Well, two excellent answers from Knut Helleboe and Mike Inglesias. First,
the original question.
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Hello,
I have an relatively minor problem but annoying problem. Most folks log in
to the alpha 3000-600 running OSF 3.2 I manage via character based telnet.
All users on the system use the Korn shell. Telnet logins execute
/etc/profile and then $HOME/.profile as normal. However, any logins from the
console seem to skip /etc/profile and proceed directly to $HOME/.profile. The
PC-based X-terminal server (Xoftware/32) I am evaluating does not experience
the same problem. How do I get /etc/profile to run when logging in from the
console?
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The answer seems to be that xdm (X-windows display manager) uses /bin/sh
when it starts the X-windows sessions. Both Mike and Knut suggested looking at
the scripts for clues.
Unfortunately, I've gotten bogged down in begining-of-the-the-quarter-quick
-make-sure-all-the-computers-work frenzy and I haven't been able to track it
any further. To make it worse, I'm still relatively new at UNIX (started out
life as a VAX manager) and this X-windows stuff is *really* new to me. I
didn't want to fuss around with the scripts until I had a better idea of what
I was doing. Does anyone know of a good book that gives the basics of dealing
with X-windows and troubleshooting them?
--Tom
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Tom Dulaney Systems Manager
system_at_biovx1.biology.ucla.edu UCLA Life Sciences Computing Center
Office: (310) 825-1367 Fax: (310) 206-3987
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The original responses for the curious:
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xdm uses /bin/sh to run the startup scripts in /usr/lib/X11/xdm, so
you'll need to modify those scripts to run the korn shell if you
want them run that way.
Mike
This probably have some connection with the way the xdm-session is started.
Have a look at the startup scripts in /usr/lib/X11/xdm. You might find a hint
there. Perhaps the session don't start with '-ls' to the xterm/dxterm. If
that is true you won't get a 'login' shell.
GOOD LUCK ;-)
Knut Helleboe
Received on Fri Sep 29 1995 - 06:26:47 NZST