Part 1 - Using the Lab Machines

Windows

The lab machines boot directly into Windows and should log you in to the desktop without you needing to enter a username/password. This has a huge disadvantage: You are responsible for managing your files and not losing them.

This needs repeating. The Windows machines will not save your files. Whenever they are rebooted, all files will be deleted. If you walk away from the computer, whoever comes after you will see whatever was on your desktop. If you are working on your homework and leave the files lying around, this has honor code implications.

You are responsible for managing your files and making sure that nobody else copies your work. Forgetting to delete a file will not be accepted as an excuse absolving you if someone copies your homework.

Linux

For this class, we will skip the Windows environment entirely and use a Linux virtual machine. To use Linux, we need to fire up the virtual machine (VM) on the lab computers. There is an icon on your desktop called “VirtualBox” that you can use to launch the VM application. Once that is launched, you can start the Linux virtual machine.

You will need to log in with an Oberlin College Computer Science (OCCS) account. This is not your regular Oberlin College account, so you may not yet have one. There will be assistance during the first lab session to get you set up if you do not currently have an account. If you missed the first lab session, send email to support@oberlin.edu and ask for an OCCS account.

One huge reason for using Linux instead of Windows is that your files are stored in the OCCS server, not on the local desktop. That means that you can log in to any of the machines in the lab and your files will be available. It also means that nobody but you can see your files, as they are restricted to just your account.

In adition, if you continue in Computer Science, you will be using Linux and Unix frequently, so getting more familiarity with the environment is good.

The nice thing about modern Linux environments is that they have a graphical user interface that is as good as that used in other systems. You’ll be able to manipulate files, create directories, and compress directories into .zip archives just as you can on a regular desktop. For this class, we suggest creating a CS151 director, and then inside it, creating a Lab0 directory.

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