Re: Desktop environments
XDM can also do this, although to be honest I've never used XDM, only KDM and GDM. There's info in the handbook here: http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/x-xdm.html I prefer KDM or GDM to handle this task - it launches a GUI (based on QT or GTK depending on which tool you use) and lets you launch your DE of choice. There's handbook details for both here: http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/x11-wm.html ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org"
Re: Desktop environments
You also have selectwm. $cat /usr/ports/x11-wm/selectwm/pkg-descr This is a small application (using GTK+) which lets you select your window manager. It looks for a file named .selectwmrc in the user's directory which contains a list of window managers. When you start X it should show a list which lets you choose your window manager (by double clicking on it with the mouse or with the arrow keys and the return or space key). WWW: http://ordiluc.net/selectwm/ ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org"
Re: Desktop environments
Hello Jesse, This message is an elaboration of Polytron's comment about starting different desktop environments/window managers using ~/.xinitrc. I like this particular approach as DE/WM can have its own customized setup which will not interfere with the other environments. Also it is very easy to add or delete DE/WM as needed. The default environment is the last DE/WM used. I've succesfully used this simple hack for the last three years: #!/bin/sh # Name: ~/bin/stx # Created: 2006-02-09 cd ~ while true do clear echo -n ' Choice of Desktops: G)nome K)DE T)WM '$error_message' Select above letter (or "q" to quit): ' read choice case "$choice" in g|G) cp .xinitrc.gnome .xinitrc break ;; k|K) cp .xinitrc.kde .xinitrc break ;; t|T) cp .xinitrc.twm .xinitrc break ;; q|Q) exit 2 ;; *) error_message="Invalid Selection!" echo "^G" ;; esac done startx exit 0 #EoF Hope this may help. Cheers... Marek On Wed, 25 March 2009 23:17:51 Jesse Feinman wrote: > I am planning on using FreeBSD on a new computer i am building but i > would like to know if there is a way that i can install multiple > desktop environments and easily switch between them, preferably > without restarting. The primary purpose for this is to gain complete > functionality over the system utilizing all possible tools and also > to evaluate the different environments to determine which one works > best for me. > > Lastly, i am wondering how Compiz-fusion would interact in this case > because to my knowledge Compiz is essentially an add on to the KDE > and Gnome environments and i am wondering as to how it would function > if i were to switch desktops constantly. > > Thank you for your time, > Jesse Feinman > ___ > freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list > http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions > To unsubscribe, send any mail to > "freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org" ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org"
Re: Desktop environments
Jesse Feinman wrote: I am planning on using FreeBSD on a new computer i am building but i would like to know if there is a way that i can install multiple desktop environments and easily switch between them, preferably without restarting. The primary purpose for this is to gain complete functionality over the system utilizing all possible tools and also to evaluate the different environments to determine which one works best for me. Lastly, i am wondering how Compiz-fusion would interact in this case because to my knowledge Compiz is essentially an add on to the KDE and Gnome environments and i am wondering as to how it would function if i were to switch desktops constantly. Thank you for your time, Jesse Feinman ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org" First part is pretty easy to do using kdm in fact it's essentially as simple as making sure your X and WM's work, then enabling kdm. Not too sure the answer on the rest. I would guess it wouldn't be a problem though provided no config diffs between the two. -- Adam Vandemore Systems Administrator IMED Mobility (605) 498-1610 ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org"
Re: Desktop environments
On Wed, 25 Mar 2009 23:17:51 -0400, Jesse Feinman wrote: > I am planning on using FreeBSD on a new computer i am building but i would > like to know if there is a way that i can install multiple desktop > environments and easily switch between them, preferably without restarting. That's no problem. First of all, install the desktop environments and window managers that you want. As far as I know, the "big two", KDE and Gnome, come with a means to select what DE / WM to use at login time through their kdm and gdm. Additionally, wdm offers you to choose the DE / WM at login time. This simply requires a login / logout procedure, no restarting of the computer. You can even have it more simple: Don't start X along with the system, login at the console. Modify the "exec " statement in your ~/.xinitrc and type "startx" to perform the DE / WM startup you have in this file (you can put comment signs infront of those you don't like, "enabling" the one you want to run). Or you could have several aliases / commands to start X with the DE / WM you want, each with a specific ~/.xinitrc file to fit your needs. > The primary purpose for this is to gain complete functionality over the > system utilizing all possible tools [...] In principle it's not required to run a specific DE in order to run a program that comes with this DE. For example, you can perfectly run K3B within WindowMaker, as long as all the dependencies of K3B are installed on your system. You can run Gmplayer without Gnome, you can run Koffice in XFCE and so forth... > [...] and also to evaluate the different > environments to determine which one works best for me. Then, if you won't change the DE / WM every five minutes, you can go with the ~/.xinitrc approach. Short example: #!/bin/sh [ -f ~/.xmodmaprc ] && xmodmap ~/.xmodmaprc xsetroot -solid rgb:3b/4c/7a xset b 100 1000 15 & xset r rate 250 30 & xset s off & xset -dpms & #exec gnome-ession #exec fvwm #exec startkde #exec xfwm exec wmaker This will start WindowMaker. > Lastly, i am wondering how Compiz-fusion would interact in this case because > to my knowledge Compiz is essentially an add on to the KDE and Gnome > environments and i am wondering as to how it would function if i were to > switch desktops constantly. It would be no problem, as far as I know. I'm not very familiar with Compiz because I'm already tired of eye-candy. :-) You can even use Compiz with XFCE, or use its own compositing functionalities. As far as I understood, Compiz is an addition to the respective DE / WM, and while the DE / WM will run happily without Compiz, those that don't utilize it won't have problems. If Compiz needs specific settings in ~/.xinitrc, you can put some kind of conditional into this file, loading Compiz only with the DE / WM you want. -- Polytropon >From Magdeburg, Germany Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0 Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ... ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org"
Re: Desktop environments
On Wed, Mar 25, 2009 at 11:17 PM, Jesse Feinman wrote: > I am planning on using FreeBSD on a new computer i am building but i would > like to know if there is a way that i can install multiple desktop > environments and easily switch between them, preferably without restarting. Restarting the computer or restarting the desktop environment? You don't need to restart the computer to switch between KDE and GNOME, for example. Not clear on what you mean here. > The primary purpose for this is to gain complete functionality over the > system utilizing all possible tools and also to evaluate the different > environments to determine which one works best for me. > Fantastic. Give Fluxbox a shot. :) > Lastly, i am wondering how Compiz-fusion would interact in this case because > to my knowledge Compiz is essentially an add on to the KDE and Gnome > environments and i am wondering as to how it would function if i were to > switch desktops constantly. > Why wouldn't you be able to? -- Glen Barber ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org"
