I went back through all of the shortcuts that I could find and tried them on Ubuntu 9.04. Interesting that some of them did not work so I left those out. All of these shortcuts should work on a default Ubuntu installation.
Basic Keyboard Shortcuts
When you consider using keyboard shortcuts always think about the Ctrl key as that is the first key you will use with all of the keyboard basics.
Ctrl + C = Copy the highlighted content to clipboard
Ctrl + V = Paste the clipboard content
Ctrl + N = New Create a new document (works with gedit, OpenOffice, not terminal)
Ctrl + O = Open a document
Ctrl + S = Save the current document
Ctrl + P = Print the current document by selecting a printer
Ctrl + W = Close the close document
Ctrl + Q = Quit the current application
Keyboard Shortcuts for GNOME Desktop
Ctrl + Alt + F1 = Switch to the first virtual terminal
Ctrl + Alt + F2(F3)(F4)(F5)(F6) = Select the different virtual terminals
Ctrl + Alt + F7 = Restore back to the current terminal session with X
Virtual terminals or ttys allow you to login as different users or multiple times. The virtual teminals F1-F6 are command line only, F7 is the XWindow.
Ctrl + Alt + Backspace = Restart GNOME
Alt + Tab = Switch between open programs
Ctrl + Alt + L = Lock the screen, this will require user password to open
Alt + F1 = opens the Applications menu
Alt + F2 = opens the Run Application dialog box
Alt + F4 = closes the current window which is highlighted
Alt + F5 = unmaximizes the current window
Alt + F7 = grab and move the current window
Alt + F8 = resizes the current window with mouse
Alt + F9 = minimizes the current window by placing on the panel
Alt + F10 = maximizes the current window
Alt + Space = opens the window menu on the currently highlighted application
Ctrl + Alt + Left/Right = move to the next/previous workspace
Keyboard Shortcuts for Terminal
Do not mistake these shortcuts with shortcuts for vi or any other editor that you may have open.
Ctrl + C = kills the current process.
Ctrl + Z = sends the current process to the background.
Ctrl + D = logs you out.
Ctrl + R = finds the last command matching the entered letters.
Enter letters which will be followed by Tab + Tab = lists the available commands beginning with those letters.
Keyboard Shortcuts for Nautilus
Shift + Ctrl + N = Create New Folder
Ctrl + T = Will add a tab to the window
Alt + ENTER = Show File/Folder Properties
Ctrl + 1 = Toggle View As Icons
Ctrl + 2 = Toggle View As List
Ctrl + S = Select Pattern by opening pattern window
F2 = Rename File
Ctrl + A = Select all files and folders
Ctrl + W = Close Window
Ctrl + Shift + W = Close All Nautilus Windows
Ctrl + R = Reload Nautilus Window
Alt + Up = Open parent directory
Alt + Left = Back
Alt + Right = Forward
Alt + Home = go to Home folder
Ctrl + L = go to location bar
F9 = Show sidepane
Ctrl + H = Show Hidden Files
Ctrl + + = Zoom In
Ctrl + – = Zoom Out
Ctrl + 0 = Normal Size
Since I have a Skype account and a new install of Ubuntu 9.04 I thought it would make sense to get Skype going.
In order to install Skype, it is not in the repository, you must go to the Skype web site. Quite frankly, I am not sure they give a rip about Linux users as the state of their programs for install is way behind. But you can get it to work.
Download Old Programs
You will need to download the programs that are out of date for Ubuntu.
http://www.skype.com/download/skype/linux/choose/
Right Click on the Package
Open with GDebi package Installer, you will see the option with a right click.
This will open the Package Installer. Just click install.
While it is installing check your audio, headset what ever you are going to use so that you know they work. In the upper right hand corner of the Desktop you will see the audio icon, be sure to test and verify you can hear sound.
The Package Installer will install the necessary 20 programs to get Skype going. You will need access to the root account to install.
Edit Sound Devices. At the least you must edit the sound devices for Skype.
I found Skype a little tricky with my audio on the laptop. I am using a Logitech USB headphone but for some reason the audio initially only came from the laptop speakers. I fixed it with these settings which tested and worked fine.
Do your self a favor a set up a few security settings. If you want to add some security only allow calls from people that you have specifically allowed.
Enjoy this video that shows the step-by-step process I used to tweet to my Twitter account from the Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope terminal window. This saves me time as I don’t need to leave my terminal/desktop to post tweets on my Twitter.com account.
So you are enjoying the new Ubuntu 9.04 but maybe you notice some issues. Like at times your desktop seems slow…why? Or maybe your are just curious to know what is happening under the hood. Ubuntu provides an easy to use interface to take a look at resources and what is happening.
Select System/Administration/System Monitoring.
The “System” tab gives you a summary of your operating system, your hardware and the status of the system. Here you can see that Jackalope is installed. Note it also provides you with the exact kernel that you are using. As you update the kernel this will change. The hardware shows the total amount of RAM on your system. Keep this number handy as you will need it to evaluate what you are using later. Here it looks like there are two processors, when actually there is only one but it is using hyperthreading so it functions as two. The status is basically showing available disk space.
Processes are the applications running on the machine. Now you may see a lot of “sleeping” processes and want to say, “hey you guys wake up and do something!”. Well, that is exactly it, they are waiting to be called upon to do something. Basically these processes are ready to go, they just are not needed right now, this is how your system can save on resources. If you are looking for what is slowing your computer down check the “%CPU” as this will list the processess usage. If you see a process hogging the CPU it may be because it has a problem, so you need to look into it. You also see a column with memory listings. This is another area to check for processes that are using a lot of memory. Write them down so that if you see a pattern you can dig into it later.
The “Resources” tab provides a real time view of how your computer is using available resources. The CPU History shows what percentage is active for each processor. The Memory and Swap History shows the amount of RAM that is used. If you are consistently using a lot of RAM you may want to purchase new RAM for your machine as that will certainly slow down your computer. SWAP is hard drive space that will be used if the RAM runs low. SWAP can be 10 to 100 times slower if it is used so be careful. The Network History will show traffic on your network connections.
Drive space is viewed in the last tab. It will show the amount that has been used.
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