how to launch applications on x login?

zero79 · 06-16-2005, 09:15 PM

Sorry to ask such a mundane and probably simple question, but is there a script file that I can create in my user directory that will be executed automatically on X login? I've tried a couple obvious names like ".Xsession", ".xsession", and ".xinitrc" but the commands I inserted did not get executed on login. Thanks for any help.

kaz2100 · 06-16-2005, 10:54 PM

What ?dm are you using? xdm, kdm or gdm??

zero79 · 06-17-2005, 08:09 AM

i'm using gdm as the login manager, but xfce as my desktop environment. thx.

PTrenholme · 06-17-2005, 08:54 AM

From the xfce utilities and scripts manual:

Quote:

startxfce4

The startxfce4 is a convenient script to start an Xfce 4 session from the console. It will give you a session with a taskbar and a panel and with the desktop manager and window manager running.

All programs, or symbolic links to programs, in ~/Desktop/Autostart/ will be run by startxfce4 on startup.

To customize the behaviour of startxfce4, copy the file ${sysconfdir}/xfce4/xinitrc to your personal ~/.config/xfce4/ directory and edit that file. If you install from source, ${sysconfdir} defaults to /usr/local/etc; for binary packages it is often set to /etc.

With the inclusion of a session manager in Xfce 4.2, the preferred way to change startup behaviour is by using the "Save session" option in the logout dialog.

Dead Parrot · 06-17-2005, 09:34 AM

Quote:

With the inclusion of a session manager in Xfce 4.2, the preferred way to change startup behaviour is by using the "Save session" option in the logout dialog.

Window Maker has a similar "Save session" option -- it's perfect for us lazy users who don't want to edit config files all the time.

However, there are some small window managers that don't have any session manager or autostart files of their own. In such cases it's useful to know that choosing the "Default session" in gdm makes it read the .xsession file (if it exists) in your home directory.

zero79 · 06-17-2005, 08:38 PM

thanks for the help. what i really wanted to do was to set the keyboard map to dvorak at desktop environment startup. all i needed to do was copy the dvorak keymap to my user directory:

Code:

cd ~
cp /usr/share/xmodmap/xmodmap.dvorak .Xmodmap

Daedalus207 · 07-10-2005, 10:38 PM

Alternatively, I think adding

Option "XkbLayout" "dvorak"

to your X11/xorg.conf file would've worked.

zero79 · 07-11-2005, 06:07 PM

yeah, it would have. but i have users that don't type dvorak. i just wanted dvorak for my user account.