[Tutor] Checking the desktop environment

[Alan Gauld]

"Timo" <timovwb at gmail.com> wrote

> Well, my program needs a text-editor

OK, That should be determined by checking the VISUAL environment
variable which is the standard Unix value that a user should set to
determine their preferred visual (ie full screen) text editor.
The EDITOR environrnent variable controls the default editor in text
mode., The standard defaults are vi and ed respectively. I used
to set xemacs and vi...

> graphical box for root-password.

This is the sort of thing that I meant about modern Unices messing
things up. Why on earth should anyone need a user environment
specific su box. That should be a standard dialog controlled by the
app and the user environment controlling the GUI aspects. Too
many Windows programmers are working on Linux IMHO! ;-)

This is exactly why I dislike both Gnome and KDE. The only good
things about these is the provision of drag n drop protocols etc.
If only they had stuck to that.

> these things to gedit and gksudo for Gnome and kate and kdesu for 
> KDE.

But to do so would be to ignore the users preferences if they
have set their own choice in the "officially provided" variables.
You are thus allowing the environment to dictate to users what
tools they use rather than letting the user dictate the environment
in the true Unix style.

-- 
Alan Gauld
Author of the Learn to Program web site
http://www.freenetpages.co.uk/hp/alan.gauld