Desktop environments

[mv]

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
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