Gnome Tips

Use Sudo

Run the Configuration Editor (gconf-editor) and set the /apps/gksu/sudo-mode key

Hiding Computer, Home, Trash on Desktop

Run the Configuration Editor (gconf-editor) and change the keys under /apps/nautilus/desktop

Disable Browser Launch on Media Insert

Run the Configuration Editor (gconf-editor) and change the keys under /desktop/volume_manager/autobrowse

Disable Sound Juicer

Goto Desktop | Preferences | Removable Drives and Media

Select the multi-media tab and un-select 'Play audio CD discs when inserted

Disable Gnome Keyring

If you don't want the gnome-keyring to invoke ssh-agent, set, run gconf-editor and set the /apps/gnome-keyring/daemon-components/ssh key to false.

Startup Programs

Desktop -> Preferences -> Sessions -> Startup Programs

Accented Characters

System -> Preferences -> Keyboard - Select the 'Layouts' tab. 'Add' a layout. Then select the 'Layout Options...' button and choose a 'Compose key position'

e.g. Choosing 'Menu is Compose', then to produce a 'ç' on most english keyboard layout, you type the menu key, then type the comma ',' key, then type the 'c' key.

On Debian 5.0 (Lenny), /usr/share/X11/locale/compose.dir describes which files are used for which locales, e.g. en_US.UTF-8/Compose is used for en_GB.UTF-8, so /usr/share/X11/locale/en_US.UTF-8/Compose defines the characters that can be typed using the compose and dead keys. E.g. <Multi_key> <comma> <c> is defined as 'ç' ccedilla.

Some common combinations preceeded with the compose key:

SequenceCharacterDescription
space space nobreakspace # NO-BREAK SPACE
. .ellipsis # HORIZONTAL ELLIPSIS
. minus·periodcentered # MIDDLE DOT
. equalenfilledcircbullet # BULLET
! ^¦brokenbar # BROKEN BAR
p !paragraph # PILCROW SIGN
s o§section # SECTION SIGN
x o¤currency # CURRENCY SIGN
? !U203D # INTERROBANG
plus minus±plusminus # PLUS-MINUS SIGN
colon minus÷division # DIVISION SIGN
^ 1¹onesuperior # SUPERSCRIPT ONE
^ 2²twosuperior # SUPERSCRIPT TWO
^ 3³threesuperior # SUPERSCRIPT THREE
1 4¼onequarter # VULGAR FRACTION ONE QUARTER
1 2½onehalf # VULGAR FRACTION ONE HALF
3 4¾threequarters # VULGAR FRATION THREE QUARTERS
- - periodU2013 # EN DASH
- - -U2014 # EM DASH
? ?¿questiondown # INVERTED QUESTION MARK
o eœoe # LATIN SMALL LIGATURE OE
a eæae # LATIN SMALL LETTER AE
apostrophe <U2018 # LEFT SINGLE QUOTATION MARK
apostrophe >U2019 # RIGHT SINGLE QUOTATION MARK
quotedbl <U201c # LEFT DOUBLE QUOTATION MARK
quotedbl >U201d # RIGHT DOUBLE QUOTATION MARK
quotedbl commaU201e # DOUBLE LOW-9 QUOTATION MARK
e equalEuroSign # EURO SIGN
c bar¢cent # CENT SIGN
c slash¢cent # CENT SIGN
L minus£sterling # POUND SIGN
Y equal¥yen # YEN SIGN
o o°degree # DEGREE SIGN
o c©copyright # COPYRIGHT SIGN
o r®registered # REGISTERED SIGN
t m™ U2122 # TRADE MARK SIGN
grave aàagrave # LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH GRAVE
acute aáaacute # LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH ACUTE
apostrophe aáaacute # LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH ACUTE
asciicircum aâacircumflex # LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH CIRCUMFLEX
asciitilde aãatilde # LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH TILDE
quotedbl aäadiaeresis # LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH DIAERESIS
o aåaring # LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH RING ABOVE
comma cçccedilla # LATIN SMALL LETTER C WITH CEDILLA
cedilla cçccedilla # LATIN SMALL LETTER C WITH CEDILLA
grave eèegrave # LATIN SMALL LETTER E WITH GRAVE
acute eéeacute # LATIN SMALL LETTER E WITH ACUTE
apostrophe eéeacute # LATIN SMALL LETTER E WITH ACUTE
asciicircum eêecircumflex # LATIN SMALL LETTER E WITH CIRCUMFLEX
quotedbl eëediaeresis # LATIN SMALL LETTER E WITH DIAERESIS
grave iìigrave # LATIN SMALL LETTER I WITH GRAVE
acute iíiacute # LATIN SMALL LETTER I WITH ACUTE
apostrophe iíiacute # LATIN SMALL LETTER I WITH ACUTE
asciicircum iîicircumflex # LATIN SMALL LETTER I WITH CIRCUMFLEX
quotedbl iïidiaeresis # LATIN SMALL LETTER I WITH DIAERESIS
d hðeth # LATIN SMALL LETTER ETH
asciitilde nñntilde # LATIN SMALL LETTER N WITH TILDE
grave oòograve # LATIN SMALL LETTER O WITH GRAVE
acute oóoacute # LATIN SMALL LETTER O WITH ACUTE
apostrophe oóoacute # LATIN SMALL LETTER O WITH ACUTE
asciicircum oôocircumflex # LATIN SMALL LETTER O WITH CIRCUMFLEX
asciitilde oõotilde # LATIN SMALL LETTER O WITH TILDE
quotedbl oöodiaeresis # LATIN SMALL LETTER O WITH DIAERESIS
slash oøoslash # LATIN SMALL LETTER O WITH STROKE
s sßssharp # LATIN SMALL LETTER SHARP S
grave uùugrave # LATIN SMALL LETTER U WITH GRAVE
acute uúuacute # LATIN SMALL LETTER U WITH ACUTE
apostrophe uúuacute # LATIN SMALL LETTER U WITH ACUTE
asciicircum uûucircumflex # LATIN SMALL LETTER U WITH CIRCUMFLEX
quotedbl uüudiaeresis # LATIN SMALL LETTER U WITH DIAERESIS
acute yýyacute # LATIN SMALL LETTER Y WITH ACUTE
apostrophe yýyacute # LATIN SMALL LETTER Y WITH ACUTE
t hþthorn # LATIN SMALL LETTER THORN
quotedbl yÿydiaeresis # LATIN SMALL LETTER Y WITH DIAERESIS

Font Size

Change the DPI resolution under System->Preferences->Appearance.

  1. Select the 'Fonts' tab
  2. Select the 'Details' button
  3. Change the resolution dots per inch value to suit

Default Window Size

Run the application with the following command:

   $ gnome-terminal --geometry 90x30

-- Frank Dean - 01 Jul 2009


-- Frank Dean - 01 Dec 2007