8.7: System

See also Section 5

Finding files and folders

MEPIS Linux 7.0 contains a number of powerful means of finding files or folders, both graphical and command-line.

GUI:

KFind: This graphical search program can be reached by clicking KMenu --> Find Files or Folders (KFinder). You can search by name, location, contents or properties.
KFind handbook http://docs.kde.org/stable/en/kdebase/kfind/index.html

CLI:

locate: A command-line tool. For each given pattern, locate searches one or more databases of file names and displays the ones that contain the pattern. For example, typing:
```
locate firefox
```
will return an extremely long list with every single file that has the word “firefox” in its name or in its path. This command is best used when the exact file name is known.
Manual page for locate: http://www.linuxcommand.org/man_pages/locate1.html
whereis: Another command-line tool. For each given pattern, whereis searches one or more databases of file names and displays the file names that contain the pattern, but it ignores paths so the return list is much shorter. For example, typing:
```
whereis firefox
```
will return a much shorter list something like this:
```
firefox: /usr/bin/firefox /etc/firefox /usr/lib/firefox /usr/X11R6/bin/firefox 
/usr/bin/X11/firefox /usr/share/firefox /usr/share/man/man1/firefox.1.gz
```
Manual page for whereis: http://www.linuxcommand.org/man_pages/whereis1.html
which: Another command-line tool. For the given pattern, which attempts to identify the executable. For example, typing:
```
which firefox
```
will return just one file:
```
/usr/bin/firefox
```
Manual page for which: http://www.linuxcommand.org/man_pages/which1.html

How to list your hardware

For configuration you will probably need to discover exactly what hardware is connected to your system. Use one of the following methods.

Basic list

One place to get information about your hardware is Kinfocenter. Click KMenu -> System -> KInfo Center, and you will see the list of hardware in the left-hand panel, and details in the right.

Detailed list

You can get more detailed information using a command-line program (see Section 7) that comes pre-installed with MEPIS

Open a terminal and type as root: hwinfo to see a detailed list of hardware.
You can copy and paste this list into a document, or redirect the output to a plain text document by typing this as root:
```
hwinfo > /home/username/Documents/hwlist
```

How To Get System Info In Linux: http://www.computerbob.com/guests/how_to_get_system_info_in_linux.php

Screensavers

KDE has its own screensaver program known as KScreensaver. You reach it by right-clicking the desktop, select Configure Desktop... --> Screen Saver. The settings screen is pretty clear, but the Help document has details. A set of creative screensavers can be added with Xscreensaver.

KScreensaver help: help:/kcontrol/screensaver/index.html#screensaver
MEPIS Wiki: Xscreensaver: http://www.mepis.org/docs/en/index.php/Xscreensaver
Wikipedia: Xscreensaver: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XScreenSaver

Other common choices: http://www.mepis.org/docs/en/index.php/Linux_software#Screen_Saver

Killing runaway programs

When a program refuses to end, you can kill it in a number of ways. Here are two of the most common:

Desktop:
- Press Ctrl-Esc, which brings up KDE System Guard. Locate the program you want to stop by scrolling through the list or using the search box, highlight it, and click Kill.
- Press Ctrl-Alt-Esc to change the cursor into a skull and crossbones. Click on any open program to kill it. This xkill program can also be launched from the command line:
```
xkill
```
Terminal: : Press Ctrl-C, which will usually stop a program you started in a terminal session.

MEPIS Wiki: Killing a runaway program: http://www.mepis.org/docs/en/index.php/Killing_a_runaway_program

Symbolic links

A symbolic link (also soft link or symlink) is a special kind of file that points to another file, much like a shortcut in Windows or an alias in Macintosh. A symbolic link does not contain any actual data (as a hard link does), it just points to another file somewhere in the system.

There are two ways to create a symlink: Konqueror or the command line.

Konqueror: Navigate to the file or folder (target of the link) that you want to use under another name, then open another window of Konqueror to navigate to where you want the symlink to be located. Drag the target to the symlink location. A box will open with choices to Move Here, Copy Here, or Link Here. Select Link Here and you're done! Name it however you want, and you have a symbolic link to the target file —which is still in its original location.
Command line: Open a terminal and type:
```
ln -s TargetFile LinkName
```
Be sure to include path as well as file/folder names. The -s switch indicates that a symbolic link and not a hard link (that points directly to data) is being created.

Wikipedia: Symbolic link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symlink
The Seven Unix/Linux File Types: http://www.sblinux.org/pages/permissions01.html#filetypes

System monitoring and scheduling

A variety of tools to help you monitor your system are available in MEPIS Linux 7.0. can be found under the ( KMenu --> System ) menu tree. For details on these tools, check the MEPIS Wiki.

Info Center: KInfoCenter provides you with a centralized and convenient overview of your KDE and system settings. The information center is made up of multiple modules. Each module is a separate application, but the information center organizes all of these programs into a convenient location.
KInfocenter handbook: http://docs.kde.org/stable/en/kdebase/kinfocenter/index.html
KwikDisk: A kicker applet that is installed with MEPIS Linux 7.0, it displays the available file devices (hard drive partitions, floppy and CD drives, etc.) along with information on their free space, type and mount point. It also allows you to mount and unmount drives. It is also an entry for KDiskFree, below.
KDiskfree: A graphical tool to display disk usage as a bar chart. It will only display information on mounted drives. You may need to right-click on the device and choose mount if the device you want to view is currently unmounted.
Battery Monitor: Kpowersave is a utility designed to assist with power management in laptops, but it works equally well with desktops and some Uninterruptable Power Supplies, enabling the system to shut down nicely when a low power condition is found.
Kpowersave home page: http://sourceforge.net/projects/powersave/
Performance Monitor: KSysguard is the KDE Task Manager and Performance Monitor. It can be used to monitor system performance, memory usage and to shut down non-responsive applications.
KSysguard handbook: http://docs.kde.org/development/en/kdebase/ksysguard/
FSView: The FSView plugin (KMenu --> Applications --> System) gives you a graphical overview of how much space is used by each file in your user account.
FSView handbook: http://docs.kde.org/stable/en/kdeaddons/konq-plugins/fsview/index.html
Ksensors: A graphical frontend to the lmsensors package for monitoring a motherboard, it allows you to access information from temperature and fan speed sensors. Uncertain how well it works, but you will have more chance of success if you run sensors-detect in a root terminal and answer yes to all prompts.
Ksensors home page: http://ksensors.sourceforge.net/
Kicker applets: You can add system applets such as System Guard and System Monitor to Kicker by right-clicking and selecting Add Applet to Panel.

Other common choices: http://www.mepis.org/docs/en/index.php/Linux_software#Utilities

Table of Contents