Some random questions/problems regarding X

[josolanes]

I'm having a few problems with...well, X in general I guess.

A little info that I'm sure will be useful: I use entrance currently as my display manager (as opposed to gdm or kdm). I use KDE, though I'm trying several different window managers to find which one I like best.

I'd like to know how to get rid of window managers from the display manager. Since I've installed a few and gotten rid of most of them, I now have 7 or 8 window managers available, but only 1 works (KDE)

I also tried installing Englightenment, and it worked the first tme I loaded it from within the display manager, but once I logged out and tried logging back into it, KDE loaded....and I couldn't load Enlightenment since then (this is the reason I'm down to one window manager...I removed Enlightenment since I couldn't use it anyways lol).

Another problem: kdm doesn't load anything! . When I try loading any of the window managers it gives me an error message and brings me right back to the login. I can post the error if you'd like...just have to restart to do that

When I was using Enlightenment, everything went great except that I couldn't load any of the openoffice programs . I then went to KDE to see if this was just openoffice or something else, and KDE loaded any of the openoffice programs without a problem. I really need access to the openoffice programs as I'm using linux (Gentoo) as my main operating system and need to be able to type things for school.


Last question (not a problem, though ):
What window manager would you recommend to me? I'm looking for something that is lightweight/fast, very customizable/looks good, has a file manager (nautilus, konqueror, or something similar to them), and is pretty well supported. I installed windowmaker in hopes that it would work, but never actually got a chance to use it (KDE would load no matter what I chose). I've tried fluxbox, but something didn't feel right about it; I tried enlightenment and I was pretty happy with it, but it didn't have a file manager....I loaded konqueror from within enlightenment to view folders; I also tried gnome, but I didn't find it customizable enough, so I switched to KDE...but KDE seemed to bulky.

I've used either gnome or KDE for a few months now, but I'm looking for something that fits my criteria more closely (lightweight, customizalble, file manager, well supported/well known). I have a feeling that WindowMaker would have worked as I've read good reviews about it, but I didn't get to actually try it out.



All comments and suggestions are welcome

[a thing]

Xfce

I also sugest that you use runlevel 3 and manually start X.

[josolanes]

Xfce

I also sugest that you use runlevel 3 and manually start X.

ok, i'll try xfce

also, how would you manually start X? I know you can use the startx command, but i think that loads whatever the default window manager is; or you can use exec .... to load one (ie: exec startkde; exec gnome-session), but how would I go about doing that with xfce? would i type "exec xfce" or would i change "XSESSION=" to "xfce" in /etc/rc.conf?

thanks for the suggestion


also, in case i want to use a desktop manager, do you know of the way to get rid of the extra window managers from the menu?

[josolanes]

Xfce

I also sugest that you use runlevel 3 and manually start X.

ok, i'll try xfce

also, how would you manually start X? I know you can use the startx command, but i think that loads whatever the default window manager is; or you can use exec .... to load one (ie: exec startkde; exec gnome-session), but how would I go about doing that with xfce? would i type "exec xfce" or would i change "XSESSION=" to "xfce" in /etc/rc.conf?

thanks for the suggestion


also, in case i want to use a desktop manager, do you know of the way to get rid of the extra window managers from the menu?

I figured out how to do it . In gentoo, i stopped xdm from loading at startup then (once logged in at bootup in the terminal) you type exec startxfce4.

thanks for the suggestion...very nice window manager

[budman7]

If you want to be able to just type "startx" and have xfce4 start, do
as root
nano -w .xinitrc

add this line

startxfce4

hit Ctrl + x and save your work

you can use any text editor you like.

[josolanes]

If you want to be able to just type "startx" and have xfce4 start, do
as root
nano -w .xinitrc

add this line

startxfce4

hit Ctrl + x and save your work

you can use any text editor you like.

cool, thanks a lot! typing "exec startxfce4" was bothering me and i'm afraid i might forget it sometime.

ican you specify where exactly ".xinitrc" is supposed to be saved? i've heard about this a few times but was afraid of trying since i wasn't 100% where i was supposed to put the file. all i've heard is the home directory. would that be "/home/" or "/home/user/" or "/root/"?

thanks for the advice

[oz]

Yeah, XFCE4 really is a nice one, for sure. I started running it several months ago don't see any reason to run KDE or Gnome again. Fluxbox is another one that I run quite often. It's lighter weight than XFCE4, but doesn't have the eye candy.

Good luck with your new desktop environment / window manager!

[josolanes]

Yeah, XFCE4 really is a nice one, for sure. I started running it several months ago don't see any reason to run KDE or Gnome again. Fluxbox is another one that I run quite often. It's lighter weight than XFCE4, but doesn't have the eye candy.

Good luck with your new desktop environment / window manager!

thanks

so far i really like xfce...i just have to figure out a couple of things, but that's half the fun

since you've been using it for a few months, may i ask a question? can you tell me whether or not you have some major kde/gnome packages installed (ie: gnome-base, kde-base) just in case there's a program that needs them? I'm wondering if it's safe to completely remove kde (i've removed gnome before the xfce install) or should i leave it? I'd like to save the hd space (though it's not that important) if i can. no need to have something on the system that you don't use

[budman7]

If you type "nano -w .xinitrc" or whatever your favorite text editor is.

That will put it in the correct directory, the directory you are in.

[oz]

can you tell me whether or not you have some major kde/gnome packages installed (ie: gnome-base, kde-base) just in case there's a program that needs them? I'm wondering if it's safe to completely remove kde (i've removed gnome before the xfce install) or should i leave it? I'd like to save the hd space (though it's not that important) if i can. no need to have something on the system that you don't use

No, I don't have any KDE or Gnome packages installed, nor do I have any Gnome or KDE libraries. You might not need them either, depending on the packages you wish to use. So whether or not you can delete KDE/Gnome also depends on the packages you wish to use.

Hope this helps...