Getting Started Guide
159
OpenLinux will not allow anyone to telnet in from the network as the root user.
This is a good security precaution to leave in place.
Users
Each person who will use your Linux system should have a user account. A user
account is represented by a username and password that can be used to login and
access the Linux system.
Because Linux is a true multiuser system, many users can be logged in and run-
ning programs at the same time via a network connection. User account informa-
tion is stored in a file named /etc/passwd.
You can use graphical utilities to create and manage user account, or use the
adduser command to create a new user:
adduser jkoch
Be certain to use the passwd command to set a password for each new user
account after you create it.
Some services, such as anonymous FTP and reading Web pages don’t require a
username on your Linux system.
Virtual console
When you are working at a command line interface that is physically attached to
your Linux system (as opposed to a remote dumb terminal or network connec-
tion), you are said to be working at the system console.
Because Linux is able to run many programs at the same time (multitasking), it is
useful to have several system consoles available in a character mode interface.
These additional console interfaces, or virtual consoles, allow you to log in to
your Linux system repeatedly from the same keyboard and execute different
commands, switching between the output display of those commands as you
choose.
Virtual consoles in OpenLinux are normally available via the function keys
Ctrl+Alt+F1 to Ctrl+Alt+F6. The graphical system of OpenLinux runs on the vir-
tual console of your system (Ctrl+Alt+F1).
If you are in graphics mode, you can switch to another virtual console and log in
again (using any user account on your system) by pressing Ctrl+Alt+F2, or any
other function key, F1 to F6. Once you are in character mode, viewing one of the
virtual consoles, you can switch between them by pressing Alt+F3, or any other