Читать книгу Linux Bible - Christopher Negus - Страница 67

To use 3D effects, your best solution is to use the Compiz window manager, described later in this chapter. You can't do much with Metacity (except get your work done efficiently). You assign new themes to Metacity and change colors and window decorations through the GNOME preferences (described later).

Basic Metacity functions that might interest you are keyboard shortcuts and the workspace switcher. Table 2.1 shows keyboard shortcuts to get around the Metacity window manager.

TABLE 2.1 Keyboard Shortcuts

Actions	Keystrokes
Cycle backward, without pop-up icons	Alt+Shift+Esc
Cycle backward among panels	Alt+Ctrl+Shift+Tab
Close menu	Esc

You can use other keyboard shortcuts with the window manager as well. Select System ➪ Preferences ➪ Keyboard Shortcuts to see a list of shortcuts, such as the following:

 Run Dialog To run a command to launch an application from the desktop by command name, press Alt+F2. From the dialog box that appears, type the command and press Enter. For example, type gedit to run a simple graphical text editor.

 Lock Screen If you want to step away from your screen and lock it, press Ctrl+Alt+L. You need to type your user password to open the screen again.

 Show Main Menu To open an application from the Applications, Places, or System menu, press Alt+F1. Then use the up and down arrow keys to select from the current menu or use the right and left arrow keys to select from other menus.

 Print Screen Press the Print Screen key to take a picture of the entire desktop. Press Alt+Print Screen to take a picture of the current window.

Another Metacity feature of interest is the workspace switcher. Four virtual workspaces appear in the workspace switcher on the GNOME 2 panel. You can do the following with the Workspace Switcher:

 Choose current workspace Four virtual workspaces appear in the workspace switcher. Click any of the four virtual workspaces to make it your current workspace.

 Move windows to other workspaces Click any window, each represented by a tiny rectangle in a workspace, to drag and drop it to another workspace. Likewise, you can drag an application from the Window list to move that application to another workspace.

 Add more workspaces Right-click the Workspace Switcher and select Preferences. You can add workspaces (up to 32).

 Name workspaces Right-click the Workspace Switcher and select Preferences. Click in the Workspaces pane to change names of workspaces to any names you choose.

You can view and change information about Metacity controls and settings using the gconf-editor window (type gconf-editor from a Terminal window). As the window says, it is not the recommended way to change preferences, so when possible, you should change the desktop through GNOME 2 preferences. However, gconf-editor is a good way to see descriptions of each Metacity feature.

From the gconf-editor window, select apps ➪ metacity, and choose from general, global_keybindings, keybindings_commands, window_keybindings, and workspace:names. Click each key to see its value, along with short and long descriptions of the key.