Gnome file window keeps popping up 755

I got the book, "Gnome For Linux For Dummies" and it says how to solve the problem. Namely, when you click on logout, it prompts you with a window that asks you if you want to save the current configuration of the desktop. I didn't know about this because I always shut down the computer by executing "halt" and never messed with the logout feature of Gnome. The book has been quite helpful and clear in other ways also. In short, it is everything that the Gnome documentation is not.

I've decided that I hate Gnome. That isn't because of the incident described above but because of what happened today: I found that the computer no longer responds to the mouse. I don't know whether the mouse is working but I replaced it with another mouse and there was still no response. Maybe the card that the mouse plugs into has died and needs to be replaced. The reason I decided I hate Gnome is that there is essentially nothing you can do with Gnome if the mouse doesn't work. I can't even reboot by typing ctrl-alt-del because it just brings up a confirmation window that I have to click on with the mouse.

I do have a question. Presently, Linux is configured on my machine so that Gnome controls the whole login and there is never any way to do anything in text mode. I would like set things up so that I can log in in text mode and never have to use Gnome, KDE or xterm unless I start it myself with startx. Most likely, I would want to just use xterm instead of Gnome or KDE. My question is: how can I go back to just working in text mode without reinstalling Linux, which is not an option? I do know one solution: I can boot the machine in single user mode and spend the rest of my life as root. Is there another way, perhaps one I can carry out while I am in single user mode, since I may never have a working mouse on this machine again? -- Ignorantly, * Disclaimer: I am a guest and *not* a member of the MIT CSAIL. My actions and * comments do not reflect in any way on MIT. Also, I am nowhere near Boston.