Linux in a Nutshell, Third Edition

The Main Menu

By default, the GNOME panel contains one menu—the main menu. It is displayed using the first button on the right with the GNOME foot icon on it (sometimes it is called the foot menu). The default main menu offers a number of items and submenus divided into sections:

• The System menu contains items for installed GNOME applications and utilities, separated into additional submenus by categories, such as Graphics, Utilities, Internet, and so on. Two items are included at the bottom of the System menu: Help opens the GNOME help browser, and Run Command opens the single command-line prompt window. The System menu can be changed only by a user with root access, and this action will change it for all users.

• The User menu is empty by default. Individual users can add their own items to the User menu section.

• If other packages, like KDE or AnotherLevel, are installed on your system, their default menus also may be included in the main menu.

• The Panel menu contains actions and configuration shortcuts for the panel. The items in this menu also are found in the pop-up menu accessed by right-clicking on the panel.

• The four items at the bottom of the menu allow you to lock the screen (requiring the user’s password to reenter the desktop), view version information for the panel, and log out.

You will notice that the top entry for each menu section and each submenu is not an actionable item. It is the titlebar for the menu. Right-clicking a titlebar opens a pop-up menu containing ...