On Wed, Oct 09, 2024 at 15:55:35 -0400, e...@gmx.us wrote: > That worked. Maybe ~/.xinitrc is an old location? I'll probably leave it > there unless there's a good reason to move it.
.xinitrc is the dotfile used by startx across multiple Unix/Linux implementations. Debian's startx will use that file if it exists, or .xsession if that exists. I don't know which one wins if you have both. If you have neither, it uses a system-wide default Xsession file. .xsession is the dotfile used by xdm. And, on Debian, by startx. This allows you to switch from startx to xdm (or vice versa) without changing your setup, if you go with .xsession instead of .xinitrc. On the other hand, if your home directory is shared by multiple systems, some of which are not Debian, and you wish to use startx on all of them, then .xinitrc would be the better choice. Debian also uses the .xsessionrc file (not to be confused with .xsession), which is read by all X sessions regardless of whether they're started by startx or some Display Manager, and also regardless of whether you've got a .xinitrc file, or a .xsession file, or neither. For most users, if you only use Debian, the best place to configure your X session's environment is the ~/.xsessionrc file. If reading this leads you to scream "WHY in the HELL is it this COMPLICATED?!", know that you are not alone. Unfortunately, this is only a small part of the picture. The full picture is even worse.
