[Solved] Different autostart directories for different WMs / DEs

Question

When I load a different Wm or DE a lot of the time I will have to rename ~/.config/autostart folder to ~/.config/autostartold or ~/.config/autostartgnome etc etc..
I was wondering if there is a better way of doing this. Maybe in my .xinitrc. I found this post Multiple DEs, can I have different autostarts? but it seems to end prematurely. If I was to go into my .xinitrc and change
exec ck-launch-session dbus-launch gnome-session
to
exec export XDG_CONFIG_HOME=/home/dodo3773/.config/autostartgnome ck-launch-session dbus-launch gnome-session
Will that work? Will it change back to default if I change my xinitrc to something else and reboot or would I have to change it on each one? Also, should the export  XDG_CONFIG_HOME=/home/dodo3773/.config/autostartgnome  be in quotes? Just curious if anyone had any experience with this or has tried it before. Should I pull it off the exec line and put it in an if then statement? Will there be any real negative ramifications to doing this? So many questions. Just looking for any input. I am willing to do all the testing.
Last edited by dodo3773 (2011-05-14 18:23:20)

Answer 1

dodo3773 wrote:I tried to switch to another tty and xinit openbox-session but it would not let me because I already had an X session running. I would like to do it the way you are.
Indeed, you'll need to specify a display to run your new X instance. For example,
xinit some.xinitrc -- :0
for your first X server and
xinit some2.xinitrc -- :1
for your second. You can see this in action in my first version of ~/.bash_profile posted earlier. (It's also in action in my second ~/.bash_profile, but it's less obvious because the "-- :0" actually uses a variable.)
dodo3773 wrote:I do not have the original inittab that came with my install and mine is all beat up. Do you think you could share yours with me?
Ah, of course.
# /etc/inittab
# Runlevels:
# 0 Halt
# 1(S) Single-user
# 2 Not used
# 3 Multi-user
# 4 Not used
# 5 X11
# 6 Reboot
## Only one of the following two lines can be uncommented!
# Boot to console
id:3:initdefault:
# Boot to X11
#id:5:initdefault:
rc::sysinit:/etc/rc.sysinit
rs:S1:wait:/etc/rc.single
rm:2345:wait:/etc/rc.multi
rh:06:wait:/etc/rc.shutdown
su:S:wait:/sbin/sulogin -p
# -8 options fixes umlauts problem on login
c1:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 38400 tty1 linux
c2:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 38400 tty2 linux
c3:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 38400 tty3 linux
c4:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 38400 tty4 linux
c5:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 38400 tty5 linux
c6:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 38400 tty6 linux
# Serial Virtual Console for KVM and others VMs
#s0:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 9600 ttyS0 linux
# Hypervisor Virtual Console for Xen and KVM
#h0:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 38400 hvc0 linux
ca::ctrlaltdel:/sbin/shutdown -t3 -r now
# Example lines for starting a login manager
x:5:respawn:/usr/bin/xdm -nodaemon
#x:5:respawn:/usr/sbin/gdm -nodaemon
#x:5:respawn:/usr/bin/kdm -nodaemon
#x:5:respawn:/usr/bin/slim >/dev/null 2>&1
# End of file
dodo3773 wrote:Also, how does this setup effect wireless networking? Do you use the same wireless utilty throughout all of your setups or are they automatically fed internet by the one that does?
I use wicd, which operates as a daemon. As soon as its started on boot, it starts trying to connect to a network. This way, my internet is never dependent upon which WM I use.
I haven't used Network Manager in a long time, and as far as I can recall, I had issues getting such functionality working---although supposedly there is some official CLI support. (Oddly, NM runs as a daemon too, but I seem to recall having to run a client... Ug.)
wicd rules anyway. It has a curses interface! :-)
dodo3773 wrote:Also, what about your screen resolution / setup? Does it still use the same xorg file everything normal there?
Ah, the state of my monitors is complex. I have multiple machines using similar configurations that are laptops/desktops and have Intel, AMD or nVidia graphics.
In short, I typically don't worry about xorg.conf files at all (unless specifically required). I usually pop an `xrandr` command into my xinitrc files. (You should see some such command masquerading as 'video' in my *.xinitrc files, which is my homegrown abstraction over xrandr and disper.)
In short though, if you having a working X configuration, you shouldn't have to worry about it. It should use the same xorg.conf.