:Linux Gazette: Make Your Virtual Console Log In Automatically
Linux Gazette: Make Your Virtual Console Log In Automatically Aug 5, 2001, 21 :00 UTC (41 Talkback[s]) (12537 reads) (Other stories by Bryan Henderson)
As the headline says, this article will free you from ever having to
type your name and password at the console again:
"When you boot Linux, do you get a "login:" prompt on a bunch of virtual consoles and have to type in your username and password on each of them? Even though you're the only one who uses the
system? Well, stop it. You can make these consoles come up all logged on and at a command prompt at every boot.
In case you're thinking that password prompt is necessary for security, think again. Chances are that if someone has access to your console keyboard, he also has access to your floppy disk drive and
could easily insert his own system disk in there and be logged in as you in three minutes anyway. That password prompt is about as useful as an umbrella for fish.
The method I'm going to describe for getting your virtual consoles logged in automatically consists of installing some software and changing a few lines in /etc/inittab. Before I do that, I'll take you on a
mind-expanding journey through the land of getties and logins to see just how a Unix user gets logged in."
