To auto-login or to not auto-login?

[Antony Gelberg]

Daniel Carrera wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> Okay, say I give a computer to a non-technical user willing to try
> Ubuntu. Should it be set to auto-login?
> 
> On the one hand, he'll think it's annoying to login every time. On the
> other, he's more likely to forget his password if he never has to type
> it and that'll be a problem for installing software.
> 
> Does anyone have experience with non-technical users?

Get him to login.  Make it sound like a feature rather than an
inconvenience.  Which, of course, it is.  Point out that this is
indicative of the excellent security in Linux.  Which may not be
entirely accurate, but why bother a non-technical user with technical
details?  :)