I’m fortunate enough to have both a desktop and laptop computer. My desktop has a lot more power, a better video card, and is connected to 2 x 24″ monitors, making it really easy for me to learn something on one screen and practice it on another. I prefer to use my desktop computer for most tasks, especially learning, since I have the advantage of dual monitors.
But I’m going to approach learning game development pretending that I’m someone has just bought one of our $100 1st gen Core i5 Xubuntu Linux Laptops. My laptop is a little bit newer, but what I’m suggesting here could also work for someone who buys one of our laptops (even the $50 Core 2 Duo laptops).
Having a second screen is a big plus for any kind of development. Being able to look up something on one screen and practice it on another is a lot simpler than doing everything on one screen and switching between applications. Most laptops have some kind of external video port. On my Lenovo T430s it’s a mini-Display Port. At the Computer Recycling Project we also sell monitors. Monitors at the project range in price, but are generally anywhere from $10 to $55 depending on the monitor and “features.” A 22″ monitor with DVI is $35. We normally include the power cable and a video cable with all monitors. We also sell mini-DisplayPort to other cables for $0.50. If I wanted to extend the display on my laptop, one option would be to buy a 22″ DVI monitor and the mini-DP to DVI cable for a whopping total of $35.50. (I could go smaller and save a bit less, but 22″ is a nice size).
But for the sake of argument, let’s say this month I don’t have any more money in my budget other than the money I spent on the laptop. In this case, I could use “workspaces” within Xubuntu to create a number of virtual workspaces that I could switch between using the CTRL + ALT + RIGHT ARROW and CTRL + ALT + LEFT ARROW keys. If I’m remembering correctly early versions of Ubuntu (4.10, 6.06) had workspaces enabled by default, Xubuntu, however, only defaults to one workspace and the workspace switcher is not enabled in the panel.
Let’s add the workspace switcher. Right-click on an empty space on the top panel. Click Panel in the menu, then click Add New Items.
In the window that appears, there’s a space at the top where you can search for items to add in the panel. Type workspace into the search field to display the workspace switcher in the menu. Click on the workspace switcher and click the add button to add it to the panel.
At first it probably looks like nothing happened, but if you look closely on the right hand side of the panel you’ll notice a single square pane has been added to the end of the panel. This is the current workspace.
To add more workspaces, right-click on the workspace we added in the top right of the panel and select workspace settings. When the new window opens up, there’s a spot for Number of Workspaces under the general tab. Clicking the + sign will add more workspaces.
You can add as many workspaces as you’d like, but I typically add 4 workspaces. Now open a program on one workspace, then switch to another workspace using CTRL + ALT + RIGHT ARROW. Open a different program on this workspace then switch back to the other workspace using CTRL + ALT + LEFT ARROW.
It’s a bit difficult to tell from the image above, but if you look closely in the top right you can see the Firefox logo in one box, the Godot game engine logo in the second box, the GIMP image editor logo in the third and a 4th box that’s just empty. Each of these boxes in the top left of the panel is a workspace.
Workspaces are useful for organizing groups of tasks. In my first workspace I’m watching videos, in the second coding in Godot, and in the third working on some images in the GIMP image editor.