With hacks that any user can follow, Linux Desktop Hacks demonstrates how easy it is to modify Linux to suit your desires. The book is packed with tips on customizing and improving the interface, boosting performance, administering your desktop, and generally making the most out of what X, KDE, Gnome, and the console have to offer.

Most Linux books are about running servers, writing bash scripts, or managing networks. You might have these lofty Linux goals in mind, but no matter who you are, you probably want to do things like visit Web sites, check your email, or chat online. There are command-line programs to do those things, but why be so limited? Whether you are a new Linux user or an experienced user who wants to learn more, we are all users who spend time on the desktop.

Not long ago, to have Linux as your desktop operating system meant looking at clunky windows and jagged fonts. You stared at long menus not knowing what most of the choices meant. You had to search and search to find out how to do the simplest activity. In the past few years Linux has changed. Linux has programs, utilities, and fun extras that are well designed and easy to use. Some programs in Linux today are better looking and easier to use than many of those found in Windows. Linux is no longer an inconvenience. The Linux desktop today lets you get your everyday tasks done while having fun with your computer.

All of this fun still needs a little figuring out from time to time. In this book, we will figure it all out. We go through all the fun things we can do in Linux and learn how to get a little work done, too.
What Is in This Book

This book is full of self-help tips that will regrow your thinning hair, help you lose weight, make you money on the real-estate market, cook you a turkey on a rotisserie, and sell you a new set of knives. Why, this book is one great big late night TV infomercial. I'm lying. I do that. You'll learn.

Compiled by Red Hat Software, Inc., the company that has assembled the most popular x86 installation of Linux, this command reference is massive, authoritative, and as complete as any reference can be. In 1,500 pages of tiny print, this heavy-duty tome documents every command, utility, file system, library function, and administration tool in the operating system. Linux also features a detailed kernel reference guide and a good index. And if the print size bothers you, the entire contents of the book are included on the companion CD-ROM, along with the Unix version of the Adobe Acrobat reader. In Acrobat, you can adjust the font size to something more readable. If you're running a Linux system and acting as your own system administrator, Linux: Complete Command Reference is an indispensable reference.