How to do stuff in FatDog64

Introduction
This tutorial is intended for first time or prospective users of Puppy Linux FatDog 611. Rather than
explain all of the technical jargon the intent of this tutorial is to explain ho! to use FatDog to
achieve everyday tas"s. FatDog6# is only for 6# $it computers.
% !ill focus on !hat % consider to $e the main reasons % use a computer in some sort of priority. %
!ill not provide too much detail on common applications such as $ro!sers & email rather the
un"no!n tas"s that people !ould li"e to "no! or are not a!are of.
% !ill assume you "no! ho! to $urn the %'( to a $oota$le D)D*+D.
,ou can do!nload the %'( from here- http-**ftp.nluug.nl*ftp*pu$*os*Linux*distr*fatdog*iso*
(nce you $oot from the D)D you !ill see the follo!ing des"top-
Browsing
(ne of the most popular uses for a computer these days is to $ro!se the internet. FatDog comes in
t!o distri$utions one !ith Firefox and the other !ith 'eamon"ey. % !ill focus on 'eamon"ey
$ecause it comes !ith a suite of applications !hich consists of-
.ro!ser
/mail +lient
0ddress .oo"
1T2L /ditor
The 'eamon"ey $ro!ser loo"s li"e this !ithout any customisation-
'eamon"ey is a very configura$le $ro!ser and is easy to use. %t comes !ith 'hoc"!ave Flash
11.3r343 pre5installed.
Email
The email client is 6uite similar to outloo" and many other loo"5a5li"es. 7hen you first run the
email client $y single clic"ing on the a$ove icon you !ill $e presented !ith the email setup !i8ard.
Click on next and follow the instructions.
Videos
The default media player in FatDog is )L+. This is a great choice as it can play a great variety of
video and audio formats. %t allo!s you to live stream videos and music and you can also record
those streams. The 6uality is $rilliant and in my opinion it9s the $est media player availa$le. ,ou
don9t often find )L+ in Puppy distri$utions as the default media player $ecause it is larger than
many other pac"ages. % $elieve functionality is more important than si8e.
This is what VLC looks like when you first run it:
%9m not going to explain all the features on ho! to use )L+ here as there is an a$undance of help on
the )ideoL0: !e$site. +lic" 1elp on the tool$ar then follo! the lin". % !ill give you enough
information just to get you started. People often as" ho! is it possi$le to record !ith )L+. +lic" on
)ie! and select 0dvanced +ontrols and another menu !ill $e displayed. 2ove your mouse over the
icons to see !hat they do.
Hint: To play a D)D pop a D)D into your D)D drive clic" on the )L+ icon on the des"top
select 2edia from the tool$ar clic" on (pen Dis" then clic" on Play.
0n easier method is to pop the D)D into the drive. 7hen the optical dis" icon appears on the
des"top right mouse clic" on the icon then left clic" on Open with Media Player.
%f you have videos in formats such as 2() 72) and 2P# simply clic" on the file and the video
!ill $egin to play. This is the same for any of your audio files such as 2P; and (<<.
Remem$er just press the record $utton to record !hatever you9re !atching or listening to.
Audio
Pop an audio +D into your drive clic" on the )L+ icon on the des"top select 2edia from the
tool$ar select audio +D then clic" Play. 0 list of songs on the +D !ill $e displayed and the +D !ill
start to play from trac" one. 0n easier method is to pop the +D into the drive. 7hen the optical dis"
icon appears on the des"top right mouse clic" on the icon then left clic" on Open with Media
Player.
:o! you could record the trac" or al$um $y pressing the record $utton. 0 $etter !ay is to use
Ripper = !hich can $e found in Menu>Multiedia.
Internet Radio
There are thousands of internet radio stations one of my favourites is h ttp-**shoutcast.com
+hoose your preferred music on the !e$site then right mouse clic" and copy the lin" location. (pen
)L+ choose 2edia (pen :et!or" 'tream paste the lin" and press Play.
Hint: +opy and Pasting in Linux is so much easier than !indo!s especially if your mouse has a
scroll !heel. To copy simply mar"*highlight the text >left mouse clic" drag over text?. To paste
press the scroll !heel.
To save music lin" so you can use it in the future simply drag the lin" from the playlist and drop it
on the 2edia Li$rary. ,ou can add almost anything you li"e files on your hard drive streaming
movies on the net and even your !e$cam. %t9s limited $y your imagination.
Bit Torrents
%f you li"e to do!nload movies using P3P technology !ith a $it torrent client then you are in luc" as
FatDog comes !ith Transission. %t may not $e the most popular $ut amongst the linux
community it is a highly respected piece of soft!are and it !or"s great. Lin" to torrents
Word Processing
To ta"e care of your !ord processing re6uirements 0$i7ord is included. %t9s a full featured !ord
processor that !ill ta"e care of most peoples re6uirements. %t you re6uire more functionality then %
recommend Li$re(ffice. Li$re(ffice provides similar functionality to 2' (ffice and all of the files
for 7ord /xcel and Po!erPoint are all compati$le.
!reads"eet
<numeric is included for your accounting re6uirements. <numeric is a very full featured
application !hich is also compati$le !ith 2' /xcel files.
File #anager
0ll (perating 'ystems need a good file manager. FatDog li"e many Linux distri$utions uses R(=
!hich is excellent although it may seem a little challenging at first it !ill soon $ecome familiar.
%t9s fast and po!erful and !ill soon $ecome your favourite.
$"at $lient
There are many good chat clients availa$le and Pidgin is one of the $est. %t accommodates many
protocols as displayed in the image $elo!.
%f you close Pidgin !ith the little x on the title $ar it !ill not actually "ill the application. ,ou need
to right clic" and 6uit the application from the panel !hich is located on the $ottom right of your
screen. The icon that loo"s li"e a purple pigeon.
P"oto Editing
There are t!o graphics editors in FatDog mtPaint and <%2P. 2tPaint is 6uite simple although very
functional and !ill meet the average users needs. For the po!er user <%2P !ill meet their
demands. %t is a $rilliant pac"age !hich has an ama8ing amount of features. 2ost people % "no!
prefer it to Photo'hop a popular 7indo!s application.
Image Viewing
The $undled image vie!er is Fotoxx !hich is compact fast and functional. %t !ill ta"e care of most
of your vie!ing needs. There are many others to choose from in the repositories such as gee6ie and
vie!noir.
HT#% Editor
%f you li"e to develop or maintain !e$ sites you !ill need a good 1T2L /ditor. +omposer is
included in the 'eamon"ey suite and should ta"e care of the majority of your re6uirements.
Personal Information #anager
(smo is a nice little personal information manager. %t includes a +alendar Tas"s +ontacts & :otes.
Video Editing
FatDog includes a very respecta$le video editing application called 0videmux. This !ill allo! you
to edit a large range of different video formats.
Burn DVD&$D
!urniso is a simple application that !ill $urn an %'( file to a D)D or +D.
DVD&$D Writer
P"urn is the default soft!are to !rite to D)D9s and +D9s. This is very useful for $ac"ing up
documents audio and video files. %t can also +opy and 'hrin" D)D 2ovies.
#i$ht ouse click to add files to the "urn list.
Printing
Printing is managed $y +@P' >+ommon @nix Printing 'ystem? !hich can $e accesses in the
+ontrol Panel on the 'ystem ta$. 7hen you dou$le clic" on the +ups icon you !ill $e presented
!ith this message-
'elect :o then !hen the !e$ page loads clic" on 0dding Printers and +lasses then 0dd Printer.
%t9s a good idea to have you printer connected and turned on so +@P' can detect it.
'elect your printer if displayed then clic" on 'elect. +lic" on +ontinue. ,our model should $e
selected so clic" on 0dd Printer. @nder <eneral 'etup 1eading choose your default options and
clic" the 'et Default (ption $utton.
,our printer should no! $e configured. ,ou can clic" on the 2aintenance drop do!n menu and
Print a Test Page.
FatDog has many more applications not explained here. Ta"e your time to explore the system and
you !ill soon discover many other $enefits.
Internet
7hen connected to the internet your user name !ill change from root to spot. This !ill give you
added protection from nasties.
'etwor(ing
:et!or"ing is connecting t!o or more computers together. ,ou may not realise it $ut you do it
regularly pro$a$ly !ithout "no!ing. 1ave you ever surfed the net or retrieved emailsA %f so you
have net!or"ed. People these days tal" a$out cloud computing. 7ell here is a surprise you9re not
connected to a cloud you9re actually connected to another computer configured as a server.
Lets jump $ac" to $asics for a moment. .efore you can connect to another computer you need to
have some method of achieving this. ,ou normally need a router or a modem5router. :o! that !e
have identified the hard!are !e still need some soft!are that allo!s us to use the hard!are.
The good thing a$out Fatdog if you have a live ethernet >ca$le? connection Fatdog !ill connect
automatically. ,ou simply clic" on the .ro!ser icon and start surfing.
WiFi
7iFi is a little $it more complicated $ut Fatdog comes !ith some good tools to help you out.
Right +lic" on the 7iFi icon on the tas" $ar at the $ottom right of the screen.
+lic" on 'canBResults C this !ill find availa$le net!or"s
Dou$le5+lic" on the net!or" you !ish to connect to.
/nter P'D*Pass!ord
+lic" 0dd.
+lose the <@% C you should no! $e connected.
am)a
'am$a is soft!are that !ill allo! you to setup a Local 0rea :et!or" >L0:?. 'am$a lets you share
resources $et!een your computers. Lets assume you have a des"top computer and for this exercise
!e !ill call it the server. ,ou also have a laptop !hich !e !ill call the client. ,ou have many files
on your server that you !ould li"e to copy to your laptop.
To setup your des"top as the server clic" on Menu then Control Panel.
:o! clic" on the %yste ta$.
+lic" on Mana$e %er&ers and %er&ices.
+lic" on the sa"a entry in the left panel and then clic" %tart in the right panel.
+ongratulations you have created your file server. ,ou can continue to use your computer as you
normally !ould. The server !ill chug along in the $ac"ground. 'top it !hen not re6uired.
(n your laptop !hich also needs to $e connected to your router clic" on Menu' then (etwork.
+lic" on )*%%M %a"a share search on your laptop C this !ill find the defined shares on your
server.
+lic" on the drop do!n select the share then !hen the login <@% appears +lic" Mount. 0 Rox
!indo! should open displaying your files. Eo$ done.
+portant. 'am$a in Fatdog is setup !ith user spot. This means you !ill $e a$le to read and copy
files from the server $ut not !rite or delete files on the server. The default share in Fatdog is set to
*root*spot*Do!nloads.
*ddin$ ore shares. Lets create a share that points to ,nt,hoe
(pen the file *etc*sam$a*s".conf
%nclude the follo!ing text in the file after the -$lo"al. information.
-hoe.
coent / Hoe
path / ,nt,hoe
writa"le / yes
$uest ok / yes
'ave the file and +lic" on )*%%M %a"a share search from Menu>(etwork. ,our ne! share
should $e found. To ma"e your share !ritea$le change the line force user / spot in
*etc*sam$a*s".conf to force user / root
FTP $lient
gFTP is included to meet your File Transfer Protocol needs. %t is used to transfer files across
net!or"s or upload files to a server or the !e$. %t can also $e used to transfer files to and from your
other devices such as iPads.
Hint: Lets assume you !ish to transfer files $et!een t!o computers. (ne computer needs to $e
esta$lished as the server and the other the client. To setup the server run Menu>Control Panel
select %yste ta$ then clic" on Mana$e %er&ers and ser&ices select ftpd and clic" on start. (n
the other computer you run gFTP !hich can $e found on Menu>(etwork. The FTP client gFTP
re6uires some information to connect to the server. First the %P address of the server. %f you don9t
"no! !hat it is open a terminal !indo! on the server and type ipinfo to get your %P address.
ipinfo will display the followin$ dialo$:

0s you can see a$ove my connection type is eth4 and my address is 1F3.16G.4.;
This is the top part of $0TP dialo$
The pass!ord is !oof!oof. The left panel displays the local computer and right is the remote.
%ogin Password
:o! that everyone "no!s the default login pass!ord is !oof!oof you might !ant to change it.
%n the Control Panel select the 'yste ta$ dou$le clic" on 0atdo$12 3ser Mana$er highlight
root clic" on %et Password and enter a ne! pass!ord. 7rite it do!n don9t forget it.
The default login is set to autologin. This means you don9t have to type a @sername or Pass!ord
$ut !hat if you !ant to protect your system and "eep those nosey par"ers out.
To ma"e it mandatory to login (pen the Control Panel select the %yste ta$ dou$le clic" on
0atdo$12 Lo$in Mana$er and select either <raphical login or +onsole login.
The next time you start your system you !ill have to provide a @sername and a Pass!ord.
#ongoose
@sing Fatdog spoils you a little $ecause it comes !ith a good range of soft!are. :ot all operating
systems are so generous. Lets assume you have a friend !ho has a laptop $ut does not "no! ho! to
use an FTP client and !ants to get a copy of some of your photos.
@sing 2ongoose is another !ay to transfer files from the server to the laptop. 2any people are not
comforta$le setting up a L0: or using an FTP client although after reading this tutorial it should
$e easy for you.
%9m going to stic" my nec" out here. 2ost people these days that have a computer "no! ho! to use
a $ro!ser. 2ongoose is actually a 1TTP server. This means you set your computer up as a 1TTP
server rather that an FTP or 'am$a server. This allo!s the remote computer to surf your computer
!hich is pretty cool.
To setup 2ongoose you need to edit the *etc*mongoose.conf file. The default directory is set to-
,user,share,doc !hich is o" $ut it doesn9t point to !here your photos are located. Lets also assume
you have your photos stored at ,nt,hoe,photos. %n the *etc*mongoose.conf file you need to
change the line ,user,share,doc to ,nt,hoe,photos. :o! clic" on MenuHControl
PanelH%yste>Mana$e %er&ers and %er&ices highlight the on$oose line and clic" %tart.
0ll your friend needs to do no! is start $ro!ser on the laptop type in the address 1F3.16G.4.; and
press enter or !hatever your local address is.
Remem$er ho! to get your local server %P address !hich !as explained on the previous page.
Hint: ipinfo.
2ongoose reads the mongoose.conf !hen it is started so if you ma"e any changes to the file you
!ill need to stop and start mongoose. %t9s good security practice only to have servers running !hen
you need to use them other!ise disa$le them.
Hel!
Fatdog comes !ith an a$undance of help that !ill provide guidance on numerous configuration
options !hich % !on9t repeat here. %nstead % !ill provide some useful lin"s.
0 good place to start- *usr*share*doc*home.htm
Fre6uently 0s" Iuestions- *usr*share*doc*fa6s*fa6.html
.oot options- *usr*share*doc*fa6s*$oot5options.html
'ound %ssues- *usr*share*doc*fa6s*sound.html
The Fatdog6#5611 Final forums
Trou)les"ooting
Video 4 %f you $oot to a $lan" screen try pressing the +trlJ0ltJ.ac"space "eys at the same time.
This !ill drop you to a terminal !indo!. Then type xor!i8ard and press enter. This !ill allo! you
to manually select your video driver and resolution.
%ound 4 +omputers these days often come !ith more than one sound card. 'ometimes the
automatic detection tools gets it !rong and select the !rong sound card. %n cases li"e this simply
go to MenuHControl PanelH%ound ta$ and dou$le clic" on Multiple %ound Card 5i6ard.
This is !hat % see !hen % run the 7i8ard. 2y $est choice is al!ays the first option $ut it may $e
different for you. %f one doesn9t !or" try another. %f you can9t !or" it out $y yourself as" a
6uestion in the Fatdog forums. Please provide as much information as you can to ma"e it easy for
others to help you. .e patient and and sho! some gratitude. Remem$er no one is $eing paid.
%f you experience pro$lems !hen creating a savefile please read *d&anced Paraeters in the
!oot Options lin" a$ove.
$onclusion
0s % said at the $eginning of this document this is a simple guide just to get you started. For
comprehensive and technical help please read the help documentation under the 1elp 2enu %tem.
0nother really good resource is the 7ellminded Puppy 'earch Tool. %t !ill restrict it searches to the
2urga Puppy Linux forums. http-**!ellminded.com*puppy*pupsearch.html