.xinitrc for XFce patch suggestion

[Ric]

Hi Olivier:

Excellent questions. 

============
--- Olivier Fourdan <fourdan at xfce.org> wrote:
> Ric,
> 
> - How does that work on various (non Linux) platforms ?

I have no way of knowing how it can work on other non-Linux
systems.  I would like to know.   
Apparently  pidof  is not universal in the *nix world so
that would have to be changed.  BM(Benedikt Meurer) might
know what is a better universal *nix program to determine
if XSS is already running since he pointed out that  pidof 
is not a universal *nix thing.  However the sh compatible
shell(s) provide  -x  as a execute access test which fails
if the program does not exist.


> - How does that work with other than bash shells ?
> 

As for other than sh, which ones? csh/tsch, ch...?
The script as it is now, is only for sh which, on MDK, is
bash.
I would be willing to make it more generically friendly if
that is what is wanted.  That is basically what I was
trying to do anyway.

For XFce4, how about just a simple:

# Launch xscreensaver (if available)
if [ -x xscreensaver ]
   then	## XSS exists
     if [ $UID > 0 ] 
   	then	## root is not logged in
        xscreensaver -no-splash &
    fi
fi

That should work in bash/sh(It seems to work okay here.) . 
It does most of the dirty work but XSS will not run at all
if root is login(that may be a good thing).  For other
shells, which?


> These are important questions, because although Linux is
> the primary
> platform for some of us, being able to work on several
> unices is one of the requirements for xfce.

Oh, I agree.  But, frankly, if it was up to me, I would
remove the lines 

# Launch xscreensaver (if available)
xscreensaver -no-splash &

from the XFce4 xinitrc file completely and force the end
user to make a conscious decision as to whether run the
monitor all the time and hopefully it will be a
conscientious decision.   The new way of doing things is to
suspend/turn-off the monitor - saves a *lot* of energy as
the monitor is generally the biggest single amp hog in the
system. 

I have not used any screensaver for at least a year or two.
 I _always_ suspend and, later, turn off the monitor which
is handled quite nicely by the XF86 config.
I only suggested the mod because I used it for a long time
& I know that others want those pretty pictures flying
across the screens( so the start of XSS was a nice thing
for you to add to xinitrc ) when they are not there (the
logic in that would make Spock flip out) but the
unconditional
xscreensaver -no-splash &
causes gibberish(IMO) to be printed in the
/root/.xsession-errors file because of JZ's widely accepted
view about root login.  It also causes errors when
xscreensaver is not installed, as insignificant as those
may be. 

> 
> Cheers,
> Olivier.

Thanks for your input.


=====
Have A Great Day!

Ric
***

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