How to create desktop icon & find "Network Manager"

[rcjohnson]

I'm a newbie with Vector Linux, so forgive me for using Windows nomenclature, but I don't know what they are called in Linux ye.  Can someone help me with creating desktop icons for existing programs, and I can't seem to find the network manager that allows me to see the other computers on a network.  Where do I find this?  Thanks.

[nightflier]

Linux gives you a lot more options than Windows. The answer to your question depends on what version you are running, and what choices you made during install. Is it 5.9 SOHO, 6.0 Standard, 6.0 Light? It would also be helpful to know the specs of your computer (processor, memory, hard drive space).

[rcjohnson]

Thanks for your response.  I've installed 6.0 Standard, on a Pentium 4, with 256 RAM, and 19 gb HD.  Does this help?

[stretchedthin]

Hi welcome to VL,

These may help...

Here is a screencast on creating a desktop launcher.
http://www.opensourcebistro.com/Tutorial/VL60/02.Beginners-guide/Desk-launcher-system-apps/Desk-launcher-system-apps.htm

Here is a screencast that should point out how you can view windows shares...
(eventhough it is more of a trouble shooting tutorial for a problem I had)
http://www.opensourcebistro.com/Tutorial/VL60/Trouble-Shooting/sambafix/sambafix.htm

The site I get these from is www.opensourcebistro.com, if you find them useful, please "digg" the site.

[rcjohnson]

Thanks for your response.  I found the Bistro piece on desktop icons, but I'm not finding any help in regard to the network manager.

Does Linux simply not use something like this to navigate networks, or do they call it something else?  I'm sure it's real easy, but I sure can't find it so far.  I need a Guide!  Thanks.

[nightflier]

Does Linux simply not use something like this to navigate networks

I would recommend VL 5.9 SOHO for this. Your machine is fast enough, and KDE's Konqueror greatly simplifies navigation across various networks like windows sharing, ftp, ssh, http and more.

[M0E-lnx]

The short answer to your question is no.
the STD version does not have a GUI for navigating the network.

Basically, pretty much all windows-to-linux file/printer sharing is done via samba.
With that said, VL does come with samba pre-installed

You can see your shares using this command

Code:

smbclient -L <ip.to.your.file.server>

I dont have a whole lot of experience with it, If I were you, I'd start by googling for a samba howto. I'll give you a hand...
http://learn.clemsonlinux.org/wiki/Samba_client

[Daniel]

I would suggest a compromise. If you like 6.0 but want a graphical network browser/navigator, I believe that you can get KDE's Konqueror (which nightflier mentioned) by installing just part of KDE. (the kdebase package maybe?) I use Konqueror myself and It's very helpful.

[rcjohnson]

Thanks everyone!  You've been most helpful, and I'll give them a try.

[newt]

If Daniels suggestion works then that would probably be the easiest method of accessing network shares using a graphical frontend while keeping the most up-to-date VL version installed.

In the past (VL 5.9 Standard) I used to install and use pyNeighborhood from the repo.  It provides a simplistic graphical frontend and accomplishes the task of mounting network shares.  I remember always having to run it as root for it to work but I'm sure it was something simple to fix it so it worked for normal users. I'm not certain if it's available in the repo for VL 6 but if not you could put a request in the 'Package Requests' forum and perhaps someone with time could package it.

Lately, I just manually mount the network shares using the cifs filesystem.  I start by listing the available shares on my network using 'smbtree', and then issue the appropriate command to mount/umount the network share.  This can all be done as a normal user. You will need a mountpoint somewhere in your home directory.  Some examples are below:

List available network shares:
smbtree   -U=username_of_windows_machine
Example) smbtree   -U=WinUser
--after hitting enter you'll be prompted to enter the users password (this is the Windows users password), or hit enter for no password
--It should then give you listing of available network shares for the system that match the credtials you entered (username/password)

Mount a network share:
mount.cifs   //ip_address_or_netbios_name_of_network_computer/network_share_name   /path/to/mount/point   -o   username=username_for_windows,password=password_for_windows_user
Example) mount.cifs   //192.168.1.125/c_drive   /mnt/win_c   -o   username=WinUser,password=WinUserPassword
Example) mount.cifs   //windowsxp/c   ~/mnt/winxp_c   -o   username=WinUser
--at this point the network share will actually be mounted in the directory you specified (i.e. you can browse it just like it were on your hard drive)
--when you're done with it you can unmount.

Unmount a network share:
umount.cifs   /path/to/mount/point
Example) umount.cifs   ~/mnt/winxp_c)
--NOTE: the spelling is 'umount' not 'unmount'

Hope this helps.  If you have questions on any of this feel free to ask.

[GrannyGeek]

I don't use the KDE desktop but I have Konqueror on all my Linux computers and have had it for the past few VectorLinux releases.

If you install kdebase and kdelibs, you'll have Konqueror and other programs that are the "heart" of KDE. You can find kdebase and kdelibs in the repos.
--GrannyGeek