Fw: X and startx

["Dave Cook" <duck at caveduck dot com>]

Regarding getting /usr/X11R6/bin on the path, I'd prefer to be as *nix-like as possible,
while making things easy for J. Random User if we can.

This means getting /usr/X11R6/bin onto $PATH in /etc/profile. I am right now
looking at a running RH7.1 system that contains at the top of /etc/profile:

if ! echo $PATH | /bin/grep -q "/usr/X11R6/bin" ; then
  PATH="$PATH:/usr/X11R6/bin"
fi

Now the stock Cygwin /etc/profile (unlike the Linux one) actually sets a default PATH on
the first line via

PATH="/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:$PATH"

Fortunately this puts the important system paths ahead of anything already defined, so
it's OK to add /usr/X11R6/bin at the top.

Thus if I were writing the XFree86/Cygwin install script I'd probably add the above
snippet right at the top of /etc/profile (checking first to see if it's already present).

It is important for consistency to put the X bin directory on the path *before* any of the
/etc/profile.d/*.sh are run.  Otherwise introducing those into Cygwin could have
un-Unix-like consequences.

BTW here are simple .xinitrc and .xserverrc files that work fine for me via the startx /
xinit mechanism.  They presume that /usr/X11R6/bin is already on the path:

#! /bin/sh
# ~/.xinitrc
# This should start initial xterms and the window manager.
# Start the window mgr *last* and don't run it in the background...
#   when xinit exits, X closes.
#

# Use xsetroot to put a decent solid background on the root window
#   The default pseudo-gray generates severe moires for me...YMMV
#   Color names are defined in /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/rgb.txt
# Faster and more reliable to do this before launching any xterms
xsetroot -solid darkgreen

# start an xterm
xterm -e /usr/bin/bash &
#rxvt -e /usr/bin/bash &

# Start a window manager, and leave it in the foreground.
# twm comes with XFree86/Cygwin, and vtwm is also available.
twm


#! /bin/sh
# ~/.xserverrc
# X server startup file.  Used by xinit (via startx).
# if you 'exec' the server, X starts 10-15 sec faster than if you don't.
#
exec xwin -screen 0 1024x768x16 -engine 4


Regards,

Dave Cook