It is important to understand the terms “to log in” and “to log out” since it is unlikely you will find these terms in a typical dictionary, although you might find them in a cyber dictionary. To log in means: to identify yourself to the computer. Think of it as a security officer validating who you are before letting you in. After logging in, the system takes a number of actions in order to give you access to the system's resources. By logging in, you start a so-called “session”.
To log out means you are telling the system you no longer need to use it. It closes your personal session and the resources you were using are made available for someone else.
Although these definitions are valid within the scope of this chapter, they are oversimplified. As you read the following chapters, you will better understand these concepts, their advantages and options.
To log in the system, you need to know and supply both your login name and your secret password. The former identifies you (it is generally your first name or a nickname) while the latter is your secret so no one accesses your computer. If you did your own installation, you already have your login name and password. If not, you must ask the people who installed your computer to help you out urgently!
You are currently in front of the following display (Figure 3.1). Of course, it appears slightly different as the user names displayed under the penguin icons are probably different.
The login procedure takes place in four simple steps:
When the password field is shown just below your icon and login name, type your secret password.
You will notice that the letters do not appear while you type them in the password field. They are replaced by little stars (*), in order to avoid any other person from seeing your secret password. This is a common computer behavior whenever you enter a password. Because of this, make sure you type the correct keys since you can not check them visually. Remember: passwords under GNU/Linux are case sensitive, which means that if your password is Very_Secret and you type Very_secret, access will be denied!
As you can see in the Session Type field, the default environment is the last one you used. You can change it by simply choosing another one from the pull-down menu. If this is the first time that you have logged on, e.g. immediately after the installation, there is no default environment yet and you will see the Mandrake First Time Wizard wizard: please refer to Section , “The First Time Wizard” for more information.
Finally, simply click on the Login button to begin your session. Be patient! It may take a few seconds before your desktop is ready to be used.
If you are the only user of your new Mandrake Linux system, and you are annoyed by having to type your login name and password every time you start a new session, you will be glad to know that there is a way to avoid this step; booting directly in your favorite desktop environment. This feature is known as auto-login and can be activated as follows:
Launch the Mandrake Control Center choosing the -> menu item, or clicking on the Mandrake Control Center icon on your desktop.
Click on the first section, Boot, then on the Drakboot icon.
Check the Yes I want autologin option, you can also select the default desktop environment to be used by choosing from the pull-down menu in the lower part of the window.
It is important to assimilate a few security notions in regards with your Mandrake Linux box:
do not write down your password on any piece of paper (a post-it for example) that can be seen by anyone;
always make sure your password is complex enough to keep people from guessing it, but simple enough for you to remember it! Try to use a mix of numbers and letters with mixed case for your passwords;
It is a good idea to think of a sentence or phrase you can remember easily. Then, take the first letters and/or numbers of every word in the sentence to form a password. For example, the sentence: “I was born on September 10th 1973” would make up the password: IwboS101973, which is easy to remember (it is your birth date after all...) and fairly hard to guess.
If you have a permanent connection to the Internet, and you do not want to use your computer for some time, it is better to close it completely, as crackers could be able to use your machine. That is, do not just log out of it, but shut it down (power off). This can be done using the Halt button in the login window. Or, from a Terminal, “su” to root and then type halt.
The list above is not extensive at all. There are many things you can do in order to make your system more secure. You can particularly consult the security section of the Starter Guide.