Running a different desktop environment

Running a different desktop environment

In addition to the standard Panorama (xdt3) desktop, SCO OpenServer Release 6.0.0 also offers the option of using the K Desktop Environment (KDE). On a freshly installed system, Panorama is the default Graphical Environment desktop.

The file /etc/default/xdesktops contains one or more lines of the form:

   name=script

Where name is a unique identifier for a desktop, and script is a single command that invokes that desktop. For example, the default xdesktops file contains these two entries:

   xdt3=/usr/bin/X11/scosession
   kde3=/opt/kde/bin/startkde

Additional desktops can be added to the file as they are installed.

The file /etc/default/X11 is used to select the system-wide default desktop. This file has two possible entries in it:

XSESSION=YES|NO: Set this to YES if you always want to use the SCO session manager. This potentially allows you to have your desktop configurations saved and restored on subsequent startups.
XDESKTOP=name: Invokes the desktop called name, which must match one of the identifiers specified in /etc/default/xdesktops. By default, this has the value xdt3. If you want to use KDE by default for all desktop logins on the system, set it to kde3.

In addition, the file $HOME/.x11rc allows each user to specify their own default desktop. This file can both define new desktops and select one, as described above. So, for example, a $HOME/.x11rc file that selects KDE as the default desktop could look like this:

   kde3=/opt/kde/bin/startkde
   XDESKTOP=kde3

Or, since kde3 is already defined in /etc/default/xdesktops:

   XDESKTOP=kde3