> We are waiting for your answer. Hi Jose and Tormod, sorry for the delay. :)
Tormod Volden wrote: >> The gnome-screensaver package ships its >> own desktop file which is active by default. It is not the "desktop >> environment" which is activating it, it is the desktop file from the >> screensaver package which makes it start. OK. It is from a package that is specifically for gnome though. That's what I meant by the "provided by desktop environment". Sorry for being imprecise. >> We offer the xscreensaver as a substitute, for those who do not like >> gnome-screensaver for some reason. No, that's not why we offer it. xscreensaver daemon is not designed to run in a desktop environment. It is not a substitute for gnome-screensaver or kscreensaver. We offer this package to use with classic X Windows, *without* a desktop manager like Gnome or KDE running on top. That's what xscreensaver was designed for, and that's how it's still used today. Increasingly so - with a number simple but powerful window managers available today, many people are going back to classic X Windows. People using a desktop manager who want a screen saver should install the special package for their desktop manager - like gnome-screensaver or kscreensaver. That will provide them with the capability to run all of the xscreensaver hacks in a way that fits in with their desktop manager. And that is what happens by default in the standard Gnome and KDE installations. >> If they remove the >> gnome-screensaver package and install xscreensaver instead, they >> expect xscreensaver to be activated by default. Why would anyone expect that? The xscreensaver daemon has nothing to do with Gnome. If they remove gnome-screensaver, then their Gnome screen saver won't run, what's so surprising? Anyway, KDE and Gnome users expect all screen saver configuration to happen inside the GUI provided for that, not by installing or removing packages. >> Otherwise it would be considered a security issue that a screensaver >> package is not active after installation. If they install packages without knowing what they are, there will be plenty of security issues. xscreensaver is not a replacement for the native screen saver service in a desktop environment. >> Users of any other xdg-compliant desktop environment will also expect >> that xscreensaver is starting if they install it. The xscreensaver daemon was never designed to run in a general xdg-compliant environment. >> We expect those who install both packages, to have a special reason >> for this, because a normal user on the other hand will just use >> gnome-screensaver which comes with GNOME. The special users will have >> to choose which one to use in their sessions. I agree. >> I don't know if you fall into any of those categories. Why do you >> install the xscreensaver package? Because some of my users use X Windows without any desktop manager, just a window manager. (I myself am one of those - I use xmonad.) Some of those want to run the xscreensaver daemon - so I have it installed on the system. Any of those users who want to use xscreensaver can run it from their .xinit file. That has always been the standard in X Windows, and it's what those people expect. Other users on the system are running KDE. They get kscreensaver by default, as is standard for KDE. They can turn it off if they want, using the KDE Control Center. They would be shocked if xscreensaver then runs - they turned *off* the screen saver! >> If you have an elegant solution which caters for all needs, I would be >> very interested. I really think that simple is best here. xscreensaver is designed to be started manually. Leave it that way, and there won't be any problems. Perhaps add text to the package description, like: "If you are using Gnome or KDE, consider using gnome-screensaver or kscreensaver instead." >> I don't see why xscreensaver should be more defensive >> than gnome-screensaver in the both-installed corner case. Why is that a corner case? Most multi-user systems that give their users a choice of session type - which is built-in to kdm by default - will be set up that way. And it's not being defensive. It's just configuring xscreensaver the way it was designed to work, and the way it has always worked, for years. >> Maybe the >> desktop environments (whatever function is sourcing the desktops) >> should note that two screensavers are installed and only start one of >> them? Why implement buggy behavior and then write scripts to try to work around it? Thanks, Yitz -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [email protected] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [email protected]
