From owner-freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Mon Apr 30 04:43:01 2018 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@mailman.ysv.freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2610:1c1:1:606c::19:1]) by mailman.ysv.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 8C7BFFC2C44 for ; Mon, 30 Apr 2018 04:43:01 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from vas@mpeks.tomsk.su) Received: from relay2.tomsk.ru (mail.sibptus.tomsk.ru [212.73.124.5]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id AB3C677DD0 for ; Mon, 30 Apr 2018 04:42:59 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from vas@mpeks.tomsk.su) X-Virus-Scanned: by clamd daemon 0.98.5_1 for FreeBSD at relay2.tomsk.ru Received: from [212.73.125.240] (HELO admin.sibptus.transneft.ru) by relay2.tomsk.ru (CommuniGate Pro SMTP 5.1.16) with ESMTPS id 40002117; Mon, 30 Apr 2018 11:42:57 +0700 Received: from admin.sibptus.transneft.ru (sudakov@localhost [127.0.0.1]) by admin.sibptus.transneft.ru (8.15.2/8.15.2) with ESMTP id w3U4gv5A014385; Mon, 30 Apr 2018 11:42:57 +0700 (+07) (envelope-from vas@mpeks.tomsk.su) Received: (from sudakov@localhost) by admin.sibptus.transneft.ru (8.15.2/8.15.2/Submit) id w3U4grmP014382; Mon, 30 Apr 2018 11:42:53 +0700 (+07) (envelope-from vas@mpeks.tomsk.su) X-Authentication-Warning: admin.sibptus.transneft.ru: sudakov set sender to vas@mpeks.tomsk.su using -f Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2018 11:42:53 +0700 From: Victor Sudakov To: Polytropon Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Alternative to x11/gnome3 ? Message-ID: <20180430044253.GA14278@admin.sibptus.transneft.ru> References: <20180429140256.GA8201@admin.sibptus.transneft.ru> <20180429224951.537940ad.freebsd@edvax.de> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: <20180429224951.537940ad.freebsd@edvax.de> Organization: AO "Svyaztransneft", SibPTUS X-PGP-Key: http://www.dreamwidth.org/pubkey?user=victor_sudakov X-PGP-Fingerprint: 10E3 1171 1273 E007 C2E9 3532 0DA4 F259 9B5E C634 User-Agent: Mutt/1.9.4 (2018-02-28) X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.25 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2018 04:43:01 -0000 Polytropon wrote: > > What alternative to x11/gnome3 can you advise? > > > > I would like a more lightweight desktop environment, however it MUST > > support switching between GUI users without logging out (like > > Ubuntu or Windows). > > > > I tried Mate but it does not seem to be able to switch between users > > without logging out (at least the display manager Mate comes with > > cannot do that). > > If remember correctly, both Gnome 2 and Mate _can_ do this. But I have a virtual box with the Mate metaport installed, and the "switch user" button is nowhere to be found in the Mate GUI. > The feature you're talking about is called "switch user", i. e., it is a > session switcher: User A is logged in, has programs open and so on; user > B approaches and asks to do something, so A selects the "switch user" > function, allows B to log in; B does his stuff, logs out - and the > session of user A is restored. > > Is that what you're looking for? > Not quite so. None of the users ever has to close her session and apps. Both the users' programs continue to run. Of course, at any moment only one user can access her programs on the desktop. The rest of your assumption is correct. > If yes, this function is integrated in the desktop, and not > part of the display manager (which usually is only activated > when _no_ user is logged in). I beg to disagree. When I use this feature in gnome3 and in Ubuntu, the display manager runs a separate instance of the X server per each user. And when you authenticate to the gdm, it either starts a new X server for you, or connects you to the existing X session. This is a sample output of ps on a PC with two GUI sessions (only one owns the desktop): [sudakov@vas ~] ps axww | grep X 13017 - S 1:47,82 /usr/local/bin/X :0 -background none -noreset -verbose -auth /var/run/gdm/auth-for-gdm-6X91vP/database -nolisten tcp vt09 (Xorg) 13460 - S 0:19,43 /usr/local/bin/X :1 -background none -noreset -verbose -auth /var/run/gdm/auth-for-gdm-ZbwJGt/database -nolisten tcp (Xorg) 13938 8 S+ 0:00,00 grep X I don't know how this is done internally. > > Additionally, you can probably run a second X server on the > same system and switch over for a second session... :-) > That's exactly what gdm from gnome3 does. But I'm looking for an alternative to gdm and gnome (and not startx). I have tried the stock xdm to run two separate local X-servers but this failed miserably for some reason. Must be some conflict it was unable to resolve, but the second X-server would not even start. -- Victor Sudakov, VAS4-RIPE, VAS47-RIPN AS43859