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To gain access to your account, enter your user name at the login prompt, which will look something like this:
Red Hat Linux release 4.2 (Biltmore)
Kernel 2.0.35 on an i586
guava login:
This computer is running Red Hat Linux version 4.2. The computer name is
displayed just before the login prompt, and (in this example) is called
guava.
As soon as you have entered your user name, you will be prompted for your password, as shown below:
Red Hat Linux release 4.2 (Biltmore)
Kernel 2.0.35 on an i586
guava login: graeme
Password:
For security reasons, the password is not displayed on the screen as it is entered.
Linux is case-sensitive, so make sure you enter your user name correctly:
GRAEME and graeme are two different user names! This
also applies to passwords.
Once the username and password are entered correctly, you will be logged
into your account, and have full access to a shell, such as bash. The
shell accepts user commands and displays information, and will be familiar
to anyone who has used DOS (but is far more powerful!).
Because Linux is a multi-user system, you can be logged into the computer on multiple virtual consoles: pressing Alt-F1 switches you to the first virtual console, Alt-F2 switches you to the second virtual console, etc.
This allows you to multi-task: for example, you can read your e-mail in one console, edit files in another console, while playing Quake in a third console!
To exit the shell, type exit.