SuSe 10.1 KDE startup

[zsugiart]

This is a question of interest, more of like for learning and curiosity sake rather than asking for help as such. When I login to SuSe 10.1, how does KDE (or other windows manager) get 'chosen'

I notice that somehow startx get called, it then calls ~/.xinitrc, if there is one exist. But if let's say you set your session to FVWM, how did this gets passed down the line?

[dth1]

The start up choice of system is taken from the file /etc/sysconfig - called displaymanager. The top of mine shows:-

_________________________________________________

## Path: Desktop/Display manager
## Description:
## Type: string(kdm,xdm,gdm,wdm,console)
## Default: ""
#
# Here you can set the default Display manager (kdm/xdm/gdm/wdm/console).
# all changes in this file require a restart of the displaymanager
#
DISPLAYMANAGER="kdm"

__________________________________________________ ___

The kdm bit tells the system to start with KDE - if it showed gdm this would tell the system to start with Gnome.

You can change the choice by altering this file but if you start with kde - you just have to log out of the session and you will see the different options available (with an option to make one of the alternatives the default without the need to alter a config file).