Control: severity -1 wishlist
Hi,
On Mon, Sep 26, 2016 at 12:05:09AM +0100, Brian Potkin wrote:
> Source: debian-reference
> Version: 2.59
> Severity: normal
>
>
> Section 7.5.2. makes it clear that ~/.xsession or ~/.Xsession customise
> the startup of X for a user. This fits well with what is is said in
> startx(1) and Xsession(5). A ~/.xsession is the client which controls
> the starting and stopping of X. This is referred to as the classic file
> to use to customise an X session and to completely override the system
> code.
>
> In section 7.5.3. it is said that ~/.xsessionrc is a new method to
> customise the X session without completely overriding the system code.
>
> It is the second section I am concerned with. In the first place it
> gives the impression that ~/.xsessionrc does something different from
> ~/.xsession but does not specify what. In the second place the official
Maybe it's not perfect but it says:
Here are new methods to customize the X session without
completely overriding the system code as above.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I think this is clear enough :-)
> documentation on ~/.xsessionrc is severely lacking. The best it can do
> is in Xsession(5):
>
> > This allows the user to set global environment variables
> > for their X session, such as locale information
>
> Indeed it can, but global environment variables are just as happy being
> in ~/.xsession. It isn't mentioned in Xsession(5) that X programs and
> scripts can be run from ~/.xsessionrc but people do that to completely
> override the system code. The same programs and scripts will run from
> ~/.xsession. Is it not the case that whatever can be put in ~/.xsession
> can also be put in ~/.xsessionrc?
Use of ~/.xsession completely overriding the system code. These 2 works
in similar but the same way. Users are given choice.
> So what is the purpose of ~/.xsessionrc? Why does it exist? What does it
> do better than ~/.xsession?
OK ... design decision on what kind of configuration files to be
used is not the bug topic for "debian-reference". Please discuss it
elsewhere.
> A ~/.xsession must contain a command for a process which does not
> complete (e.g. 'exec fvwm'). If it doesn't it is not possible to put
> environment variables (or anything else there) there to be acted on by
> 50x11-common_determine-startup. This was the thrust of the report in
> #411639 and the reason ~/.xsessionrc was introduced. (Why 'exec
> gnome-session' or a similar line could not be put in ~/.xsession as a
> solution is beyond me).
I totally forgot about this bug report... Hmmmm.... I see changelog
* Add support for $HOME/.xsessionrc. Closes: #411639
This file, if present, will get sourced during the start of your X
session. This allows you to set session-wide environment variables easily
for things like locale information. Patch adapted from one by Yves-Alexis
Perez. Thanks also to Holger Levsen and Osamu Aoki for advice.
+ Adds 40x11-common_xsessionrc to /etc/X11/Xsession.d
+ Document this in Xsession.5 manpage
+ Add a NEWS.Debian entry about it
+ Modifies /etc/X11/Xsession to declare the location of ~/.xsessionrc.
Custom versions of Xsession (like gdm's) will need an update
> The purpose of ~/.xsessionrc deserves an entry in debian-reference but
> not under a heading of "Customizing the X session (new method)" and with
> rather more detailed treatment than it gets elsewhere.
"debian-reference" is "a terse user's guide with the focus on the shell
command line" created and maintained by volumteer. We should not dwell
too much in this particular issues.
As I read my document, I think adding a simple pointer to Xsession(5) in
at the last part of 7.5. before 7.5.1. may be one solution.
Osamu
