RHIT Math Department Computing - Software and Configuration Tips

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Contents

The tips below are a compilation of tips for specific problems that have arisen in the use of Linux. Note it assumed that you are using Gnome the default session manager

• Using Gnome
  • add to launch panel
  • file associations
• TeX and LaTeX
• Firefox
• Thunderbird

Using Gnome

Add to launch Panel

Here is an example for Firefox. A similar process should work for any application.

• Find Firefox in the main menu under Internet
• then right-click on the icon and you'll see the option to add it to your launch panel.

File association

In the file browser do the following:

• select a file with the file extension you want to associate an application such as filename.log, filname.txt or filename.tex
• right click on the filename and select properties for the pop-up dialog
• follow the instructions

TeX and LaTeX

TeX is a markup language universally used by the math community to create documents because of its powerful ability to render mathematical notation.  There are several tools used to create and render TeX documents. Below is a minimal set sufficient to convert a source tex file to a pdf file. In this set up we are skipping the intermediate .dvi file. The pdf file is suitable for distribution or printing.

Command/Action	Description
emacs <filename.tex> xemacs <filename.tex> nedit <filename.tex> gedit <filename.tex> All the editors can be invoked from the start menu or right clicking on and selecting from the Open With option.	Create and/or edit a tex file.
pdftex <filename.tex> run in a terminal window	Compiles a TeX file directly to a .pdf file with Type 1 fonts
pdflatex <filename.tex> run in a terminal window	Compiles a LaTeX file directly to a .pdf file with Type 1 fonts
gpdf <filename.pdf> ggv <filename.pdf> xpdf <filename.pdf> All the editors can be invoked from the start menu or right clicking on and selecting from the Open With option.	view the pdf file

Firefox

Email Client: Setting up thunderbird as the default email client on Gnome. Taken from this page http://kb.mozillazine.org/Default_mail_client#Linux_.28Gnome.29

These steps will allow opening your desired email client when operating in Firefox and using its menus, or when activating an email link on a Firefox page:

1. In Firefox's Location (URL) Bar, enter "about:config" and then press <enter> or click "Go".
2. With the cursor in the body of the resulting page, <right-click> the mouse.
3. From the pop-up menu, select "New".
4. From the next pop-up menu, select "String".
5. In the pop-up dialog box "Enter preference name", enter "network.protocol-handler.app.mailto" (without quotes), and click "OK" (You might wish to cut-and-paste that phrase to ensure correct spelling).
6. In the pop-up dialog box "? network.protocol-handler.app.mailto", enter "/usr/bin/kmail" without quotes [or the actual file system location of your desired email client] and click "OK". This should be the Full Path of the program, i.e. "/usr/bin/thunderbird" (for the math dept ), not just the path "/usr/bin".

Without restarting Firefox, you can test by opening or switching to another tab. from the Firefox top menu select, "File -> Send Link". Your desired email client should open. If that doesn't happen, redo your steps, ensuring the spelling of your entries is correct, and ensure the actual Full Path of your desired mail client is entered.

Thunderbird

Configuration for RHIT IMAP: Here is a configuration that works. It is derived form the instructions on the IAIT help page. To use Thunderbird with the Rose email server choose the IMAP make sure the account is set up with the following parameters:

Incoming Mail

• Server: exch-gw.ms.rose-hulman.edu
• IMAP/Incoming Port: 993
• for server security select SSL, leave use secure authentication unchecked.

Outgoing Mail

• Server: exchange.ms.rose-hulman.edu
• SMTP/Outgoing Port: 225
• for server security select TLS

There are many other configuration options. One that you should specify is where to save drafts and copies of messages. One that works well is on the IMAP server itself. To configure these options do the following.

• On the menu go to Edit > Account Settings. (or perhaps Tools > Account Settings, depending on the release)
• In the left panel click on Copies and Folders for the IMAP account.
• At the top of the right panel check the "Place a copy" check box and Click the "Sent Folder on " radio button.. Then, select the IMAP account form the drop down box.
• In the Drafts and Templates area select the "Drafts Folder on" radio button and select the IMAP account from the drop down box.
• If you make use of templates do the same for the Templates section.