Changing RedHat 7.1 graphical login managers
 

I love and use both the KDE and Gnome desktops. I have a strong aesthetic preference, though, for the KDE login manager.

My RedHat 7.1 install has resisted all efforts to switch it from its default Gnome login manager to the KDE one. This isn't a big deal but does anyone know where this is managed and how to make the change?

I am not at my Linux box right now, but I think won't it default to the KDE login prompt when using runlevel 5 into graphical mode when you make KDE your default window manager/desktop.
I'll get back if I find out unless someone else knows off the bat.

Changing RedHat 7.1 graphical login managers
 

I may be overlooking something but I've already tried that. I used both the KDE and GNOME desktop switching tool to set KDE as teh default desktop and yet I still get the Gnome login manager. Again, it's not a big thang but it'd be nice to know how to get past this.

Thanks.

I believe that the gnome login manager gets started in the rc.5 file. I'm not sure, but I think its path is /etc/rc.d/rc.5. Or something like that. In it, you'll find a line that says something like SXXgdm. The ' XX ' represents a two digit number. The ' S ' means start. This file is the one that I believe starts the gnome login manager. You'll have to replace it with one that will start the kde login manager.

just a question to throw in the pool here, but doesn't gdm work partially on top of xdm? i know that kdm does; at least that's how it's configured on my box. i think that if you check out the xdm config files, you might be able to find where the login managers are chosen. i've never really studied a redhat boot setup, so this might be suse specific.

midnightcommander
 

OK. Looks like we found it. Taking a clue from a /etc/inittab, we checked out a file called /etc/sysconfig/desktop. This file contains a single line:

DESKTOP="GNOME"

:Changing that to "KDE" changes the login manager. In our case, we get the typical blue RedHat 7.1 background with a somewhat small version of the KDE login manager.

X looks a little weird as it comes up so I hope there are no side-effects to making the change. Not that I can think of any reason why there would be.

Thanks, all, for some great advice!!!