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The Fedora GNOME desktop includes a powerful graphical environment that provides easy access to files, folders, network locations and storage devices. Whilst such a concept may not be revolutionary to those who are familiar with Windows Explorer (the technology that enables you browse your disks, files, folders etc on Microsoft Windows) it is important to keep in mind that up until the late 1990's Linux didn't have anything like this.
The technology that provides this functionality is called Nautilus. Nautilus was created by a company called Eazel. Eazel was founded by Andy Hertzfeld, one of the original developers of the first Apple Macintosh. Sadly, Eazel went out of business a few years after it was started. Fortunately, thanks to the unique power of open source software, Nautilus lived on and is now an integral part of the GNOME desktop. == Accessing Nautilus == Nautilus may be accessed a number of ways. One way is to click either a folder or the ''Computer'' icon on the Fedora Desktop. Nautilus may also be invoked by selecting an option from the ''Places'' menu. Any of these options will open a Nautilus window displaying the contents of the specified location. == Nautilus and the Computer Icon == Double clicking on the ''Computer'' desktop icon will invoke Nautilus with a list of devices and locations available for browsing. The following figure shows a typical Nautilus display: [[Image:fedora_computer.jpg]] In the above example the primary devices on the system are listed, together with an icon representing the network on which the computer resides. Double clicking on any of these icons will open a new window containing the files and folders located on that device (or in the case of Network a list of other systems and network attached devices). The properties of any icon (such as filesystem type and disk usage) can be display by clicking with the right mouse button over an icon and selecting ''Properties'' from the resulting dialog. The following figure shows the properties dialog for a hard disk drive: [[Image:fedora_disk_properties.jpg]] == Adding Emblems to Files and Folders == Recent versions of Nautilus provide a useful feature that allows descriptive emblems to be placed next to file or folder icons. For example, you might want to ''Photos'' emblem next a folder in which you store digital pictures, or a ''Presentation'' emblem next to a file containing a presentation. The addition of emblems is achieved using the Nautilus ''Properties'' panel. As an example, we will add emblems next to the following ''Summer Vacation'' and ''Staff Meeting'' folders: [[Image:fedora_folders.jpg]] To add an emblem, select the ''Summer Vacation'' folder and right click with the mouse. From the popup menu, select ''Properties'' and in the properties dialog click on the ''Emblems'' tab: [[Image:fedora_emblem_dialog.jpg|Adding Emblems to Folders]] Scroll down the list of emblems until you find the ''Photos'' emblem and select the checkbox to add the emblem. Note that you can add more than one emblem to each file or folder. Repeat these steps to add a ''Presentations'' emblem to the ''Staff Meeting'' folder and close the properties dialog. The end result should appear as follows: [[Image:fedora_folder_emblems.jpg|Nautilus Folders with Emblems]] == Changing File and Folder Permissions == The access permissions on files and folders may also be changed using Nautilus. As with most other file and folder settings this is achieved using the ''Properties'' dialog. Click with the right mouse button over the file or folder to be changed and select ''Properties'' from the popup menu. In the resulting properties dialog select the ''Permissions'' tab to display the current settings for the file or folder: [[Image:fedora_permissions.jpg|Fedora File and Folder Permissions]] Permissions are divided into three main categories with a few miscellaneous settings at the bottom of the dialog: * '''Owner''' - Defines the permissions for the owner of the file or folder * '''Group''' - Specifies the permissions for users in the same group as the owner of the file or folder * '''Others''' - Specifies the permissions for any users that do not fall into the above categories * '''Execute''' - Defines whether the file can be executed as a program or not * '''SELinux Context''' - A setting specific to the Security Enhanced Linux standard Pressing the ''Apply permissions to enclosed files'' will set the chosen permissions on all files contained in the selected folder (this button is not avialable when a file, rather than a folder, is selected).
