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Re: Xterm



Peter S Galbraith writes ("Re: Xterm "):
>Changes to files in /usr/lib/X11/app-defaults/ get wiped
>out at your next upgrade because they are not designated as
>conffiles.
>
>I don't know if setting this in /etc/X11/Xresources/xterm (which
>is a conffile) will override the setting in
>/usr/lib/X11/app-defaults/XTerm or not, but it's worth a try
>(otherwise could be a bug?)

This will work in some cases, but not others.  For an xterm spawned on
the same machine that the Xserver is running on, this should work.  If
someone is running that xterm remotely, this won't work...

A friendly reminder that Xresources and app-defaults are distinctly
different mechanisms... Xresources are loaded into and stored on the
server, and hence are server-specific.  App-defaults are loaded by the
client, and hence are client-specific.  For most users, most of the
time the client and server are on the same machine, and the
distinction isn't important.  

Thus, the correct, most-general, solution to fix problems with an X
client *is* to edit the appropriate file in /usr/lib/X11/app-defaults,
which will affect all copies of the client.  

The important caveat is that the system adminstrator *will* have to
review and update this file after upgrading packages, since
app-defaults files are overwritten when the (the reason that
app-defaults files aren't conf-files)

For more information (or for those that claim that what I have said
here is incorrect), I recommend reading the following:

1. The "RESOURCES" section in the "X" man page.  Note the sections on
   "RESOURCE_MANAGER" and "application-specific files".
2. Chapter 10, "Setting Resources", of the "X Windows System User's
   Guide", Volume Three of the O'reilly X Window System guides.
   Especially the section "Other Sources of Resource Definition" which
   explains the sequence consulted to determine resources.
3. The X Protocol Reference Manual, available from X.Org, or if you
   have an older set of O'reilly Books, it's Volume Zero of their X
   system books

-- 
Richard W Kaszeta 			PhD. Candidate and Sysadmin
bofh@me.umn.edu				University of MN, ME Dept
http://www.menet.umn.edu/~kaszeta


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