From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG  Thu Mar 26 22:48:18 2009
Return-Path: <owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG>
Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org
Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34])
	by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id AE0FD106564A
	for <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org>;
	Thu, 26 Mar 2009 22:48:18 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from mrkvrg@acm.org)
Received: from xena.bway.net (xena.bway.net [216.220.96.26])
	by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 65EB78FC14
	for <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org>;
	Thu, 26 Mar 2009 22:48:18 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from mrkvrg@acm.org)
Received: (qmail 42073 invoked by uid 0); 26 Mar 2009 22:21:37 -0000
Received: from unknown (HELO gecko3.bs.net) (216.220.115.78)
	by smtp.bway.net with SMTP; 26 Mar 2009 22:21:37 -0000
From: mv <mrkvrg@acm.org>
To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org
Date: Thu, 26 Mar 2009 18:21:36 -0400
User-Agent: KMail/1.9.10
References: <2e3ffd230903252017l26cbc450l6d671d43eb0c410a@mail.gmail.com>
In-Reply-To: <2e3ffd230903252017l26cbc450l6d671d43eb0c410a@mail.gmail.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Message-Id: <200903261821.36616.mrkvrg@acm.org>
Content-Type: text/plain;
  charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.5
Subject: Re: Desktop environments
X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org
X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5
Precedence: list
List-Id: User questions <freebsd-questions.freebsd.org>
List-Unsubscribe: <http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions>, 
	<mailto:freebsd-questions-request@freebsd.org?subject=unsubscribe>
List-Archive: <http://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-questions>
List-Post: <mailto:freebsd-questions@freebsd.org>
List-Help: <mailto:freebsd-questions-request@freebsd.org?subject=help>
List-Subscribe: <http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions>, 
	<mailto:freebsd-questions-request@freebsd.org?subject=subscribe>
X-List-Received-Date: Thu, 26 Mar 2009 22:48:18 -0000

Hello Jesse,

This message is an elaboration of Polytron's comment about starting different desktop environments/window managers using ~/.xinitrc.  I like this particular approach as DE/WM can have its own customized setup which will not interfere with the other environments.  Also it is very easy to add or delete DE/WM as needed.  The default environment is the last DE/WM used.  I've succesfully used this simple hack for the last three years:

#!/bin/sh
# Name: ~/bin/stx
# Created: 2006-02-09

cd ~
while true
do
    clear
    echo -n '
        Choice of Desktops:

            G)nome
            K)DE
            T)WM

            '$error_message'

        Select above letter (or "q" to quit): '

    read choice

    case "$choice"
        in
        g|G)
           cp .xinitrc.gnome .xinitrc
           break ;;
        k|K)
           cp .xinitrc.kde .xinitrc
           break ;;
	t|T)
           cp .xinitrc.twm .xinitrc
           break ;;
	q|Q)
           exit 2 ;;
	*)
           error_message="        Invalid Selection!"
           echo "^G" ;;
    esac
done

startx
exit 0

#EoF

Hope this may help.

Cheers...

Marek

On Wed, 25 March 2009 23:17:51 Jesse Feinman wrote:
> I am planning on using FreeBSD on a new computer i am building but i
> would like to know if there is a way that i can install multiple
> desktop environments and easily switch between them, preferably
> without restarting. The primary purpose for this is to gain complete
> functionality over the system utilizing all possible tools and also
> to evaluate the different environments to determine which one works
> best for me.
>
> Lastly, i am wondering how Compiz-fusion would interact in this case
> because to my knowledge Compiz is essentially an add on to the KDE
> and Gnome environments and i am wondering as to how it would function
> if i were to switch desktops constantly.
>
> Thank you for your time,
> Jesse Feinman
> _______________________________________________
> freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list
> http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions
> To unsubscribe, send any mail to
> "freebsd-questions-unsubscribe@freebsd.org"