Computer Information for New Users and Visitors

First things first:

Users of the visitors account should create a subdirectory using the command "mkdir yourlastname" and keep all your files there; this will facilitate cleanup of the visitors account after you leave.

If you have been given your own account, and are still using the password supplied by the system administrator, you should change it now using the command "yppasswd". Simply enter that command, enter the supplied password as the old password, and choose a secure new password.

What's a secure password? Try avoiding English words or proper nouns. A good rule of thumb is to put in a few numbers and/or punctuation marks, as well as a mix of capital and lower case letters.

Next: What Resources are Available?

Our setup: Mail is also centralized (the server is theory.uhicago.edu), so you can read your mail on any machine. Either set up your IMAP client to access theory, or ssh to theory and run a terminal client such as pine. Binaries and configurations are updated across all the machines, so virtually all software is available on all machines.

If you do need to log into a different machine for one reason or another, we suggest ssh. The usage is "ssh -l username other-machine" to log in as "username" on machine "other-machine" You may omit the "-l username" (similarly "username@") if it is the same as your current username. This method is secure, and will forward X11 connections without having to set any DISPLAY environment variables.

Applications: Most of the commonly used unix mail clients are installed on theory and the linux boxes. Web browsing can be done using Mozilla, which is installed on all machines.

The symbolic manipulation program Mathematica is installed on all machines; execute the command "mathematica &" in a terminal window (many machines also have a direct link from the desktop environment). If you find that mathematica is not working properly on your machine, ssh into another machine and try it there (also, notify the system administrator).

Most commonly used TeX packages are installed on all machines. Figures can be drawn with xfig, whose use is reasonably self-explanatory (note: the "export" menu enables you to convert figures you have drawn to a POSTSCRIPT file). POSTSCRIPT and PDF files can be displayed using the previewer gv (usage: "gv filename"). If the fonts are a bit grainy, it may be that the gv options are not set properly; go to the "State" menu, select "gv Options...", and check to see that "Antialias" is selected. After applying antialiasing, the fonts should clear up; you may wish to "Save" the option settings so that antialiasing is turned on as the default in all future gv sessions. Most machines also have Adobe acrobat reader installed.

Printing: There are two duplex printers in the computer room 274, and another normally next to room 284

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