Re: Console login prompt & other basics
Hi Venkatesh,
This is my first ever mail to this list, I hope it works...
On Mon, Jul 01, 2002 at 03:03:09PM -0400, Venkatesh, PC wrote:
> 1. I'd like a console login prompt, and then start X on my own with startx,
> or startkde [or such like]; rather than directly go into a GUI/X-based
> prompt. I thought this was controlled by runlevel in inittab and launching
> xdm. I tried to trace through the init scripts but found no clues. Any
> pointers would be appreciated.
I believe "the Debian way" of installing and removing startup scripts is
to use the /usr/sbin/update-rc.d script. This will look for scripts in
/etc/init.d/ and add or remove them from the /etc/rc.<runlevel>
directories with appropriate priorities. Run the command with no args
to see a description, and I'm sure there's docs in the usual places.
Renaming or deleting the startup scripts is a bad idea because you may
want them some time in the future. Also, when you want to
start|stop|restart services it's usually best to use the /etc/init.d
script, for example, '/etc/init.d/xdm start'. Simply deleting or
renaming these scripts will probably cause errors which won't really
hurt, but I'd rather not have them.
> 2. Although I selected gnome-related packages for installation [via the
> "simple" option in tasksel], and the packages appear to have been unpacked,
> I cannot launch gnome, e.g, with gnome-session.
Sorry, I forgot what distro you are on, but to make sure gnome is
properly installed, try the following:
On Potato:
apt-get install task-gnome-desktop
On Woody or Sid:
apt-get install gnome-session gnome-control-center sawfish-gnome
Then just pop an 'exec gnome-session' in your ~/.xinitrc or ~/.xsession
or both.
> 3. Netscape does not appear to get installed; on a previous install, I had
> to manually install it via dpkg and dselect. What are some reason(s)
> netscape might not automatically install?
I've never tried to install Netscape on Debian. There are many other
great free browsers (Konqueror, Galeon, Mozilla, Links, Opera...).
> 5. Overall, what would help me are: (i) some notes on Debian's installation
> "rules", logic, etc; (ii) features unique to Debian vis-a-vis other Linux
> distros; (iii) following up on (ii), notes on configuration, startup
> scripts---location; whether they deviate from other Linux distros [as seems
> to be with xdm above], etc. E.g., the "User Guide" [under books] seemed
> pretty helpful, but was no help in my problem with the Potato release.
The Debian init scripts do work differently to Redhat. I'm not an expert on
them, there are docs around. I've found using update-rc.d is a really
convenient way of managing things, try it.
Regards,
Lucas
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