Bug#864166: release-notes: proofreading sweep - issues.dbk
Niels Thykier wrote:
>> <note>
>> <para>
>> This change only applies if your X Display Manager supports
>> - running X as rootless (or if you start X manually via
>> + running X without root privileges (or if you start X manually via
>> <command>startx</command>). Currently the only known display
>> - manager supporting this is gdm. Other display managers simply
>> + manager supporting this is <systemitem role="package">gdm</systemitem>.
>> + Other display managers simply
>> start X as root regardless of this change.
>> </para>
>> </note>
>>
>> "Rootless" isn't a common way of expressing this even in technical
>> jargon, and the word has a distracting non-technical sense (which even
>> seems as if it would make sense here: it would mean "without a root
>> window").
>>
>> This way of phrasing it makes it really difficult to work out that
>> using startx *does* require the installation of xserver-xorg-legacy.
>>
>
> Sadly, then I have confused you. Assuming the system meets the
> requirements, then the following will *not* require root:
>
> * startx (from a virtual terminal "owned" by the current user)
> * gdm (which knows how to start X without using root)
I was assuming otherwise because the first symptom I ran into was that
running startx in the absence of xserver-xorg-legacy gave me an X
session with non-functional mouse and keyboard.
But when I check now, installing every available xserver-xorg-*
package in main including -legacy as well as -input-libinput makes no
difference to that. On a testbed stretch machine with functional
logind and so on but with an old KMS-incapable graphics card, I
haven't found any way of making startx usable.
Switching over to lightdm I can get a usable session without -legacy
as long as I have -input-libinput. So I'm afraid I have no idea
what's going on, or even how many problems there are.
--
JBR with qualifications in linguistics, experience as a Debian
sysadmin, and probably no clue about this particular package
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