Is there a way to replace password lock screen in Linux (Mint Debian Edition) with a pin lock screen? Like the one found in Windows 8 for example.
It's annoying/inconvenient to have to input 16 character-long passwords every time I lock my computer, and insecure to decrease the password length to a pin-friendly length.
Clarification:
Pin: 4 character-long password that's used only in the lock screen. i.e. the regular user password to execute functions is still the same throughout the OS (for security).
Best Answer
You can do this via PAM configuration. For example, if you use XScreenSaver, you'd edit
/etc/pam.d/xscreensaverand change the@include common-authline.Rather than repeat all the details, I'll point you to my answer to Set sudo password differently from login one. The procedure is almost exactly the same, except that you'll be editing the PAM config for your screensaver, instead of sudo.
Then you can set your PIN as your screensaver password.