On Thu, 10 Aug 2000, Paul Lussier wrote:
> In a message dated: Thu, 10 Aug 2000 19:59:56 EDT
> Tom Rauschenbach said:
>
> >Suppose one wanted to log in as usera and have KDE come up and then log in as
> >userb and run Gnome.
>
> >Assuming a PC type machine, essentially a single user at a time workstation,
> >does anyone know how to do this ? I'm not talking about running Gnome apps
> >under KDE or vice versa, but really having both environments on one machine.
> >Any hints ?
>
> Well, assuming you're using either KDM or GDM as a log in GUI, you can just
> log each one in and choose which one you want them to use the first time
> (there's a drop down menu that allows you to choose). This will become the
> default for them for future sessions.
>
> > And while I'm asking, how does the "startx" command know which to
> >start ? I looked and didn't see anything.
>
> 'startx' runs xinit, which looks for a file in the user's homedir called
> either .xinit or .xsession. This file contains commands to be exec'ed at
> "log in time". There's also a default Xinit file somewhere which it will fall
> back to if it doesn't find anything in the user's homedir.
>
> >I admit that still have not really
> >figured out what XFree86 is doing and why it is used in both environments.
> >X is still s puzzle to me.
>
> XFree86 is an Open Source/Free Software implementation of Xwindows.
>
> Xwindows is windowing framwork which allows a user to have multiple "windows"
> on their desktop. It provides for basic things like the concepts of windows,
> colors, position, size, network connections, etc. But that's it. A user has
> very little direct interaction with Xwindows
Ah now we're getting to the crux of the biscuit. I undertand about Xclients,
and I thought I understood what the Xserver did. So now I'm learning that the
window manager sits between the X server and the clients. It makes more sense
now.
Someday I'm gonna write a really lame book on how this stuff works. The flames
on slashdot will make it all clear to everyone...
> > The window manager is layered on top of Xwindows. The window manager
sw makes > use of libraries which contain "widget sets" which define things
such as title > bars, scrollbars, borders, buttons, etc. You interect much
more with the > window manager than anything else. Examples of window managers
are: > > ctwm
> Enlightenment (default for Gnome)
> fvwm (originally "Feeble" Window Manager)
> fvwm2 (this is what I use)
> kwm (KDE Window Manager)
> mwm (Motif Window Manager)
> olwm (Open Look Window Manager)
> olvwm (Open Look Virtual Window Manager)
> twm (the original)
>
> Gnome and KDE are Desktop Environments. They provide an underlaying
> application framework which allows *applications* to communicate with each
> other (think of embedding a spreadsheet table into a word processor document).
>
> Both are layered on top of window managers, which are in turn layered on top
> of Xwindows. Each piece is a completely separate entity. You can use X
> without a window manager, you can use a window manager without a desktop
> environment. Within Gnome (not sure about KDE) you can switch which window
> manager you use. The default is Enlightenment, but you can use fvwm or
> sawmill, or any other one.
>
> There is an entire set of O'Reilly books on X, if you're really interested,
> you may consider picking one up.
>
> Hope that helps,
--
Standard is better than better. If your web page cares what browser I'm using
it's broken.
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