Hi all,

I have a slackware newbie issue.

I have my slackware 9 running fine with no problems however one little thing is very annoying.

When I open the command prompt, i get the command
bash-2.05b$:

Now if I type in:
bash-2.05b$: gedit <filename>

it works!

BUT

bash-2.05b$:ifconfig
bash net: command not found
or
bash-2.05b$:./ifconfig
bash ./ifconfig: no such file or directory

GRR! ifconfig doesn't work...

So, i heard for this to work, you should have the environment changed (or something rather) by typing in

bash-2.05b$: su -
password: ******

Then I get

root&darkstar:-#

So, lets try ifconfig now...

root&darkstar:-# ifconfig

Ifconfig Works now!! woohoo!

BUTTTT...(this is my problem)

Lets try gedit now

root&darkstar:-# gedit <filename>
(gedit:1388): Gtk-Warning **: cannot open display

GRRR!!

So, my question is, how can I get gedit and ifconfig to work at the same time? Geez i hope I make sense...actually, NONE of the editors work as I get the same cannot open display error.

Any help would be wicked!

For now, you can use editors like vi, emacs, joe, pico (installed with pine). But only if you have installed it.
Cheers

Hi Groucho,

Thx for replying..
The thing is, gedit does work and is installed but it doesn't seem to work when I type su - (this is what I type to get ifconfig to work)...

Ok if u want to open i file like say for ex. /etc/fstab in terminal if u wanted it in root u would have to use something thats not gui something like # pico [FileName]. They resond ifconfig only works under root is because u need root permissions to acess it. I get the same problem when trying to open gui programs under root just type login then user and ur password then open the program will open from terminal. If that made any sense at all.

WELCOME TO THE BEST DISTRO EVER!!!!!

Matt3333

OK. So the only editor I can use under root is pico. Understood.

Just out of curiousity - How come gedit doesn't work under root?

Ya or u can use something like vi but stick to pico its really easy to understand It awsome i still use it


I dunno hoesntly i dont know lol i get the same problem if i wana use gedit i just open i under x or when im logged in as a user i just open it from terminal it will work!!

Matt3333

Cool.

Thx! Pico is pretty cool...

thx for your help!

honestly I don't remember how i resolved, but there's a little trick to fix this problem: the problem itself is that when you switch user in the same console session then the system doesn't reload the right configuration file...

oh yes, found it (i think): search in your home directory for a file called ".bashrc". If it doesn't exist create it, open it and write something like

"source /etc/profile" without the "

and save. It should do the trick.

A little explanation (at my best effort, maybe i'm wrong): when you open a new console bash reads /etc/profile and some other personal config files. If you change user in the same console you will lose the configuration read before (for obvious reasons... ) but it doesn't reload anything. Except for a file named .bashrc this should be quite true, i'm not sure it will resolve your problem, just give a try

if anyone has a better explanation is welcome... i hope i'm right...