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Figure 4-22: The Red Hat customized graphics configuration screen

Notice also that the mouse doesn’t move when the installer attempts to select the monitor. If this method of installing the X Windows System is selected, the mouse must be manually configured. On a modern system, the installer manually configures the mouse by tabbing to the mouse menu, pressing enter to select it, selecting the type of mouse attached to the system, and then selecting apply. This will instantly bring the mouse on-line and make it available for the rest of the installation.

Selecting the windows manager or desktop environment

After you have selected the color depth and screen resolution, you must now choose the windows manager, or desktop environment. The Red Hat distribution includes the GNU Network Object Model Environment — or GNOME — which is the default desktop environment for Red Hat, and K Desktop Environment — or KDE — as the choices for windows managers. Here is a brief comparison of the two:

GNOME is more like the X Windows System, and KDE more resembles MAC OS or Microsoft Windows.

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Figure 4-23: The Red Hat customized graphics configuration at 800 × 600 screen.

The KDE environment provides the stability of UNIX, and therefore Linux, with a contemporary desktop environment similar to Mac OS or Microsoft Windows 95/98/NT/2000. GNOME is part of the GNU project and was created as a completely free desktop for the user, as well as a powerful application framework for the software developer.

When choosing your installation packages, the installer was able to select both the GNOME and KDE packages. If the installer selected both, then this selection just sets the active windows. The last choice of this set of screens is to either boot to a command line login or graphical login by starting the selected windows manager and then logging in through the desktop environment. After finalizing these settings, the system will test the selected color depth, screen resolution, and desktop environment with a screen similar to the one shown in Figure 4-26.

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Figure 4-24: The Xfree86 monitor selection screen

Confirming the test is the last step before rebooting the system. This is the end of the installation of Red Hat Linux. Although other distributions don’t follow this pattern step-by-step, they do use similar choices. After the system is rebooted, it is ready for use or further configuration.

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Figure 4-25: The Xfree86 mode selection screen