How to Lock you Computer's Screen

Students should lock their computer if leaving briefly such as getting a computer printout or going to the restroom. If not some malicious individual could really wipe out the contents of your account very easily by issuing a single command at a unix shell (no I'm not going to disclose how, but I will just say that it can be done with probably 10 keystrokes).

Just as importantly leaving your project up on the screen or leaving access to your account and thus your project, while leaving the room constitutes sharing/distribution of work, and is thus considered a violation of Academic Integrity. I need not tell you that cheating will not be tolerated.

Luckily if you are leaving briefly you do not need to logout. You can lock your workstation so that can only be unlocked by you or a system administrator. To lock your workstation do the following...

Gnome

1. Click on Gnome's Main Menu (looks like a foot)
2. Then click on the Lock Screen option

KDE

1. Click on KDE's Start Application menu (looks like a K with a gear)
2. Then click on the Lock Screen option

Upon returning, either of these will ask you to enter your password to be able to unlock the screen. You may also want to take note that on some of the systems, the screen will lock for a certain amount of time, at which point it will automatically log you off. So it is a good idea to save all of your work anyway.