Re: Failed to execute child process (no such file or directory), but the script DOES exist in $HOME/bin, openbox users, especially take a look, please.

[Greg Wooledge <wooledg@eeg.ccf.org>]

On Mon, Sep 26, 2016 at 10:19:27PM +0100, Brian wrote:
> But now we have
> 
>  > User configuration may be done in a few different ways. The simplest
>  > way is to create a ~/.xsessionrc file,.....
> 
> The pedantic side of me asks - why is it the simplest way? And in what
> cirumstances?

Because it's *additive*.  It's just some stuff that happens in addition
to the system launching your default WM/DE, and whatever else the
system does by default (setting up an ssh-agent?  I don't even know).
You don't have to do all of those things yourself.

Just counting lines of code in the most ridiculously oversimplified
cse, it should be obvious that

PATH=~/bin:$PATH

is simpler than

PATH=~/bin:$PATH
exec x-session-manager

Two is more than one.

>  > Finally, note that the ~/.xsession file is only read if you
>  > are using a Debian X session. If you login with gdm3 and
>  > choose a GNOME session, the ~/.xsession file will be ignored
>  > completely. (But you may still use ~/.xsessionrc.)
> 
> Not observed in testing. /etc/gdm3/Xsession also has a stanza beginning
> "SESSIONFILES=$(run_parts $(SYSSESSIONDIR)" which also appears to
> contradict this statement. SYSSESSIONDIR is /etc/X11/Xsession.d.

If I've made factual errors, please correct them.  I'm trying my best to
piece together how gdm3 works based on the existing documentation (written
by Overfiend over a decade ago), and other, older wiki pages which may
themselves be incorrect, and my extremely limited past knowledge of gdm.
Note that I do not *use* gdm3 myself, nor lightdm, nor xdm, or any other
display manager, but I did briefly experiment with gdm many years back.

I leave you with this (perhaps) amusing excerpt from a ~/.xsession file,
a remnant of those experimental days.  Make of this what you will.

=========================================================================
# If we're running under gdm, then we do *not* want gnome-session to be
# spawned when this script exits.  I learned this hack by reading the
# /etc/gdm/Sessions/Gnome file (IIRC).
DEBUG_GNOME_SESSION='Let me the hell out!'
=========================================================================

Back then, under gdm, if you had an .xsession file, it would be read, but
then after you exited from your chosen window manager, you'd get GNOME!
Or at least that's how I remember it.  And setting this shell variable
caused that not to happen.  And it was all completely undocumented,
because why would a user with gdm installed ever want anything *other*
than GNOME?