hi, i'm using fedora 3, how can i change the default desktop from GNOME to KDE ?

Aha... good move. Search your menus for an entry called Desktop switch or maybe selector. There you'll find the different desks installed and you can set which one do you want to use by default.

Also, if you fail to find this menu option you can always go manual. Edit (as root) the file called /etc/sysconfig/deskop... where it reads DESKTOP="" put KDE in there and also at DISPLAYMANAGER="" type KDM.

And thats that.

Note: I hope you know that for a better experience with KDE while using Fedora you should be running KDE from the kde-redhat folks. If not, drop by kde-redhat.sf.net

I prefer KDE. I don't have switchdesk GUI installed. Umm...how do you edit desktop???

Yes, I'm definately a n00b. Thanks.

Right so, open a terminal (console or whatever) as root. Type and now you can edit as suggested.

If you don't know how to to open a terminal as root then just open a regular terminal and type and thats that.

Well, I followed your directions--thanks, BTW. Anyway, the overal display environment is still GNOME. It's odd because the K applications, etc. show on the applications menu. I feel like fedora is somehow thwarting my tries to disable it's default interface.

Originally, there was not a DISPLAYMANAGER="" line in the desktop file. I tried adding that and several other variations--changing to lower-case, etc.

You could be in KDE. Fedora Core 3 and below made KDE and GNOME look quite similar.

go to /etc/sysconfig
edit file desktop
chage to DESKTOP="KDE"

Yeah, you know Fedora folks went all the way to make KDE look as crappy as Gnome. You need to change the looks and feels until you get rid of the Gstuff look.

Besides running KControl and goin tru the look n feel section, I recommend for all new users to always run kpersonalizer the first time they enter KDE.

Well, like I said before, I modified the desktop file, but it did not work. I tried the kpersonalizer in a terminal because it was not on the Menu. That's pretty cool, but did not fix the problem.

I made a new user and it loads KDE now as the default for the new user. So, at least I get the interface I want. I'm keeping the old user to eventually figure out why it won't change when I get smarter with linux. I'm an MS-DOS user from the old days so I'm absorbing the linux stuff like a sponge. Thanks for all the help.

Now, I need to figure out how to upgrade to Firefox 1.5. I guess I'll search around in here. Thanks again.

Login as a the old user and run "switchdesk kde" from the CLI. After that log out and back in again to see if there is any change.

That's the first method I tried--in a terminal before coming here. No success. Is "CLI" a terminal program?

CLI = Command Line Interface (so any terminal). I wonder why that didn't work? Did you not have switchdesk installed?

Yes, but not the GUI. When I was stumbling through it in the terminal it told me the proper syntax. It's really strange because the change is working on the new user account.