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Linux on the Go...
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
I remember the last year when I did the same article for
PCQLinux 2005. But at that time I used commands like iwconfig, sdptool, ifconfig,
etc to configure the wireless and Bluetooth adapters on the computer. But now
when I look back I find that the Linux had changed quite a lot and had become
better and better for laptop usages. Now configuring all those connectivity
methods are just-a-matter of some clicks on the neat GUI of Linux. So now
let's see how it is
Configuring Wireless
In PCQLinux 2006 you will mainly see two tools to configure the wireless adapter
and manage them. They are kwifimanager and system-config-network. the formar is
the traditional wifi configuration tool from KDE which has evolved quite a bit
during last couple of years. And the later one is the default network
configuration utility of RedHat/Fedora or based distro which now has included
the wifi module also. I personally like the system-config-network utility
because it is pretty much similar to the wifi manager of Windows XP and is easy
to use. In kwifimanager you mind find difficulty to assign the security key of
the wifi network while connecting but in system-config-network it is very easy
to do.
All you have to do to configure wifi is to run the system-config-network
command from the terminal or click on the “system tools”à “Network Device
Control”. And then select the wifi device and double click on it. the wireless
device configuration window will open. Go to the “wireless settings” tab and
fill up the necessary values. Like the security key and the essid, etc. and
click on the Ok button. And Walla! Your notebook is on Air.
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| Accessing your Bluetooth devices and their services is as simple as entering entering 'sdp://' in a web browser.
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Configuring Bluetooth
This is one thing I find easier to configure in Linux than Windows. Name any
brand or chipset of Bluetooth, you have to just plug it in and run the
kbluetoothd from start>Internet Menu and it will be up and running. You will
notice a nice Bluetooth icon on the task bar which signifies that Bluetooth is
active.
To search and use the Bluetooth in your surroundings all
you have to do is double click on the Bluetooth icon on the task and a new
window will open up which will show you all the Bluetooth devices available in
surrounding,
Now to use any service from any of the device all you have
to do is to click on the device. this will open this window. Here you can see
all the services available in the devices. Now to use any service just click on
that and follow the procedure
See, did you noticed any command line or text based
commands in this article? And people say Linux is not fit for desktops!
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