Baslinux mailing list

["Ian Scott" <mriscott AT yahoo.co.uk>]

> >>
> >> How would you, on one line, set up an alias
> >> to go into Xvesa
> >
> > I wouldn't.  Thats what xinit and ~/.xinitrc are for.
> >
> >> and load icewm and opera?

(snip)

> I have trouble understanding man pages but will try again.  I 
> would like 
> to know what this all means.
> 
> >
> >> can I set up several .xinitrc's and choose between them?
> >
> > man xinit
> >


Since you have confessed to a problem reading manpages, I have had a look at
the xinit manpage for you.  It's a beaut!  If you find other manpages
difficult, I don't fancy your chances with this one!  So I have distilled
what I learnt from it:

I suspect the answer you want is to use separate .xinitc's.

e.g. 

create a /etc/xinitrc.opera file containing something like

icewm&
exec opera 


This will start icewm and opera, then when you exit opera, X will close down

Then set an alias like:

alias O='xinit /etc/xinitrc.opera -- /usr/X11/bin/Xvesa -terminate'


By the way, the logic in xinitrc files is:
 - You want & at the end of the all lines except the last one
 - You want an exec before the last line 
 - when the program on the last line exits, X closes down.

i.e. in the example I have given, quitting opera would quit X.  Choosing
quit from an icewm menu, however, would just close icewm, leaving opera
running.


Hope this helps.