Fedora User Environment Configuration

• Creation of users and groups

  Create users and groups by 
    Hat -> System Settings -> Users and Groups
  and set Primary group for all users who would access NTFS & FAT-32
  partition as gid 501.
  

• Configuration files

  Save current configuration files as
     cp /etc/bashrc  /etc/bashrc.org
     cp /etc/fstab   /etc/fstab.org
   then download the following three files in binary mode to /etc folder
   by right clicking on the link and select "Save Target As..."
  

  bashrc, prabu.aliases, and fstab.

  Find current partition information on the system
    fdisk -l
  
  and then edit /etc/fstab file
    modify the partition information on the first column correctly
     for Linux swap space, Fat32 parition, and Windows NTFS paritions
    and set appropriate uid and gid values.
  
  Create folders for all mount points (second column)
  listed on fstab file such as /mnt/common, /mnt/windows, /mnt/flash, ...
  
  A FAT-32 partition can be accessed by any user (with read & write access)
  automatically.
  
  Any user can use a flash drive (with read & write access)
  after they execute "flash" command on a terminal window.
  Before removing the flash drive, execute "unflash" command
  on a terminal window.
  
  Similarly, for floppy drive and cdrom drive, use "floppy", "cdrom" command
  before accessing them. Use "unfloppy", "uncdrom" before log off.
   

• Desktop background images

   Create a folder in FAT-32 partition and save all images with aspect
   ratio 1.33 (ratio of ImageWidth/ImageHeight)
     e.g.   /mnt/lnx_data/BackgroundImages/   -- 170 images
   so that the same set of images can be shared by both XP and Fedora
  
   Create a softlink (similar to Windows shortcut to folders)
     ln -s /mnt/lnx_data/BackgroundImages /usr/share/backgrounds/flowers
   
   Then customize the Fedora desktop automatic slideshow as
    Desktop -> Right Click -> Configure Desktop... -> Background -> Slide show ->
              Setup... -> 1 min -> enable random order -> Add.. -> Select all files
  	     from the new path
  
    Previous path: /usr/share/backgrounds/images/
    
    New path:      /usr/share/backgrounds/flowers@ 
  
  

• Customization of panel (bottom status bar)

  Right click on the panel -> Size -> Tiny
  This will make the panel as thin and leaves more space above