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Re: changing window managers



In article <[🔎] 20050905201439.GA26723@alcopop.org> you wrote:
> On Mon, Sep 05, 2005 at 11:10:11AM -0700, Larry Fletcher wrote:
> > After looking around some more I found out the x-session-manager works
> > for startx, but it's not updated when new window managers are
> > installed.  The x-session-manager updates:
> > /etc/alternatives/@x-session-manager

> Why should the session manager symlink be changed by a window manager?

> > The x-window-manager is updated when new window managers are
> > installed, so maybe @x-session-manager should link to
> > @x-window-manager?

> No - x-session-manager should point to a session manager, and
> x-window-manager to a window manager, respectively.

> If you have a ~/.xsession file, you may have specified a window manager
> in it.

I didn't have a ~/.xsession or ~/.xinitrc file.

> Otherwise, odds are the symlink from /usr/bin/x-window-manager is
> being used.

Okay.  Now I see there is a difference between a session
manager and a window manager.  Apparently some window managers
have session managers and need them to run properly and some
window managers don't use them.  The problem was I installed
a window manager that didn't install a session manager and
since the old session manager was still installed the new
window manager wouldn't run.

I also found it interesting that ~/.xinitrc takes precedence
over ~/.xsession, and x-session-manager takes precedence over
x-window-manager.  So it doesn't work to use both ~/.xsession
and ~/.xinitrc.  The best option seems to be to put the session
manager in ~/.xsession and not use ~/.xinitrc.  And if there is
no session manager, to put the window manager in ~/.xsession.
Either that or learn how to configure x-session-manager and
x-window-manager.

   Larry



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