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Which of the scripts mentioned above is the right one mainly depends on whether you manually start X (using startx) or have X running all the time. First I explain what you need to do if you manually start X. Then I address the case "X is running all the time" (which means that you log in via xdm or something like that). Finally I describe what both cases have in common. If you use startx to start up X then you run your window manager from the .xinitrc file. If your system has a graphical login (X is already running while you log in) you are using a display manager such as xdm, kdm or gdm. In this case .xinitrc has no effect (it is not read in by xdm). You must instead use a .xsession file. Hint: It is absolutely no problem to have a .xsession and a .xinitrc file (which is especially useful for inhomogeneous networks). Mandrake users repeatedly reported that their .xsession wasn't read and no applications started. To work around that in the kdm login interface choose Default and add IceWM as the last entry to your .xsession. These directions may be crystal clear to experienced Linux or Unix users, but they're going to be incomprehensible to most Windows users. The problem doesn't lie in poor word choice or sentence structure: it's the authors' assumptions about users' knowledge and experience that makes the instructions virtually worthless. What's an executable? What's an X start-up script? What does it do? Where is it? What's involved in adding IceWM to a startup script? What's startx? What's a display manager? What's .xinitrc? What does it do? What's a .xsession file? I'm sure you get the point. In fact, I suspect that many users wouldn't even know what a path is. If you tell them, they may not understand why it's important, and they won't know how to edit it. The fact is that average users don't know and don't want to know how to solve problems with their computers—that's why businesses hire IT and support staff, so that average users can concentrate on their work, not on their computers. If the problem were limited to setting up just one specific GUI, it would be relatively easy to solve it by creating a robust installation, but it isn't. There are many GUIs, each with its own FAQ, its own procedure, and its own quirks. Price, Quality, Availability, Security, Simplicity, and Interoperability The idea of choice is part of the bedrock of open source. But open source also wants to replace Microsoft on the desktop, or at least make a serious dent in Microsoft's hegemony. To do that, the open source community must recognize that its primary goals: freedom of choice, freedom of source code, and freedom to alter applications, are not the goals of the average user. [PREV] [NEXT] "LinDUX"? Linux + Windows = Lindows - Windux - Lindux - Whatever sounds good to you! |