Thanks for the advice, but I'd already checked all that -- I can get an
Xsession from my local console without bother. The /etc/X11/xdm/Xsession
script checks the following files in order:
$HOME/.xsession (does not exist)
$HOME/.Xclients (does not exist)
/etc/X11/xinit/Xclients
Anyway, I've now traced the problem with the help of some debug messages.
There was a nasty line in the system Xclients file, viz:
DISPLAY=`uname -n`:0.0 ; export DISPLAY
which was screwing things up royally. I don't think that this is in the
Fermi Redhat Linux distribution -- Xclients and other system files on my
machines have evolved and been passed down through many different
Linux installations, including a Slackware somewhere in the dim and
distant past. So, chances are no-one else has anything to worry about.
Ho, hum.
Chris.
>
-- Chris Green. HEP, Purdue University. CDF SVXII project. Based at Fermilab. MAIL greenc@fnal.gov; PHONE (630) 840-2308