GNU/Linux


Mastering Desktop Zoom: A Guide to Keyboard Shortcuts on GNOME

In today’s fast-paced digital world, accessibility features are vital in empowering users with different abilities. One such feature is desktop zoom, which allows users to magnify their screen content for better visibility. GNOME, a popular desktop environment for Linux, offers a convenient way to activate and utilize desktop zoom through keyboard shortcuts. This blog post will explore how to make the most of these shortcuts and enhance your GNOME experience.

Activating Desktop Zoom via the Settings:

To activate desktop zoom on GNOME, follow these steps:

Step 1: Open the GNOME Settings: Click on the “Activities” button in the screen’s top-left corner or press the “Super” key on your keyboard. Then type “Settings” and select the “Settings” application.

Step 2: Navigate to Accessibility Settings: In the GNOME Settings window, select the “Accessibility” category on the left sidebar.

Step 3: Enable Desktop Zoom: Within the Accessibility settings, locate the “Zoom” section. Toggle the switch to the “ON” position to activate desktop zoom.

Using Keyboard Shortcuts for Desktop Zoom:

You can use the following keyboard shortcuts to control and customize your zoom experience:

  1. Toggle Zoom On/Off: Super + Alt + 8 Pressing the Super (Windows) key, Alt key, and the number 8 simultaneously will toggle the zoom functionality on or off.
  2. Zoom In: Super + Alt + plus (+) Pressing the Super key, Alt key, and the plus (+) key simultaneously will zoom in, magnifying the content on your screen.
  3. Zoom Out: Super + Alt + minus (-) Pressing the Super key, Alt key, and the minus (-) key simultaneously will zoom out, reducing the magnification of the screen content.
  4. Zoom Reset: Super + Alt + 0 Pressing the Super key, Alt key, and the number 0 simultaneously will reset the zoom level to its default state.
  5. Pan Around the Screen: Super + Alt + left-click and drag While zoomed in, holding down the Super key, Alt key, and left-clicking the mouse button while dragging will allow you to pan around the zoomed-in screen area.

Customizing Desktop Zoom Options:

If you wish to customize your desktop zoom experience further, you can access additional settings through the GNOME Settings application. Here, you can modify options such as zoom factor, mouse wheel behavior, and more to suit your preferences.

Conclusion:

The keyboard shortcuts provided by GNOME for desktop zoom offer a convenient and efficient way to magnify your screen content. By activating and using these shortcuts, you can enhance your productivity and accessibility within the GNOME desktop environment. Explore additional customization options to tailor the desktop zoom feature to your needs. Embrace the power of keyboard shortcuts and take complete control of your GNOME experience.


Bulk convert PNG images to JPG / JPEG

for i in *.png ; do convert "$i" "${i%.*}.jpg" ; done

The command “for i in .png ; do convert “$i” “${i%.}.jpg” ; done” is a Bash script that converts all PNG files in the current directory to JPEG files.

Let’s break down this command:

  • “for i in *.png ;” is a loop that iterates over each PNG file in the current directory.
  • “$i” is the name of the current PNG file being processed.
  • “convert” is a command-line tool that is part of the ImageMagick software suite. It is used for image conversion, resizing, and manipulation.
  • “${i%.}.jpg” is the new filename that the PNG file will be converted to. The “${i%.}” syntax is used to remove the file extension from the original PNG file name, leaving just the base filename, which is then followed by “.jpg” to indicate that the new file should be a JPEG file.

In summary, this command converts each PNG file in the current directory to a JPEG file with the same base filename. For example, “example.png” would be converted to “example.jpg”. This command can be useful when you have a large number of PNG files that you need to convert to JPEG format quickly and easily.


How to monitor all outgoing requests/connections from your GNU/Linux machine

netstat -nputw;

The “netstat” command is a network utility tool used to display information about active network connections, including the protocol used (TCP or UDP), the local and remote addresses and port numbers, and the current state of the connection.

The options used in this command are as follows:

  • “n” displays addresses and port numbers in numerical form rather than converting them to hostnames and service names.
  • “p” shows the process ID (PID) and program name using the connection.
  • “u” displays UDP connections.
  • “t” displays TCP connections.
  • “w” displays raw sockets.
  • “;” separates the command from other commands that may follow.

Therefore, the command netstat -nputw; will display all current network connections on the machine, including the corresponding processes and raw socket connections, in a numerical format without resolving hostnames and service names.


Mount a Windows share on a GNU/Linux server

sudo mount -t cifs //$WINDOWS_FILE_SERVER/$SHARED_FOLDER /var/www/bytefreaks.net/shared/ -o username=remoteUser,password='123abc',domain=bytefreaks.net,file_mode=0777,dir_mode=0777;

The command sudo mount -t cifs //$WINDOWS_FILE_SERVER/$SHARED_FOLDER /var/www/bytefreaks.net/shared/ -o username=remoteUser,password='123abc',domain=bytefreaks.net,file_mode=0777,dir_mode=0777 is used to mount a shared folder from a Windows file server onto a Linux system.

To break down the command further, here is a detailed explanation of each component:

sudo – this command is used to run the following command as a superuser or root. It is required in this instance as mounting requires administrative privileges.

mount – the mount command is used to mount a file system onto a directory in the Linux file system hierarchy.

-t cifs – this option specifies the type of file system that is being mounted. In this case, it is the Common Internet File System (CIFS), which is used for file sharing between Windows and Linux systems.

//$WINDOWS_FILE_SERVER/$SHARED_FOLDER – this is the network path to the shared folder on the Windows file server. The $WINDOWS_FILE_SERVER and $SHARED_FOLDER are placeholders for the actual Windows file server name and shared folder name, respectively.

/var/www/bytefreaks.net/shared/ – this is the mount point, or the location in the Linux file system hierarchy where the shared folder will be mounted.

-o username=remoteUser,password='123abc',domain=bytefreaks.net,file_mode=0777,dir_mode=0777 – these are the mount options that are specified when mounting the shared folder.

The username option specifies the username of the remote user that has access to the shared folder. In this case, the remote user is named remoteUser.

The password option specifies the password for the remote user.

The domain option specifies the domain or workgroup that the Windows file server belongs to. In this case, the domain is bytefreaks.net.

The file_mode and dir_mode options specify the permissions that should be set on the files and directories within the mounted shared folder. In this case, both are set to 0777, which means that all users have full read, write, and execute permissions on all files and directories within the mounted shared folder.

In summary, the sudo mount -t cifs //$WINDOWS_FILE_SERVER/$SHARED_FOLDER /var/www/bytefreaks.net/shared/ -o username=remoteUser,password='123abc',domain=bytefreaks.net,file_mode=0777,dir_mode=0777 command is used to mount a shared folder from a Windows file server onto a Linux system with the specified mount options.