I’ve been using Suse at work now for over a year. Once in a while I’ll find a shortcut or a handy little thing that I’ll find useful. This blog post outlines a few of the handy shortcuts and tips that I’ve picked up and never readily knew.

Workspace Switcher

The Red Hat Workspace Switcher is one of the Linux tools I use all the time. I have two screens at work, however it still isn’t enough room to keep all my documents open, read mail and so forth. For this reason I use the workspace switcher with 4 workspaces, one for my work, another for email, one for FileMaker (the system we use for breifs and work management) and another spare. One of the most useful key combos, not a particularly hard one to find - but perhaps the one I use the most heavily, is Ctrl + Alt + [Arrow Key] which allows me to move back and forward between each of these workspaces.

Another handy tip for using the workspace switcher is that you may move an window from one workspace to another simply by dragging it on the workspace switcher - simple as that.

Command Line Applet

Command Line is a GNOME Applet that sits on a panel at the top of my screen, from here you can quickly launch applications or kill processes as necessary - pretty much anything you would do in a terminal that doesn’t require feedback.

It’s not exactly groundbreaking but it’s handy if you need to quickly launch gedit, gftp or the likes to do something quickly.

Scrollbars

Scrollbars, a really common UI element, yet there were a few things I was surprised to find when using them in Suse. Clicking one of the up or down arrows at either end of the scrollbar will tab the handle up or down as you would expect. Right clicking on the up or down arrow on the other hand will scroll you to the top and bottom of the scrollable area respectively.

View Desktop

I’m a messy git, I open windows and don’t close them, layer them up and not bother to sort them in any way shape or form. Given that, the view desktop shortcut is always useful to minimise all the active windows on the workspace you are in: Ctrl + Alt + D

Tips?

Ok, so they’re not great tips, they’re handy for saving a bit of time here and there. I do, however, use these all day at work and so the time saved adds up. Gimme a shout if there’s any other decent tips that you know of.
- Chris