Xbindkeys

Xbindkeys is a program which allows the cutom mapping of special keys on your keyboard to programs.

The program can be easily installed, either from source or from a package system (rpm, ports, etc).

Once the program is install run the following:

xbindkeys -d > ~/.xbindkeysrc

This will set the program up initially. Next, start the daemon by runnning `xbindkeys` from the command prompt. To set a new key type:

xbindkeys -k

then press the key on your keyboard. You shoudl get an entry like below:

" Some Text Here "
m:0x0 + c:204

Copy the text to the ~/.xbindkeysrc file and change the "Some text here" to the name of the program you wish to run. Finally run xbindkeys -s to see the bindings.

Next, just press the key, and enjoy.

Screen

Screen is a very useful command. It allows you to have multiple virtual terminals on a machine via one connection (so you reduce the amount of bandwidth needed, handy on a slow connection). Another handy feature that screen has is that you can disconnect and reconnect to it.

Processes that need to be interacted with, or at least monitored can simply be run in side screen, and simply reconnected to later.

'man screen' for more information.