You may have previous experience with MS-DOS; or other
single user operating systems, such as OS/2; or the
Macintosh.; In these operating systems, you didn't
have to identify yourself to the computer before using it; it was
assumed that you were the only user of the system and could access
everything. Well, Unix is a multi-user operating system--not only
can more than one person use it at a time, different people are
treated differently.
To tell people apart, Unix needs a user to identify him or
herself by a process called logging
in.; You see, when you first turn on the computer,
several things happen. Since this guide is geared towards Linux,
I'll tell you what happens during the boot-up sequence.
Please note that if you're using on some type of computer besides an Intel; PC, some things in this chapter won't apply to you. Mostly, they'll be in Section 3.1.1 and Section 3.1.2. (Some parts of Section 3.1.2 will pertain.)