Trisquel and Linux newbie. Some Questions

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JRyan
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Joined: 09/02/2015

I'm new to both Trisquel and gnuLinux OSes too. So far I'm liking Trisquel. But I have a few questions.

How can I create Desktop shortcuts?

The panel taskbar thing. Is there asetting somewhere so I can I stop currently running programs from stacking on top of each other?

If I want an audio player that reminds me of winamp, which one do you guys recomend? QMMP or Audacious?

Thanks everyone

Magic Banana

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Joined: 07/24/2010

If you right-click on a file, you can choose in the contextual menu to create a link to it (a symbolic link as in 'ln -s' if you know that command). You can then move that link onto the desktop area.

You can close applications. If an application is not responding you can "kill" it. One way to do so is to use the "System monitor" (in the "System settings"). A right-click on a process opens a contextual menu. You can choose to send a termination signal to the process (to close it "normally") or a kill signal (to close it brutally).

Audacious relies on the GTK graphical toolkit that most of the default system uses. That means a better visual integration to the rest of the desktop, a lesser memory consumption (required libraries are shared with other running applications), a faster startup time (for the same reason). Those advantages are not significant though. They are small details. You had better try both players and choose by yourself.

moxalt
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Joined: 06/19/2015

> You can close applications.

I believe OP was asking whether there was a way to stop the window buttons in
the panel from stacking (that is, one button on top of the other). I believe
you can achieve that by reducing the number of rows in the panel, but I have no
idea how to do that. I know it can be done, because I remember doing it, but
haven't touched the options for months. Anyone?

moxalt
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Joined: 06/19/2015

Oh, wait. That's in Xfce. I think just reducing the panel height should do the
trick, even by just a few pixels.

onpon4
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Joined: 05/30/2012

> How can I create Desktop shortcuts?

Magic Banana suggested using symbolic links. But properly, GNOME's version of shortcuts is launchers. You can copy any of the launchers in the main menu either to a panel or to the desktop by dragging and dropping it. If you need a launcher not in the menu, you can add it there by right-clicking on the menu button and choosing "Edit Menus".

> Is there asetting somewhere so I can I stop currently running programs from stacking on top of each other?

I don't think there is, but whether or not that happens depends on the size of the panel. Make it shorter by a couple pixels, and it won't do that.

Magic Banana

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GNOME's version of shortcuts is launchers.

For applications. I assumed he wanted shortcuts for non executable files, such as office documents.

onpon4
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Joined: 05/30/2012

Well, if he's coming from Windows, what he's thinking of is much more like a launcher. Windows "shortcuts" work almost exactly like launchers, and no, you can't use them to link to documents. They're just files describing what should be executed when they're double-clicked. It's not common for Windows to use symbolic links at all (and the capability didn't even exist until Windows Vista, IIRC).

But yes, if you want a document to appear on your desktop without actually being on your desktop, you can use a symbolic link to do this.

Magic Banana

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It's not common for Windows to use symbolic links at all (and the capability didn't even exist until Windows Vista, IIRC).

Are you sure? As far as I remember (I have not touched Windows in years), you could create shortcuts for any file. The icon had a curvy arrow to symbolize the shortcut, hence not a hard link (that would be indistinguishable from the original file) if that concept even exists in Windows.

onpon4
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Joined: 05/30/2012

I guess, looking at it, you can create a "shortcut" on Windows which points to a document. Nonetheless, this is not a common activity in my experience, and in a technical sense, shortcuts (with the extension ".lnk") are more similar to launchers than symbolic links. They operate through Windows Explorer, and do not have any effect in any other context.

The typical use-case of shortcuts on Windows is to launch applications more conveniently. A key point about this usage is that a shortcut includes an icon; symbolic links do not.

antiesnob
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Joined: 08/22/2013

If I want an audio player that reminds me of winamp, which one do you guys recomend? QMMP or Audacious?

Audacious, change the theme from GTK to Winamp.

JRyan
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Joined: 09/02/2015

Thank you everyone.

bluzeo
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Joined: 08/27/2015

my thing is a noob ? too but how do i install bungie De in Trosquel?

Magic Banana

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Joined: 07/24/2010

Not a single word makes sense to me in that sentence... and in most sentences you write. Could you please make an effort to write understandable posts?

JadedCtrl
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Joined: 08/11/2014

Magic Banana had the guts to say it. No-one else did.

oysterboy

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I simply delete the messages from that particular poster unread, because of the incoherent and inarticulate writing. I suggest he takes a look at: http://www.catb.org/esr/faqs/smart-questions.html#writewell

valentijn
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Joined: 08/28/2015

Yep, I tried to be nice and tell him to use something like LangTool
before but he has still not acted on that advice. He really needs to
step up his game because it is getting annoying.
--
Once the toothpaste is out of the tube, it's hard to get it back in.
-- H.R. Haldeman

tkm625
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Joined: 08/06/2014

I've got a question that seems to fit here. If I install other programs and there gets to be more categories in the bottom left menu (on gnome panel) then it starts scrolling with arrows at the top and bottom. How do I stop it from doing that and just make the menu taller?