[SOLVED] What is needed to start the various DE's from runlevel 3?

damgar · 03-19-2010, 08:21 PM

I normally boot into runlevel 3. KDE is my default DE. I use

Code:

startx

to open KDE. I would like to give the other DE's (full install of Slackware current) a fair try, but I am having trouble starting the other DE's from the command line. They all work from runlevel 4 using the kdm chooser, but that's just a hassle and in all honesty will likely irritate my lazy-bone to the point of not using them on a regular basis. Booting into runlevel 4 isn't a good option because I am frequently experimenting and booting to the command line makes troubleshooting easier.

What do I need to do to be able to start the other DE's in runlevel 3?

slackwaredanny · 03-19-2010, 08:37 PM

xwmconfig
Setting Default Windowmanager in /root/.xinitrc

astrogeek · 03-19-2010, 08:52 PM

There are xinitrc files in /etc/X11/xinit/... for all installed WMs.

Just do this...

startx /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc.wmaker

startx /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc.fluxbox

etc...

damgar · 03-19-2010, 09:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by astrogeek

There are xinitrc files in /etc/X11/xinit/... for all installed WMs.

Just do this...

startx /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc.wmaker

startx /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc.fluxbox

etc...

Thank you. Works perfectly! Now to try and figure out why people love fluxbox.........

dive · 03-19-2010, 10:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by damgar

Now to try and figure out why people love fluxbox.........

It works. It's simple. Does what it says on the tin!

damgar · 03-19-2010, 10:15 PM

I'll have to figure out how to customize it before it's useful. I do appreciate the speed, but I have yet to figure out how to customize the menus to give me access to things like chrome without using the terminal.

dive · 03-19-2010, 11:07 PM

Well (and this has a customised useragent)

Code:

[exec] (Chrome) {google-chrome --user-agent="Slackware/current Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux x86_64; en-US) AppleWebKit/533. 1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/5.0.322.2 Safari/533.1"}

But it is usually [exec] (Title) {program command}

Anything you can start from a terminal can go into the {command}

mattca · 03-20-2010, 01:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by damgar

Thank you. Works perfectly! Now to try and figure out why people love fluxbox.........

You may have already figured this out, but you can also create ~/.xinitrc and launch your wm of choice from there. You can also put other commands you want loaded when you start X in there as well. For example, here is mine:

Code:

feh --bg-scale /home/matt/media/images/wallpapers/123075-dark-waterfall-at-night-900.jpg
setxkbmap -option "ctrl:nocaps"
xscreensaver -nosplash &
ratpoison

Didier Spaier · 03-20-2010, 03:18 PM

http://fluxbox-wiki.org/index.php?ti...English_howtos

linus72 · 03-20-2010, 03:36 PM

also check out arch's fluxbox wiki
http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Fluxbox

damgar · 03-20-2010, 06:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dive

Well (and this has a customised useragent)

Code:

[exec] (Chrome) {google-chrome --user-agent="Slackware/current Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux x86_64; en-US) AppleWebKit/533. 1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/5.0.322.2 Safari/533.1"}

But it is usually [exec] (Title) {program command}

Anything you can start from a terminal can go into the {command}

Thanks! This definitely is going to make fluxbox usable! I was considering flux for my LFS system (under slow construction) because it seemed like a quick way to get to a gui (which unfortunately I'm still dependent on) and now it's definitely a go!

Quote:

You may have already figured this out, but you can also create ~/.xinitrc and launch your wm of choice from there. You can also put other commands you want loaded when you start X in there as well. For example, here is mine:

Yes I was aware of this, but I don't see anything replacing KDE 4.4.1 (until BOB releases new packages or current surpasses this version) anytime soon. I have more resources than I need on my current build. I think what I will be doing is creating executables or symlinks to shorten

Code:

startx /path/to/DE/xinitrc

to a single command. To be fair I will give each DE somethng like a 7 day exclusive use test.

Fluxbox now seems like a very useful tool for machines that either can't handle a full on DE like KDE or Gnome, or for a server where I don't want X to significantly hit performance when I need it for maintenance.

hitest · 03-20-2010, 06:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by damgar

Fluxbox now seems like a very useful tool for machines that either can't handle a full on DE like KDE or Gnome, or for a server where I don't want X to significantly hit performance when I need it for maintenance.

I run Fluxbox on my two oldest Slackware boxes, I love the responsiveness. On my main work station I run XFce. KDE 4.x runs just fine on my main work station, but, XFce is faster.