Chapter 2. Logging in and changing password.

Table of Contents
Starting up and logging in.
Changing your password
Finding the online version of these instructions
Logging out and shutting down

Starting up and logging in.

If the computer is running Windows you need to restart the computer and then, immediately after startup, select Linux on the boot menu. (Due to some problems with the graphics card it could be necessary to power down the computer before restarting it; try that if you experience problems.) Select the system to boot with the arrow-keys and hit RET. The GNOME login screen should show up after a few minutes.

Your user name is constructed with lower case letters and digits as follows: two letters from your first name, four letters from your family name, and two digits for the day of birth (within the month). As an example Albert Einstein, born on March 14, 1879, would have the user name aleins14.

Type in your user name and password. If everything is correct the GNOME desktop will come up. You are now logged in. There is a few things to note about the screen that appears:

The GNOME project is one of several recent projects that try to give a more graphic user interface. The present guide doesn't discuss the working of the GNOME desktop but instead focuses on the traditional way to use a shell in a terminal for controlling the computer.


Changing your password

Changing the password is done with passwd. Type passwd in the shell, you will be prompted for old and new password.


Finding the online version of these instructions

Start mozilla from the prompt:

$ mozilla http://www.tp.umu.se/stud-intro &
It is also possible to start mozilla from the Applications menu; select Mozilla from the Internet submenu.

When using the online documentation it is handy to be able to copy directly from the browser to the shell or to emacs. To do that: place the cursor with the left mouse button, move the mouse with the left button pressed down, and release the button at the end of the region. The selected region is then colored differently from other text. To copy that region, position the mouse at the point for insertion and press the middle mouse button.

See Chapter 9 before trying to access the internet outside the university.


Logging out and shutting down

To log out select "Quit" from the "System" menu. You get a dialog box to confirm this. If you click in the "Save current setup" check-box your changes to the GNOME configuration, as e.g. buttons in the panel, are saved. Otherwise the changes to the GNOME desktop are lost.

On the GNOME login screen, the "GNOME Desktop Manager", you can reboot or shutdown the computer by selecting the appropriate action from the "Options"-menu.