8.2. Beginning and Ending your Session

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, though you might find them in a cyber dictionary. To log in means the computer system you are trying to utilize will recognize you as a user. 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. Therefore, the resources you were using are made available for someone else.

Note

Although these definitions are valid within the scope of this chapter, they are oversimplified and technically wrong. As you read the following chapters, you will better understand these concepts.

8.2.1. Identify Yourself

At this point, you need to fully comprehend both login and password notions. The former identifies you (it is generally your name or nickname) while the latter is your secret so no one accesses your computer and grossly fools your "hacking companion". If you carefully conducted your installation, you already have your login and password. If this is not the case, you must ask the people whom installed your computer to help you out urgently!

Enough chit-chat - let's act! You are currently in front of the following display (figure 8-1). Of course, it appears slightly different as the user names displayed under the penguin icons are probably different.

Figure 8-1. The Login Window

The login procedure takes place in four simple steps:

  1. Place the mouse pointer on the icon corresponding to your login name and press the left button of your mouse. [1].

  2. Verify that your login name correctly appears in the login field just below and now type your secret password.

    Warning

    You will notice that the letters do not appear while you type them in the password field; they are replaced by little stars (*), so nobody behind you can see 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 are case sensitive, which means that if your password is Very_Secret and you type Very_secret, your access will be denied!

  3. This step is optional and allows you to choose a specific graphical environment. Basically, the latter defines the appearance of your screen and the way you interact with the system. We encourage you to try various graphical environments so you can choose the one you prefer.

    As you can see in the Session Type field, the default environment is KDE. You can change it by simply choosing another one from the pull-down menu. However, we advise you to start with either KDE or GNOME.

    Figure 8-2. The Pull-Down Session Type List

  4. Finally, simply click on the Go! button to begin your session. Be patient! It may take a few seconds before your desktop is ready to be used.

Note

If it is the first time you log-in onto a freshly installed machine, you will see the Mandrake First Time wizard. See Mandrake First Time Wizard for more information.

8.2.2. Close your Session

If all went well, you are now in front of your real working environment. In this section, we will not describe the various components any further since this will be done later in the following chapters. Depending on the environment you previously chose, you will see of one of the following screens:

Figure 8-3. First Time KDE

Figure 8-4. First Time GNOME

You may now explore your brand new toy: enjoy!

When you are finally done or simply tired, do not forget to tell the system you are leaving, that is to log out. This will free the resources you were using, making them available to other users.

Logging out can be carried out in many ways in both KDE and GNOME. You can use the K/foot menu, log out icons, and right-clicking pop-up menus (only in KDE). Let's see the different procedures:

Under KDE

  • Using the K menu.

    Click on the K menu and select Logout. A window like the one shown below will appear, asking you for confirmation.

    Figure 8-5. KDE Log Out Confirmation

    Tip

    If you want to have the applications you were using automatically opened the next time you log in, just check the Restore session when logging in next time check box. Please note that not all applications support this feature.

  • Right-clicking on the desktop.

    You can right-click on the desktop in an "empty" place and a pop-up menu, like the one shown below, will appear.

    Figure 8-6. Logging Out Using the Pop-up Menu under KDE

    Just click Logout and the confirmation window will appear.

  • Using the log out icon.

    You can click on the log out icon on the task bar in order to log out. As always, the confirmation window will appear.

    Figure 8-7. KDE's Log Out Icon.

Under GNOME

  • Using the Foot menu.

    Click on the foot menu and select Log out. A window will pop up asking you for confirmation before logging out.

    Figure 8-8. GNOME's Log Out Menu

  • Using the log out icon.

    Click on the log out icon shown in figure 8-9. A window will pop up asking you to confirm before logging out.

    Figure 8-9. GNOME's Log Out Icon

    After clicking on the icon, the screen will shade and a little box will pop up with options. Simply ignore the messages and options for now and click the Yes button.

8.2.3. Some Notes About Security

It is important to assimilate a few security notions in regards with your Mandrake Linux box. Some of them might seem a little bit obvious to some people, but here they are:

The list above is not extensive at all. There are many things you can think of in order to make your system more secure. A more detailed analysis of security under Mandrake Linux is done in msec - Mandrake Security tools of the Reference manual.

Notes

[1]

This action will be abbreviated as "click" from now on. If you need to click on the mouse's right button, we will refer to a "right-click" and so on.


Tux on Star from MandrakeSoft Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners.
Unless otherwise stated, all the content of these pages and all images are Copyright MandrakeSoft S.A. and MandrakeSoft Inc. 2001.
http://www.mandrakelinux.com/