I'm using XDM, and in my ~/.xinitrc file, I want my default WM to be Enlightenment.

The only line I have in it is: "exec enlightenment".

Yet, every time I log in, KDE loads up.

What is going on here? On an old Mandriva system, adding a line like that into .xinitrc was fine, but now in Debian, it seems to have no effect.

What's going on here?

have you stopped kdm from running? try 'update-rc -f kdm remove'. that should remove all links to kdm. kdm is still installed, it's just not touching anything now.

I don't use a display manager, but isn't it .Xsession that those things read, while ignoring .xinitrc?

in your .xinitrc file try: 'exec startenlightenment'. one word. i'm not sure about capitalization, though.

Try this as root:
update-alternatives --config x-window-manager

Thanks for all your suggestions.

Recently, there's been some work on the power lines in my neighbourhood, and several electronic devices around my house have been dying (never to return to life) everytime there's a brown-out. About 4 days ago, my primary HDD was one of those devices.

Since I was forced to reinstall an OS, I just did a custom install (installed a basic, basic, basic Debian system, then added the packages I wanted past that). And I've yet to have a problem with my ~/.xinitrc file and XDM reading it - it's all working perfectly.

Thank you all for your time and suggestions.