OpenSUSE Linux Rants

When you start up Linux on your box, generally you are taken to a graphical login screen (unless, of course, you have configured things differently). This graphical login screen is called the display manager.

Would you like to check out some different display managers in Linux? There are about 4 that I have been playing around with: xdm, gdm, kdm, wdm

To take a look at the differences, and see which one you like, install them with your package manager. With OpenSUSE, this is yast or zypper.

The commandline way to do this is simple:

For OpenSUSE 11.2

[1004][root@dev:/home/scott]$ zypper in gdm kdm wdm xdm

To see which one you like, edit the /etc/sysconfig/displaymanager file. Look for this section:

## Type:        string(kdm,kdm3,kdm4,xdm,gdm,wdm,console)
## Default:     ""
#
# Here you can set the default Display manager (kdm/xdm/gdm/wdm/console).
# all changes in this file require a restart of the displaymanager
#
DISPLAYMANAGER="kdm4"

You’ll notice that the first couple of lines tell you what to put in for the display manager you want to use (kdm,kdm3,kdm4,xdm,gdm,wdm,console). Put in different ones and see what floats your boat. When you get it how you like it, stop.

For OpenSUSE 11.1

[1004][root@dev:/home/scott]$ zypper in gdm kde4-kdm wdm

I didn’t see xdm available on 11.1, but I could be up in the night.

To see which one you like, edit the /etc/sysconfig/displaymanager file. Look for this section:

## Type:        string(kdm,kdm3,kdm4,xdm,gdm,wdm,console)
## Default:     ""
#
# Here you can set the default Display manager (kdm/xdm/gdm/wdm/console).
# all changes in this file require a restart of the displaymanager
#
DISPLAYMANAGER="kdm4"

You’ll notice that it tells you what to put in for the display manager you want to use (kdm,kdm3,kdm4,xdm,gdm,wdm,console). Take a look at them, see which one suits your fancy, and use the one that makes your heart tingle.

G’day.