Introduction to Bodhi Moksha Desktop

Transitioning from Windows XP to Bodhi Linux

This tutorial is intended to help users who are transitioning from a Windows XP or Windows 7 operating system to Linux. We are focusing on users who are mainly using their Windows XP with Microsoft Office for word processing and spreadsheets for general office productivity and the web browser for internet searches.

First we will discuss the differences between the two operating systems and desktop environments. We will look at how to save and store your files in folders. You will also be shown how to download and install applications. We will also review some productivity tools and applications for Bodhi Linux. Instead of Outlook we suggest using Google's Gmail which will allow you to pop and combine your emails from different servers. It will also provide other Google apps that you can use via a browser.

We will briefly review LibreOffice, how to open and save files in Microsoft Office formats to share with those in the Microsoft world. We will spend some time on LibreOffice Write (LibreWrite) and LibreOffice Calc (LibreCalc) which replaces Microsoft Word and Excel respectively.

LibreOffice works in both Windows and Linux. I have been using it exclusively for the last ten years or more. I have shared Microsoft Office documents with friends, clients and other consultants, and I have not found any major compatibility issues. There may be some situations where you may find some minor formatting issues if the document is extremely large, and the author has made use of some proprietary formatting provided by Microsoft Office, otherwise it should be fine.

Bodhi Linux Moksha Desktop

The default Bodhi Linux desktop shell installs with the Moksha user interface which is build on its Enlightment window manager.

New users need to focus on the menu bar on the bottom of the screen in the Moksha desktop. The lower left side of the bar is used to select applications, shortcuts, etc. The right portion displays sound, time, and other system related functions and the shutoff switch.

You can start using the desktop by left clicking the lower left corner of the menu bar which will display the main menu which displays options starting with Applications and on down to System. If you drag your cursor over Applications it will display a second menu that lists your application categories starting with Accessories to System Tools.

When it is first installed the package installs only a minimal number of applications. If you want to install the more traditional applications then you can try to left-click on the application icon (leaf) on the lower left end of the menu bar. The main menu will be displayed. Drag your cursor up to Applications on the main menu and a second menu will be displayed. Move your cursor over to Preferences and a third menu will be displayed. If it shows Install Bodhi Linux ... AppPack select it by double clicking and the additional applications will be installed (We think the AppPak option is available on older Bodhi Linux installations).

In Bodhi 5.1.0 this option is not available, so the alternative is to see if Other is on the second pull out menu . If it is click on it and it will display a third pull out menu. Click on Software and it will launch a Featured Application dialog. You can select the applications you want to install from it. This is the same Feature Application dialog available from Ubuntu 18.04 installations. This is the best option to install software from.

We recommend that you install LibreOffice Writer, Calc, Impress and Draw and any other software listed below with Feature Application under the Productivity tab. You should install LibreOffice as well as the shell to all the other programs like Writer, Calc, etc. That way you only need one icon on your menu bar.

To shutoff click on the power symbol on the right side of the menu bar. You will have a number of options including Power Off. Click on that button and your system will power down. It is good practice to power down from the menu. Do not use the power button on the computer to power down. If you do this it may damage the operating system.

Connecting to wifi with Bodhi Linux

One of the first things you will need to do is to connect to your local wifi. Locate the wifi symbol on your menu bar. It is usually on the left end of the system menu icons on the right half of the menu bar. A pop-up menu will be displayed. Under the Wi-Fi Networks pane click on your wifi SSID and it will prompt you for a Password: Enter your wifi password and press Connect. Your connection will be established and you should be able to browse websites and download new applications.

Note: On my second install of Bodhi Linux on a Dell M1210 laptop the wifi drivers did not automatically install. I had to connect via Ethernet cable then install the wifi drivers manually. If necessary you can connect directly to a port on your router. For more advanced users you would do the following via the terminal command. Type:

lspci -vnn | grep Network

this will show the wireless card, for example:

Broadcom Corporation BCM4322 802.11a/b/g/n Wireless LAN Controller [14e4:432b]

Check the 14e4:432b revision for the correct package to install. The above would be:

sudo apt install firmware-b43-installer

sudo reboot

This worked on the laptop. Once it rebooted the wifi was activated.

Basic Office Applications

Bodhi linux has a basic application repository on their website. The link is:

http://www.bodhilinux.com/a/

You can select the applications below to install if they are not installed already.

Check through your Application pull out menu for the following applications. They may be under separate categories on the menu. Start with these and as you become more familiar with Bodhi Linux you can add others as you need them.

LibreOffice - It includes Write, Calc, Impress which is equivalent to Microsoft Office's Word, Excel and PowerPoint. LibreOffice Draw can open Microsoft Publisher files but not save them. I have found Draw useful for newsletters, org charts, etc.;
Browsers - Bodhi comes with its own default browser which is based on Midori a light weight browser. You can install FireFox and Chromium (Google Chrome is a customised version of it) if you want a more robust browser.
Dropbox - If you are using it for cloud storage. Dropbox works well in Windows and Linux. It works better than Google Drive on Linux and is our preferred cloud storage.

Other Applications

Audacious - is a music player
Brasero - if you use your DVD drive
VLC - a very good video player
GIMP - GNU Image Manipulation Program advanced photo editing application
Document Viewer - to view PDF documents. You could also use LibreOffice Draw to open PDF files.

Bodhi Linux Shortcuts

Unlike Windows which allows you to add shortcuts to the desktop screen Bodhi Linux shortcuts can only be added to the left side of the menu bar. To save a shortcut icon on the menu bar select the Main Menu Applications and move your cursor on to the application item you want on the third pull out menu. Left click on the selected application, keep the button pressed and drag it to the menu bar and add it to the end of the application icons.

Once it is on the menu bar you can quickly launch it by double clicking on the icon. You can delete the icon by right clicking and selecting it for removal from the popup menu.

Keeping Bodhi Linux Up-to-Date

Unlike Microsoft Windows which forces updates automatically, Linux allows users to decide when they want to update their computers. If your system is working well you are not forced to update because they suddenly discover another security flaw. This is one of the reasons Microsoft needs to continually update their system. Linux does require users to manually update at their convenience.

To update your system you need to open a terminal session. Left click your cursor over the Terminology icon (computer logo on the menu bar) and a terminal dialog opens. The terminal in Linux is equivalent to the Windows Command Prompt. Instead of a folder location Linux displays a URL link ending in a $ symbol. Enter the following at the blinking cursor:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

You will be prompted for your password. Note this is the password you set when you installed the system. To get super user (administrative) privileges for software installation and other system changes you will be prompted for your user password. This is one reason Linux is more secure than Windows. If you want to have updates automatically installed you can check out the following link:

https://www.bodhilinux.com/w/keeping-bodhi-linux-up-to-date/

Running Applications

Lets try and run LibreOffice. If you have created a shortcut on the menu bar just double click on the LibreOffice icon and it will launch. If not then click on the Moksha menu on the left end of the menu bar and scroll your cursor to Applications on the pop-up and select Office on the second and scroll to LibreOffice on the third pop-up menu and double click on it to launch LibreOffice.

Alternatively you can add LibreOffice to the menu bar by scrolling to LibreOffice as described above, but instead of double clicking, select it by pressing and holding the left mouse button and dragging it to the end of the application icons on the menu bar and release the button. The LibreOffice icon will be added to the menu bar. To launch LibreOffice you just need to double click on the icon.

The LibreOffice dialog will be displayed. It will list options and LibreOffice programs on the left sidebar menu. On the right side of the dialog are icons of all the LibreOffice files on the computer. To select an existing file place your cursor over the file icon and the folder and filename will be displayed. To create a new document select the LibreOffice program you want from the left menu.

Select Writer Document on the left menu on the LibreOffice dialog to select the word processing Writer application. You can now create your writer (Word) document. To save select File > Save off the menu or click on the Save icon. A Save As dialog will be displayed. Enter the name in the dialog under File name: You can use the pull down in File type to save it as an ODF (.odf) or Microsoft Word 2007-2013 XML (.docx) file. The standard LibreOffice format is the ODF text document format. ODF is for Open Document Format. See the pull down list for other options.

Summary

This completes our brief, but concise, introductory tutorial for new users switching from Windows and Microsoft Office to Linux. In my case I was pushed into having to use Linux because of Windows operating system's poor security record with respect to virus and malware, and its need for faster CPUs and more and more memory just for one to be more productive. This is a serious problem in countries where users have older computers with limited capabilities which is where my assignments are.

If you have an older computer and you wish to extend its useful life, and Windows operating system no longer supports it, and you are prepared to put a little time to learn a new paradigm for computing then Linux may be an answer for you. For me it was a most rewarding experience, and if you have not noticed I am a strong proponent of Linux and FOSS for everyone.

I will try and add some additional links as soon as I can. Happy computing to you!

ICT, Database, Linux & eLearning