Post-Installation Procedures
After you have completed installing the Linux software, you should be
able to reboot the system, log in as root
, and
begin exploring the system. (Each distribution has a different method
for doing this; follow the instructions given by the distribution.)
Before you strike out on your own, however, there are some tasks you should do now that may save you a lot of grief later. Some of these tasks are trivial if you have the right hardware and Linux distribution; others may involve a little research on your part, and you may decide to postpone them.
Creating a User Account
In order to start using your system, you need to create a user account for yourself. Eventually, if you plan to have other users on your system, you’ll create user accounts for them as well. But before you begin to explore you need at least one account.
Why is this? Every Linux system has several preinstalled accounts,
such as
root
.
The root account, however, is intended exclusively for administrative
purposes. As root
you have all kinds of privileges
and can access all files on your system.
However, using root
can be dangerous, especially
if you’re new to Linux. Because there are no
restrictions on what root
can do,
it’s all too easy to mistype a command,
inadvertently delete files, damage your filesystem, and so on. You
should log in as root
only when you need to
perform system administration tasks, such as fixing configuration
files, installing new software, and so on. See Section ...
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