DIVE DEEP

Kernel messages, user logins or log offs, network processes, and many other events are logged meticulously by the Linux system. The Linux system’s logging system goes by the name of syslogd (or syslog-ng, “Syslog New Generation” on SUSE Linux); the system logger is a daemon, which is started at system boot time. All log files are stored in the folder /var/ log/ and its subdirectories .

With just a couple of exceptions, most of these protocol files are protected from prying eyes and only readable by the system administrator. To view the files, you can use KDE’s file manager, Konqueror, for example, in system administration mode. To do so, pop up a quick starter by pressing Alt+F2 and type kdesu konqueror, then type the root password after the prompt.