Picasa Install

To install Picasa on your Scientific linux machine follow the steps below

1. Run the following two commands when by one in terminal by logging in as root.
    wget https://dl-ssl.google.com/linux/linux_signing_key.pub
    rpm --import linux_signing_key.pub

2. Create Google repo as shown below
    First create a repo file called google.repo
    vi /etc/yum.repos.d/google.repo

    Now insert the following lines in google.repo file
    [google]
    name=google
    baseurl=http://dl.google.com/linux/rpm/stable/i386
    enabled=1
    gpgcheck=1

   Save the file

3. Run command
    yum update

4  Install Picasa using the command
    yum install picasa

Scientific Linux Settings

Changing the host name
------------------------------------------------------
To change the hostname to your preferred name, you need to edit the network file

Steps:
Log in as root in terminal

cd /etc/sysconfig/
vi network

Change the HOSTNAME to your preferred name

Then save the file and reboot the computer

Menu Editor for GNOME

 alacarte

Alacarte is a simple menu editor for GNOME that lets you edit, add, and delete any menu entry. 


Install
-----------
Log in as root in terminal and type the following command 
yum install alacarte 


Run
------------
To run the alacarte program just type 'alacarte' 


Desktop Shortcut
----------------------
Create shortcut for 'alacarte' application in desktop
 
Right click on Desktop and click 'Create Launcher'
Type the following in interface
Type: Application
Name: Alacarte
Command:/usr/bin/alacarte

Trash Icon missing

If Trash icon is missing in desktop then here are the steps to enable

1. Click on 'Configuration Editor' found under 'System Tools'
   If 'Configuration Editor' option is not present, then you need to install it.
   Use the command 'yum install gconf-editor' to install
  
2. Click apps ---> click nautilus ---->click desktop

3. Check/Mark on 'trash_icon_visible'
This will create an icon linking to the trash  on the desktop.

Create yum repository from Scientific Linux DVD

Create yum repository from Scientific Linux DVD without copying the contents to hard disk

Steps:

1. Create a directory to mount DVD
    mkdir /mnt/dvd

2. Mount the Scientific Linux DVD
    mount /dev/cdrom /mnt/dvd

3. Create yum repo setting file at /etc/yum.repos.d/dvd.repo
    vi  /etc/yum.repos.d/dvd.repo

4. Copy the following contents into dvd.repo
[MyRepo]
name=MyRepo
baseurl=file:///mnt/dvd
enabled=1
gpgcheck=0

5. Run the following command to create yum database
createrepo /mnt/

Note: To run  'createrepo /mnt/' command 'createrepo' package should be installed first.

Install FTP client Filezilla in Linux

First download the FileZilla package from here

The downloaded package will be like FileZilla_3.5.1_i586-linux-gnu.tar.bz2

Now open terminal and log in as root.

Go to the folder where the package is saved

Extract the package using the command

tar -jxvf FileZilla_3.5.1_i586-linux-gnu.tar.bz2

The extracted files will be saved in FileZilla3 folder

Copy the folder 'FileZilla3' into /opt directory

Now create a shortcut in Desktop

Right click on Desktop and click 'Create Launcher'

Type the following in interface

Type: Application

Name: FileZilla

Command:/opt/FileZilla3/bin/filezilla

Double click on the Shortcut to launch

Install RAR package

Download the RAR package from

http://www.rarlab.com/rar/rarlinux-3.6.0.tar.gz

Now log in as root in terminal

Go to the folder where you have saved the file 'rarlinux-3.6.0.tar.gz' using terminal

Extract the file using the following command

tar -zxvf rarlinux-3.6.0.tar.gz

Go into the extracted folder

cd rar

Type the following in terminal

./unrar

Then copy the rar and unrar file to /bin

cp rar unrar /bin



Now when you right click over the rar files which you want to extract, you will be get extracted file without any issue