Bug#213676: /usr/X11R6/man/man1/startx.1x.gz: no mention of how to stop x
>>>>> "C" == Chris Waters <xtifr@debian.org> writes:
C> On Fri, Oct 03, 2003 at 07:18:56AM +0800, Dan Jacobson wrote:
>> Pages that say how to start something should say how to stop it.
C> I think you'll find that the _vast majority_ of man pages do NOT tell
C> you how to stop something. Most just tell you how to start it and how
well, those one hits ^C
C> to use it. Furthermore, startx merely launches the X server, and I
C> don't think documentation about the X server belongs in the startx man
C> page. That's like asking for the documentation for login(1) to
C> explain how to exit from a shell. And finally, there really is no
Good idea, login(1) mentioning something about logging out. Sent.
C> "way to stop it". It normally stops on its own after the programs it
C> launches finish running. The ctrl-alt-backspace is (besides being a
C> feature of the xserver, not of startx) generally only for emergencies,
C> not something one would normally use for routine shutdown. The "way
C> to stop it" is to end whatever program is preventing it from stopping,
C> but there's no way to be sure what that program is (since it changes
C> dynamically, depending on how you have the system configured, and what
C> software you've installed, and whether and how you've edited certain
C> files in your home directory).
All this is great stuff and could be added to the man page(s).
C> Or to put it another way, by the time you see anything on your screen,
C> startx has already stopped. So there's no need to stop it; it did its
C> thing, and it's done already.
OK, but the user sees a startx man page, but no stopx man page, so
would look on the startx man page for ways to "stop x" the proper way.
[He probably wants to get all the X things out of what pstree shows
him.] He should be able to find the above and this 'on or nearby' the
startx man page:
C> Or yet another way, if you want to get technical: the X server stops
C> when the /etc/X11/Xsession script finishes. So, all you've got to do
C> to "stopx" is figure out what is preventing that script from
C> finishing, and arrange for it to finally finish. That's the CORRECT
C> answer, but I doubt it's very useful. Normally, the script will be
C> waiting for a window manager, but not necessarily, and even if it is a
C> window manager, how to shut down the window manager (so the Xsession
C> script can continue and finish) varies from window manager to window
C> manager.
Indeed, basic explanations like this should be added to the man pages.
Though perhaps bringing down their intelligence level, they would then
be much more accessible to users like me who look for man pages
starting with "x", rather then the proper tutorial or howto route or
whatever.
C> Anyway, if you're such a novice, how did you manage to not install xdm
C> or one of the other X-based login systems that normally get installed
C> by default and would make all this pretty much moot?
Indeed, I use xdm. But as you can tell, how it all fits together will
remain a blur as it has since 1987 for me. Perhaps with the above
verbose explanations added to various pages, folks like me who can't
tell the difference between startx and xdm, might be helped better by
the man pages. Of course being dim to begin with, our chances are not
too great :-)
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