Bug#372519: xfree86-common: Xsession man page incorrect - arguments from startx
Package: xfree86-common
Version: 4.3.0.dfsg.1-14sarge1
Severity: minor
Tags: patch
Xsession(5) claims incorrectly that it is not possible to pass arguments
to Xsession via startx. To pass arguments, Xsession or xinitrc simply
has to be mentioned explicitly, with a path. This is handy if one wants
to try out different session types as provided by the standard startup
environment.
The patch should work also for unstable/xorg, the man page is
essentially the same there.
I also added a note about bypassing the user-xsession restriction.
*** Xsession.5.diff
--- Xsession.5.orig 2006-04-07 00:58:33.000000000 +0300
+++ Xsession.5.new 2006-06-09 23:06:41.000000000 +0300
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@
.I Xsession
when specifically directed to so by the user; see the documentation for
your display manager to find out more.)
-Administrators unfamilar with the Bourne shell will likely find the
+Administrators unfamiliar with the Bourne shell will likely find the
.BR Xsession.options (5)
configuration file easier to deal with than
.I Xsession
@@ -79,13 +79,18 @@
.I Xsession
may optionally be passed a single argument indicating the type of X
session to be started.
-It is up to the display manager to set the argument, and there is no way to
-pass
+It is up to the display manager to set the argument. To pass
.I Xsession
an argument from
.B startx
or
-.BR xinit .
+.BR xinit ,
+.I /etc/X11/Xsession
+(or
+.IR /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc )
+must be called explicitly and with a path, as in
+.B startx /etc/X11/Xsession
+.BR failsafe .
By default, three different arguments are supported:
.TP
.B failsafe
@@ -120,6 +125,9 @@
.I .Xsession
files, it makes little sense to permit them to specify the names of
arbitrary programs to run.)
+Note that the restriction may be easy to bypass, e.g. by using a
+.I .gnomerc
+file instead.
.SS "DEFAULT STARTUP PROCEDURE"
Initially,
.I Xsession
-- System Information:
Debian Release: 3.1
Architecture: i386 (i686)
Kernel: Linux 2.4.27-3-k7
Locale: LANG=sv_FI, LC_CTYPE=sv_FI (charmap=ISO-8859-1)
Versions of packages xfree86-common depends on:
ii debconf 1.4.30.13 Debian configuration management sy
ii debianutils 2.8.4 Miscellaneous utilities specific t
-- debconf information excluded
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