Re: XDM or GNOME???

[matlads@techmuk.ac.ug]

On Wed, May 23, 2001 at 01:57:09AM +0200, spider wrote:
> i installed potato on my machine, and i had XDM as the window manager.
> i wanted to switch to GNOME, so i put:
>         exec gnome-session
> in my .xinit file (/etc/X11/xinitrd/.xinit --- i hope its the right path...)
> 
> 1. did i do the right thing??? i mean is it the right file?

The file in which you should put your startup commands for your required
window manager is the .xsession in your home directory ie the file 
/home/spider/.xsession

it should contain the line 'exec gnome-session' (without the single quotes)
ie do:
	$ echo exec gnome-session > ~/.xsession

> 2. there is this GNOME panel and icons on the desktop, but i dont have an
> arrow as a pointer but this black cross...

to fix the black cross, and get a nice black pointer use xsetroot. You can
use xsetroot while X is running. Just get an xterm and type:

	$ xsetroot -cursor_name left_ptr

to get it automatically when you use X edit your .xsession file and add the 
following line before the exec line. ie your .xsession after editing could
look like
	$ cat ~/.xsession
	xsetroot -cursor_name left_ptr
	exec gnome-session
	$

> AND- when i shut down X server there are those messages going, and the last
> one is:
>         shutting down the xdm display manager
> 
> im confused cos i thought i was running gnome dispaly manager....

you can use gnome with any display manager. A display manager is the program
that enables you to have a graphical login on your monitor, (and even manage 
other displays). 

you also need to have only one display manager running at a time, so to use
the gnome display manager, unistall xdm and install gdm

	$su
	Password:
	#apt-get remove xdm
	#apt-get install gdm

Hope this helps
Martin.