Unofficial antiX 23 Frequently Asked Questions

[Moderator Brian Masinick]

Short essential how-to list for the complete Linux newbie- antiX 23 version
(Written by PPC and posted on his behalf)

This is meant to be an unofficial guide to antiX (and Linux) basics, updated for antiX 23.
If you come from another OS, this is a pretty good place to learn how to do almost anything in antiX. It may be an extremely light OS, but it does almost everything you are used to do, maybe in a different way…

This Thread is meant to partly replace https://www.antixforum.com/forums/topic/short-essential-how-to-list-for-the-complete-linux-newbie/
…And some information in https://www.antixforum.com/forums/topic/how-to-install-applications-2020-version/
Since some of the information there is now partly outdated. Most of what is said on those posts, however, remains valid, and I’ll simply refer to older posts when needed, to avoid unnecessary repetition:

*Where to start, if you know nothing about Linux or antiX:
https://www.antixforum.com/forums/topic/what-is-antix-and-how-to-try-it-out-or-install-it/

and also this post, explaining what are antiX “Desktops”:
https://www.antixforum.com/forums/topic/short-essential-how-to-list-for-the-complete-linux-newbie/page/5/#post-107769

Those texts explain some basic Linux concepts, like what is an OS, Linux, antiX, a Desktop Environment (DE), a Window Manager (WM), what the several Desktops available under antiX are (you have about a dozen different desktops in antiX, not just one)

*Where to start, if you know nothing about asking for help here in the forum:
https://www.antixforum.com/forums/topic/how-to-correctly-use-antix-forum/

*Note: Some of this information is for users of antiX FULL, using the default desktop- zzz-IceWM, but all antiX Menu references are common to all antiX desktops that have a menu: IceWM, JWM and Fluxbox

*0 – How can I access my apps?
The default antiX desktop, Zzz-IceWM, like most desktop OSes has a toolbar, a menu and desktop icons.
The toolbar, by default, has quick launch icons to the Web Browser, the File Manager, etc. – left click them to open them and start using the computer (see below how to add new quick launch icons to the toolbar).
You can access the Menu either by left clicking the menu button on the toolbar, right clicking any empty space (i.e. without icons) on the Desktop, or by pressing the “Windows” key.
The menu has a Search entry (that launches antiX’s very own app-select, that allows you to search for the app you want and launch it); then it has several generic launchers, for the Terminal, File Manager, Web Browser and (Text) Editor; the “Applications” menu entry allows access to (almost) all installed applications, organized by categories; the “Refresh menu” entry should be used only if you are having trouble seeing applications inside the “Applications” menu, or if you want to update it, so it shows any app that you installed, and does not appear automatically there;the Personal Menu is used to Pin your favorite apps, for faster access; “Recent files” entry is self evident; Control Centre allows access to a GUI that manages almost any setting you may want to change in antiX; The last menu option, Exit, allows you to Log off/Suspend/reboot/Turn off your computer.
TIP: you can pin/unpin apps to your Personal Menu by using the GUI already included inside the Personal Menu or by using app-select (the search app available from the menu- launch app-select, right click the app you want and then select to add/remove it to your Personal Menu).

You can also start apps with a single left click on their desktop icons. By default, antiX comes only with a few desktop icons (like File Manager, Installer and Help… after installation the Installer icon disappears and you get a Trash Can/Recycle Bin icon). See below how to add more desktop icons, if you want to do so.
NB: In my opinion, it’s a waste of resources, having desktop icons. It’s more resource effective to have quick launch icons on the toolbar (they are always just one click away). You can disable desktop icons by choosing a Desktop that does not start by “Zzz” or “rox”. Since the default Desktop is Zzz-IceWM, I recommend, for example, switching to the “IceWM” desktop – it’s the same, minus desktop icons (saving a few MB of Idle RAM).

To switch between antiX Desktops: antiX Menu > Desktop > Other Desktops > Select the name of the desktop you want. Usually antiX is able to switch desktops “on the fly”, but you should always save your work before trying to do so, since, some times, to switch Desktops, antiX may have to log off…

*antiX has apps with strange names! I don’t know what those apps do!!!
app-select is your best friend, if you are new to antiX: open the menu, launch the first entry (the “search” one, with the magnifying glass); or launch it using the Ctrl+Space keys. You can scroll down the apps list, and read it’s name and description. You can search by name, description and even the MIME type of file associated with the app, to instantly know what app you can launch to do exactly what you want.
Ex: you want an app able to open an e-book in .epub format? Type epub in app-select’s search field and you’ll find out that Mupdf not only opens pdf’s but also epubs! Do you want to know what app can open that .docx document that you have in your pen-drive or got in the e-mail? Search for docx… Don’t know how to set Screen Resolution? Search for “Resolution” and you’ll find out that arandr is the GUI app you want…
The nice part is that app-select allows you to find the apps you want and also place quick-launchers to those apps anywhere you want (the toolbar, the desktop or the (Personal) menu) so you don’t have any more problems starting those apps you need so much.
… and it’s way faster than waiting for someone to answer your queries about which app does what…

*1 – Setting up WiFi:
– On current antiX version (23) when you start your system, if no cabled internet connection (or an already configured WiFi connection) is detected, antiX’s network manager (Connman – from “CONnection MANager) automatically pops up.
You can also, at any time, launch Connman using IceWM’s system tray (near the clock there should be some information squares, that show information about your computer…
Left click the square that shows network information, usually the third one, counting from the right to the left. Connman Network Settings pops up.
You can also start “Connman” using Menu > Control Centre > Network > WiFi… (Connman)
– On Connman’s main window: on the “Status” Tab: Check if “WiFi” is not set to “Disabled”- if it’s disabled, make sure to left click the it’s “Powered” button (it should be green, not red).
– Hopefully, a list of all detected WiFi networks appears on the lower part of the window. Please notice that, to configure (or connect to) any available WiFi network, you should click the “Wireless” tab, on top of Connman’s window. Double left click the network you want to connect to and, if needed, enter it’s password (for some reason Connman calls it “Passphrase”). You do not need to enter any extra information to connect to a “normal” WiFi network. Click the “OK” button, on the lower right part of Connman’s window. [Note: if, for some reason you don’t see the “OK” button, use the horizontal slider to scroll the window’s content to the right, so you can see it OR force the window to full screen, by pressing alt + F11 – a tip that should work to maximize any window in antiX)
– To connect to a WiFi network, once it’s setup, simply select the network you want to connect to (by left clicking it) and then left click the “Connect” button on the top of Connman’s window.
*TIP 1: Do you need Internet access in your laptop and have no WiFi? If you have a mobile data connection on your android phone, and it’s USB cable, you can try to use that to access the Net from your laptop: your on your 3G/4G/5G phone internet connection. Connect your phone to your antiX computer, find and activate, on your phone the data sharing/ USB sharing data option and turn that on. Click Connman and check if, in the “Wired” Connections you get any indication that a USB connection is on-line. It works just like a Ethernet internet connection.
*TIP 2: You can do a similar procedure to use your WiFi on a computer that does not have a WiFi card. Access your WiFi network from your android device, connect it to your antiX computer using its USB cable, turn on the data sharing option on your phone and check, in Connman, if a “Wired” network connection is active and, if so enjoy your WiFi internet!

*1.2 – We have an app to help activate and configure WiFi, for those of you that are having problems doing that using Connman : “antix-wifi-switch”

One way to use it is antiX Menu > Run and enter this command and press enter:

antix-wifi-switch --gui Connman

Enter your password, if asked to then click through the “helper” windows, then, on the “Wireless” tab, click “Connect” to the selected WiFi network…

*2 – Accessing your files:
The default File Manager it’s called ZzzFM (a fork, of SpaceFM, which was itself a fork from PCManFM, created by the forum user Skidoo):
You can access the File Manager by clicking the File Manager icon on the desktop, on the toolbar or on the first layer of the antiX menu. You can access it inside the menu category it’s in: Menu > Applications > System > ZzzFM
As in any OS, antiX’s File Manager allows you click your files and open them using the correct application for that end. You can access your pictures, music, videos, pdfs, text documents, office documents (like .docx, etc). The applications that antiX uses to display the files may be different from the ones uses in other OSes, but they are all very similarly easy to use.
ZzzFM currently offers the default Bookmarks most users expect to see (like Documents, Downloads, etc) and also Recent Files list, and a Trash Can/Recycle bin

Tip:
– Do you can add new Bookmarks: Open ZzzFM > Navigate to the folder you want to bookmark > ZzzFM “Bookmarks” Menu > Confirm that “Show bookmarks” is checked > Click “add bookmark”.
A bookmark to your folder instantly appears on the left side bar. You can create bookmarks to any folder you want to, repeating this process.
– Do you want to see thumbnails of your files ( pictures)?
Open ZzzFM > ZzzFM “View” Menu > Preferences > Make sure “Show thumbnails” is checked > Click “OK”.
Note that the default compilation of ZzzFM that antiX uses, to save resources does not show thumbnails for video files.

Tip:
If you want to access certain types of compressed files, like .zip, .rar, .cbr, you may have to install the required programs in Package Installer (To make sure antiX has .rar/.cbr support, in Package Installer “Enabled Repos” tab search for .rar and install the package you want, like “unrar-free“. To make sure antiX has zip support, search for .zip and make sure zip and unzip are installed )

Tip:
If you want to access image files in Apple’s modern file format (i.e. pictures taken with an iPhone): make sure you have the correct packages installed- Package Installer > “Enabled Repos” Tab > Search for, and install heif-gdk-pixbuf. This will allow antiX’s default image viewer (called Mirage) to open those files.

* Do you want to search for a specific file (by file name or file content)?
There are several ways you can achieve that:
-Use ZzzFM Search: click the “search” icon – the magnifying glass- on the top right of ZzzFM’s window. By default it searches only on the home folder (where normally user documents and other files are stored). If you want to search in other places, you can do so, clicking the “Add” button, on the right side of the search window, to add a new place to be searched for what you want.
ZzzFM’s search uses wildcards ( * ). This means that, if you want to search for the file “thesis.txt” you’ll have to enter exactly what you want to search for: “thesis.txt” or use wildcards.
Ex:Searching for “thesis.*” will find files called “thesis” with any extension, like: thesis.txt, thesis.pdf, thesis.odt, thesis.jpg, thesis.mkv, etc.
If you want to search for a file that has a certain content anywhere in it’s name, use wildcards both before and after the expression you want to find:
Ex: searching for “*thesis*” will find files called: alfreds_thesis.txt ; bernards_thesis.txt; thesis.txt, thesis_about_linux.odt, etc, etc…

-You can also use the more advanced Search application that’s included in antiX. It’s called (no joke) Searchmonkey.
You can run it from Menu > Applications> Accessories > SearchMonkey
It allows not only to search for files by name, but also by contents (if they are unencrypted documents, like txt, pdf, odt, etc)
Searchmonkey does not require the use of wildcards. Ex: if you type “thesis” and press enter, it will search for any file that has “thesis” anywhere on it’s name.
If you want to search for text inside a particular type of document, you can. Example: type .txt on the first search box and thesis on the second search box. It will search all .txt files contents for any mention to thesis, and display the results on the lower right, when you select the file you want.

* Can I access files from my USB thumb-drive, external drive?
Any external drive should automatically come up on your screen, on your default file manager, when you connect them. If it does not happen, and you are using ZzzFM file manager, open it and check if your drive is listed on the “Devices” list, on the upper left corner of the screen. If it is, left click it to access it.
Please note that, for security reasons, non Linux partitions (like NTFS Window’s Partitions) may have to be mounted manually, i.e. you won’t be able to automatically access them from ZzzFM.

TIP: If you access an external drive, when you want to unplug it, it’s safer to first make sure the device is ejected (i.e. make sure no files are open or being written, when you remove it, because that can lead to data loss or corruption). If you are used to Windows, then you are probably familiar with the “eject button” on the system tray. antiX has a similar option, but not on the system tray. By default that icon is on the quick launcher’s side of the toolbar, to the left, near the “Menu”.
antiX’s “eject button” is a tiny bit more complex than the Window’s one: left click the “eject icon” > a window will pop open, listing the partitions of all mounted external drives > Put a check on the device you want to eject > Click the “Proceed” button, on the lower right of that window > a Warning will be displayed telling you if any error happened or if the device was successfully ejected (even in this case, the warning may advise you to make sure the device stopped before unplugging it, in case it was recognized by antiX as possibly being a “spinning drive”…)

*Can I access files stored on the cloud?
Sure:
– use the file storage web interface from inside your browser or;
– install any available interface (“Dropbox” and “Mega” can be installed from Package Installer). There are, at the present time, no official interfaces to “Google Drive” or Microsoft Cloud (AKA “Onedrive”) for Linux, but you can install “Open Drive” from Package Manager- that allows access to those services).

– ADVANCED TIP – THIS PROCEDURE IS RELATIVELY COMPLEX: you can also setup “Google Drive” to be accessed from your File Manager just like it was an external drive.
I created a script that allows antiX users to access cloud service drives ( like Google Drive, Ms OneDrive, etc) using rclone. You can get it by installing the package “ft10-transformation”.
You can also manually get the a version of the script here: http://github.com/PPC-scripts/access_cloud
Save the antiX version of the script to your computer. On your File Manager right click the file and make it “executable” (using ZzzFM: select the file and press Ctrl + P. In the permission window, check the “Executable” field, then click the “OK” button).

When you have “access_cloud” installed, before being able to access your cloud drive, First, you have to configure your account (Google Drive can be automatically configured) then just click the name of the account and it’s contents open in your default File Manager. Please note that all other Cloud Drives have to be manually set up, using a menu driven by numbered choices, from a terminal window…

* Can I access Network Shared folders?
Yes. antiX has 2 ways of achieving this:
-You can use “Connect Shares” ( antiX Menu > Control Centre > Shares > Then select to first Configure the Share and then you can Access it
-You can use “Shared Folders” (antiX Menu > Applications > Internet/Network > Shared Folders). To run this app you have to have an updated system, then, at first run, the app will ask if you authorize to download and install 2 very small dependencies. After that, every time you run “Shared Folders” the app will scan your network for Shared Folders, if there are more than 1 Shared Folder, you’ll have to pick to which one you want to connect to, if there’s only 1, it will try to connect to it automatically. A log in screen will be presented. If no credentials are needed to access your shared folder, simply proceed, without entering any credentials. If the scrip succeeds, your shared folder will be displayed in your File Manager.
TIP: you can add a Bookmark to the “Shared Folders” app to ZzzFM, to make it easier to access them. Right click an empty space in ZzzFM’s Bookmark’s column > New > Application > select “Shared Folders” > click the “OK” button.

* Can I access files on my mobile device (smartphone/tablet)?
antiX comes with an app that allows access to most Android phones and tablet, connected via USB cable. It’s called “Android Device USB Connect” and it’s very simple to use. There are some reports that it fails to work with certain devices.
If you want to access files on android mobile devices and both devices are connected on the same WiFi network, I suggest a pretty good Open Source App that allows you to send/receive files: “PlainApp” (available from the Play store or F-droid)- it allows you to access your android device from inside our Web Browser.

*3 – Do you want to update your system?

*IMPORTANT*: by default antiX does not automatically update itself (unlike most modern Operating Systems). You have to check for updates and install them, that way updates will only be installed what you want to, and your work won’t be interrupted.

There are several ways to update your system. antiX includes a GUI to do so with minimal work, it’s called “antiX Updater”. It’s available straight from the toolbar.
You can also launch it from the antiX Menu: Menu > Applications > antiX > antiX Updater

When you launch antiX Updater, you have to be connected to the internet. If asked to, enter your password. Wait while antiX checks if there are any updates. If updates are found, a window will pop up, letting you know how many updates are available to be installed. You can click the option to update automatically (antiX will select for you the default answer to any question that appears during the update process- that way you will not have to interact with the terminal) or the option to update manually (the update process stops and waits for you to select the option you want, any time a question is asked).
For most non experienced users, I suggest using the “automatic” option.
During the update process a a black Terminal window with white letters pops up. DO NOT CLOSE THAT WINDOW, until a warning window pops up letting you know when the process is finished- Click its button and you are done, the Terminal window will close automatically.
OR

– You can install and enable an automatic update checker (it’s not installed by default in current antiX versions because it uses system resources), just click it’s icon on the tray next to the clock.
To install it: use antiX’s Package Installer (available from the toolbar): In it’s first tab (opened by default), install “Apt Notifier”, by checking it and clicking the option to install, then confirming you want to install the required packages.
After apt notifier is installed you’ll have to make sure it’s running. You can either start it from the menu (or the terminal) or edit an antiX’s configuration file so it starts automatically: antiX menu > Control Centre > “Session” Tab > Click the option to Manager User Session > “Startup” Tab > find this line (it should be around line number 54):
#apt-notifier &
uncomment it, removing the “#”, so it now reads:
apt-notifier &
Save the changes. Restart antiX. From now on, the automatic update checker will run automatically.
When the automatic update checker is running, you can see it’s icon, on the system tray part of the toolbar, next to the clock.

ADVANCED TIP:
– You can always update antiX via the Terminal:
Menu > Terminal and type this commands (or copy and paste them in the terminal):
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

OR
sudo apt update && sudo apt dist-upgrade

As always, for performing any task that requires administration privileges, enter your password if asked to, answer any question that the process asks you and wait for the update process to finish.

NB on some very rare occasions, like when updating the GRUB package or installing Drivers, you may need to answer questions, like choosing where to install Grub, etc.- be very careful selecting the correct option!- I think that you use “tab” to highlight your selection- please do check this!), and wait for the installation to finish.

*4 – Do you want to install an application/ remove an application?

There are so many ways to install stuff in Linux in general and antiX in particular! Read this antiX forum thread: https://www.antixforum.com/forums/topic/how-to-install-applications-2020-version/

Most people are now used to using Stores to install Apps. That was available in Linux long before than other OSes. Just to give you an approximated view of how that works – usually, Linux Distros store information about all available packages that can be officially installed in huge data files, in servers, that act as Repositories (Repos) of all that information. When you install anything using your official Distros Package Manager, it’ being downloaded from those servers.

–Package Installer:
Quick start: Launch Package Installer, by clicking the “Shopping Bag” icon on the toolbar, right next to the “Menu” button (or Menu > Control Centre > “Software” tab > “Package Manager”)
From antiX 23 on, Package Installer has several Tab, on the top part part of it’s window:
– “Selected apps” (the first and the one that’s open by default) allows access to a small list of pre-select applications, organized by categories. You can install almost any Web Browser available under Linux, the most recent LibreOffice and GIMP versions, Java, Wine, Non Free video codecs, VLC, Steam, and even some games.
– “enabled repos” – allows access to almost all 65.000+ packages available in the Debian Repository
– “Debian Backports” – allows access to the “Backports” that are more up to date versions of several applications, that should be safe to install.
– The last tab is active when you are installing/removing any package, showing what the system is doing.

NB: You can not only install applications using Package Installer, but also remove applications.

–Synaptic:
antiX also comes with the default Debian GUI Package Manager- it’s called Synaptic.
It allows you to access to ALL available (Debian and antiX) packages: run “Synaptic package manager” (Menu > Control Centre > “Software” tab > “Synaptic Package Manager” > enter your password if asked to > select what you want to install/remove)

*WARNING*: as in any system, be very careful when deleting apps/packages- delete only stuff that you installed, and, except if you know what you are doing: DO NOT TRY TO REMOVE antiX DEFAULT APPLICATIONS– you may “brick your system” – unlike in other OS, you can do exactly what you want, remove anything, there are no “sacred corporate apps”- this also means that you can remove stuff that you should not remove, if you want to have a fully working system!

*Can I install .deb files I downloaded from the Internet?
Yes, but use caution. If a package is meant for Debian, and does not depend on systemd, it should work perfectly under antiX.
If a .deb file is meant for Ubuntu, please by careful, it may harm your system. Most of them work without any problem (except those that depend on systemd), some may have dependency problems an not install at all, some may install and break your system in the process.
You can install .deb files from the default File Manager, by using the “deb install” GUI.

*Can I install Ubuntu repositories, PPA’s, Snap files or other Ubuntu specific software?
Sure, it’s a free world. Install Ubuntu or any of it’s countless derivative OS’s.
Install .deb files meant for others OS’s on antiX at your own risk, because you can harm your system.
You can’t use Snap packages in antiX because they depend on the systemd init system, that antiX does not use, to save system resources.

*Can I use Appimages is antiX 23+?
Yes. Appimages are a universal file format. If you come from the Windows world, they are roughly equivalent to “portable apps”: compressed folders that contain the application and almost everything it may require to run, that get uncompressed on the fly.
One of the best places to get Appimages is http://www.appimagehub.com/
Download the file you want > Open the folder the file is in > Right click the appimage file > Properties > Permissions > Make sure that all 3 entries in the “Executable” column are checked > click the “OK” button, on the lower right. You will have to do this procedure just once, for every appimage you download.
After an appimage file is marked as executable you can run it from inside your File Manager. Please note that, by default, Appimages are not automatically added to your menu and you’ll have to manually run them from your File Manager. Usually appimage files do not update automatically, so to get a new version of an appimage, you’ll have to download the version you want (and make sure that file is marked as being executable).

*Can I use Flatpaks in antiX 23+?
Yes, Flatpaks are a universal file format. You will have to manually enable Flatpak support (by installing Flatpak and enable a repository). Please note that you have no GUI to install/remove/update Flatpaks, in antiX. this means that to install/remove/update them you will have to use the Terminal. Once installed, you can run a Flatpak Application just like you run any application, installed via an official .deb package.
There’s a small Guide on how to use Flatpaks in antiX 23 here: https://www.antixforum.com/forums/topic/adding-flatpaks-to-antix-23/

*Can I install docker in antiX 23+ ?
Yes. There’s a thread on it here: https://www.antixforum.com/forums/topic/installing-docker-on-antix/

EDIT: Important note, from anticapitalista, antiX’s creator and Main Developer (quoted from his post):

anticapitalista wrote:

1. We do not use systemd/elogind on principle as we oppose their philosophy – not just because it is ‘bloat’.

2. Installing Flatpaks and docker will bring in elogind. If user wants to do so, that’s up to them, but antiX will not ship with any apps that require elogind.

*Can I install Windows apps in antiX 23+ ?
It depends. In principle, apps made for Windows work only in Windows. If you want to run an app that is “cross-platform” (that has versions for different OSes like Windows, Linux and MacOS), and it has a Linux version, you can install and run the Linux version (ex: Chrome, Ms Edge, VLC media player, etc have versions for Windows and for Linux).
There is an application called WINE (available in the Package Manager) that is a compatibility layer, that tries to run Windows only apps in Linux. Success may vary, some, usually old apps run well in Linux (even faster than in Windows it self). But there is (for now) no easy way to directly install and run, in antiX, recent versions of the most well know Windows apps (like MS Office apps: Word, Excel, etc or Photoshop).
In the games front, it’s a different story: via STEAM, with PROTON enabled, you can directly play many thousands of Windows Only games under Linux – if your PC has hardware to do so. You can check which of the STEAM games you own run in Linux in http://www.protondb.com/ (currently about 70% of the Top 10, Top 100 and Top 1000 games should run in Linux).

TIP:
*Installing WINE in antiX
You can install WINE from Package Installer. However, as I write this, to get WINE to work trouble free, you have to do also install some required 32bits dependencies, even on 64bits systems. Unfortunately, for now, the best way to do that properly is using the Terminal…

antiX menu > Terminal > run this command:
sudo apt install wine32:i386

Enter your password if asked to.
When the install process finishes, delete or rename the folder that stores the WINE configuration. You can do it using the File Manager or by running this command in the terminal:
mv ~/.wine ~/.wine.old

To get Windows apps to run via Wine: Go to a folder containing your windows executable. Right click the executable file. In the first entry of the contextual menu, “Open“, left click “Choose“ and then in the “Command“ field, type wine
You can check the box below that field, to make sure wine is always used to run that kind of file, if you wish so.
Click the OK button, on the lower right of that window.

Now it’s a matter of trying to install your Windows app and open it runs fine in Linux…

*So I can’t use MS Office/Microsoft365 in antiX?
Well… you can’t use the installed version, but Ms Office/Microsoft365 is also available as a Web app. If you don’t mind giving away all your data to that company, you can run http://www.office.com/ enter your credentials, and happily use the web version of that Office Suite (that, for most users has the same features most people expect, even in the “free”- as “pay with your soul, excuse me, your data” version).
I recommend using, instead a recent version of LibreOffice – it’s faster, does not require Internet to run, uses less resources, and is extremely compatible with Ms Office.

*Can I install DOS apps/games in antiX 23+ ?
Yes. antiX includes DosBox, an emulator than is able to run almost 100% of all DOS apps.

*5 – Adding application’s icons to your (tool)bar / Removing application’s icons to your (tool)bar :
The toolbar it self, by default, includes the “IceWM Toolbar Icon Manager” icon, that you can use to manage the quick-launcher icons. You can also access it from
Menu antiX > Applications > antiX > IceWM Toolbar Icon Manager
Launch IceWM Toolbar Icon Manager and click on the “Add icon” button > select the name of application you want to have on your toolbar > Click the “OK” button and the icon instantly appears on your toolbar.
If you don’t want to add another icon, you can close the Toolbar Icon Manager.
You can also delete any quick launcher icon from the toolbar, or move icons around using IceWM Toolbar Icon Manager

Beginning in antiX 23, app-select, the application used to search and launch applications (usually the first entry on antiX’s menu, also available by pressing Ctrl + SPACE), can be used to add or remove the application you select to/from the toolbar: select the application, right click it, and select the option to add/remove it from the toolbar. App-select, however does not allow you to rearrange the quick launch icons.
Note: app-select allows users to add quick launch icons in IceWM and JWM desktops. Fluxbox does not allow quick launch icons (currently it does allow Text quick launchers, like the ones used to summon the Menu or Show the desktop, from its toolbar)

*6 – Adding application’s icons to the desktop / Removing application’s icons to the desktop:
Since antiX 23, app-select, the application used to search and launch applications (usually the first entry on antiX’s menu, also available by pressing Ctrl + SPACE), can be used to add or remove the application you select to/from the desktop: select the application, right click it, and select the option to add/remove it from the toolbar. App-select, however does not allow you to rearrange desktop icons, you’ll have to drag them to where you want them to be.
To remove an icon from the desktop, select it by right clicking and in the contextual menu, select the option to delete it.

NB:If you are using the a “rox…” desktop, you can also add icons to the desktop by doing this: antiX Menu > Run > type (without the quotes) “rox /usr/share/applications” > “OK” button > Drag and drop, from the windows that pops open, the icons you want to have on your desktop. Double right click the icons to rename them (you can safely delete the “.desktop” extension)

*7 – Adding application’s icons to the menu / Removing application’s icons to the menu:
antiX’s Personal Menu is used to Pin your favorite apps, for easy access.
You can use the built in GUI, included out of the box inside the Personal Menu to add or remove apps to it.
You can also use app-select to search for the app you want and then select to add / remove it from the Personal Menu.
Note: app-select works to manage Personal Menu for IceWM, JWM and Fluxbox desktops, but each desktop has it’s own Personal Menu, independent from the other Desktop’s Personal Menu.

Tip: if you want to access the apps pinned to your Personal Menu straight from the first layer of the menu, IceWM Control Centre does have a button to do so (it’s best used with the button that hides/shows the Personal Menu sub-menu).
IceWM Control Centre also allows to hide some menu entries (like the Window Kill one; Run; Settings) so you get a smaller, more streamlined menu, free of options you do not use.

Advanced Tip: More advanced users can manually edit the “menu” IceWM config file to directly add/remove/move most menu entries. Be careful doing that, you may mess up your menu. You can do so from the Control Centre. WARNING: Always back up any config file before editing it!!!

*8 – Changing desktop background/ Wallpaper:
antiX Menu > Control Centre > “Desktop” Tab > choose “Desktop Wallpaper”…
You can select either an image or a plain color background.
You can also simply right click any compatible image file in ZzzFM and select the option, near the bottom of the contextual menu, to use the image as a Wallpaper.

*9 – Turning the desktop’s resource monitor (Conky) on/ off:
That widget on your screen that lists information about your session, system and resources is called “Conky”.
You can toggle it on/off by doing:
antiX Menu > Desktop > Conky on/off
This will enable/disable Conky during this session. After you log off and back on or reboot your computer, Conky will (by default) appear again automatically.

Advanced Tip: You can permanently disable Conky automatically starting up every time you start antiX by doing this (thanks, @blur13):
antiX Menu > Control Centre > “Session” Tab > Configure User Session > “desktop-session” Tab >
Around line number 72 you should have this:
LOAD_CONKY=”true”

Edit that text so it reads:
LOAD_CONKY=”false”
Save the change. Now every time antiX starts, Conky will no longer automatically start (but you can enable it for the current session using the above mentioned option from the menu, to toggle it on)

*10 – Automatically starting an application after booting:
antiX Menu > Applications > antiX > “Edit antiX startup File”
This will show a GUI that display the current contents of your startup file, that lists everything that antiX runs every time it starts, no matter what desktop/window manager (IceWM, Fluxbox, JWM) you are running.
-You can click the first button to add an application. This launches app-select. choose the application you want to run, it app-select’s window, and it will be autocratically added to antiX’s startup. This means it will start automatically, from now on, every time antiX starts.
-You can click the GUI’s second button, to manually type the command you want to run at antiX’s startup.
-The last button removes any line you select from antiX’s startup file (be very careful not to remove any essential default entry).

*11 – Do you want system notifications? (Ex: pop ups on your screen that let you know when you got e-mail, etc)
antiX does not provide that out of the box, but it’s easy to solve:
Run Package Installer and install “Dunst” (available from the first Tab), that provides that (by default notifications come up on the right upper corner of the screen)

*12 – Changing the Default Applications:
Lets say that you installed a new web browser and what to make it the default web browser, or VLC, and what to make it the default Video player, etc…
antiX Menu > Control Centre > Preferred Applications (it’s the “yellow star” icon)
You can select what applications antiX uses for some generic categories:
– Terminal (the default one is ROXTerm. antiX also includes Rxvt)
– Web Browser (the default one is Firefox ESR on antiX Full, or Seamonkey, on antiX Base)
– File Manager (the default one is the Session File Manager, or ZzzFM. antiX also comes with another GUI File Manager, Rox Filer)
– E-mail Client (the default one is the extremely light Claws Mail. Of course you can install something like Thunderbird, and select is as your E-mail client here)
– Text Editor (the default one is Geany, but when you left click text files in ZzzFM it’s configured by default, to open them using Leafpad, another GUI Text Editor, included by default)
– Image Viewer (the default one is Mirage)
– Video Player (the default one is Celluloid. antiX also includes the more bare-bones MPV, to which Celluloid is a front-end)
– Audio Player (the default one is XMMS)

NOTE: The GUI, by default allows you to select, from drop down lists, apps that it “thinks” belong to the selected category. You can manually select the .desktop file of any app, by clicking the “Free Choice” button, on the lower left of the GUI’s window.

After you made your selection, click the “Apply” button.

*13 – Taking a screenshot of your screen:
If you are using the default IceWM desktop. just like in most Operating Systems, press the “Print Screen” key, on your physical keyboard.
If you can’t do that, or if you are using a desktop that does not have that particular keybinding, you can find the applications that takes screenshots in:
antiX Menu > Applications > Graphics > Screenshot OR
antiX Menu > App-select > and search for “screenshot”…

*14 – How to always have “Numlock” On, when you turn on your computer:
antiX menu > Control Centre > “Session” tab > Access Manager icon (it’s the one that shows 3 horizontal red dots and 3 horizontal blue dots) > Enter your password, if asked to > Check the option related to “Numlock”

*15 – Do you want to customize antiX? Change the size of the toolbar, put it on the top part of the screen, change themes, change the way the clock looks, etc?
antiX includes a tool: IceWM Control Centre that allows you to customize almost any aspect of how antiX looks and feels:
– antiX menu > Control Centre > System > IceWM Control Centre
OR
– antiX menu > Applications > antiX > IceWM Control Centre
OR
search for it using app-select

*16- Do you want to “snap”/”tile” a window to the top/bottom/left/right half of the screen?
antiX comes, out of the box with keybindings that allow you to do that (but, as of the time I write this, I know of no way to drag the window and force it to change it’s shape automatically).
To make a window snap to any half of the screen you can:
-Press a certain key combination to change the format and position of your window automatically. On the default window manager (IceWM), pressing and holding the “Windows” Key + any of the cursor keys will Tile it to the respective position:
Windows + Up = the window that has focus is placed on the upper half of the screen
Windows + Down = the window that has focus is placed on the bottom half of the screen
Windows + Left = the window that has focus is placed on the left half of the screen
Windows + Right = the window that has focus is placed on the right half of the screen

OR
-You you can right click the title bar of the window and select the “Tiling” options (it should be the 7th menu entry counting from the bottom). Please note that there are also options, on that menu to automatically rearrange several all open windows (great if you are working with 2 to 4 windows).

Besides this IceWM Tiling feature, antiX comes, out of the box with it’s own tilling keyboard short cuts (that also try to “tile” windows into 1/4 of the screen, center the window, etc).
The keybindings to “tile” the windows can be consulted in menu > Control Center > IceWM… > “Keys” Tab.

*17- How to switch between running apps/windows?
To switch the window that is in focus:
– you can left click it’s title/icon in the toolbar;
– you can also use the keyboard, press Alt + Tab multiple times until you highlight the window you want to focus;
– you can left click the skippy-xd quick launcher, on the toolbar – this launches a real time preview of all non minimized windows you have on the current workspace- minimized apps will show only their icon. You can left click the window you want to focus, middle click a window do instantly close it, right click a window to minimize it. Click an empty space (or press the Esc key) to close skippy-xd and return to your desktop.

*18 – How to enable antiX’s firewall?
Firewalls are pieces of hardware or software that are meant to control network traffic (both in and/or out of your device).
antiX comes with one of the most used firewalls in Linux: UFW. It’s disabled by default.
You can toggle UFW firewall on/off (it will be in the same state that you put it in even if you reboot): antiX Menu > Control Centre > “Network” Tab > the “Firewall” icon is the last one (representing a brick wall) > Enter your password, if asked to > The GUI is simple, displaying UFW status, with a button to turn the Firewall on and a button to turn the Firewall off. Press the button you want, you get a notification about the status the Firewall is in and the GUI closes.

Tip: if you want to manage UFW settings, you can install a GUI that does that… From Package Installer’s “Repository…” Tab search for, and install gufw. Then you can run gufw from the antiX menu > Applications > Network/Internet and manage exactly how the Firewall is set up (enter your password, if asked to).

ADVANCED TIP: You can configure in/out network traffic via the terminal. Steampunk.tv’s YouTube video (on antiX 22, but mostly applicable to all antiX versions, specially on this subject) shows exactly how to do that: http://youtu.be/6gW_MVl9A_8?t=1805 (to access the YouTube video at the exact place that refers to this you may have to click through some adds..) OR you can stream YouTube video directly, using Celluloid (open Celluloid video player and drag and drop the YouTube link to it’s window – yes, antiX is that simple, most of the time).

*19 – Init systems and how to manage Services in antiX?
Now we are getting into a bit more advanced matters…
Every Operating System has to provide services to the users and to the applications they run, providing applications with an environment to execute and users with services to execute the applications in a convenient way.
A few examples of common Services − Program execution, I/O operations, File System manipulation, Communication, Resource Allocation, etc.
There are many init systems that manage Services. Currently, the most used init system in Linux is Systemd. antiX’s creator opposes to the use of that init system, so antiX is offered in .isos that run either SystemV (also called just SysV) or Runit init systems. The default is SystemV, but that’s an aging init system and anticapitalista has been trying to implement features in Runit, that may very well replace SystemV as the default init system recommended for antiX users. Please notice that after installing antiX, you can’t easily swap init systems.

Managing Services
In a SystemV antiX system you can manage Services from antiX menu > Control Centre > System Tab > Choose Startup Services
Enter your password, if asked to.
The interface to manage SystemV Services looks a bit outdated. It works only via the keyboard.
An alphabetical list of all available Services is displayed. You can select the service you want to manage by using the up and down cursor keys.
Services can run in Run levels 1 to 5, 0, 6 and S. Usually, when you want to use a process, you only need to enable it from 2 though 5.
Highlight the Service you want to configure, using up and down keys, and then use left and right keys to select the column you want. Press the space key to toggle the selection, checking or unchecking what you want to run.
Pressing – disables the currently highlighted Service
Pressing + enables the currently highlighted Service
When you are done, simply close the window or press Q.
That’s all. The interface may not look pretty and be keyboard driven, but it’s simple to use. Enable or Disable the Service you want and close the window.
IMPORTANT – Please do not mess with Services if you do not know what you are doing.

*Other stuff that it’s not essential, but may be helpful:
*If you want to learn to use the terminal or the basics of scripts:
https://www.antixforum.com/forums/topic/short-essential-how-to-list-for-the-complete-linux-newbie/page/5/#post-94528 and
https://www.antixforum.com/forums/topic/short-essential-how-to-list-for-the-complete-linux-newbie/page/5/#post-95003 are the place to go

*Do you want to press a keybinding and see a flashing visual marker showing you where the mouse pointer is?
This comes as a default feature in some Operating Systems, but it’s not available, out of the box in antiX. There’s a relatively easy procedure to follow that makes that feature available under antiX here: https://www.antixforum.com/forums/topic/highlighting-the-mouse-pointer/

*Does your keyboard/laptop not have LED indicators that show if Caps Lock is on/off?
There is a package that allows you yo have a key-lock indicator in the system tray. There are detailed instructions on how to install it, for antiX 21/22 here: https://www.antixforum.com/forums/topic/keylock-indicator/

*Do you want to add more themes to antiX (to antiX’s default window manager, IceWM)?
I wrote a small tutorial about that here: https://www.antixforum.com/forums/topic/how-to-add-new-themes-to-icewm-window-manager/#post-91906

*For users with very old hardware (even 32bits machines):
If LibreOffice is too resource intensive on your computer you can try a lighter office suite: OpenOffice, from which LibreOffice originated. There’s a nice “how to” about that here, that even includes the link to a 32bits and 64bits Appimage: https://www.antixforum.com/forums/topic/openoffice-instead-of-libreoffice-for-antix-32-bit-machines/#post-92233

*If you find that surfing the modern web is too slow on your computer, you can try some browsers, as pointed out here: https://www.antixforum.com/forums/topic/pale-moon-a-web-browser-for-very-old-laptops/
Please note that I suggest Min for 32bits devices, but that 32bits version is old (this means any security flaws were not patched, so don’t use it for anything security related like home-banking, etc) – but it works great for viewing web-pages and even YouTube (at 360p, on my old 32bits laptop) if you want to be served countless adds.

P.

• This topic was modified 2 months ago by Brian Masinick.

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Brian Masinick

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Many thanks for this, Mr. Masinick.
I want to add only this piece of information, relevant for users that are dual booting antiX and Windows:

* How do I access my MS Windows “disk” ( i.e. NTFS partitions) from antiX?
If your computer has a Windows partition (NTFS), probably, to access it, you will need to mount it first. There’s a GUI that should allow you do that, already available out of box in antiX Full: “Disk Manager”, available, via antiX menu > Applications > System
Start Disk Manager, enter your password, if asked to, left click the Disk or Partition you want to access (mount) from the list that is shown and then press the second button, on the bottom of the window (it switches functions, allowing you to mount unmounted drives/partitions or unmount mounted drives/partitions).

EDIT: see my next post, if you need to learn how Linux designates hard-drives (they are not, like, in Windows, C:, D:, etc…)

P.

• This reply was modified 2 months ago by PPC.
• This reply was modified 2 months ago by PPC.
• This reply was modified 2 months ago by PPC.

[Moderator Brian Masinick]

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I’m also adding the link https://www.antixforum.com/forums/topic/how-to-get-help-with-an-antix-problem/
here, because I’m going to unstick it (we’re growing the list of sticky topics, and I’m taking this one off, and linking to it from the link above instead.

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*Where is my C: drive (or the difference of drive naming convections between Linux and Windows)?
(Part of this information is provided on the Post that explains how to use the Terminal.)

Diferent OSes use different naming conventions. Windows users know their hard drive is usually called “C:”. A bit more tech savvy Windows users may notice that their documents are stored in “C:\Users\[Your_user_name]\Documents”

Microsoft used a convention where the first disk drive was called “A:” and the second disk drive was called “B:”, from long ago, when the dinosaurs roamed the Earth and hard drives were a rarity. When hard drives become more common, since they were the third “drive” (After the first disk drive and the eventual second disk drives), they were refereed as “C:”. Even when having 2 disk drives became uncommon and people just had a disk drive and a hard drive, hard drives in Windows generally stuck to that convention and where called C:. When computers stopped having disk drives, hard drives where the only drives they come with, they kept being called C: drives just because people were used to call them that. Any media that users insert in Windows computers picked up from there: CD-ROM and then DVD-ROMS and then USB thumb-drives were refereed as D:, E: and so on.

Linux uses different conventions to refer to drives and partitions, also using letters, but also numbers…
Linux adds even more information the a drive/partition name, by appending a description of the kind of drive it’s referring to to the start of it’s name, followed by it’s number.
In the time computers came with disk drives (hey, antiX users may still have computers with Floppy Disk drives!!!) they were called “fd” followed by their number, starting on 0 (strange I know, computer programmers are weird that way, some times).

When SCSI CR-ROM appeared they were, very logically named too, according to that convention:

    scd0 or sr0 - first SCSI CD-ROM
    scd1 or sr1 - second SCSI CD-ROM, etc...

Hard drives (and also USB thumb-drives and some CD-ROM/DVD-ROM drives) follow a similar convention to what Windows uses, but starting from the top of the alphabet: the first one is always called “a”. The second drive is always called “b”, and so on, but with a prefix:

    sda - The first SCSI disk SCSI ID address-wise (sda referes to Scsi Disk A)
    sdb - The second SCSI disk address-wise and so on (sdb referes to Scsi Disk B), etc...
    hda - The primary disk on IDE primary controller (I always think of this naming convention as just Hard Drive A)
    hdb - The secondary disk on IDE primary controller (I read it as Hard Drive B), etc...

So your first hard drive (in case you have more than one), that usually Windows calls C: is usually called “sda” or “hda” in Linux. But that’s not it’s full designation…

You can “partition” a disk drive (or a USB thumb-drive), so, to the computer, it looks like it’s divided into more than one part.
MS Windows refers to partitions by a different drive letter. If you divide your hard drive into more than one partition, the first partition is called C: and the second partition is called D:, even though they exist in the same hard drive.
In a more logical process, Linux lets you know which partition belongs to each physical drive, by always appending the partition number to the end of drive designation. Ex: the first partition on the first drive is called “…a1” (yep, starting from 1, not 0, computer programmers are weird, I know). The second partition on the first drive is called “…a2”, the second partition on the second drive? “…b2” and so on… So, if you only have antiX installed on your hard drive, all your files should be stored, by default on drive sda1 or hda1, that are the equivalent of Windows “C:” drive… BUT… since usually Linux uses a tiny partition to store system/boot info, usually the main partitions where your data is stored by default are really sda2 or hda2…

NB: This is an oversimplification of how Linux refers to drives. For more details search on-line, for example, read http://tldp.org/HOWTO/Partition-Mass-Storage-Definitions-Naming-HOWTO/x99.html

PRACTICAL EXAMPLE:
On the particularly very old laptop that I’m using to type this, my Linux main drive is called “sda2” (because I kept the original Windows XP partition, that, since it was the initial one is called “sda1”). When I plug an USB thumb-drive it’s called “sdb1” (since it’s the second drive connected to my computer- the hard drive is the first one- it’s called “b”, and since it has only one partition, it’s called partition “1”. The name lossly can be read, from back to front as: “partition one of the second drive (being managed by SCSI on this computer)”) I have a dvd-rom drive. It’s called sr0 (yes, 0, not 1, because… you guessed it, programmers are weird).

If your hard drive is recognised as something like hda1, you may end up with having your USB pen-drive being called sda1 (as far as I know USB pen-drives are never start with the hd prefix, always with the sd prefix)…

Do I need to know all that info? Not really, not for every day computing:
– Hard drives in Linux are easy to use: it usually stores are your “normal” files ( documents, pictures, videos, downloads, etc) in your user’s home folder.
– USB-pen drives are usually opened automatically by your File Manager, when you plug them in… and ZzzFm shows both the drive’s “name”, size and it’s designation (i.e. ex: “Kingston 29G sdb1”) so I know exactly what is connected to my computer. Please note that ZzzFM’s title bar does not show the name of the drive that you are accessing, but were that is “mounted”, so ZzzFM’s title bar should say something like “/media/ppc/Kingston/…” (it may take a while to get used to that little detail).
When you click antiX’s “eject” icon, on the toolbar, a list of all removable drives (usually, just your USB thumb-drives) and all their partitions will be displayed. If you have only one connected USB thumb-drive, it’s easy – click the check box, near the designation of your thumb-drive and then click the button that confirms you want to proceed.

* Where are my files, documents, downloads, etc???
So, in Windows, usually the main Hard drive (or ssd drive) is called “C:” and your documents are stored in a folder that is something like this:
C:\Users\[Your_user_name]\Documents

On Linux we do not need to identify the drive’s name (as we have seen Linux refers to drives using a different convention anyway). So there is no “C:” on Linux. Every stored in your computer, include the main “hard drive” is just inside “/” (picture “/” as representing “Everything stored in this computer”).
In Linux, for safety reasons, regular (non root) users can only write (alter or create) files or folders inside their own “Home folder”, and not anywhere in “/”.
A user’s home folder in Linux is /home/[User_name]/ And can be shorted to ~/

Please note: “/home/” is not your home folder, strange I know, but it’s the place where the home folders for all users in your computer are stored.

Ex: /home/ppc is my home folder, in this computer. /home/marcelo is Marcelo’s home folder, in this computer. Only I, ppc, or someone with elevated privileges (an administrator or “root” user or a normal user that acquired elevated privileges, for example, using “sudo”) has permission to change things inside my Home folder. The same applies to Marcelo’s home folder. Only he or someone with elevated privileges can change things inside his home folder.

*What about Invisible or Hidden folders/files?
In Linux, hidden folder or hidden files are just regular folders/files, that start with “.” on their names, marking them as “hidden” or “invisible”.
In ZzzFM File Manager you can switch between “show hidden files/folders” and “do not show hidden files/folders” by pressing CTRL + H once.
Usually, important configuration files and folder are marked as hidden, so you do not mess them up or delete them by mistake. By default, logically, the File Manager does not show hidden files/folders. If you have no reason to access them, I advise you to keep them hidden from view. Even if hidden folders are not seen, you can type their address on ZzzFM’s address bar, by typing “/.” after the end of your current location. ZzzFM will suggest all invisible folders/files that are present on your current folder. You can then left click the intended file/folder (like, for example, if you are in your user’s home folder, “.config” that stores many of your configuration files.)

IMPORTANT: due to security reasons, you may have to grant permission to executable files to run in your computer. This has be to done only once per file. You will notice that detail if you download an appimage file or a script (bash scripts, python scripts, etc), and they don’t run (please see above how to grant those permissions, using ZzzFM).

*Why does Linux not use “\”, just like Windows???
Folders and sub-folders shown in folders and files “path” are separated by “/”. Unlike in Windows, that decided to the the opposite of what was the standard, in Linux folder are separated by the “/” symbol. Do you have any doubt “/” to separate stuff is the standard? Just look at any web address… Yes, they use “/” to separate parts of the address because that is the standard procedure. It’s Microsoft that does not stick with that standard, it’s not like Linux programmers are trying to be different…

That’s about all you need to know about how Linux refers to your drives, partitions, folders and files an how to access them.

*How do I use the Terminal?
-When you open the Terminal, the “prompt” (the line where you are able to write in) starts with a character, before the cursor. “$” means that you are using the terminal as a normal (non root user). If you are a root user you’ll see the “#” before the cursor.

NOTE: when following any command, given here in the forum or in from any web page or manual, do not type the “$” or “#” in the start of the command – if it’s there, it’s to let you know that you should run the command as a regular or root user. NEVER RUN COMMANDS AS ROOT USER UNLESS OTHER WISE TOLD TO!!! It can be dangerous for your system.

– Usually the prompt also displays the user name the symbol “@”, the name of the computer, the symbol “:” and the folder where you are. If no folder is in the prompt, then you should be in your home folder. Note that the symbol “~” stands for your home folder. It’s the same as reading or writing “/home/[user_name]”

Example: If your prompt looks like this:

ppc@dhcppc1:~/cac
$ 

The “$” means that you are a regular (non root) user, called “ppc”, and that the computer’s name is “hcppc1” and that currently we are in the folder “cac” that is inside ppc’s home folder.

TIP:If you make a mistake, while typing a command on the Terminal, you won’t have to re-type everything. Just press the up key to access the line you typed before (it stores the history of the last commands you ran, so you can keep pressing “up” to see commands that you typed some time ago). Use the left/right keys to move the cursor to the character you want to correct and delete what you want or insert what you want (if you also press and hold the CTRL key the cursor move not between characters but between words). You can press the “enter” key to run the command, there’s no need to go back to the end of the line, everything that is on that line will be processed.

TIP: You can copy a command from a web site, this forum, a manual, etc and paste it directly into the default Terminal (called RoxTerm).

WARNING: Be very careful with commands you run or paste the the web!!! Make sure that the source that recommended them can be trusted and that they are meant for Debian based distros and do not refere to systemd init system (ex: very probably any instruction about starting a service in Ubuntu/Debian will not work in antiX).

• This reply was modified 2 months ago by PPC.
• This reply was modified 1 month, 4 weeks ago by PPC.
• This reply was modified 1 month, 4 weeks ago by PPC.

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* Does antiX have a Dark mode, like any modern Operating System?

Yes, kind of. Enabling a “Dark mode” has 2 (even 3) basic steps:
1- Setting up a dark Window manager theme. This controls how the toolbar, the menu, and the window decorations (title bar, etc) of Windows that have those settings managed by the Window Manager… antiX 23, by default ships with FX-dark IceWM theme as default. It’s a pretty dark theme.
You can switch theme either by using the second to last antiX menu entry to manage IceWM settings OR use IceWM Control Centre… and select another Theme (lighter or darker)
2- Setting up a darker GTK theme. This manages how the contents of some windows are rendered. You can select a different GTK theme by doing this:
antiX Menu > Control Centre > Look and Feel > “Widget” tab (it’s open by default) > The default GTK is Arc-EvoPro2. Select a darker on (you can see the preview on the right part of the window). A nice Dark GTK included by default in antiX is Arc-Dark.
3- Some apps (like Firefox) appearance is not managed either by the Window Manager or the GTK theme. On those apps, you’ll have to find out how to select a dark theme, if one is available, from inside their settings.

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*The Text Editor, Geany, always has a vertical line! Is that a bug? Can it be fixed?
That’s not a bug, it’s there to basicaly mark the place where a line would break if you were writing on the terminal, instead on in Geany.
To “fix” it: open Geany > Edit > Preferences > “Editor” Tab (on the left side, it’s the third one) > “Display” Tab (it’s the last vertical tab, on the right side) > make sure that the “long line marker” is unchecked > Click the button on the bottom of the window to accept the change.

[Moderator Brian Masinick]

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Nice one about Geany; yeah, most good editors are configurable, including Geany; thanks for the specific change, even though I don’t personally need the “fix”! 🙂

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*Can antiX connect to Bluetooth devices?
Yes it can. It’s been reported to be able to do so (but I have only a very old BT 1.1 dongle that I’ve never been able to make work…)

To use Bluetooth, follow this general steps:

1- Make sure that the Bluetooth Service is enabled (in Systemv / Sysv versions of antiX, the default):
-You can do this using the GUI provided to enable/ disable Services: antiX menu > Control Centre > “System” tab > “Manage Services…” icon > enter your password, if asked to > Make sure “bluetooth” is checked (it’s check-boxes should be checked in run-levels 2 trough 5)

Advanced Tip – You can also do this via the Terminal, by running this commands to start Bluetooth and then make the service always start at antiX startup (thanks @abc-nix):

  sudo service bluetooth start
  sudo update-rc.d bluetooth defaults

– To be on the safe side, restart your computer, to make sure Bluetooth is enabled.

2- To be on the safe side, also make sure that Bluetooth is powered on, on connman’s GUI:
– Start connman (ex: by selecting it from antiX Menu > Applications > Network/Internet > Connman…)
– Make sure that the “button” on the third “Bluetooth” column is powered on (it should be green, not red)

3- Make sure to run Bluetooth’s system tray icon, to manage connections to Bluetooth devices:
– If you want to run it only when needed (to save system resources)- you can start it from antiX Menu > Run > and enter (without the quotation marks, and then press the enter key): “blueman-applet“. That will show the BT icon on the system tray and also try to connect automatically to trusted BT devices. Right click the BT icon to see the option (like turning on/off BT, connect to devices, etc)
– If you want BT icon to always run every time you start your system, use the GUI to add applications (as explained previously) to antiX’s startup, adding the command blueman-applet

IMPORTANT: in my particular case, my BT dongle could only correctly detect devices after I installed the package “gir1.2-gnomebluetooth-3.0”. You can do so using Package Installer’s “Enabled Repos” tab; Synaptic Package Manager; or the Terminal, using the command sudo apt install gir1.2-gnomebluetooth-3.0

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*Why doesn’t the systemctl command that I saw on a Debian/Ubuntu tutorial work on antiX?
That is because that command manages Services using SystemD init system, that both Debian and Ubuntu use, but antiX does not (it uses SystemV or Runit init systems).

Fortunately forum user @abc-nix did a nice summary on how to manage processes in antiX and how to adapt systemctl commands to commands that run on antiX just fine, over at https://www.antixforum.com/forums/topic/intall-icecast2/#post-117026

In sum (in this examples replace <service_name> with the exact name of the service):

-check if a Service is running:
service <service_name> status

– Enable a Service to start at boot:
sudo update-rc.d <service_name> defaults

– Start a Service instantly:
sudo service <service_name> start

* Adapting systemctl commands to run on antiX:
Replace:
sudo systemctl [start|stop|restart|reload|status] <service-name>
with
sudo service <service-name> [start|stop|restart|reload|status]

Replace:
sudo systemctl enable <service-name>
with:
sudo update-rc.d <service-name> defaults

Replace:
sudo systemctl disable <service-name>
with:
sudo update-rc.d <service-name> remove

Note:
This should work for both runit and sysv.

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* How to view webp image files in antiX?
Install the webp-pixbuf-loader package, using Package Installer’s second tab, Synaptic Package Manager or the terminal (running the command sudo apt install webp-pixbuf-loader )

This info originally was given in this thread: https://www.antixforum.com/forums/topic/how-can-i-get-webp-files-to-open-like-jpg-files-with-mirage/#post-119448 (thanks to @ATGhQlsvhij19tw5jgDi )

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* How to have better formatted Microsoft Office (.docx, .doc, etc) documents?
Fonts. Let me elaborate:
Install “Microsoft fonts” (for better document compatibility with older .doc and .docx files) from Package Installer. This provides antiX with older Microsoft fonts, like Times New Roman and Arial
The package “fonts-crosextra-carlito” that provides “Carlito” a fully compatible font with Microsoft’s “Calibri” should already be installed.
You should also already have the package “fonts-crosextra-caladea”, that provides the font “Caladea”, fully compatible with Microsoft’s “Cambria” font.

Since middle 2023, the new Microsoft365 default font is “Aptos“. It can be downloaded from https://www.techspot.com/downloads/7566-aptos-font.html.
Extract the files that are inside that .zip file you downloaded and copy them to ~/.fonts (you may have to create that folder, please notice that it starts with a dot, so it’s an hidden folder). To make sure antiX recognizes the new fonts: antiX Menu > Terminal > run the command
fc-cache -f -v
You may have to log off and log back on, so LibreOffice correctly uses the new fonts.

To make sure that you replace Cambria and Calibri with the correct fonts, do this:
LibreOffice Writer’s menu > Tools > Options > Under “LibreOffice” select “Fonts” and tick the option to use replacement fonts. Add this 2 entries:
Replace Calibri with Carlito, click the green “V” icon
Replace Cambria with Caladea, click the green “V” icon
Make sure to check the options “Always” and “Screen only”, on both entries.
Accept the changes, clicking the button on the lower right side of that window.

P.

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* I installed antiX Base version, and now I don’t have xyz available!!!

Shame on you. You should have installed the Full version! 🙂
Just kidding… The Base version is for folks that know their way around building antiX systems, but want most of the hard work already done (X installed, window managers already installed and configured, etc), but little else. It’s not meant for “regular” OS users that want a fully working OS out of the box with all the drivers and GUIs available…
Fortunately forum user and moderator @Caprea did us the favor of listing all packages that antiX 23 Full has, that the Base version does not, over at https://www.antixforum.com/forums/topic/difference-between-antix23-full-and-base-list-of-apps/
So, you either install antiX Full version or find, from the list, the packages that you want (some extras are available in the “goodies” packages) and install them, either using the second Package Installer tab (the Repo’s one) or using the terminal.

Edit: a valid reason for installing antiX Base is if the hard drive that you are using to install the OS has not enough space (or enough free space) to install the Full version. In that case, you may install the Base version and then install all the packages referred by Caprea except the ones that you don’t need (like language packages, LibreOffice, some drivers, etc). That may be enough to get you a fully working OS, saving some disk space. In cases like these, I would advise trying to install antix Frugally (it uses much less space).

Edit2: The Base version does not have Claws or Firefox-esr installed, it uses “seamonkey” (it’s a web suite that includes a web browser and an e-mail client, forked from an old Thunderbird version- it uses less system resources, but it’s not as standards compatible as firefox-esr or firefox). I think this is one of the very few packages that the Base version includes that the Full version does not.

P.

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Small update to the second point of the original post:

*Can I access files stored on the cloud?
Sure:
– use the file storage web interface from inside your browser or;
– install any available interface (“Dropbox” and “Mega” can be installed from Package Installer). There are, at the present time, no official interfaces to “Google Drive” or Microsoft Cloud (AKA “Onedrive”) for Linux, but you can install “Open Drive” from Package Manager- that allows access to those services).
– use “antiX Cloud”, recently added to antiX- it’s a GUI for the application rclone. Using “antiX Cloud” you can very easily (with about a couple of clicks) configure access to your Google Drive our OneDrive and access them from your default File Manager, just like they were a normal drive plugged into your computer. Please note that all other Cloud Drives have to be manually set up, using a menu driven by numbered choices, from a terminal window…
antiX Cloud is available in antiX Menu > Applications > Network > antiX Cloud
More details (including snapshots) over at https://www.antixforum.com/forums/topic/how-to-easily-access-cloud-storage-from-antix-23-file-manager-easily/#post-121448

EDIT:
(The advanced Tip part of this subject is no longer needed)

If possible, I ask a moderator to replace the text on the Original Post with this, and then this post can stay on or be removed

P.

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*Why nothing happens when I close my laptop’s lid?
You probably have to configure antiX so it reacts to closing the lid. @abc-nix did a consise tutorial on how to do that over at https://www.antixforum.com/forums/topic/laptop-lid-switch-doesnt-work/#post-121727

The process requires using the terminal and editing config files. In simple and easy to follow steps:
– antiX Menu > Terminal > run this command (you can copy commands from here and paste them in the terminal):
apt policy elogind

If the result say something like “Installed: (none)” then it is not installed (that is to be expected, since, by default antiX does not come with elogind, as previously stated and explained by anticapitalista.

-> A- If elongind is not installed:
Still on the terminal window, run this command:
sudo service --status-all | grep acpi

To configure the way antiX reacts to closing the lid, run this command on the terminal window, to open acpi-support’s configuration file for edition:

sudo geany /etc/default/acpi-support

–If you want your laptop to suspend when you close the lid:
Make sure it has a line with this setting (if the line is commented out, starting with “#”, you have to uncomment it):
LID_SLEEP=true

–If you want your laptop to shutdown when you close the lid:
Make sure it has a line with this setting (if the line is commented out, starting with “#”, you have to uncomment it):
LID_SHUTDOWN=true

Save any change you did to the configuration file and restart antiX. The lid should work just as configured, as long as acpi-support service is enabled (see above how to enable services)

—

-> B – If Elongind is installed and it’s service is running:
You have to edit it’s configuration files: /etc/elogind/logind.conf (and /etc/elogind/sleep.conf if present).

To edit logind.conf run the command
sudo geany /etc/elogind/logind.conf

– If you want your laptop to suspend, when you close the lid, make sure logind.conf has an uncommented line stating:

HandleLidSwitch=suspend

– If you want your laptop to shutdown, when you close the lid, make sure logind.conf has an uncommented line stating:

HandleLidSwitch=poweroff

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This is not really a FAQ, but it’s a piece of information I don’t want to get lost on the sea of threads:

* I dual boot and now Windows( or any other Os) is missing from the GRUB menu, how can I fix that?

anticapitalista provided the solution, that I adapted into a more detailed step by step:

antiX menu > Terminal > run this command (entering your user’s password, if asked to):

sudo geany /etc/default/grub

This will open grub’s config file for edition. Make sure that the config file includes this line :
GRUB_DISABLE_OS_PROBER=false
(i.e., if a line saying GRUB_DISABLE_OS_PROBER already exists, but with the “true” value, change it to “false”… if no line with this variable exists, add it. You can copy and paste it, it’s faster and avoid typos)

Save the changes to that config file, then, on the terminal run the command:

sudo update-grub

Reboot.
Your other boot options should be available once again.

Edit: “Missing” grub menu entries is caused by a change in Debian, not in antiX!

P.

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