On Mon, Feb 20, 2017 at 01:32:37PM +0100, Vincent Lefevre wrote: > I don't see any contradiction to what I've said. Note that I haven't > mentioned .xsessionrc at all, only .xinitrc, which is a different > thing.
OK, short version: forget .xinitrc ever existed. Use ~/.xsession unless that doesn't work. See https://wiki.debian.org/Xsession Long version: You can either log in on a text console and run startx to start X, or you can login through a GUI display manager. Of which there are a whole bunch. Either way, Debian reads ~/.xsessionrc first. You should use that to set variables like PATH in the X environment, since display manager logins don't read your shell dot files. Don't use .xsessionrc to start window managers or desktop environments, though. If you use startx, then AFTER .xsessionrc, Debian will read the ~/.xsession file. Use that to start your X client programs and then to exec your window manager. If you use a display manager, then .xsession may or may not be used. Who knows. There are too many of them to keep track. You can try it, and if it works, great. Otherwise, you'll have to figure out which file to use for your specific DM or your specific desktop environment or your specific window manager or who knows what. The original X display manager, cleverly named xdm, reads .xsession. But people weren't happy with just having one display manager, so they made more. Obviously each "desktop environment" needed its own display manager. Why? Why not! Everyone likes random change for the sake of change, don't they?! Anyway, this is why I use startx and fvwm. It Just Works(tm). Consistent operation for two decades. No bizarre surprises.
