Cron/Xwindows

[Brian Densmore]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jonathan Hutchins
> 
> What I'm contending is that in the most common workstation 
> environment, Linux 
> should be able to assume (and check for) a single display, 
> and should be able 
> to default applications ...
> easily be allowed for during configuration.
> 
>...
> This assumption that multiple simultaneous users is the norm in a GUI 
> workstation environment is something that I feel 
> unnecessarily burdens Linux 
> with both bloated code and non-functional default assumptions.
> ...
> I'm saying that if Linux is installed as a GUI workstation, 
> not a sever, it 
> should look for a multi-display environment, and on finding a 
> single display 
> in nearly all situations it should default to that display.
Ok, taking these points and being a programmer, I think I can
shed some light on your issue.
One, assumptions don't cost anything codewise. On the other hand 
checking to verify an assumption can and often does add bloat
to code. So as you stated in the first statement, 'assume (and check for)'
would add more bloat and not reduce it. I can understand your
desire to reduce bloat and I understand where you want to go.
It would probably be nice to have a feature that could tell the 
kernel if this was a server or a workstation. But then you would 
have to deal with maintaining two sets of code to maintain 
[trust me not a pretty site]. Now also note that the GUI app
assumes that the GUI is calling it and that the screen is on
the virtual terminal calling it. Which is what the default
assumption really should be. Now in your scenario, we would
have to add bloat to the GUI and potentially the kernel and
other support programs to go and check if it is being called
by the current VT or if there is a running VT or if there are
multiple VTs running a GUI. Plus you don't say what should
happen if there are multiple displays. Also, in your scenario
it could create a real problem for Window Managers, because
they are looking for a single X client. In other words the
GUI and GUI apps are already optimized for the best default
behavior, because nearly always a GUI app is launched inside
the GUI.
(whew!)

But I do agree with you it would be nice if a feature could be added,
that it would be possible to determine at install time if
an install is a workstation or a server or something in-between.

Fortunately, you can get the exact behavior you want by adding
the DISPLAY=:0.0 to your environment variables. So it would be trivial
for a distro maker to add that section of code (and they should)
to the environment variables if a user selects a GUI workstation install.

And that's all I have to say about that [in his best Forrest Gump voice],
Brian