This Linux 4 Windows Tutorial gets you started with Damn Small Linux users on your Windows computer. You will use the Beaver text editor and apply the whoami, sudo su, and exit commands.

Getting Started With Damn Small Linux Users

This tutorial shows you some of the basics of Damn Small Linux users. You may want to read the article entitled Ten Important Linux Concepts For Beginners - Number 3, Users before you start clicking.

Step 1 Start Linux either from the Windows Desktop or from your USB pen drive and access the command line. Enter the following three commands, separated by the Enter key: whoami, sudo su, and whoami. The first whoami command shows that the dsl user is active, the sudo su command activates the root user, and the second whoami command shows that the rootuser is active. The results are shown in Figure 1.

Damn Small Linux Users Tutorial 1 Figure 1
These commands switch and specify the active user.

Step 2 Enter the following three commands, separated by the Enter key: whoami, exit, and whoami. The first whoami command shows that the root user is active, the exit command reactivates the dsl user, and the final whoami command shows that the dsl user is active. The results are shown in Figure 2.

Damn Small Linux Users Tutorial 1 Figure 2
These commands switch and specify the active user.

Step 3 It is easy to know what kind of user is presently active. A $ indicates an ordinary user such as dsl. A # indicates the root user. When the root user is active the system also displays in color the active directory, in this case /home/dsl. Now we will see the difference between users. Make sure that you are the dsl user and enter the command cp Events.cal /home which should copy a file into the home directory. This action is denied to regular users as shown in Figure 3.

Damn Small Linux Users Tutorial 1 Figure 3
The dsl user may not copy into the home directory.

Step 4 Reactivate the root user and enter the command cp Events.cal /home which should copy a file into the home directory. Note that pressing the up arrow does nothing instead of repeating the previous command. The up arrow does not work across users. The results are shown in Figure 4.

Damn Small Linux Users Tutorial 1 Figure 4
The root user may copy into the home directory.

Step 5 We next want to determine if and where regular users may create directories. First we try to create a sister directory to the /home/dsl directory, the /home/dsl2 directory. The results are shown in Figure 5.

Damn Small Linux Users Tutorial 1 Figure 5
The dsl user fails to create a directory starting from the /home directory.

Step 6 Next we try to create a daughter directory to the /home/dsl directory, the /home/dsl/dsl2 directory. The results are shown in Figure 6.

Damn Small Linux Users Tutorial 1 Figure 6
The dsl user creates a directory starting from the /home/dsl directory.

Exercises. This tutorial was short and sweet. Don't worry, we are going to spend a lot more time with users.