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ZDNET’s key takeaways
- With a little bit of effort, you may elevate Linux’s desktop effectivity.
- The following pointers will not price you a penny and the outcomes will be game-changing.
- You will not should be a Linux specialist to make use of the following tips.
I’ve labored with practically each working system at present available on the market (and a few now not with us). Of all these working techniques, one stands means above the others within the class of effectivity.
Do not get me mistaken, each OS excels in one thing, however with Linux, you may make it excel at nearly all the things. After I take into consideration every OS I’ve used, I can truthfully say that the one one I’d ever select when effectivity was a high precedence is Linux.
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Fingers down.
Some Linux distributions (and/or desktop environments) are fairly environment friendly out of the field, however there’s all the time room for enchancment.
However what are you able to do to make the Linux desktop much more environment friendly? Lots. Let’s check out my 10 favourite modifications/additions you may make.
1. Keyboard shortcuts
To say that is strictly a Linux factor can be mistaken. Even so, you hear of extra Linux customers working with keyboard shortcuts than with most different OSes. In truth, most Linux desktop environments mean you can simply create customized keyboard shortcuts out of the field. And with Linux, you may create some environment friendly keyboard shortcuts, comparable to these for managing home windows, transferring home windows, window focus, launching apps, display screen locking, logging out, taking a screenshot, opening the terminal, operating a command, opening particular apps, and a lot extra. You may as well create customized shortcuts for much more effectivity.
2. Tiling window supervisor or window snapping
One concern that always will get in the best way of being as environment friendly as doable is managing your open apps. Most desktop working techniques provide window snapping (for instance, dragging an app window to the left fringe of the desktop to snap it to the left aspect of the show).
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Linux takes this one step additional and gives tiling window managers that mechanically place home windows for you. By using a tiling window manager, you now not have to fret about the place to position a window within the optimum location, as a result of the tiling window supervisor does that for you. And since most tiling window managers additionally embody keyboard shortcuts, you could possibly create a desktop the place you hardly ever have to the touch the mouse or trackpad.
3. Use Workspaces
Workspaces have been out there to Linux since I began utilizing it within the late ’90s. Workspaces make it simple to arrange your desktop (and an organized desktop is an environment friendly one). For instance, you could possibly have one Workspace devoted to writing, one for common internet shopping, one for productiveness, and one for multimedia. With the assistance of a helpful keyboard shortcut, you may change between these desktops with ease. Which distribution you employ will decide how you employ workspaces.
4. Automate bash scripts
In some unspecified time in the future, you will get curious in regards to the command line, which could lead you to jot down your first bash script. As soon as you have created your first bash script, you will then wish to automate it. For instance, you would possibly write a bash script that handles backups of sure directories to an exterior drive. Why not use cron to automate that script, so you do not have to recollect to run the script every day, weekly, or month-to-month? Cron is a really easy-to-use software for automation on Linux.
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5. Customise your desktop
Almost each Linux desktop setting is customizable. A few of these customizations are aesthetic, whereas others deal with effectivity. For instance, in Xfce, you could possibly create a panel on the highest, backside, left, and proper. Dedicate one panel to app launchers, one to info, one to folder shortcuts, and one to interacting with the primary menu. You are able to do this with a number of desktop environments, however on condition that Xfce is the reigning champ of customization, it was the plain selection. You may as well customise the right-click context menu of your file supervisor to make it simpler to do issues like share folders, compress information, and extra.
6. Be taught the command line
People who find themselves new to Linux will most certainly maintain off on studying the command line. Ultimately, nonetheless, you would possibly discover that utilizing the CLI is far more environment friendly than utilizing the GUI. For instance, I might create a keyboard shortcut to launch my terminal app, after which concern the command mkdir ~/ZDNET to create a folder named ZDNET, after which run the command exit to shut the terminal. That’s far more environment friendly than opening your file supervisor, navigating to the situation that may home the brand new folder, right-clicking any area, naming the brand new folder, after which closing the file supervisor. Work smarter, not tougher.
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7. Set up the best software program
This one ought to be fairly simple, but it surely’s vital to put in the best software program for the job. On high of that, be sure that to put in software program that makes the job simpler. This is a easy instance: You put in the AbiWord phrase processor, hoping that it contains AI help, solely to understand it doesn’t. You then set up LibreOffice and discover that including AI is a bit too difficult. You lastly uncover that ONLYOFFICE Doc Editors has built-in AI, so that you go along with that. As an alternative of spending all that point, do a little bit of up-front analysis, so you realize what apps will fit your wants.
8. Higher handle information and folders
I see this one on a regular basis. Open somebody’s file supervisor, and you will find their directories are nothing however chaos. There is not any rhyme or motive why information are the place they’re. As an alternative, be sure that to arrange your folders rigorously. For instance, inside the ~/Paperwork folder, you would possibly create sub-folders for College, Work, House, and Creativity. Inside these folders, you would possibly create a folder for the yr (2025). Contained in the 2025 folder, create folders for every month and save the information accordingly. The sort of file system format has saved me extra time than I might have imagined.
9. Make use of LAN-based file sync
As an alternative of going with Google Drive or OneDrive, you would possibly take into consideration deploying a file-sync service in your LAN. You would possibly deploy Nextcloud and use it as your inner Google Workspace substitute. This may be extra environment friendly as a result of you may add the options you need and eliminate these you do not. And, must you lose contact with the exterior community, you’ll nonetheless have entry to your inner cloud storage.
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10. Use a strong keyboard launcher
Lastly, use a strong keyboard launcher, comparable to Albert. With these launchers, you hit a key in your keyboard to open the software, kind what you are on the lookout for (comparable to a file or an app), use your up or down arrow keys to pick what you wish to open, and hit Enter in your keyboard. You might not imagine this, however transferring your hand from the keyboard to the mouse and again to the keyboard can eat away at your effectivity. On high of that, keyboard launchers make it a lot simpler to seek out the information you are on the lookout for.
