On Mon, 4 Nov 2019 at 07:42, Dan Hitt <dan.hitt@gmail.com> wrote:
[...]
> The desktop manager looks different: i think it is gnome, but i'd like it to be xfce.
[...]
> sudo update-alternatives --config x-window-manager
> switching from (iirc) mutter to lightdm. Then i rebooted.
Hi,
Your question mentions several things that are different
things:
[1] desktop (also known as desktop environment)
[2] display-manager
[3] window-manager
Your question seems to be failing to notice that they are
different:
- gnome and xfce are desktop environments.
- mutter is a window-manager.
- lightdm is a display-manager.
You also mention "desktop-manager", I don't know what
that thing is.
So it's unclear what you are asking. I suggest you research
the difference between these terms. This will hopefully clarify
your understanding of what you want, and your ability to
describe it in a way that readers here will be able to understand
and help.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desktop_environment
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_display_manager
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Window_manager
Thanks David!
I was and am confused!
Anyhow, there was a little widget in the login page that let me select the desktop manager ("session" i believe they called it), and now i am in xfce. (Liam pointed out this out; i received his message while typing this reply. Thanks Liam!)
I think in your terminology what i meant by "desktop manager" was "desktop environment".
I still would like a programmatic/command-line way of detecting what the desktop.
Anyhow, thank you both, and thanks everybody for your patience!
dan