To quote Xucaen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
# about 2 weeks ago, I installed debian 2.2r2.
# During the package install phase, I checked off
# the X packages (simple menu). Along with all the
# X packages, xdm and xfs were also installed.
# Naturally I assumed that xdm and xfs were
# necessary parts of X. However, this weekend
# I installed the various XF86 packages
# (xserver-vga16, xserver-common, xf86setup, fvwm,
# and a few others) using apt-get onto a different
# machine. I chose not to install the xdm and xfs.
# much to my amazement startx works perfectly.
# why does X work without xdm and xfs?
There are task-* packages in Debian. These task- packages install a
pre-determined set of packages. You probably installed
task-x-window-system, which installs a full X environment on to your
computer. On your second computer, you probably ended up with something
similar to task-x-winodw-system-core , which is a minimal, but still
functional X setup.
'xdm' is a nice graphical login screen. Not needed if you just want to
log in on the console and use 'startx'. However, if you want to go
straight from bootup into a nice graphical login, which will take you to
a nice graphical desktop, you'd need XDM(or a relative, like 'gdm',
'wdm', and such).
'xfs' is the X Font Server. I'm not *positive* about what ths has over
the regular way X handles fonts, but I use 'xfstt', which handles
truetype fonts.
David Barclay Harris, Clan Barclay
Aut agere, aut mori. (Either action, or death.)
