Customizing your Desktop

Once you've installed the desktop edition of PCQLinux 2007, you can customize

it according to your environment. Let's see how to add/ remove programs,

configure the firewall and other security settings, and configure the

networking.

Add/Remove Program



The Add/Remove Software option in PCQLinux 2007 Desktop edition is of great use
and this Linux distro lets you do this easily. When you open the Add/Remove

Software option under the application menu, it pops up a window called 'Package

Manager', which has Browse, Search and List options.

Drilling down the Browse option, you will find other options like Desktop

Environment, Application, etc in which applications are grouped. When you select

any one of these you will find the grouped application on the right box, where

you can see what all is installed and what's not.

For removing the software, uncheck the checkbox provided and click on Apply.

It, then, displays a window that shows the details of what you are removing from

your computer, so that if you want to remove them, click on Continue else

Cancel. Installing software is as simple as removing it, and you just have to

check the package you want to install and click on Apply. This will show you the

details of what all things are to be installed. You can then choose to install

or cancel the operation. And, of course, don't forget to insert the PCQLinux2007

Desktop edition CD.

Package Manager displaying different desktop environments which are installed and which are not

The 'List' option shows all details-all packages installed or not, etc. With

the 'Search' option, you can search for the packages that are installed and you

can also remove them. Note that search option is only to work with installed

packages.

Configure Security Policies



SELinux (Security-enhanced Linux) is used for enhanced security in Linux. It is
used to enforce MAC (Mandatory Access Control) architecture called flask in

Linux kernel.

It can enforce a security policy, defined by the administrator, over all

processes and objects in the system. You can configure this under the 'Security

level and firewall' option, which is under System>Administration. It lets you

enable and/or disable the SELinux settings. If you want to enable it, you

actually won't have the enable option but two other options namely Permissive

and Enforcing. If you select any of these type, you have the option for policy

type which has three options-targeted, mls and strict--included in it. You also

have the option of modifying the SELinux policy.

Security Level Configuration lets you Enable and Disable the Firewall and other Trusted Services

Firewall



Configuring the firewall in PCQLinux is pretty simple. Just open up the
'Security level and Firewall' from System>Administration. There you will be

prompted for choosing security level for your computer. Under the Firewall tab,

you have the firewall enabling and disabling option. After you turn on you

firewall, you get a list of trusted services, which is actually what you can

permit access to, through the firewall. Other than this, you have an option

called 'other port', which lets you allow specific ports for custom developed

services or for any service which is not included in the firewall list.

Networking



If your computer is connected to network, there are two ways for obtaining an IP
address for it. One is the default setting (DHCP) in which your system will

automatically be assigned an IP by your administrator. Second one is assigning a

static IP address to your system. You get these options at System>

Administration>Network. Here in the network configuration window that pops up,

select the active Ethernet port and click on Edit. This opens a window with two

radio buttons for 'Automatically obtain IP address settings with dhcp' (default)

and 'Statically set IP address '. In the latter, you have to assign a static IP

address to your computer. Note that your IP address should not match with anyone

else on the network. You've to provide three things: IP Address, Subnet mask and

default gateway address to complete setup.

Configure Wi-Fi access



Today most WiFi cards available in the market work with Linux seamlessly. All
you have to do is to plug in the card in your PCQLinux 2007 machine (notebook or

desktop) and the hardware finder application, called Kudzu, will automatically

detect and load the driver for it. Once done, you can go to the wireless

configuration tool in System>Administration>Network. Make sure that your

wireless card is identified and is displayed under Hardware tab. After this is

done, go to Edit button to set the ESSID, Mode, and WEP key for you wireless

network. You can Monitor and Activate the wireless interface using the Network

Monitor.