how do I get fluxbox to start automatically at login
 

On Fedora 11, how do I get fluxbox to start automatically at login instead of GNOME/metacity? Do I need to use gdm to do this or can I do it without gdm?

If you use startx, you can put in your ~/.xinitrc file (comment out any other WM options)

I don't have a .xinitrc file (yet). I'm still using gdm and its 'Sessions' list, and I don't know how to stop using it. It causes problems in, for example, starting fluxbox where it does not seem to run ~/.fluxbox/startup so I cannot set a desktop background to load automatically (whereas if I run startfluxbox this works normally, but complains I am already running a wm). If I create .xinitrc it is ignored.

Is gdm something I am running instead of startx; are they equivalent?

A fairly easy way to not start X (and gdm) on boot would be to change your /etc/inittab entry for the default runlevel.
If you have a line like: "id:5:initdefault:" the inittab, change the 5 to a 3. That does not start X. Then, you can log in and use startx to start your XWindows session. That would then use your ~/.xinitrc

The problem with this is it takes me to a text login prompt and I have to login and startx manually.

I found this post which gives a way to do it and it sort of works (it doesn't seem to run my fluxbox startup script and flashes the gdm background). It mentions disabling gdm: how do I do that without uninstalling it (as I may want to go back to it or use it to get to other wms)?