[gdm-list] How to setup gdm on a basic system

[John Frankish <j-frankish slb com>]

I'm trying to use gdm on a very basic system using components compiled separately, "linux from scratch" style 
using the 3.10.x version of the various gnome components.

Although gdm starts, it does not start properly - there's no top panel, side panel, etc.

Is there any documentation available that explains how to use gdm on a basic system:

What is required in .xsession?
What is required in terms of linux-pam/polkit rules?

Although I have debug enabled, all I get at the moment is:

gdm[15620]: Enabling debugging
gdm[15620]: Changing user:group to tc:staff
gdm[15620]: Failed to create ran once marker dir /var/run/gdm: Operation not permitted
gdm[15620]: GLib: GError set over the top of a previous GError or uninitialized memory.
This indicates a bug in someone's code. You must ensure an error is NULL before it's set.
The overwriting error message was: Operation not permitted
gdm[15620]: Failed to create LogDir /var/log/gdm: Operation not permitted
gdm[15620]: Only the root user can run GDM