Linux Know-How provides a collection of introductory texts on often needed Linux skills.


Default desktop

In my home directory, I create (or edit if it exists) the file .xsession using my favourite pico editor:

pico .xsession

[Pls note the dot at the beginning of the filename, files with names starting with dots are normally "invisible".]

On my RedHat 6.2 system, the file contains just one line:

exec startkde

KDE clearly works best for me, although it feels heavy on older hardware or under a load. Here is my list of windows managers available on the RedHat or Mandrake installation CD:

startkde (to run kde. on some systems, the command may be kde)

gnome-session (to run Gnome)

xfce (to run XFce, my favourite "lightweight" desktop)

afterstep (to run afterstep)

AnotherLevel (to run AnotherLevel)

fvwm2 (to run fvwm2)

fvwm (to run fvwm)

Of course, the alternative windows manager will run only if it is installed on your system. The above windows managers are available on RH/Mandrake CDs for you to decide if you want to install them. I use almost exclusively KDE, although the other managers may be smaller and faster. Gnome is a famous X-windows project which is said to be more advanced and is prettier than KDE, but it is still quite buggy, so perhaps not recommended unless you don't mind occasional trouble. RH6.x contains both major X-windows systems, Gnome and KDE.


Last Update: 2010-12-16