>
> > ... hoping to migrate to SL 7.x. ... the thought of using Gnome3 ...
>

Hi, el7 is not just gnome3, you have a big choice of desktops, everything
you get on ubuntu, except for kde5. Most of them are quite up to date,
as opposed to the old versions of gnome3 and kde4 you get with the base os.

- lxqt
- cinnamon
- mate
- xfce4

Instructions to install here:
https://www.triumf.info/wiki/DAQwiki/index.php/SLinstall#Install_additional_desktop_environements_.28CentOS7.29

As login manager, I recommend using lightdm, which works as well as the el6 default login manager.
(the default el7 login manager is useless: (a) it does not show the machine hostname (yes, I do have
a black marker and I can write the machine name on the monitor in big letters), (b) to login, you have
first to click away the time clock display page, which also does not show the machine host name).
Instructions for switch to this from gdm is in the same place, but I notice lightdm
looks strange unless you install all the optional desktops listed above (maybe only mate is needed).

K.O.




On Wed, May 03, 2017 at 11:10:17AM +0100, Mark Whidby wrote:
> On Tue, 2017-05-02 at 14:54 -0700, Andrew Komornicki wrote:
> > Hi,
> > 
> >  as a long time user of Scientific Linux I would like to explore using
> > desktops other than Gnome.  Am currently running Gnome on SL 6.9.
> > I found that Xfce is already installed on my system; i also did a
> > yum groupinstall of KDE desktop and all went well.
> > 
> > In the preferences menu we can chose which desktop to use, so I checked
> > off KDE, rebooted my system and I still get the usual Gnome desktop.
> > Why does this option make no difference ??
> > 
> > that sent me to check various postings and i find several possibilities.
> > the first that I found on line is to create a file
> > /etc/sysconfig/desktop enter the line DESKTOP="KDE", or DESKTOP="XFCE"
> > and things should work. Have also found suggestions that I should create
> > a file .xinitrc in my home directory and things might also work.   Am
> > still not clear what to put in the .xinitrc file.
> > 
> >  May I ask is there a preferred way to do this, if so what do people
> > suggest.  I would also like to easily change desktops.  Ultimately,
> > am hoping to migrate to SL 7.x.  However the thought of using Gnome3
> > is more than i can bear, so am trying to explore my options.
> 
> 
> Hi Andrew,
> 
> Assuming you are using the GDM login screen then a list of available
> desktops should appear in a widget at the bottom of the screen *AFTER*
> entering your username. You should select one of these.
> 
> As far as I know, this list is generated from the list of *.desktop
> files which reside in /usr/share/xsessions so if they don't appear to
> match then something is possibly wrong on your system.
> 
> I hope this helps.
> 
> (BTW, I tried replying privately but it bounced.)
> 
> -- 
> Mark Whidby
> System Administrator/Operations
> IT Services

-- 
Konstantin Olchanski
Data Acquisition Systems: The Bytes Must Flow!
Email: olchansk-at-triumf-dot-ca
Snail mail: 4004 Wesbrook Mall, TRIUMF, Vancouver, B.C., V6T 2A3, Canada