Linux: Navigate System Tools

So, you’ve decided to explore Linux…

You might be a little lost since the naming conventions are a little different to what you are used to on Windows. As someone who continues to encourage people into the Linux ecosystem, the common issue people run into is navigating the Linux environment.

In this weeks installment, we are going to explore some of the system tools to monitor your Linux system. The instructions are for technical and nontechnical people alike.

Despite the abundance of options of different Linux Operating Systems and deciding on different desktop environments, the system tools are “generally” the same throughout any Linux Operating System. To add, you can access these applications via the terminal if you are feeling more adventurous, but the ones we are going to look at, have graphical versions, so no need to worry. For simplicity sake, I am only going to reference Pop!_Os (Ubuntu based) since it is the one I am most familiar with. Let's begin exploring the system tools.

One thing to consider when navigating through a Linux Desktop environment is that many of the hotkeys are very similar to what you would find on Windows. For instance, pressing the Windows key (referred to as the super key) will pull up the application fuzzy finder, where you can type the name of the application you want to use.

To look at the installed applications, on your task bar locate the application icon that typically looks like a multicolored tic-tac-toe grid. Here you will find, applications categorized as “Library Home”, “Browsers”, “Office”, “System”, and “Utilities”. We are only going to focus on the “System” category. The great thing is, you are going to find all of them quite self-explanatory.

(avrs img:popos system directory)

• Advanced Network Configuration deals with wifi, ethernet, etc.
• Disk Usage Analyzer, exactly as it describes of disk usage.
  
• Disks show all the mounted drives, file system, and partitions.
• Language Support is installed languages and key bindings.
• Password and Keys are where you can manage your digital keys.
• Power Statistics shows information about the battery or AC adapter usage.
• Startup Applications are programs that start when you first boot the computer.
• System Monitor is similar to Task Manager where you can view system processes and resources.
• System76 Driver details the installed drivers.

Full disclosure, part of the reason why I made this blog entry is because I actually didn’t know what some of the GUI equivalent was for the tools that I use in the terminal.