How to Be a Power User

"This 'users are idiots, and are confused by functionality' mentality of Gnome is a disease. If you think your users are idiots, only idiots will use it. I don't use Gnome, because in striving to be simple, it has long since reached the point where it simply doesn't do what I need it to do."- Linus Torvalds, 2005 Power users accomplish many times what normal users accomplish more efficiently in less time. You don't have to have the latest most expensive equipment to work efficiently. Power user does not refer to users who consume lots of power or resources. It is only in the last decade that computer software with printed manuals have all but disappeared, and software has been designed to be as simple as possible. Knowledge of networking or programming is not necessary to be a power user! Steps 1Seriously consider using the command-line.You can still tweet, instant message, play mp3 (with mplayer), browse the web (with Lynx or Links2), p2p (amulecmd), torrent (rtorrent), image edit (ImageMagick), read feeds (raggle), chat (irssi), ofm (midnight commander), manage actionWindows/DOSWindows Powershell, Mac OS X, Linux, BSD etc. list directorydirls clear consoleclsclear copy file(s)copycp move file(s)movemv delete file(s)delrm create directorymdmkdir remove directoryrdrm change current directorycdcd current directorycd, chdirpwd searchfindgrep concatenatecatcat permissionschmodchmod display/output textechoecho add usernet useradduser *.If you need to move all folders ending with "photos" this is easy in the command line but difficult and slow in a GUI. *.Command-line completion is also known as tab-completion and can speed things up. *.Pipe command-line output into other commands if needed. *.Shell aliases can be set in Linux. 2 Consider a tiling window manager(TWM). Most systems use floating window managers where windows aren't automatically aligned and can overlap one another. If you spend a lot of time moving, resizing, maximizing, minimizing, restoring and generally switching windows then a tiling window manager might be for you. A TWM presents multiple windows on one screen aligned in a tile formation. The following is the manifesto of Ion, a dynamic tiling window manager with tabs for each frame. KeyTiling function Alt+knext tile Alt+jprevious tile Alt+spaceswitch layout 3Ditch the mouse. Use the keyboard. Set up key bindings for everything, basic windows operation and browsing . Learn the key bindings. Familiarize yourself with them. KeyOperating system function Win+eOpens My Computer in Windows Explorer Win+fFind Win+mMinimize all windows Win+dToggle minimize all windows Win+rOpen run dialog Ctrl+ASelect all Ctrl+BBold Ctrl+OOpen Ctrl+CCopy Ctrl+XCut Ctrl+VPaste Ctrl+ZUndo Ctrl+PgUpNext tab Ctrl+PgDnPrevious tab Alt-tabSwitch open windows Alt+F4Quit app Alt+F5Restore window Alt+F7Move window Alt+F8Resize window Alt+F9Minimize window Alt+F10Maximize current window. *.Use application keyboard shortcuts (Vimperator [2]and other Firefox add-ons are useful for this). KeyBrowser Function Alt+left arrowBack Alt+right arrowForward Alt+homeHome Ctrl+LLocation/address bar Ctrl+kSearch bar Ctrl+TNew tab Ctrl+WClose tab Ctrl+PgUpPrevious tab Ctrl+PgDnNext tab Ctrl+RRefresh Ctrl+uView source 4If you don't want to ditch the mouse totally, use mouse gestures.Strokeit (Windows), Opera (Cross platform), gMote (Windows), Easystroke (Linux), Mouse Gestures Redox (Firefox) are all applications. 5Write scripts.You won't become a programmer, but scripts help to automate common repetitive tasks. In Windows they're sometimes called batch files. *.If you need to copy photos until you reach a certain number of megabytes, a script is needed. *.Use browser scripts. Greasemonkey, iMacros and Chickenfoot are some on Firefox. Opera supports user javascript. 6Use an Orthodox File Manager(OFM).Also known as Commander-like, Midnight Commander is one for command-line users. Alternatively use something like Directory Opus, as long as you don't use a basic (usually bundled) file manager. Again, it is all about key bindings, so learn the . KeyOFM Function F1help F2user menu/scripting F3view F4edit F5copy F6move F7new directory F8delete F9top menu F10quit 7Turn off any eye-candy that might slow you down. *.In Windows, right-click My Computer,Properties,Advanced, underPerformanceclickSettings, thenAdjust for Best Performance. *.In KDE 4+, press Alt+F3, thenConfigure Window Behaviour, thenDesktop Effectsthen uncheckEnable Desktop Effects. 8Choose appropriate software.Don't just use the bundled software just because it's bundled, unless it's a conscious decision. *. Choose a web browser, don't just use the bundled one because it's bundled. *.Organize your audio and images with appropriate software designed for this purpose.