Why and How I removed unecessary steps to loggin in to Mint/Ubuntu

Disclaimer: The actions described here are suitable for a Home desktop. I would not do the same to a laptop or public desktop.

I'm trying to convince my sons to use Linux instead of booting in Windows. They really dislike having to enter the userid and password then enter the keyring password. For now, they don't care about having their "own" desktop or custom configurations.

After the installation Ubuntu asks for my wireless network parameters and it saves the WPA key

In subsequent log ins the default behaviour of Ubuntu is the following:

- Ask for user ID and password
- Ask for the keyring password so the nm-applet can access the WPA key

I have no problem with those steps. The second one is anoying but I quickly forget about it and just do it naturally. This is the part that my sons dislike.

Note: Both of my desktop connect through wireless as I've been lazy running hidden cables all over my house.

My first step was to remove the anoyance of the keyring password.
Once I did that I realized that it was better to have a static IP. After all, these are desktops.
Finally I decided to set automatic log in.

Although I am using Mint in one box, Ubuntu Intrepid in another. Being it an Ubuntu derivative all the steps apply to both.

After those steps, my sons are using Linux more frequently. Weird, but true.

Note: Being these computers inside my home without normal access by any stranger, I decided to use the Automatic login feature of the log in manager. After all, everyone at home knew the userID and password and if a rober comes into my house a password won't stop him from taking the computer.

In the following posts I will explain each of the steps