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In this section, I look at the configuration tools available in each version ofLinux covered in this book. An important thing to note is that the ControlPanels in each of the KDE-default distributions (all but Fedora) all look (andwork) in very similar manners because they re all based on the main KDEControl Panel. Knoppix toolsKnoppix comes with so many tools that it s easy to get lost as you staggeraround the menus, overwhelmed. The main place to find configuration toolsin this distribution is by choosing KNOPPIX from the main menu (the K in thebottom left corner). Inside this menu is a set of submenus, some of which offerconfiguration options: Configure:Options for setting up your computer s TV card, printers, areal home directory that sticks around between the times you boot withthis distribution (see Chapter 21), and more. Network/Internet:Internet connection (see Chapter programs foreverything from modems to ISDN. Services:Options for starting various servers useful on the desktop, such as SSH (see Chapter 13) and Samba for offering Linux files to yourWindows machines over your network. In addition to this location, you also find configuration programs by choosingSettings from the main menu: Change Password:This program lets you set a password for the accountyou re logged in under. However, it doesn t accept a blank password, andthe defaults for Knoppix logins (the regular knoppixaccount and therootaccount) are both empty passwords. You ll want to open a virtualterminal (see Chapter 14) and type passwdin order to set an initial pass- word for your account before you can use the GUI tool. Configure The Panel:This program lets you customize your panel moving it elsewhere, hiding it, changing its appearance, and so on. Control Center: This option opens the KDE Control Center. Desktop Settings Wizard:This option opens the KDE setup wizard. Menu Editor:This option opens the KDE Menu Editor, where you cancustomize your main menu s contents. Menu Updating Tool:This option searches your system for particularprograms and adds them to your menus if they re not there. Printing Manager:This program (see Figure 7-5) opens a handy printmanager that can help you do things like printing to PDFs, sending to faxmachines, and so on. 141Chapter 7: Configuring Linux11_

8.Click the Generic bar to open the list box that allows you to selectyour printer s manufacturer and then scroll to the appropriate option. The selection of models changes, according to your manufacturer s list. Choosing the correct make and model of your printer is importantbecause Linux loads and associates a specific print driver that corre- sponds to the information you supplied. If the wrong printer make andmodel are specified, the wrong print driver(the software the operatingsystem uses to talk to the printer) is used. The result of this mismatch is usually garbled characters and symbols when you attempt to print to your printer. 9.Select your printer model and then click Forward. The Finish And Create New Print Queue dialog box appears. 10.In the Finish And Create The New Print Queue dialog box, click Finishto enable your new printer. You re offered the opportunity to print a test page. 11.Click Yes to print a test page. If this page doesn t print properly, make sure that you set the proper makeand model for your printer. Some manufacturers assign similar modelnumbers to very different printers, and it s easy to get them confused. 12.If the test page comes out great, click Yes when you re asked whetherit looks okay; if it doesn t come out at all or it looks garbled, click No. If your answer was No, you re shown a copy of all the data that went tothe log file when you tried to print. Scroll down to the last few lines tofind hints to what your problem is. This situation happened to me once, and it turned out to be a problem with my networking, not a problemwith my printer! If you re having problems, return to the beginning ofthis process and make sure that all your selections are correct. If your test page is okay and you clicked Yes, the main Printer Configu- ration window appears, and your new printer is listed in the tool. 13.Choose Action.Quit.Save to close the printer configuration tool. Zen and the Art of Linux ConfigurationOne of the items that makes each distribution stand apart from the others isits collection of configuration tools. The friendlier the tools, the more likelythat folks new to Linux will flock to that distribution. Mind you, old timersdon t mind having easy tools around either when they re moving from onedistribution to another. It saves them from having to re-learn where each dis- tribution keeps their configuration files. 140Part I:Getting Your Feet Wet

5.Using the drop-down list, select the type of queue you need. The queue type corresponds to how the printer is connected: If the printer is directly attached to your Linux system, choose theLocal Printer option (Locally-Connected) If yours is a networked printer that understands the InternetPrinting Protocol (IPP), or is attached across your network toanother Unix (including Linux and OS X) machine, selectNetworked CUPS (IPP) If yours is a printer connected to another UNIX machine that susing LPD, choose Networked UNIX (LPD) If the printer is attached to a Windows machine on your network, select Networked Windows (SMB) If the printer is attached to a Novell Netware machine on your net- work, select Networked Novell (NCP) If the printer has HP JetDirect networking technology, then chooseNetworked JetDirectThe dialog box changes format depending on which of these items youselected. 6.Enter the additional information required for your particular choice. For example, if you chose Networked CUPS (IPP), you need to fill in theprint server s name (or IP address). You can ignore the Path text boxand keep the defaults. Each of these options explains what information it needs from you. Click the Help button, if necessary. 7.After you ve entered the information, click Forward. The Printer Model dialog box appears. Figure 7-4: The QueueType dialogbox in thePrinterConfigu- ration tool. 139Chapter 7: Configuring Linux11_

Xandros:You had the option to add a printer with the First Run Wizardthe first time your system booted, though, of course, you can skip thiswith no problem. If you skipped printer setup, go to the main menu andchoose Control Center to open the Xandros/KDE Control Center. Clickthe plus sign next to Peripherals to expand this menu and then choosePrinters. Choose Add to open the Add Printer Wizard dialog box. In this section, I describe how to set up a printer only in Fedora due to spacerestrictions. Although each application is different, they all involve the samebasic steps for configuration, even though these steps may be in differentorders or worded a little bit differently. Follow these steps for Fedora (or ifyou re using another distribution, read through here and use what you learnto set up your printing through the appropriate tool): 1.To access the printing setup tool, from the main menu, chooseApplications.System Settings.Printing. The Printer Configuration window appears, as shown in Figure 7-3. If you re not logged in as root, you re prompted to enter the root password. 2.To begin setting up your printer, click the New button. The Add A New Print Queue window appears. Click the Forward buttonto advance to the next step. 3.In the Queue Name window, type the name you want to assign to thisparticular printer. If you have multiple printers, add something in the Short descriptiontext box to help you tell them apart later. 4.When finished, click the Forward button to advance to the next step. The Queue Type dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 7-4. Figure 7-3: The openingwindow ofthe PrinterConfigu- ration tool. 138Part I:Getting Your Feet Wet

The remaining items are more advanced, so you can ignore them for now. 7.Click OK to save the new account. 8.If you want to create another account, repeat Steps 3 through 7; ifyou re finished, choose File.Quit to close the user creation program. PrintingUnless you live in a paperless environment, you most likely need to printsomething (such as a letter, a picture from your digital camera, or an invoice) from time to time. Therefore, you need to set up your Linux system to print. Itcan be helpful to know, before you continue, the make and model of yourprinter and how it s connected to your computer: Is it a local printer, meaning that it s connected directly to your computerthrough a parallel, serial, or USB port? Is it a network printer,meaning that it doesn t have to be connected to acomputer and sits on the network as its own machine? Is it a remote printer but not a network printer, meaning that it s connectedto another computer on your network? If so, is this a Windows, Linux, orOS X computer? You can find your printer configuration tool by: Fedora:Choose Applications.System Settings.Printing to open thePrinter Configuration tool. Knoppix:From the main menu, choose KNOPPIX.Configure.ConfigurePrinter(s) to open the Configure - Printers tool. Linspire:Double-click the Printers desktop icon to open the Printers KDEControl Module and then click the Add Printer/Class button (the icon onthe left in the top row) to open the Add Printer Wizard. Mandrake:From the main menu, choose System. Configuration. Configure Your Computer items to open the Mandrake Control Center. Within this dialog box, click Hardware and then Printers to startPrinterdrake. SuSE:From the main menu, choose System.YaST to open the YaST tooldiscussed later in this chapter, in the section SuSE tools. From here, select Hardware on the left, and then Printer on the right, to open thePrinter Configuration tool. 137Chapter 7: Configuring Linux11_