Re: Some questions I have yet solved

[Paul Braman <braman tsc-corp com>]

On Sun, 10 May 1998, Martin wrote:

> 1)   I have lot's of rpm's that I cannot install or upgrade (I install
> the rpm's in xwindows using the RPM manager). Where are the failure
> messages kept ? I can't find them anywhere

Try using rpm -iv <package> on the command line with those packages that 
fail.

> 2)   I have trouble working out the configurations for xwindows. From
> what I've read so far, some docs and books say .xinitrc, .Xresources,
> Xclients. Ive tried reading all the files, trying to follow the flow but
> I just can't figure out what files are loaded and what order. Xresources
> (0r .xresources) don't even exist on my system (using find and locate)
> despite what some books say.
> 
> Can anyone explain the process of running xwindows (in a file related
> way) or point me to a good source that does.

I know you said you've done a lot of reading, but if you haven't read 
_X_User_Tools_, by Linda Mui and Valerie Quercia, you haven't read 
enough.  [grin]  (It's an O'Reilly A Associates, Inc. book.)

There are two ways to start an X server.  (Or I am sure someone will 
correct me.)  You can start it by hand or use a login manager.  A login 
manager like xdm or dtlogin is run in a certain runlevel at boot time.  
If you start your X server by yourself you run either xinit or startx.

Now, there are two parts to the X Window system--the server and the 
client.  The "server" is the program that actually controls the display 
you are looking at.  The "client" is any program that sends stuff to the 
"server" for display.

When you start your X server manually via xinit or startx, the first file 
these programs look for is .xinitrc.  This file needs to have a command 
which actually starts your window manager.  If not, you'll just get a box 
in the upper left hand corner in which you can run the command to start 
your window manager yourself.  Other commands in .xinitrc start other 
programs you might want by default.  There is a good discussion about 
using the sleep command in .xinitrc to give the X server a chance to 
start up quickly.  This discussion can be found in the X Windows FAQ 
discussing Speedups.  (I think I have a copy of it if you need/want it.)

When you start your X server using xdm (and variants) the first file it 
looks for is .xsession.  This essentially contains the same stuff that 
your .xinitrc would.

Other than window manager configuration files that's about al it takes to 
start things up.  If you decide to configure a few things yourself, 
create/edit a file called .Xdefaults.  This should contain resource 
settings you want for each session.  These resources override all other 
settings, either default or in system-wide configuration files.

Note, .xinitrc and .xsession are scripts.  The run like scripts.  You can 
even put "#!/bin/bash" at the top to make sure commands are in a certain 
shell syntax.  It is important to have one client (preferably the window 
manager) be in the foreground.  It is this foreground process that keeps 
from leaving the .xinitrc script.  Once this script ends, your session 
ends.  By having your window manager be the last item and the only one in 
the foreground, once you end your window manager your session ends and 
you are returned to prompt/login.

(If you want to take a look at the fore-mentioned book let me know and I 
will bring it to the meeting on Wednesday.)

Paul Braman
braman tsc-corp com