what gdm and xdm are (was: Re: replacing window manager ...)

[Hendrik Boom <hendrik@pooq.com>]

On Thu, Jul 21, 2005 at 11:47:23AM +0100, Adam Hardy wrote:
> 
> Allow me to display my ignorance: what is gdm? Is it another component 
> of the x-windows-system? When I re-installed x-windows, it asked me to 
> select gdm or xdm. It's not an acronym for gnome, is it? Let me man it.

gdm and xdm are display managers.  A display manager is the thing that
puts the graphical login prompt on the screen.  When you log in,
it will start your x session for you, your window manager, and whatever else.

gdm is the "Gnome display manager", and xdm is, I believe, the
"X display manager"  There's also a KDE display manager.  Which you
use seems to be a matter of taste.  Any of the dm's can start any
of the window managers.  I like gnome because it lets me choose
my window manager before I log in.

-- hendrik