Re: wrong default-window-manager

[Massimo Dal Zotto <dz@cs.unitn.it>]

> 
> Hi!
> 
> After updating to the latest "xserver-common" in frozen, X started up with fvwm 
> as the default window-manager. I´ve checked /etc/X11/window-managers and 
> there´s fvwm95 with correct path and all as the first window-manager in there.
> 
> While I can switch to fvwm95 on-the-fly my girl-friend, who also uses my pc, 
> isn´t clueful enough to live without all the default apps and settings I 
> installed with the (for her ;-) familiar interface of fvwm95.
> 
> I already "apt-get remove fvwm" completely, to the effect that X comes up with 
> no window-manager at all :-( .  I´ve checked all the configuration files I 
> could find, but to no effect.
> 
> The only other option I can think of is to apt-get remove fvwm95, apt-get 
> install fvwm95, but that would just be working on the symptoms, not the cause...
> 
> Any suggestions?
> 
> TIA,
> &rw
> -- 
> / Robert Waldner <Waldner@KPNQwest.at> | Phone: +43 1 89933 0 Fax x533 \
> \        KPNQwest/AT tech staff        | Diefenbachg. 35   A-1150 Wien / 

I wrote a small script, sensible-window-manager, like sensible-editor.
You can specify your favorite window manager with the WINDOW_MANAGER
environment variable and change it on the fly while starting X:

  WINDOW_MANAGER=fvwm95 startx

If you set this variable in your girl-friend's profile fvwm95 will be
started by default. In the attachments you can find script and manpage.

-- 
Massimo Dal Zotto

+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
|  Massimo Dal Zotto               email: dz@cs.unitn.it               |
|  Via Marconi, 141                phone: ++39-0461534251              |
|  38057 Pergine Valsugana (TN)      www: http://www.cs.unitn.it/~dz/  |
|  Italy                             pgp: finger dz@tango.cs.unitn.it  |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+

#!/bin/bash
#
# Run the window manager defined by the WINDOW_MANAGER environment variable
# or the default window manager defined in /etc/alternatives/x-window-manager
# or in /etc/X11/window-managers.
#
# Copyright (C) 2000  Massimo Dal Zotto <dz@cs.unitn.it>
#
# This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
# the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
# (at your option) any later version.
#
# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
# GNU General Public License for more details.
#
# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
# along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
# Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.

shopt -s execfail

if [ -x /etc/alternatives/x-window-manager ]; then
    DEFAULT_WMANAGER=/etc/alternatives/x-window-manager
else
    DEFAULT_WMANAGER=$(cat /etc/X11/window-managers | grep -v '#' | head -1)
fi
WINDOW_MANAGER=${WINDOW_MANAGER:-$DEFAULT_WMANAGER}

if [ -x "$(which ${WINDOW_MANAGER%% *})" ]; then
    exec ${WINDOW_MANAGER} "$@"
else
    exec 2>/dev/tty
    echo "Couldn't find a valid window manager!" >&2
    echo "Set the \$WINDOW_MANAGER environment variable to your desired wm.">&2
    exit 1
fi

# end of file

.\" -*- nroff -*-
.TH SENSIBLE-WINDOW-MANAGER 1x "9 Mar 2000" "Debian GNU/Linux"

.SH NAME
sensible-window-manager \- sensible window manager

.SH SYNOPSIS
.BR sensible-window-manager " [OPTIONS...]"

.SH DESCRIPTION
.BR sensible-window-manager
makes sensible decisions on which window manager to run in an X session.
Users under Debian GNU/Linux can use this scripts to change on the fly
the window manager started from an X session by setting the environment
variable
.BR WINDOW_MANAGER
to their favorite window manager. The 
.BR sensible-window-manager
command should be placed as last line into the user's personal
.BR .xsession
file in place of the usual window manager command, and the environment
variable
.BR WINDOW_MANAGER
should be placed in the user's shell profile. For example:

.PP
.in +3
 # .bash_profile
.br
 \.\.\.
.br
 export WINDOW_MANAGER="wmaker"

.PP
.in +3
 # .xsession
.br
 \.\.\.
.br
 exec sensible-window-manager

.PP
You can now start one window manager or another with:

.PP
.in +3
 startx                        # run default wm
.br
 WINDOW_MANAGER=icewm startx   # run icewm
.br
 WINDOW_MANAGER=fvwm2 startx   # run fvwm2

.PP
If the environment variable is not set the script runs the window manager
defined by 
.BR /etc/alternatives/x-window-manager
or the first window manager
listed in
.BR /etc/X11/window-managers "."

.SH AUTHOR
This manual page was written by Massimo Dal Zotto <dz@cs.unitn.it>,
for the Debian GNU/Linux system (but may be used by others).