Run multiple X sessions on the same machine?
I could *swear* I'd seen this was possible, but.... Already running lightdm->fvwm on vt7 (my usual setup). I would like to experiment with another windowmananger without having to drop my normal setup. I *thought* it was something like 1. Get into another vt, log in. 2. `startx -- :1` However when I tried that it trashed the X session on vt7. Or do I need to reformulate this as "run multiple displaymanager on multiple VTs"? If so, how does one do that on SuSE? FWIW: PRETTY_NAME="openSUSE Leap 15.2" TIA, Michael -- Michael Fischer michael@visv.net
From: Michael Fischer <michael@visv.net> Date: Mon, 15 May 2023 19:44:08 -0400 I could *swear* I'd seen this was possible, but.... Already running lightdm->fvwm on vt7 (my usual setup). I would like to experiment with another windowmananger without having to drop my normal setup. I *thought* it was something like 1. Get into another vt, log in. 2. `startx -- :1` However when I tried that it trashed the X session on vt7. I had also thought it worked, but I can verify that it does the same thing (trash vt7) on openSUSE Leap 15.4. There was a time when I was using "startx" from vt0 because the DM wasn't working for me (because of a configuration glitch since fixed), and I thought X11 on vt7 was still working because the DM was still up after "startx," and I had been able to log in as root, but I realize now that I never tried logging in as root via DM while X11 was running on another console. Or do I need to reformulate this as "run multiple displaymanager on multiple VTs"? If so, how does one do that on SuSE? FWIW: PRETTY_NAME="openSUSE Leap 15.2" TIA, Michael -- Michael Fischer michael@visv.net From here, it doesn't look like X will let you do that. They're probably thinking, "Why would anyone want to use multiple WM's?" It wouldn't be the first time UI design fails for lack of imagination. -- Bob Rogers http://www.rgrjr.com/
On 2023-05-15 18:44:08 Michael Fischer wrote:
I could *swear* I'd seen this was possible, but....
Already running lightdm->fvwm on vt7 (my usual setup).
I would like to experiment with another windowmananger without having to drop my normal setup. I *thought* it was something like
1. Get into another vt, log in. 2. `startx -- :1`
However when I tried that it trashed the X session on vt7.
Or do I need to reformulate this as "run multiple displaymanager on multiple VTs"? If so, how does one do that on SuSE?
FWIW: PRETTY_NAME="openSUSE Leap 15.2"
TIA,
Michael
Depending on your login manager (gdm, tdm, etc.) there should be an option to choose a different window manager (Gnome, Trinity, etc.). Look for some sort of option button on the login screen. Leslie -- Platform: Linux Distribution: openSUSE Leap 15.4 (x86_64)
On Mon, May 15, J Leslie Turriff wrote:
On 2023-05-15 18:44:08 Michael Fischer wrote:
I could *swear* I'd seen this was possible, but....
Already running lightdm->fvwm on vt7 (my usual setup).
I would like to experiment with another windowmananger without having to drop my normal setup. I *thought* it was something like
1. Get into another vt, log in. 2. `startx -- :1`
However when I tried that it trashed the X session on vt7.
Or do I need to reformulate this as "run multiple displaymanager on multiple VTs"? If so, how does one do that on SuSE?
FWIW: PRETTY_NAME="openSUSE Leap 15.2"
TIA,
Depending on your login manager (gdm, tdm, etc.) there should be an option to choose a different window manager (Gnome, Trinity, etc.). Look for some sort of option button on the login screen.
But I don't want to log out of my VT7 X session and change window managers, I want to run 2 different WMs on 2 different VTs *at the same time*. Michael -- Michael Fischer michael@visv.net
On 2023-05-15 18:13, Michael Fischer wrote:
But I don't want to log out of my VT7 X session and change window managers, I want to run 2 different WMs on 2 different VTs *at the same time*.
Create a test user, and switch user. The settings you choose for that user will not affect those for your ordinary user account.
On Mon, May 15, Darryl Gregorash wrote:
On 2023-05-15 18:13, Michael Fischer wrote:
But I don't want to log out of my VT7 X session and change window managers, I want to run 2 different WMs on 2 different VTs *at the same time*.
Create a test user, and switch user. The settings you choose for that user will not affect those for your ordinary user account.
Indeed. I created the test user and logged in on VT2 as that user. But how to start the DM (or WM) on VT2 without crashing the DM+X running on VT7? Closest I got was `sudo startx -- :1` (unless I want to setuid X, but I'd rather see if there's a way to get lightdm running on multiple VTs). Still, even doing this caused lightdm to log out the original user on VT7. Thanks. Michael -- Michael Fischer michael@visv.net
On 2023-05-15 19:38, Michael Fischer wrote:
On Mon, May 15, Darryl Gregorash wrote:
On 2023-05-15 18:13, Michael Fischer wrote:
But I don't want to log out of my VT7 X session and change window managers, I want to run 2 different WMs on 2 different VTs *at the same time*.
Create a test user, and switch user. The settings you choose for that user will not affect those for your ordinary user account.
Indeed.
I created the test user and logged in on VT2 as that user. But how to start the DM (or WM) on VT2 without crashing the DM+X running on VT7?
Closest I got was `sudo startx -- :1` (unless I want to setuid X, but I'd rather see if there's a way to get lightdm running on multiple VTs). Still, even doing this caused lightdm to log out the original user on VT7.
Thanks.
Michael In your application launcher, you should be able to find an option to switch user. Choose that, and you should find yourself in a new login screen for VT8, and the two sessions run independently of each other.
Assuming you're booting into multi-user target (runlevel 5), of course.
On Mon, May 15, Darryl Gregorash wrote:
On 2023-05-15 19:38, Michael Fischer wrote:
On Mon, May 15, Darryl Gregorash wrote:
On 2023-05-15 18:13, Michael Fischer wrote:
But I don't want to log out of my VT7 X session and change window managers, I want to run 2 different WMs on 2 different VTs *at the same time*.
Create a test user, and switch user. The settings you choose for that user will not affect those for your ordinary user account.
Indeed.
I created the test user and logged in on VT2 as that user. But how to start the DM (or WM) on VT2 without crashing the DM+X running on VT7?
Closest I got was `sudo startx -- :1` (unless I want to setuid X, but I'd rather see if there's a way to get lightdm running on multiple VTs). Still, even doing this caused lightdm to log out the original user on VT7.
Thanks.
Michael In your application launcher, you should be able to find an option to switch user. Choose that, and you should find yourself in a new login screen for VT8, and the two sessions run independently of each other.
Assuming you're booting into multi-user target (runlevel 5), of course.
What is this "application launcher" of which you speak? I'm doing CTRL-ALT-F2 -> console login prompt -> shell on VT2. What I wonder is what next from that shell on VT2. Michael -- Michael Fischer michael@visv.net
On 2023-05-16 04:17, Michael Fischer wrote:
On Mon, May 15, Darryl Gregorash wrote:
On 2023-05-15 19:38, Michael Fischer wrote:
On Mon, May 15, Darryl Gregorash wrote:
On 2023-05-15 18:13, Michael Fischer wrote:
But I don't want to log out of my VT7 X session and change window managers, I want to run 2 different WMs on 2 different VTs *at the same time*.
Create a test user, and switch user. The settings you choose for that user will not affect those for your ordinary user account.
Indeed.
I created the test user and logged in on VT2 as that user. But how to start the DM (or WM) on VT2 without crashing the DM+X running on VT7?
Closest I got was `sudo startx -- :1` (unless I want to setuid X, but I'd rather see if there's a way to get lightdm running on multiple VTs). Still, even doing this caused lightdm to log out the original user on VT7.
Thanks.
Michael In your application launcher, you should be able to find an option to switch user. Choose that, and you should find yourself in a new login screen for VT8, and the two sessions run independently of each other.
Assuming you're booting into multi-user target (runlevel 5), of course.
What is this "application launcher" of which you speak?
I'm doing CTRL-ALT-F2 -> console login prompt -> shell on VT2.
What I wonder is what next from that shell on VT2.
For example, I am using XFCE. I find the place in the menu to exit the session, but instead, I choose "switch user". I can then login with another user, and another desktop if I wish. Once the second user is started, I can switch back and forth by pressing [Ctrl][Alt][F7] or [Ctrl][Alt][F8]. I could start another one on [Ctrl][Alt][F9]. I can exit any one, and get the login prompt in that space instead. Easy peasy. (Details may vary per desktop and display manager.) The display manager takes care of things like assigning control of sound or the cdrom tray to the user whose desktop has the focus, who is assumed to have the chair. Warning: switching to same user, different desktop, may or may not work right or at all. -- Cheers / Saludos, Carlos E. R. (from 15.4 x86_64 at Telcontar)
On Tue, May 16, Carlos E. R. wrote:
What is this "application launcher" of which you speak?
I'm doing CTRL-ALT-F2 -> console login prompt -> shell on VT2.
What I wonder is what next from that shell on VT2.
For example, I am using XFCE. I find the place in the menu to exit the session, but instead, I choose "switch user". I can then login with another user, and another desktop if I wish. Once the second user is started, I can switch back and forth by pressing [Ctrl][Alt][F7] or [Ctrl][Alt][F8]. I could start another one on [Ctrl][Alt][F9]. I can exit any one, and get the login prompt in that space instead.
Easy peasy.
(Details may vary per desktop and display manager.)
Yes, well.... FVWM doesn't have this (at least, my setup doesn't...) Ironically, I'm doing this exercise to see how well I can imitate my fvwm setup with XFCE4....
The display manager takes care of things like assigning control of sound or the cdrom tray to the user whose desktop has the focus, who is assumed to have the chair.
Warning: switching to same user, different desktop, may or may not work right or at all.
So when you say the "switch user" functionality lets you chose not only a different user with with which to log in, it gives you a choice of "desktop", where "desktop" corresponds to a different VT (other than VT7) on which it will run? Thanks. Michael -- Michael Fischer michael@visv.net
On 2023-05-15 21:04, Michael Fischer wrote:
On Tue, May 16, Carlos E. R. wrote:
What is this "application launcher" of which you speak?
I'm doing CTRL-ALT-F2 -> console login prompt -> shell on VT2.
What I wonder is what next from that shell on VT2.
For example, I am using XFCE. I find the place in the menu to exit the session, but instead, I choose "switch user". I can then login with another user, and another desktop if I wish. Once the second user is started, I can switch back and forth by pressing [Ctrl][Alt][F7] or [Ctrl][Alt][F8]. I could start another one on [Ctrl][Alt][F9]. I can exit any one, and get the login prompt in that space instead.
Easy peasy.
(Details may vary per desktop and display manager.)
Yes, well.... FVWM doesn't have this (at least, my setup doesn't...) Ironically, I'm doing this exercise to see how well I can imitate my fvwm setup with XFCE4....
Check the RootMenu. The website says restart/quit FVWM is in there, so switch user should probably be there as well.
The display manager takes care of things like assigning control of sound or the cdrom tray to the user whose desktop has the focus, who is assumed to have the chair.
Warning: switching to same user, different desktop, may or may not work right or at all.
So when you say the "switch user" functionality lets you chose not only a different user with with which to log in, it gives you a choice of "desktop", where "desktop" corresponds to a different VT (other than VT7) on which it will run?
Different user, yes. Different terminal, not the way you are thinking about it. You have no choice which terminal will be used. A new terminal will be created (VT8), and the login manager will be started in that. This session is run as a new session, all handled by the system, so unless you log in as the same user, they will run completely independently of each other.
On Mon, May 15, Darryl Gregorash wrote:
Check the RootMenu. The website says restart/quit FVWM is in there, so switch user should probably be there as well.
Nope, its not. 1. XTerm 2. Issue fvwm commands D. Desktop Menu > R. Restart fvwm X. Exit fvwm (that's the "builtin menu")
Different user, yes. Different terminal, not the way you are thinking about it. You have no choice which terminal will be used. A new terminal will be created (VT8), and the login manager will be started in that. This session is run as a new session, all handled by the system, so unless you log in as the same user, they will run completely independently of each other.
Yeah, I was starting to wonder if I needed to use the "next VT" (aka VT8). Except that if I CTRL-ALT-8, it doesn't have either a displaymanager interface, nor a login prompt. Michael -- Michael Fischer michael@visv.net
On 2023-05-15 23:02, Michael Fischer wrote:
On Mon, May 15, Darryl Gregorash wrote:
Check the RootMenu. The website says restart/quit FVWM is in there, so switch user should probably be there as well.
Nope, its not.
1. XTerm 2. Issue fvwm commands D. Desktop Menu > R. Restart fvwm X. Exit fvwm
(that's the "builtin menu") Well, it has to be in there somewhere, or it is rather useless as a DM in a multi-user graphical environment. What happens if you select "Restart fvwm"?
Different user, yes. Different terminal, not the way you are thinking about it. You have no choice which terminal will be used. A new terminal will be created (VT8), and the login manager will be started in that. This session is run as a new session, all handled by the system, so unless you log in as the same user, they will run completely independently of each other.
Yeah, I was starting to wonder if I needed to use the "next VT" (aka VT8). Except that if I CTRL-ALT-8, it doesn't have either a displaymanager interface, nor a login prompt.
VT8 does not exist until it is created specifically to run a second graphical environment. For that matter, VT7 does not exist either, if you are running runlevel 3. If you switch/boot into runlevel 5, systemd creates a new terminal, VT7, then loads the login manager into that terminal.
On Mon, May 15, Darryl Gregorash wrote:
On 2023-05-15 23:02, Michael Fischer wrote:
On Mon, May 15, Darryl Gregorash wrote:
Check the RootMenu. The website says restart/quit FVWM is in there, so switch user should probably be there as well.
Nope, its not.
1. XTerm 2. Issue fvwm commands D. Desktop Menu > R. Restart fvwm X. Exit fvwm
(that's the "builtin menu") Well, it has to be in there somewhere, or it is rather useless as a DM in a multi-user graphical environment. What happens if you select "Restart fvwm"?
FVWM is a WM (one of the oldest), not a DM nor a DE. Michael -- Michael Fischer michael@visv.net
On 2023-05-16 09:56, Michael Fischer wrote:
On Mon, May 15, Darryl Gregorash wrote:
On 2023-05-15 23:02, Michael Fischer wrote:
On Mon, May 15, Darryl Gregorash wrote:
Check the RootMenu. The website says restart/quit FVWM is in there, so switch user should probably be there as well.
Nope, its not.
1. XTerm 2. Issue fvwm commands D. Desktop Menu > R. Restart fvwm X. Exit fvwm
(that's the "builtin menu") Well, it has to be in there somewhere, or it is rather useless as a DM in a multi-user graphical environment. What happens if you select "Restart fvwm"?
FVWM is a WM (one of the oldest), not a DM nor a DE.
Michael So make the appropriate modification to what I said. It's still pretty useless if you do not have a way to run multiple graphical sessions in a multi-user graphical environment.
On 2023-05-16 07:02, Michael Fischer wrote:
On Mon, May 15, Darryl Gregorash wrote:
Check the RootMenu. The website says restart/quit FVWM is in there, so switch user should probably be there as well.
Nope, its not.
1. XTerm 2. Issue fvwm commands D. Desktop Menu > R. Restart fvwm X. Exit fvwm
(that's the "builtin menu")
Try to switch to text mode ([Ctrl][Alt][F1]) and back ([Ctrl][Alt][F7]). In some combinations, this causes the screensaver or display manager to kick in and ask for your password. And, it may also have an option to select a different user instead. ...
Yeah, I was starting to wonder if I needed to use the "next VT" (aka VT8). Except that if I CTRL-ALT-8, it doesn't have either a displaymanager interface, nor a login prompt.
No. -- Cheers / Saludos, Carlos E. R. (from 15.4 x86_64 at Telcontar)
On Tue, May 16, 2023 at 6:05 AM Michael Fischer <michael@visv.net> wrote:
On Tue, May 16, Carlos E. R. wrote:
What is this "application launcher" of which you speak?
I'm doing CTRL-ALT-F2 -> console login prompt -> shell on VT2.
What I wonder is what next from that shell on VT2.
For example, I am using XFCE. I find the place in the menu to exit the session, but instead, I choose "switch user". I can then login with another user, and another desktop if I wish. Once the second user is started, I can switch back and forth by pressing [Ctrl][Alt][F7] or [Ctrl][Alt][F8]. I could start another one on [Ctrl][Alt][F9]. I can exit any one, and get the login prompt in that space instead.
Easy peasy.
(Details may vary per desktop and display manager.)
Yes, well.... FVWM doesn't have this (at least, my setup doesn't...) Ironically, I'm doing this exercise to see how well I can imitate my fvwm setup with XFCE4....
If you are using lightdm you can use dm-tool to tell the display manager to open the second session. dm-tool switch-to-user username
The display manager takes care of things like assigning control of sound or the cdrom tray to the user whose desktop has the focus, who is assumed to have the chair.
Warning: switching to same user, different desktop, may or may not work right or at all.
So when you say the "switch user" functionality lets you chose not only a different user with with which to log in, it gives you a choice of "desktop", where "desktop" corresponds to a different VT (other than VT7) on which it will run?
Switch user starts a session on a new VT which is normally auto-selected. It is done via display manager (even if some desktop environment has it somewhere in its menu it actually talks to display manager).
On 2023-05-16 05:04, Michael Fischer wrote:
On Tue, May 16, Carlos E. R. wrote:
What is this "application launcher" of which you speak?
I'm doing CTRL-ALT-F2 -> console login prompt -> shell on VT2.
What I wonder is what next from that shell on VT2.
For example, I am using XFCE. I find the place in the menu to exit the session, but instead, I choose "switch user". I can then login with another user, and another desktop if I wish. Once the second user is started, I can switch back and forth by pressing [Ctrl][Alt][F7] or [Ctrl][Alt][F8]. I could start another one on [Ctrl][Alt][F9]. I can exit any one, and get the login prompt in that space instead.
Easy peasy.
(Details may vary per desktop and display manager.)
Yes, well.... FVWM doesn't have this (at least, my setup doesn't...) Ironically, I'm doing this exercise to see how well I can imitate my fvwm setup with XFCE4....
It may also be that the display manager doesn't support it. For instance, this machine has "sddm".
The display manager takes care of things like assigning control of sound or the cdrom tray to the user whose desktop has the focus, who is assumed to have the chair.
Warning: switching to same user, different desktop, may or may not work right or at all.
So when you say the "switch user" functionality lets you chose not only a different user with with which to log in, it gives you a choice of "desktop", where "desktop" corresponds to a different VT (other than VT7) on which it will run?
No: desktop like xfce, gnome, plasma, fvwm... -- Cheers / Saludos, Carlos E. R. (from 15.4 x86_64 at Telcontar)
On 2023-05-15 20:17, Michael Fischer wrote:
On Mon, May 15, Darryl Gregorash wrote:
On 2023-05-15 19:38, Michael Fischer wrote:
On Mon, May 15, Darryl Gregorash wrote:
On 2023-05-15 18:13, Michael Fischer wrote:
But I don't want to log out of my VT7 X session and change window managers, I want to run 2 different WMs on 2 different VTs *at the same time*.
Create a test user, and switch user. The settings you choose for that user will not affect those for your ordinary user account.
Indeed.
I created the test user and logged in on VT2 as that user. But how to start the DM (or WM) on VT2 without crashing the DM+X running on VT7?
Closest I got was `sudo startx -- :1` (unless I want to setuid X, but I'd rather see if there's a way to get lightdm running on multiple VTs). Still, even doing this caused lightdm to log out the original user on VT7.
Thanks.
Michael In your application launcher, you should be able to find an option to switch user. Choose that, and you should find yourself in a new login screen for VT8, and the two sessions run independently of each other.
Assuming you're booting into multi-user target (runlevel 5), of course.
What is this "application launcher" of which you speak?
I'm doing CTRL-ALT-F2 -> console login prompt -> shell on VT2.
What I wonder is what next from that shell on VT2.
Michael
The application launcher should be on whatever task manager bar the current desktop is using. For example, in KDE by default it is on the extreme left of the task manager. When first booting your system, you boot into a login manager (eg sddm), right? You should be using the same, not logging into some text console, to log in as a second user.
* Darryl Gregorash <raven@accesscomm.ca> [05-15-23 22:04]:
In your application launcher, you should be able to find an option to switch user. Choose that, and you should find yourself in a new login screen for VT8, and the two sessions run independently of each other.
Assuming you're booting into multi-user target (runlevel 5), of course.
but multi-user.target is runlevel 3 and graphical.target is runlevel 5 (corresponds to) -- (paka)Patrick Shanahan Plainfield, Indiana, USA @ptilopteri http://en.opensuse.org openSUSE Community Member facebook/ptilopteri Photos: http://wahoo.no-ip.org/piwigo paka @ IRCnet oftc
On 2023-05-15 21:05, Patrick Shanahan wrote:
* Darryl Gregorash <raven@accesscomm.ca> [05-15-23 22:04]:
In your application launcher, you should be able to find an option to switch user. Choose that, and you should find yourself in a new login screen for VT8, and the two sessions run independently of each other.
Assuming you're booting into multi-user target (runlevel 5), of course.
but multi-user.target is runlevel 3 and graphical.target is runlevel 5 (corresponds to)
I'm still sorting out all the changes that systemd has brought to the system. Thanks for this reminder.
J Leslie Turriff composed on 2023-05-15 19:02 (UTC-0500):
Depending on your login manager (gdm, tdm, etc.) there should be an option to choose a different window manager (Gnome, Trinity, etc.). Look for some sort of option button on the login screen.
That's for a same user usage, after logging out of the present session. I'm not sure what he wants can still be done without the extra session coming from logging in as a different user. Most DMs do support a menu option to switch to a different user without logging out, or trying from a tty with startx. These are after all multi-user operating systems. Officially, openSUSE hasn't supported startx for several years, but for some configurations, startx still works, and for some other distros, it's still and/or better supported. -- Evolution as taught in public schools is, like religion, based on faith, not based on science. Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 ** a11y rocks! Felix Miata
On 2023-05-16 02:18, Felix Miata wrote:
J Leslie Turriff composed on 2023-05-15 19:02 (UTC-0500):
Depending on your login manager (gdm, tdm, etc.) there should be an option to choose a different window manager (Gnome, Trinity, etc.). Look for some sort of option button on the login screen.
That's for a same user usage, after logging out of the present session. I'm not sure what he wants can still be done without the extra session coming from logging in as a different user. Most DMs do support a menu option to switch to a different user without logging out, or trying from a tty with startx. These are after all multi-user operating systems. Officially, openSUSE hasn't supported startx for several years, but for some configurations, startx still works, and for some other distros, it's still and/or better supported.
Running level 3, there was a way, but I don't find my old notes on this. Maybe: one user startx kde -- :1 another user startx kde -- 2:1 I haven't tried that in well over a decade. Far easier with the display manager proper. -- Cheers / Saludos, Carlos E. R. (from 15.4 x86_64 at Telcontar)
* Carlos E. R. <robin.listas@telefonica.net> [05-15-23 22:59]:
On 2023-05-16 02:18, Felix Miata wrote:
J Leslie Turriff composed on 2023-05-15 19:02 (UTC-0500):
Depending on your login manager (gdm, tdm, etc.) there should be an option to choose a different window manager (Gnome, Trinity, etc.). Look for some sort of option button on the login screen.
That's for a same user usage, after logging out of the present session. I'm not sure what he wants can still be done without the extra session coming from logging in as a different user. Most DMs do support a menu option to switch to a different user without logging out, or trying from a tty with startx. These are after all multi-user operating systems. Officially, openSUSE hasn't supported startx for several years, but for some configurations, startx still works, and for some other distros, it's still and/or better supported.
Running level 3, there was a way, but I don't find my old notes on this.
Maybe:
one user startx kde -- :1
another user startx kde -- 2:1
I haven't tried that in well over a decade.
Far easier with the display manager proper.
I run icewm and plasma5 concurrently and have for years. I start icewm from multi-user in a tty, startx /usr/bin/icewm-session-default and plasma from graphical startx no longer requires "-- :[tty#]" at least in sddm -- (paka)Patrick Shanahan Plainfield, Indiana, USA @ptilopteri http://en.opensuse.org openSUSE Community Member facebook/ptilopteri Photos: http://wahoo.no-ip.org/piwigo paka @ IRCnet oftc
* Patrick Shanahan <paka@opensuse.org> [05-15-23 23:04]:
* Carlos E. R. <robin.listas@telefonica.net> [05-15-23 22:59]:
On 2023-05-16 02:18, Felix Miata wrote:
J Leslie Turriff composed on 2023-05-15 19:02 (UTC-0500):
Depending on your login manager (gdm, tdm, etc.) there should be an option to choose a different window manager (Gnome, Trinity, etc.). Look for some sort of option button on the login screen.
That's for a same user usage, after logging out of the present session. I'm not sure what he wants can still be done without the extra session coming from logging in as a different user. Most DMs do support a menu option to switch to a different user without logging out, or trying from a tty with startx. These are after all multi-user operating systems. Officially, openSUSE hasn't supported startx for several years, but for some configurations, startx still works, and for some other distros, it's still and/or better supported.
Running level 3, there was a way, but I don't find my old notes on this.
Maybe:
one user startx kde -- :1
another user startx kde -- 2:1
I haven't tried that in well over a decade.
Far easier with the display manager proper.
I run icewm and plasma5 concurrently and have for years. I start icewm from multi-user in a tty, startx /usr/bin/icewm-session-default and plasma from graphical
startx no longer requires "-- :[tty#]" at least in sddm
and both as the same logged in user. -- (paka)Patrick Shanahan Plainfield, Indiana, USA @ptilopteri http://en.opensuse.org openSUSE Community Member facebook/ptilopteri Photos: http://wahoo.no-ip.org/piwigo paka @ IRCnet oftc
On Mon, May 15, Patrick Shanahan wrote:
I run icewm and plasma5 concurrently and have for years. I start icewm from multi-user in a tty, startx /usr/bin/icewm-session-default and plasma from graphical
startx no longer requires "-- :[tty#]" at least in sddm
I'm using lightdm to spawn fvwm. I suppose I could try `startx /usr/bin/startxfce4` ? I'd still need to setuid on X itself for this, yes? Michael -- Michael Fischer michael@visv.net
Michael Fischer composed on 2023-05-15 23:08 (UTC-0400):
Patrick Shanahan wrote:
I run icewm and plasma5 concurrently and have for years. I start icewm from multi-user in a tty, startx /usr/bin/icewm-session-default and plasma from graphical
startx no longer requires "-- :[tty#]" at least in sddm
I'm using lightdm to spawn fvwm. I suppose I could try `startx /usr/bin/startxfce4` ? I'd still need to setuid on X itself for this, yes?
Once upon a time, when Stefan Dirsh[1] wasn't yet adamant that startx was unsupported, he wrote correct syntax to specify session to have startx run was: WINDOWMANAGER=/usr/bin/icewm startx Lots of apparent alternatives :p : # ls -Gg /disks/root3/usr/bin/icewm* lrwxrwxrwx 1 23 May 10 10:39 /usr/bin/icewm -> /etc/alternatives/icewm -rwxr-xr-x 1 1575040 May 10 10:39 /usr/bin/icewm-default -rwxr-xr-x 1 1562752 May 10 10:39 /usr/bin/icewm-lite -rwxr-xr-x 1 62888 May 10 10:39 /usr/bin/icewm-menu-fdo -rwxr-xr-x 1 13398 May 10 10:39 /usr/bin/icewm-menu-xrandr lrwxrwxrwx 1 31 May 10 10:39 /usr/bin/icewm-session -> /etc/alternatives/icewm-session -rwxr-xr-x 1 67880 May 10 10:39 /usr/bin/icewm-session-default -rwxr-xr-x 1 67880 May 10 10:39 /usr/bin/icewm-session-lite lrwxrwxrwx 1 25 May 10 10:39 /usr/bin/icewmbg -> /etc/alternatives/icewmbg -rwxr-xr-x 1 181032 May 10 10:39 /usr/bin/icewmbg-default -rwxr-xr-x 1 185120 May 10 10:39 /usr/bin/icewmbg-lite lrwxrwxrwx 1 27 May 10 10:39 /usr/bin/icewmhint -> /etc/alternatives/icewmhint -rwxr-xr-x 1 22736 May 10 10:39 /usr/bin/icewmhint-default -rwxr-xr-x 1 18640 May 10 10:39 /usr/bin/icewmhint-lite # [1] Stefan Dirsch is SUSE's apparent primary X & NVidia driver maintainer. -- Evolution as taught in public schools is, like religion, based on faith, not based on science. Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 ** a11y rocks! Felix Miata
On Mon, May 15, Felix Miata wrote:
Michael Fischer composed on 2023-05-15 23:08 (UTC-0400):
Patrick Shanahan wrote:
I run icewm and plasma5 concurrently and have for years. I start icewm from multi-user in a tty, startx /usr/bin/icewm-session-default and plasma from graphical
startx no longer requires "-- :[tty#]" at least in sddm
I'm using lightdm to spawn fvwm. I suppose I could try `startx /usr/bin/startxfce4` ? I'd still need to setuid on X itself for this, yes?
Once upon a time, when Stefan Dirsh[1] wasn't yet adamant that startx was unsupported, he wrote correct syntax to specify session to have startx run was:
WINDOWMANAGER=/usr/bin/icewm startx
Yeah, I took the ~/.xinitrc.template to make a ~/.xinitrc and added export WINDOWMANAGER=xfce4. I suppose I should make that /usr/bin/startxfce4. But ok, guess I need to setuid X (chmod +s /usr/bin/Xorg if my old notes still obtain). Or the /etc/permissions.local route. Will try the next time I'm ready to have to restart all my normal desktop stuff... Thanks. Michael -- Michael Fischer michael@visv.net
On 2023-05-16 05:27, Felix Miata wrote:
Michael Fischer composed on 2023-05-15 23:08 (UTC-0400):
Patrick Shanahan wrote:
Once upon a time, when Stefan Dirsh[1] wasn't yet adamant that startx was unsupported, he wrote correct syntax to specify session to have startx run was:
WINDOWMANAGER=/usr/bin/icewm startx
This I do have in my old notes: startx kde -- :1 WINDOWMANAGER="blackbox" startx -- :1 startx blackbox -- :1 Command "wmlist" showed the posible environments to use. But the tool is no longer installed and can not find it. cer@nimrodel:~> wmlist kde gnome windowmaker enlightenment blackbox openbox fvwm2 icewm mwm qvwm twm Notice that a desktop started via startx doesn't get all features. Meaning opening usb sticks, sound, cdrom, etc. -- Cheers / Saludos, Carlos E. R. (from 15.4 x86_64 at Telcontar)
* Michael Fischer <michael@visv.net> [05-15-23 23:10]:
On Mon, May 15, Patrick Shanahan wrote:
I run icewm and plasma5 concurrently and have for years. I start icewm from multi-user in a tty, startx /usr/bin/icewm-session-default and plasma from graphical
startx no longer requires "-- :[tty#]" at least in sddm
I'm using lightdm to spawn fvwm. I suppose I could try `startx /usr/bin/startxfce4` ? I'd still need to setuid on X itself for this, yes?
yes, if it is not already. occasionally I need to reset X perms on my systems, but hasn't in the last year or so. I boot to multi-user (runlevel 3) and startx in a tty. no need to go to graphical.target, just change to another tty and another startx. one cavat, you chosen web browser may not want to share sessions. and fwiw, kde/plasma doesn't require much system resources contrary to belief. but one can "load up" any window manager. -- (paka)Patrick Shanahan Plainfield, Indiana, USA @ptilopteri http://en.opensuse.org openSUSE Community Member facebook/ptilopteri Photos: http://wahoo.no-ip.org/piwigo paka @ IRCnet oftc
On Mon, May 15, Michael Fischer wrote:
Or do I need to reformulate this as "run multiple displaymanager on multiple VTs"? If so, how does one do that on SuSE?
Hmmmm. https://github.com/canonical/lightdm/issues/40 Looks like this is a displaymanager (lightdm) + logind thing. May need to create a secondary user (which is much easier than flipping whole logins back and forth). Michael -- Michael Fischer michael@visv.net
On 2023-05-16 02:31, Michael Fischer wrote:
On Mon, May 15, Michael Fischer wrote:
Or do I need to reformulate this as "run multiple displaymanager on multiple VTs"? If so, how does one do that on SuSE?
Hmmmm. https://github.com/canonical/lightdm/issues/40 Looks like this is a displaymanager (lightdm) + logind thing.
Change login manager. Or try 'dm-tool' as Andrei suggested. -- Cheers / Saludos, Carlos E. R. (from 15.4 x86_64 at Telcontar)
On Tue, May 16, 2023 at 2:44 AM Michael Fischer <michael@visv.net> wrote:
I could *swear* I'd seen this was possible, but....
Already running lightdm->fvwm on vt7 (my usual setup).
I would like to experiment with another windowmananger without having to drop my normal setup. I *thought* it was something like
1. Get into another vt, log in. 2. `startx -- :1`
However when I tried that it trashed the X session on vt7.
What exactly does "trashed the X session" mean?
Or do I need to reformulate this as "run multiple displaymanager on multiple VTs"?
You cannot run multiple display managers (at least, without jumping through the hoops), but you can run multiple desktop environments (graphical user sessions) for different users.
If so, how does one do that on SuSE?
SuSE has not existed for years. So whatever worked in SuSE most likely does not with anymore in (open)SUSE.
FWIW: PRETTY_NAME="openSUSE Leap 15.2"
I suspect not many users are still using this version now.
On Tue, May 16, Andrei Borzenkov wrote:
On Tue, May 16, 2023 at 2:44 AM Michael Fischer <michael@visv.net> wrote:
I could *swear* I'd seen this was possible, but....
Already running lightdm->fvwm on vt7 (my usual setup).
I would like to experiment with another windowmananger without having to drop my normal setup. I *thought* it was something like
1. Get into another vt, log in. 2. `startx -- :1`
However when I tried that it trashed the X session on vt7.
What exactly does "trashed the X session" mean?
Just for clarification: if I switch back to VT7 with CTRL-ALT-F7, the gui is gone and I'm looking at the end of the startup console lines. FWIW, I suspect your suggestion of dm-tool might well be the thing I'm looking for. I shall try it later. Michael -- Michael Fischer michael@visv.net
On 16.05.2023 19:02, Michael Fischer wrote:
On Tue, May 16, Andrei Borzenkov wrote:
On Tue, May 16, 2023 at 2:44 AM Michael Fischer <michael@visv.net> wrote:
I could *swear* I'd seen this was possible, but....
Already running lightdm->fvwm on vt7 (my usual setup).
I would like to experiment with another windowmananger without having to drop my normal setup. I *thought* it was something like
1. Get into another vt, log in. 2. `startx -- :1`
However when I tried that it trashed the X session on vt7.
What exactly does "trashed the X session" mean?
Just for clarification: if I switch back to VT7 with CTRL-ALT-F7, the gui is gone and I'm looking at the end of the startup console lines.
This could be due to X server crashing or due to your GUI session deciding to finish or due to your GUI session crashing. Without logs it is impossible to even start guessing.
participants (9)
-
Andrei Borzenkov -
Bob Rogers -
Carlos E. R. -
Carlos E.R. -
Darryl Gregorash -
Felix Miata -
J Leslie Turriff -
Michael Fischer -
Patrick Shanahan