If even the most imaginative desktop background is starting to bore you, it’s time for a change. xdesktop waves allows you to change your desktop into a water scape. You can add rain and storms or just drag your mouse to liven things up.

The PDF format has many useful features that make it easier for readers to find their way around large documents, but the native PDF export function in OpenOffice doesn’t allow many of these elements. We’ll show you how to create better PDFs in OpenOffice with the ExtendedPDF macro.

The operators of the popular Internet-based file

sharing network, Kazaa, only provide software for

Windows systems, but the GiFT project brings

Kazaa support to Linux.

Launching a program by clicking

with your mouse can have a few

disadvantages. Users lose their

way in nested menu structures,

and desktop icons can become

hidden behind windows. The

Apwal program launcher makes it

easy to launch with a click.

Linux’s text display still suffers from legacy issues, but it is well on the way to

recovering. This article explains how Fontconfig, X, and Gnome work together for

a brighter future.

A well chosen font is the perfect addition to your

Linux experience. KDE provides a number of tools

that help you cook up a really tasty alphabet soup

with very little effort.

If you’re working at the command line and you need to reach the

Internet, or if you just want to convert an HTML file into neatly formatted

ASCII text, try a text-based web browser.

WMI is a lean and fast window manager with good

support for keyboard control.