Re: Login Shell/Profile: Stop the Madness

[Matthias Czapla <dermatsch@gmx.de>]

On Sat, Jul 17, 2004 at 01:20:13PM -0400, Daniel B. wrote:
> It would be sensible if logging in via a display manager included
> the same shell login initialization that logging in on a virtual
> console performed.  (Or via telnet, rlogin, ssh, etc.)

I agree, that would be most sensible.

> > Now do you have the display manager source every possible file that
> > should be sourced for each possible shell? 
> 
> No. 
> 
> But what the display manager should do at some point is start a 
> login shell (that is, start the user's selected shell, with the 
> standard login flag for shell programs so that shell reads the
> user's login-time files).
> 
> That's what logging in to a virtual console does.

Yes, and then this login shell keeps running and is the parent of
any subsequently started processes. If the display manager just
starts a login shell then this shell is unable to change the
environment of it's parent (the dm) and if this shell exits
everything will be exactly as it was before it has been run.

So we would need to start a login shell that will become the parent
process of everything else that you would like to have an
initialized environment. I don't know how a dm works internally to
say if this is possible though :|

Regards
Matthias