It is important to understand the terms "to login" and "to logout" since it is unlikely that you will find these terms in a typical dictionary. To "log in", means to identify yourself to the computer system you are trying to use. After "logging in", the system will take a number of actions to let you access the resources of the system.
To "log out" means to tell the system that you no longer need to use it so that the resources you were using are available for someone else to use when they login.
![]() | These are oversimplified definitions that are technically wrong, although they will be valid within the scope of this chapter. You will begin to create a better definition for yourself as you read the following chapters. |
At this point you need to have an understanding of two terms called your "login" and "password". The former identifies you (it is generally your name or a nickname); the latter is your "secret" so that nobody can make the computer believe he is you. If the installation procedure has been followed carefully, you already have these two words. If this is not the case, ask the people that installed your machine for some help in this matter.
Enough words for now -- let's act! You are currently in front of the following display (figure 8-1). Of course, it will appear slightly different as the user names displayed under the penguin icons will be different.
The login procedure takes place in four simple steps:
Place the mouse pointer on the icon corresponding to your login name and press the left button of your mouse[1].
Check that your login name correctly appeared in the login field just below and now type your secret password on the keyboard.
![]() | As you will notice at this step, the letters do not appear while you type them in the password field; they are replaced by little stars *, so that nobody behind you can see your secret password. This is a common behavior of your computer whenever you need to enter a password. Because of this, make certain you type the correct keys as you cannot visually check it. You also need to know that passwords are case sensitives. That means that if your password is Very_Secret and you type Very_secret, your access will be denied! |
This step is optional and allows you to choose the graphical environment you wish to use. Basically, a graphical environment will define the appearance of your screen and the way you interact with the system. You are encouraged to try various graphical environments in order to choose the one you prefer.
The environment by default is KDE as you can see in the Session Type field. You can change it simply by choosing another one from the pull-down menu. You are encouraged to begin with either KDE or GNOME.
Finally, simply left-click on the Go! button to begin your session. Be patient! It may take a few seconds until your desktop is ready.
If all went well, you are now in front of your real working environment. We won't go further in this section in the description of the various components; that will be done later. Depending on the environment you previously chose, you will see of one of the following screens:
You may now enjoy and explore your brand new toy: enjoy :-)
When you are finally tired, do not forget to tell the system you are leaving. It is generally a good idea for security reasons to disconnect yourself from your machine whenever you leave it alone for a long period of time.
Depending on the environment you're using, KDE or GNOME, you do it in two different ways:
You need to right-click (click with the right button of your mouse), the mouse pointer being pointed to nothing particular. A list of items will appear; choose the last one, as shown:
Just click on the sleeping computer at the bottom of the screen:
After clicking on the icon, the screen becomes shaded and a little box pops up with options. Simply ignore the messages and options for now and click the Yes button.
You are now back to the login screen (figure 8-1).
[1] | (This action will be abbreviated as "click" from now on). If a click on another button of the mouse is needed, it will be specified as "right-click" and so on. |