Beginning your Session

Identifying Yourself

To log into the system, you need to know and supply both your login name and your password. If you did your own installation, you already have your login name and password. If not, you must ask the person who installed your computer to help you out urgently!

You are currently in front of the following display (Figure 5.1, “The Login Window”). Of course, it will appear slightly different as the user names displayed next to the icons are probably different.

Figure 5.1. The Login Window

The Login Window

The login procedure takes place in four simple steps:

  1. Click on the icon corresponding to your login name.

  2. Type your secret password when that field is displayed.

    [Warning]Warning

    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 cannot 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!

  3. Choose your favorite graphical environment from the Session Type pull-down menu. Your most recently used one is selected by default, but if this is the first time that you're logging in, e.g. immediately after the installation, no default environment has yet been defined and the Mandrakefirsttime Wizard will pop up when you log in. Please refer to the section called “The Mandrakefirsttime Wizard” for more information.

    Figure 5.2. The Password Field and the Pull-Down Session Type List

    The Password Field and the Pull-Down Session Type List
    [Note]Note

    This step is optional and allows you to choose a specific graphical environment. While we encourage you to try the various available choices so you can find the one you prefer, we strongly suggest you start with KDE.

  4. Finally 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 Mandrakelinux system, and you are annoyed by having to type your login name and password every time you start a new session, 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, after the login process has completed:

  • Launch the Mandrakelinux Control Center choosing System+Configuration->Configure your computer from the main menu. You can also click on the Welcome icon on your desktop, then click on Configuration tools.

  • Click on the first section (Boot) then on the Autologin icon.

  • Select the Yes, I want autologin with this (user, desktop) option. You must select the user name and the default desktop environment to be used by choosing one from the corresponding pull-down menus in the lower part of the window.

[Warning]Warning

Be careful with this option as no password will be asked for, hence anybody can access your system. We suggest that you use this option only if no one but yourself can access your computer, or if only non-sensitive data is stored in it.

The Mandrakefirsttime Wizard

If this is the first time you have accessed your Mandrakelinux system, you will encounter the Mandrakefirsttime Wizard (Figure 5.3, “The Mandrakefirsttime Wizard”). It will help you by setting up some basic configuration options and registering your product. We recommend that you complete all its steps.

First of all, you will be asked to choose an appearance for your working environment[2]. The different choices will affect the way files, objects and windows are displayed on the screen, and the way you will interact with them, but it is important to know that they all share the same functions. Hence you will be able to do the same operations and use the same programs whichever graphic environment you choose: preferring one over another is just a matter of personal taste.

Figure 5.3. The Mandrakefirsttime Wizard

The Mandrakefirsttime Wizard

Click on the Choose Desktop pull-down menu to see the available choices. Some of them also offer more than one variation. The default setting is KDE with the Galaxy 2 theme.

Then you may create a personal Mandrakeclub account, which will give you instant access to many valuable on-line services offered by Mandrakesoft, such as special commercial software downloads (complete with automatic download and install procedures), dedicated multilingual forums, the option to vote for your favorite software packages to be included in the Mandrakelinux distribution, special discounts, and more. Your Mandrakelinux package includes a one-month trial Mandrakeclub account, so you can evaluate the many available services and then later extend your account if you like their features (and we are sure you will!).

Moreover, if you already have a Mandrakeclub account or are going to activate one now, Mandrakefirsttime Wizard will also help you configure your system to allow easy download and installation of special updates from the Mandrakeclub web site, directly using our user-friendly Software Manager. Please remember that e-mail addresses and user names are unique on Mandrakeclub, so you will not be able to open a trial account if you already are a subscriber. Once you have made your choices click on the Next button.

Now that the Mandrakefirsttime Wizard introduction is completed, your new working environment will be displayed.

Some Notes About Security

It is important to assimilate a few security notions with regard with your Mandrakelinux 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.

    [Tip]Tip

    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 down 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.

The list above is not extensive at all. There are many things you can do in order to make your system more secure. You should especially read the section called “DrakSec: Securing your Machine”.



[2] If you are using the download edition of Mandrakelinux, you will first be asked to fill a questionnaire that will help Mandrakesoft know better its user base.