Guide:Beginner's Guide

Overview of the Desktop
(Video: CC-BY Niccolò Ve)

The Launcher
(Windows: Start Menu)

Description
The Launcher, also known as the Kickoff launcher, provides a useful way to launch installed programs, search for programs and files, and logoff / shutdown.

Usage
Pressing the Meta key (aka the Windows key), or clicking the Launcher's Icon, on the bottom left of the screen, opens the Launcher Menu.

The Task Manager
(Windows: The Taskbar)

Description
The Task Manager handles launching pinned programs, and switching between running programs. Pinned programs are launched by clicking their icon.

Usage
Clicking the icon of a running program minimizes it if it is the only window of that program running, otherwise it cycles through the program's windows.

Programs can be pinned to the Task Manager by right clicking their icon, and selecting "Pin to Task Manager".

The System Tray
(Windows: Notification Area)

Description
The System Tray is a tray, positioned at the bottom right of the screen, where various programs and utilities can place a small icon.

Usage
What clicking on an icon in the System Tray does, changes depending on which program put it there. Often it will open a configuration dialog, the program itself, or a small menu. Sometimes right clicking an icon will have a different effect than left clicking. Experimentation is key.

Clicking the little arrow at the far right of the System Tray launches the Status and Notifications dialog, showing more options.

The Terminal and Terminal Emulators
A Terminal is an interface that allows a user to input data and may write output to the screen. A Terminal Emulator is a window that emulates what a Terminal does, the default Terminal in the Plasma desktop is Konsole, but other Terminal emulators may be installed. See List of Terminal Emulators for more details.

Shell
A shell is the piece of software that's in charge of interpreting commands written in a Terminal and perform actions based on the input it read. Shells can also be used to execute shell scripts. The default shell may be replaced by user choice.

Getting started with commands
After opening the Terminal Emulator of choice, the user is greeted by the shell prompt which may display some information like the username or the current location where the shell was executed, it may also show if the shell is being used in "user mode" $ or in "root mode" # this is important because some commands require the shell to be in root mode, to enter root mode one must insert the command su and login with the root account. It is ill advised to use the shell in "root mode" most of the times, however one can temporarily gain root privileges using the sudo command . It is important to note that $ and # are used a lot in internet guides to symbolize if the command can be run by the user or needs root, they will be used in this wiki as well.

Basic shell commands
$ echo hello It prints hello to the screen.

$ ls list it shows all the visible files and folders in the current directory.

$ cd change directory allows you to navigate trough valid folders relative to the current directory.

$ pwd print working directory prints the absolute path (from the root folder) to the current directory.

$ cat filename It prints all the contents of filename into the console.

$ touch filename It creates a file called filename.

$ mkdir folder It creates a folder called folder.

$ cp /path/to/file /path/to/destination It copies a file located in /path/to/file into /path/to/destination, it can also copy folders. Note that if destination is not a folder the copied file will be called destination.

$ mv /path/to/file /path/to/destination It moves /path/to/file into /path/to/destination, it can also move folders and if the destination already exists it will be overwritten, so use this command with care.