Multiple X ( Desktop ) Sessions in Ubuntu

[Mauro Souza]

Use AltGr instead of regular Alt key... If won't screen shots you...
On Jan 23, 2014 8:04 PM, "John Moniz" <john.moniz-rieW9WUcm8FFJ04o6PK0Fg at public.gmane.org> wrote:

> On 01/22/2014 09:24 PM, Bob Jonkman wrote:
>
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>> John wrote:
>>
>>> ...a black blank screen that cannot be released, even with
>>> ctrl+alt+backspace or ctrl+alt+delete.
>>>
>> Ctrl+Alt+Backspace hasn't been implemented in Ubuntu for about five
>> years.  Now the preferred way to restart X is with the Secure Access
>> Key, SysRq+Alt+K
>>
>
> Thanks, this works beautifully. I had googled about the problem, but never
> found this solution. Just don't try it within Gnome, it tries to save a
> screen shot - often many times over.
>
>
>> There's a document on the various System Request keystrokes at
>> http://www.debian-administration.org/article/
>> 457/The_magic_sysreq_options_introduced
>>
>> And the Internet is full of documents on how to restore
>> Ctrl+Alt+Backspace:
>> https://ixquick.com/do/metasearch.pl?query=ubuntu+ctrl-alt-backspace
>>
>> - --Bob.
>>
>>
>> On 14-01-22 03:11 PM, John Moniz wrote:
>>
>>> On 01/21/2014 10:25 PM, Aruna Hewapathirane wrote:
>>>
>>>> I was testing window managers and having a hard time comparing
>>>> each due to constantly having to log-off and sign back in as
>>>> another user with a different window manager and then something
>>>> sweet happened. I came across a article and now I am flipping
>>>> back and forth between virtual terminals that have gnome-classic,
>>>> LXDE, Openbox and Awesome and it's amazing.
>>>>
>>>> The article is here:
>>>> http://www.doknowevil.net/2010/10/13/multiple-x-desktop-
>>>> sessions-in-ubuntu/
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>  and for those of us who are lazy the content is right below,
>>
>>> seriously you should try this it blew me away :)
>>>>
>>>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>>>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>>>> -------------------
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>  This post has a lot to do with graphics but there are no graphics.
>>
>>> It’s a walk-through explanation and and proof of concept of some
>>>>   very interesting features of Linux as a desktop operating
>>>> system.
>>>>
>>>> If you aren’t familiar with X, than this webpage might confuse
>>>> you <http://www.x.org>, the X Window System
>>>> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_Window_System> is what draws the
>>>>   GUI (graphical user interface) for Ubuntu. On top of this, you
>>>> may have a Window Manager or Desktop Environment
>>>> <http://xwinman.org/>, such as Gnome (Ubuntu default) or KDE
>>>> (Kubuntu).
>>>>
>>>> When you boot up Ubuntu, it creates a set of “virtual terminals”.
>>>>   These VTs are accessible via a key combination of clt+alt+f1-12.
>>>>   VT7 (ctrl+alt+f7) is the default and it handles X’s “screen 0″.
>>>> If you play around, with the key combination, you’ll notice you
>>>> drop into consoles with a login prompt (f1-6) or a blank screen
>>>> (f8-f12, don’t worry if you see USB errors
>>>> <https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/256767>).
>>>>
>>>> These virtual terminals used to be handled by X which was slower
>>>>   and more prone to crash (citation needed) but since Ubuntu 8.04,
>>>>   this has been handled by “Kernel Mode”
>>>> <https://wiki.ubuntu.com/X/KernelModeSetting>, where this
>>>> management is handled by the kernel. You can switch to another
>>>> virtual terminal and create another X session.
>>>>
>>>> Typically in Linux, you could switch to another VT, login [as
>>>> another user] and type $ *startx — :1* (special argument ‘|--|‘
>>>> marks the end of client arguments and the beginning of server
>>>> options, :1 defines screen 1). This will work in Ubuntu but the
>>>> part where I found it failing was switching between this newly
>>>> created X session and back to my original :0 on VT7.
>>>>
>>>> The way I found to do this in Ubuntu seems a bit
>>>> counter-intuitive. Before I explain, you should create a new
>>>> user, if you don’t have another already. You can do this by going
>>>> to System > Administration > Users and Groups.
>>>>
>>>> To create a second X session in Ubuntu, go to your logout menu
>>>> (default top right) and select “switch user”, and login as
>>>> another user (you don’t want to create an error in the user
>>>> environment). When you login as another user, Ubuntu creates a
>>>> screen :1 on VT8. This means, you can change back to VT7 with
>>>> ctrl+alt+f7, then back to VT8 with ctrl+alt+f8. I /suspect/ this
>>>> is the reason VT8-12 show up as blank screens instead of login
>>>> terminals. Ubuntu seems to be leveraging the power of virtual
>>>> terminals for “user switches”.
>>>>
>>>> I haven’t noticed much in performance loss doing this and the
>>>> other big question is practicality. Why would you ever do this?
>>>> Perhaps you are testing software and want isolated test cases or
>>>> you want a dedicated user for games with a more streamlined
>>>> window manager and want to be able to flip back and forth.
>>>>
>>>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>>>> -------------------------------------------------
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>  We use this method at home daily for one simple task. My wife and I
>>>   each have our own profile the first one to log on gets VT7, the
>>> next gets VT8. She switches to her profile using 'switch user', my
>>> prederence is ctrl+alt+f7/8.
>>>
>>> One annoyance that I have with a similar task in Ubuntu, and maybe
>>>   it's only on my machine, is that logging out of one user will
>>> result in a black blank screen that cannot be released, even with
>>> ctrl+alt+backspace or ctrl+alt+delete. Whenever more than one user
>>> is logged on, we have to leave them on until it's time to shut
>>> down.
>>>
>>> The above problem does not seem to occur on my mother-in-law's
>>> machine using Ubuntu, or even in this one when using a different
>>> distro.
>>>
>>> John.
>>>
>>
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