Two (or more) X sessions logged in simultaneously 2

[wmg]

Hey all you gurus out there,

Think Windows XP and how you can have multiple people logged in at the same time.

Well, I've heard that *nix has been doing this for donkeys' but I have no idea how to 'make it so'.

Can anyone please help?

Thanks
wmg

We've all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true. [Robert Wilensky, 1997]

 

[venkman]

Linux comes with 6 different text "screens", and 6 different visual "screens" for displaying X, the software that runs your graphic display. If you are at a text screen you may switch to any of the other logins by holding the Alt key and pressing f1 through f6. Each function key maps to a different text screen. You can do the same from a text screen to get to the different visual screens by using f7 through f12. If you are at a login screen, the procedure is the same, except hold down both the alt and control keys.

-Venkman

 

[wmg]

Thanks for the prompt response! I'll be sure to try that out tonight when I get home.

We've all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true. [Robert Wilensky, 1997]

 

[riesvantwisk]

Venkman, this depends on the distro youre using...
I use debian which does not come by default with X but can be installed ifso

Check Xservers if youre using xdm, here you can define how many X terminals to run on THIS server (means computer)

but you CAN use the X protocol in combination with other X servers to create as many desktops on other computers as you whish. Thes means you VIEW the desktop on computer A while it IS running on computer S.

Olsy play with 'startx -- :2' to start a new X server on you local terminal.

Ries

 

[venkman]

True Ries, but as a newbie, I assume he's using Mandrake, Suse, or Redhat. God help him if he's learning on Debian.

 

[krale]

Oh come on Venkman, I learned on Slack and before that, Yggdrasil.

All this pretty stuff only has been recently added ('97 to present).

If you learn on a true Linux distro, going to SunOS, Aix, BSD.... will be quite easy. Yes, I consider Slack and Debian to be true to its heritage. I'd also consider trying FreeBSD too. They've also got really cool features that linux doesnt have. Please let Tek-Tips members know if their posts were helpful.

 

[venkman]

I agree, you learn on a more complex distro like slackware or debian, you will be better prepared and have more overall knowledge of what's going on on your computer. However, you must agree it is a lot more difficult to install debian than redhat. yeah, there are a lot of issues with redhat in comparison to debian, and in general learning through guis, but overall redhat is still better than windows. And if it gets people in the door for linux, then so be it. debian's install is scarry, the fact that you have to install X seperately is already too much. Even if this is a relatively easy process through package management, again you must admit that the redhat way of just installing it automatically is a lot easier for beginners.

-venkman

 

[wmg]

Thanks guys - yep - I'm currently running Redhat 8.0 but will be switching to Mandrake when I ditch XP.

The way I figure it is, (apart from needing to think about all the non-techy people in my household who'll be using the PC), once I've been running *any* 'easy' linux for a wee while, and have got all the various bits and pieces going, I might switch to something that appears a little deeper - like debian.

Out of interest, how do you think Gentoo compares to the 'deeper' distros like slack/debian?

Thanks again. We've all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true. [Robert Wilensky, 1997]

 

[krale]

---Out of interest, how do you think Gentoo compares to the 'deeper' distros like slack/debian?

Very much so, except good luck trying to installing it over a modem. You'd be installing KDE/Xfree for weeks.

Gentoo's major requirement is high speed connection to internet. Please let Tek-Tips members know if their posts were helpful.

 

[wmg]

*grin* Kewl -I'll keep that in mind. I've got a 128Kb ADSL connection which takes about 12hrs to download each 650Mb iso image so hopefully it won't be too bad! We've all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true. [Robert Wilensky, 1997]