NAME

       choosewm - Select a window manager to be used.

SYNOPSIS

       choosewm [-f] [-p] [-t]
       choosewm [-t] -c

DESCRIPTION

       choosewm  presents  a window to let the user choose a window manager to start.  By default
       it shows everything registered as window manager at the Debian menu system, but it  allows
       global and local configuration to change that data.

OPTIONS

       -c, --config
              Allow  the  user  to  change the default.  Beside telling choosewm to not start the
              chosen window manger, this mostly changes the text of some buttons and labels

       -f, --force
              Show the selection window unconditionally.

       -p, --print
              Do not start the window-manager, but print it to stdout.

       -t, --text
              Do not ask by opening an X11 window, but ask on the terminal.  Needs a terminal  as
              stdin.  This is activated by default with -c and DISPLAY not set.

CONFIG FILES

       After  reading /var/lib/choosewm/windowmanagers, treating anything before a equal (=) sign
       in a line a name and everything  after  that  as  window  manager  path,  choosewm  checks
       /etc/X11/choosewm/config  and  after that by default .choosewm/config in the user's $HOME-
       directory.  Lines containing only spaces or starting with a # are  ignored.   Every  other
       line may contain one of the following commands:

       add: name=path
              Add  an additional window manager to the list. name will be shown in the list, path
              will be started.

              This option is only useful to add something that should be only added to this list.
              If  you  installed  a window manager by hand, please consider to register it in the
              Debian menu instead.  That way all potent enough window managers will  be  able  to
              offer switching to that window manager by menu.

       remove: path
              Do not list the window manager with path in the list to choose from.

       default: defaultwindowmanagerpath
              Use  the window manager defaultwindowmanagerpath as default, when no last selection
              of the window manager is available.

       userconf: filename
              Read the user's config from $(HOME)/filename.  If filename is -, no user config  is
              read.

              Default is .choosewm/config

       dontaskfile: filename
              Create  the  file  $(HOME)/filename, if the user selected to not be asked about the
              window manger, and do not ask if this file is present.  (Unless -f is command  line
              argument.)

              Default is .choosewm/dontask

       lastdecisionfile: filename
              Read the last decision from the file $(HOME)/filename, and save the decision of the
              user there.

              Default is .choosewm/lastwm

       inalias: oldold=newpath
              If the last decision is oldpath, change it to newpath.

       askalias: oldold=newpath
              If the last decision is oldpath, change it to newpath  and  force  showing  of  the
              selection window.

       outalias: path=output
              If  the user has chosen path as window manager, write instead output to the file as
              new last decision.

       sTAG: text
              Are used to set strings to be shown to the user in labels, buttons or headers.  The
              CONFIGTAG variants are used with -c.

              The following are the currently definied Tags and their default values:
              sCONFIGHEADER: Choose default Window Manager
              sHEADER: Choose Window Manager
              sCONFIGWELCOME:  Please  choose  the default window manager and whether to reask at
              start time.
              sWELCOME: Welcome, please select a Window manager to use.
              sCONFIGASK: _Ask when starting
              sASK: _Ask again at every login
              sCONFIGSELECT: _Select
              sSELECT: _Start
              sCONFIGCANCEL: _Cancel
              sCANCEL: _Log out

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

       HOME   The current home directory of the current user.

       DEFAULTWINDOWMANAGER
              If no default is specified in the config files nor by the user's last  choice,  the
              content  of this environment variable is tried before the path /etc/alternatives/x-
              window-manager is pointing to is tried.

FILES

       /etc/X11/choosewm/config
              Global config file read.

       /var/lib/choosewm/windowmanagers
              Default system window manager file.

       /etc/alternatives/x-window-manager
              Default link to compute a default.

       $(HOME)/.choosewm/config
              Default user config file.

       $(HOME)/.choosewm/lastwm
              Default file to store the users default.

       $(HOME)/.choosewm/dontask
              Default file to signal not asking when existant.

SEE ALSO

       update-menus(1), xsession(1).

AUTHOR

       choosewm was written by Bernhard R. Link <brlink@debian.org>.

       This manual page was written by Bernhard R. Link.

                                            2009-06-11                                CHOOSEWM(1)