I don't have access to Minecraft on Linux at the moment, but that command line looks suspicious. Give this a try:
java -Xms512m -Xmx1024m -cp "$HOME/.minecraft/bin/*" -Djava.library.path="$HOME/.minecraft/bin/natives" net.minecraft.client.Minecraft "$USER"
If it still isn't working for you, knowing what does happen (error messages, lets you in but has wrong name, …) would be helpful for further troubleshooting. :-)
Edited: Work on Ubuntu 12.04 x32
*P.S.: after "$USER" you can also add "$PASSWORD" "$SERVER"
*
You can do it, but not through the Minecraft launcher. Open TextEdit and make sure it's in plain text mode. If it isn't, choose "Make Plain Text" from the Format menu. Then enter the following text:
#!/bin/bash
cd ~/Library/Application\ Support/minecraft
java -Xms512m -Xmx1024m -cp "bin/*" -Djava.library.path="bin/natives" net.minecraft.client.Minecraft "YOURNAMEHERE"
Replace YOURNAMEHERE
with the name you want, but keep it in quotes. Now save your file, and make sure you uncheck the box that says "If no extension is provided, use '.txt'." Save the file as launcher.command
(you can call it whatever you wish, just make sure it ends with .command
).
Now in order to make this launchable with a double-click, open up Terminal and type sudo chmod 777
and then drag and drop your file on to the Terminal window. Then press Return. It will prompt you for your password, which you should enter. You can now close Terminal.
The file will now be executable, so you can run it by double-clicking. It will open Minecraft in offline mode with the custom name. If you ever want to change the name, right-click the file and choose Open With > TextEdit. You can then edit the name and save the file, and it will use the new name.
Best Answer
Open your launcher while the Wi-Fi is off. If it shows "Play Now", it means authentication succeeded and you didn't cut your Wi-Fi in time.
You can fix this by closing and reopening while the computer is disconnected from the internet.