Linux on the Go...

I remember the last year when I did the same article for

PCQLinux 2005. But at that time I used commands like iwconfig, sdptool, ifconfig,

etc to configure the wireless and Bluetooth adapters on the computer. But now

when I look back I find that the Linux had changed quite a lot and had become

better and better for laptop usages. Now configuring all those connectivity

methods are just-a-matter of some clicks on the neat GUI of Linux. So now

let's see how it is

Configuring Wireless



In PCQLinux 2006 you will mainly see two tools to configure the wireless adapter
and manage them. They are kwifimanager and system-config-network. the formar is

the traditional wifi configuration tool from KDE which has evolved quite a bit

during last couple of years. And the later one is the default network

configuration utility of RedHat/Fedora or based distro which now has included

the wifi module also. I personally like the system-config-network utility

because it is pretty much similar to the wifi manager of Windows XP and is easy

to use. In kwifimanager you mind find difficulty to assign the security key of

the wifi network while connecting but in system-config-network it is very easy

to do.

All you have to do to configure wifi is to run the system-config-network

command from the terminal or click on the “system tools”à “Network Device

Control”. And then select the wifi device and double click on it. the wireless

device configuration window will open. Go to the “wireless settings” tab and

fill up the necessary values. Like the security key and the essid, etc. and

click on the Ok button. And Walla! Your notebook is on Air.

Accessing your Bluetooth devices and their services is as simple as entering entering 'sdp://' in a web browser.

Configuring Bluetooth



This is one thing I find easier to configure in Linux than Windows. Name any

brand or chipset of Bluetooth, you have to just plug it in and run the

kbluetoothd from start>Internet Menu and it will be up and running. You will

notice a nice Bluetooth icon on the task bar which signifies that Bluetooth is

active.

To search and use the Bluetooth in your surroundings all

you have to do is double click on the Bluetooth icon on the task and a new

window will open up which will show you all the Bluetooth devices available in

surrounding,

Now to use any service from any of the device all you have

to do is to click on the device. this will open this window. Here you can see

all the services available in the devices. Now to use any service just click on

that and follow the procedure

See, did you noticed any command line or text based

commands in this article? And people say Linux is not fit for desktops!