XDM usage and XDM installation

[Erik Walthinsen <omega@omegacs.net>]

> > Tell me, how do I put a jpeg of Saturn on the background of  a shell
> > menu?
> 
> Why would you want to?  It's just a bloody login screen to use until X is
> configured.  Then you can ugly up XDM with whatever gewgaws you want.

OK, it seems we're arguing about two entirely different things:

1) Do we use XDM at all:

YES.  It will be the users' primary interface to the machine when they 
first boot it.  It is the most elegant method available for handling 
multiple users with X.  Any other method is just plain silly and far too 
much work to go to in order to fix something that isn't all that broken 
(and Rick has already fixed the loop-o-death anyway!).

2) How long until we use XDM:

During install, X has to be configured for real (vs. for a VGA16 
installer).  This will likely be done in whatever environment we have 
available, either VGA16 X or text mode (if VGA16 didn't work for some 
reason).

Either way, once the xf86config file has been generated, the user should be 
told that they are going to see either their monitor show them the success 
indicator, or do backflips.  An obvious goal would be to keep those 
backflips from frying the monitor, hence the need for extreme caution when 
configuring in the first place.

Once the user OK's the X configuration, we have the full go-ahead for XDM.  
That means that before the machine is completely through the install, we're 
up and ready to do XDM, meaning the very first complete boot of the machine 
under SEUL will bring up a nice graphical login prompt, sitting there 
patiently waiting to blow the user (and Windoze) away.


If we can agree on these two points separately (which I think we're very 
close to doing) without confusing them, then we're getting somewhere.  I 
just keep finding that people are discussing one with arguments from the 
other, and vice versa.

     Erik Walthinsen <omega@seul.org> - SEUL Project system architect
        __
       /  \                SEUL: Simple End-User Linux -
      |    | M E G A            Creating a Linux distribution
      _\  /_                         for the home or office user