is a distribution?
Is Linux hard to learn?
What Mint does differently
Releases and support
Mint-specific tools
Interacting with the Linux Mint community
Creating community and forum accounts
Meet the community
Summary
2
2. Creating Boot Media and Installing Linux Mint
2. Creating Boot Media and Installing Linux Mint
Which version to download
The different methods of installing Linux Mint
Creating a bootable DVD
Creating a bootable USB flash drive
Testing your live media
Planning your partitioning scheme
The installation process
To encrypt or not to encrypt
Summary
3
3. Getting Acquainted with Cinnamon
3. Getting Acquainted with Cinnamon
Getting familiar with Cinnamon
Logging in to Cinnamon
Launching programs
Monitoring tasks
Utilizing workspaces
Notifications
Creating launchers
Bundled applications
File management with Nemo
Configuring the settings of Cinnamon
Changing the default search engine in Firefox
Changing themes
Summary
4
4. An Introduction to the Terminal
4. An Introduction to the Terminal
Why should we use the terminal?
Accessing the shell
Executing commands
Navigating the filesystem
Managing files
The nano text editor
Reading manual pages with the man command
Searching for files
Using the watch command
Introduction to scripting
Summary
5
5. Utilizing Storage and Media
5. Utilizing Storage and Media
Accessing removable media
Formatting flash drives
Mounting and unmounting volumes
Automatically mounting volumes at boot time
Analyzing disk usage
Understanding gibibytes versus gigabytes and mebibytes versus megabytes
Burning CDs and DVDs
Using the USB Image Writer
Understanding how Universally Unique Identifiers work
Summary
6
6. Installing and Removing Software
6. Installing and Removing Software
Managing packages in Linux Mint
Using the Mint Software Manager
Installing new applications
Removing applications
Using the Synaptic Package Manager
Configuring software sources
Advanced package management
Keeping your system up to date
Summary
7
7. Enjoying Multimedia on Mint
7. Enjoying Multimedia on Mint
Understanding issues concerning codecs
Playing music files
Ripping an audio CD
Editing MP3 tags
Playing video files
Playing a DVD
Viewing photos
Editing photos with GIMP
Accessing your webcam
Recording your desktop
Summary
8
8. Managing Users and Permissions
8. Managing Users and Permissions
Creating new users
Changing passwords
Revoking access temporarily
Removing user accounts
Running commands or programs as other users
Administrative access via sudo and visudo
Understanding file and directory permissions
Modifying file and directory permissions
Summary
9
9. Connecting to Networks
9. Connecting to Networks
Connecting to a wired network
Setting up a static IP
Connecting to a wireless network
An introduction to SSH
Accessing your system via SSH
Accessing FTP servers
Sharing files with Samba
Sharing files with NFS
Summary
10
10. Securing Linux Mint
10. Securing Linux Mint
Choosing secure passwords
Encrypting your home folder
Configuring and testing the iptables firewall
Installing and configuring ClamAV
Blocking access to specific websites
Backing up and restoring important data
Creating and restoring snapshots
Hardening your system
Summary
11
11. Advanced Administration Techniques
11. Advanced Administration Techniques
Creating command aliases
Making aliases persistent
Killing processes
Setting up cron jobs
Preparing to move to a new release
Exporting and importing package lists
Using variables and conditional statements in Bash
Monitoring resource usage
Monitoring CPU temperatures
Sending system reports via e-mail
Summary
12
12. Troubleshooting Linux Mint
12. Troubleshooting Linux Mint
Performing the initial triage
Troubleshooting in Software Rendering Mode
Diagnosing boot issues
Recovering data
Perusing system logs
Reinstalling GRUB
Testing the RAM
Pinpointing audio issues
Solving problems with networking
Solving slow frame rates in games
Getting help from the community
Summary
13
A. Reinstalling Mint while Retaining Data
A. Reinstalling Mint while Retaining Data
Considering LTS releases
Why an upgrade utility isn't included
Preparing for the migration
Installing Linux Mint while retaining /home
Importing a list of packages for reinstallation
Summary
14
B. Using the MATE Edition of Linux Mint
B. Using the MATE Edition of Linux Mint
Introducing MATE
Understanding the differences between MATE and Cinnamon
Launching applications
Customizing MATE
Summary
15
C. Using the KDE Edition of Linux Mint
C. Using the KDE Edition of Linux Mint
Understanding the KDE desktop
Using Dolphin – KDE's file manager
Adding Plasmoids to the desktop
Discovering Mint KDE's default applications
Utilizing Activities and Virtual Desktops
Configuring network connections
Summary
16
Index
Index

Chapter 6. Installing and Removing Software

Linux Mint ships with just about everything the average person needs in order to be productive right away. By default, Mint includes a complete office suite, applications to listen to music files and watch movies, a web browser, the ability to burn CD/DVD media, and much more. But even though Mint is one of the most complete distributions around, the software it includes is by no means all there is available. Mint benefits from the Ubuntu package repositories, which feature tens of thousands of packages to install. Managing software on your local machine is the next step in mastering Linux Mint. In this chapter, we'll explore the multitude of ways to obtain new software in Mint, as well as how to manage currently installed applications.

In this chapter, we will discuss the following topics:

  • Managing packages in Linux Mint
  • Using the Mint Software Manager
  • Installing new applications
  • Removing applications
  • Using the Synaptic Package Manager...
Previous Section
End of Section 1
Next Section