X Setup

1999-04-30: SUSE 6.1 After several attempts to use SAX, I gave up and went with XF86Setup. That worked fine, though I had to give Horiz. and Vert. bandwidths for the monitor because it wasn't exactly any of the listed items. Once I chose the default mode (-bpp 16, 1024x768), the test was a little off to the right. I tried using vidtune to fix that, but the monitor seemed to be compensating for my efforts. So I aborted vidtune and just used the monitor's controls (and then saved the resulting configuration). That seems to have worked.

Window Manager

I spent a day or so trying the options. A few comments:

Control is via .xsession, which includes various checks and defaults. Then it either runs .xinit, or kicks off a window manager directly. E.g.:

# Read system and user profile if not already done
#
if test "$XSESSION_IS_UP" != "yes" ; then
    test -r /etc/profile     && { . /etc/profile     > /dev/null 2>&1 ; }
    test -r ${HOME}/.bashrc  && { . ${HOME}/.bashrc  > /dev/null 2>&1 ; }
    test -r ${HOME}/.profile && { . ${HOME}/.profile > /dev/null 2>&1 ; }
    set +u > /dev/null 2>&1
fi
...
if test -f $HOME/.xinitrc ; then
    if test "$sshagent" = "yes" ; then
        exec ssh-agent $HOME/.xinitrc
    else
        exec /bin/bash $HOME/.xinitrc
    fi
else
    if test -z "$WINDOWMANAGER" ; then
        WINDOWMANAGER=/usr/X11R6/bin/kde
    fi
    exec $WINDOWMANAGER
fi

In other words, the default is KDE, but that can be overridden by setting WINDOWMANAGER in .bashrc:

export WINDOWMANAGER=fvwm2

In either case, you end up executing the windowing binary, from /usr/X11R6/bin.

Window Mgr Comments

kde Professional end-user look but runs slow even ona 266MHz. I may use it when doing multimedia stuff. Maybe use it asthe default for my wife and daughter.

gnome/enlightenment Gnome tools running on fvwm2 or kde lookfine. But enlightenment is a strange looking beast. I'd like to see atheme done by someone who likes sunlight and flowers and quiet walks in thepark. I want gnome to be successful, but these themes will not do it.

fvwm2 Ok, this feels like home. Make this my default.

fvwm et al Others in the family are ok, but not compelling.

-

...Edited ~/.fvwm2rc to taste. Turned off the fvwm2 banner, the xeyes, and the pine mailreader. Set to 4x2 virtual consoles. See .fvwmr2

Creator: Harry George
Updated/Created: 2001-01-07

Table of Contents

X Setup

Window Manager