Re: New module proposal: LightDM

[Brian Cameron <brian cameron oracle com>]

Ray/Robert:

On 10/22/10 12:17 AM, Ray Strode wrote:
> (speaking as one of the 3 maintainers of GDM)

Speaking as another...

> On Thu, Oct 21, 2010 at 12:02 AM, Robert Ancell<robert ancell gmail com>  wrote:
> > - The GDM greeter is slow due to it loading the GNOME session, the
> > example GTK+ LightDM greeter is very lightweight (so is comparable to
> > the speed of the old GDM and newer display managers like LXDM).
> Using GNOME session / g-s-d /etc  is one of GDMs main features.  The
> point is for there to be consistent experience on the login screen and
> in the session.
> If GDM is too slow because of GNOME session then GNOME session needs
> to be fixed, otherwise login after GDM will be too slow too.  Anyway,
> if gnome-session is slow on your machine we should start by profiling
> it and figuring out why.

I agree that GDM's deep integration with GNOME is one of its great
features.  GDM is clearly the login manager of choice if you want a very
consistent experience between the login manager and the GNOME desktop.
However, not everyone really needs or wants the degree of integration
that GDM provides with GNOME.

It should, I think, be possible to define a lighter degree of GNOME
integration for a display manager that intends to be a bit more desktop
neutral/agnostic than GDM, but still be a part of the "GNOME Desktop".

Think about Ephipany.  Users who really want tight GNOME integration
may prefer Epiphany, but some users may prefer other web browsers for
various reasons.

> > - All X server users have pretty much the same requirements beyond the
> > login GUI.  By using LightDM the development effort of maintaining the
> > display manager can be shared between projects (GNOME, KDE, LXDE,
> > XFCE).
> So you're not proposing LightDM to become part of GNOME, you're just
> proposing GDM get dropped and LightDM become an external dependency?

I thought the new release model was all about choice and flexibility.
I would think there should be room enough for choices.

> Have you talked to the other projects about this?  We had some
> discussions some time back with Oswald (KDE developer) about
> standardizing on one display manager a few years ago:
>
> http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gdm-list/2007-October/msg00013.html
> (added him to cc list)

Wasn't that the same discussion where Oswald said that he would only
accept a standardized display manager if it didn't regress any current
KDM features and if we did all the work?  I believe Jon responded by
agreeing that he was willing to do it.  See here:

http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gdm-list/2007-October/msg00014.html

Unfortunately, though, I do not think we have progressed much towards
these ends since then.

> Anyway, I'm obviously in favor of keeping GDM in GNOME.

So am I, but I'd think there should be room for more than one display
manager choice in GNOME.

Brian