[gentoo-amd64] Re: KDE 4.1.2 issues - updated

[Duncan]

Beso <givemesugarr@×××××.com> posted
d257c3560811041417h16cfc3bby1eed7cb0e4b002ef@××××××××××.com, excerpted
below, on  Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:17:09 +0000:

>> So, based on this, I don't see a KDM listed, but I do see a kde-4.1 in
>> /etc/X11/Sessions/

FWIW, I don't use a *dm at all.  I boot to a virtual terminal in text 
mode, login there, and start X/KDE from there.  The /etc/X11/Sessions/* 
entries are for doing that.  You set and export XSESSION=<name>, where 
<name> is the name of one of those files, run startx, and it should do 
just that (start X), with the appropriate environment based on whichever 
one you set/exported, logged in as the user you ran startx as.  Note that 
formerly the XSESSION variable was set system-wide in some rc file, IDR 
which but something like /etc/conf.d/rc or some such, but at least with 
baselayout-2 and openrc, that's no longer the case.  Individual logins 
could always overrule it; now they set it, period, in their bashrc or 
individual scripts they create or whatever.

Of course the KDE X11/Sessions files don't do much, only call startkde 
(of the appropriate version) at the appropriate time as X starts.  It's 
the startkde scripts that do the real work.

But since I've customized the locations of a number of files, due to 
running /tmp on tmpfs and /var/tmp as a symlink pointed at it, plus 
customized the menu and etc for both kde3 and kde4, I have customized KDE 
start scripts as well.  These set various critical variables to point 
stuff at my customized locations, do a few more symlinks beyond what 
startkde does to keep the kde3 and kde4 user configs from stepping on 
each other, etc.

But the point is, no dm is necessary.  KDE (or other environments as 
merged) can be started from the console login, provided (1) XSESSION is 
set correctly, and (2) the appropriate start scripts, for kde, the 
startkde package, is merged.  I have both the 3.5.10-r4 and 4.1.2-r1 
versions of kdebase-startkde merged, and can start either one from my 
virtual terminal login.

> as displaymanager i have just 4.0 (i should correct it to the newer one
> but it seems that for me it automatically detects changes). usually this
> shouldn't be necessary as the new /etc/init.d/xdm file should already
> point to the right location (i have different voices for kde3.5 kde4 and
> gnome that go and see the kdm in the {MY_KDE} directory under /usr/kde/.
> so if you have a look at that the DISPLAYMANAGER should point just to
> the right dir. if you have /usr/kde/4.1 point it to 4.1. also you should
> remember to install the kdebase-startkde-4.1.2 package or you won't be
> able to select that session.

Now, if you are running a display manager, with a graphical login, then 
the above applies.  However, it's not necessary, and I long ago (2003-
ish, Mandrake 8.x) quit doing so, after Mandrake broke their DM login in 
whatever cooker version I was running at the time.  IIRC I had already 
been running KDE from text mode part of the time (having decided before 
that that I preferred KDE to GNOME or whatever), but after that, I got in 
the habit of doing it all the time, and I've never used whatever *DM at 
all on Gentoo, and haven't even had one merged since Gentoo/KDE started 
the split packages thing.  I just prefer logging in in text mode, I 
guess, and running X/KDE like I would any other application, from there.

-- 
Duncan - List replies preferred.   No HTML msgs.
"Every nonfree program has a lord, a master --
and if you use the program, he is your master."  Richard Stallman