Starting XFce4 without kdm or gdm

[Brian Masinick]

Claudio J. Peña wrote:

>Hi,
>
>Consider using Morphix Live-CD (http://www.morphix.org), the LightGUI
>version comes with XFce4 (and it's around 200Mb only).
>  
>

I had good results testing Morphix 0.35, but I tried two or three downloads
of Morphix 0.4 and had troubles getting it to directly run off the Live CD,
where 0.35 worked fine.  I ran out of CD-R disks, so I haven't had a chance
to try it since then.  I liked the earlier LightGUI version, though, I 
hope the
latest version works well with XFCE 4!

>Greets,
>
>On Sat, 01 Nov 2003 21:21:20 -0500, Brian Masinick graced me with:
>  
>
>>Paul M. Bucalo wrote:
>>
>>
>>    
>>
>>>Up until this point I have either used kdm or gdm to login to
>>>XFce-4, depending on whether I'm using Mandrake or Red Hat. Is
>>>there any other Desktop Manager I could use that's lighter, but
>>>would still allow for a user/password login?
>>>
>>>Appreciate any advise and experiences. I really want to trim the
>>>memory usage down to the bare minimum in getting XFce-4 up and
>>>running.
>>>
>>>Thanks,
>>>
>>>
>>>Paul
>>>      
>>>
>>Paul, I don't know what you consider to be high overhead, but on my
>>Libranet Debian system, I use gdm with either XFCE 3 or 4 probably
>>90% of the time (or more) and I don't consider the overhead too
>>great. 
>>    
>>
>
><snipped>
>
>  
>
>>Incidentally, Libranet is a great way to get into a Debian system.  
>>If you find Debian to be too intimidating to install, try Libranet.
>>Version 2.7 is free, the current 2.8.1 version can either be
>>downloaded or purchased on CD from the Libranet Web site. 
>>    
>>
>
>What does Libranet do, make the previous version free?
>
>  
>
>>Two
>>other great ways to get into Debian software are to try Live CD
>>implementations.
>>    
>>
>
>I think I have 8.1 Live Eval, but I never loaded it because I saw 
>quite a few posts elsewhere advising that it's too buggy. I thought I 
>downloaded the 8.2 Live Eval, but don't see it laying around in CD 
>format. I'll have to look again.
>  
>

I tried the SuSE 8.2 Live Eval and found it to take just as long to access
as a full install, so it wasn't very useful for a quick evaluation, would
be more appropriate for those intending to install to disk.

>>Since you're tight on resources, one of them, the
>>highly regarded Knoppix, might not be the best choice for you, 
>>    
>>
>
>I really, really like KNOPPIX, but the last version I used was 3.2 and 
>it didn't have any option (that I could see) to install completely 
>onto a system. I don't want to just run it off the CD. Has anyone 
>successfully installed KNOPPIX onto a hard drive as a self-booting 
>distro without having to do a lot of manual implementation? What I 
>think is awesomely impressive is KNOPPIX's wizards. The developer does 
>an excellent job in making a read-only ROM setup a system with minimal 
>hands-on. Truly impressive. And when I have had to manually add c-l 
>options, they worked well.
>
>  
>
Knoppix can be installed to disk, as of the 3.2 release, there is room
for better documentation and an easier procedure, but it's possible.
Haven't had a chance to try the 3.3 release yet, I suspect it addresses
these concerns.  Mepis and Morphix do (did?) a better job of providing
an easy facility to go from a Live CD evaluation to a hard disk 
installation.

>>I've had great results with a similar Live CD, the Mepis
>>distribution.  Mepis can run directly from CD or you can load it on
>>CD, then run a procedure to write the software directly to disk, a
>>really easy way to install it.
>>    
>>
>
>Never heard of Mepis. I'll do some research on it.
>
>  
>
>>LindowsOS is really fast to install, too, if you want a more
>>consumer oriented system, 
>>    
>>
>
>I have version 4.0, but I never installed it. I think that might be 
>too close to what I am trying to run from. :0)
>
>  
>
>>and Xandros is really easy if you're more
>>interested in a stable system that has good interoperability with
>>Windows software.
>>    
>>
>
>Last I knew, it wasn't free. I have a *real* problem paying for 
>something before I figure out whether it works or suits my needs. 
>Certainly one reason I am trying to migrate to Linux. ;0)
>
>  
>
>>Libranet, Knoppix, Mepis, LindowsOS, and Xandros
>>are all based on the extremely solid Debian GNU/Linux packaging
>>method.  Personally, I base the bulk of my work on a system I have
>>customized myself from an older Libranet release.
>>    
>>
>
>Really good to know. Thanks...
>
>  
>
>>It works great with XFCE, I've used it for over a year with XFCE 3
>>and now I also use it with XFCE 4.
>>    
>>
>
>And that's really the whole point in fueling this thread further. I 
>want to be able to use XFce! :0)
>
>  
>
Yes, that's true!  The whole point is to find good distributions that
either include XFCE or at least work well with it.  I've used Debian and
Mandrake with XFCE 4 with excellent results!

>Paul
>  
>


-- 
Brian Masinick
mailto:masinick at yahoo.com