Ok, so, I deleted the line setenv DISPLAY localhost:0.0
from my ~/.login file and then exited X, logged out (console) and then logged back in (console again) and checked. At that point, the environment variable DISPLAY wasn't set at all. I then started up X (via xinit) as I am accustomed to doing, which in turn started up fvwm, and I then got an xterm window and checked again. Now I have the following: DISPLAY=:0 Now all of the following are working happily: firefox opera chrome xpdf evince gimp vlc So everybody is happy, it seems, and I am back in the saddle again. My thanks to Stephen Dennison <stephe...@gmail.com> for taking me right to the heart of the matter. (It serves me right. This is the kind of thing that happens when/if one neglects to upgrade things for years and years. What can I say? I was busy. :-) Regards, rfg