Issues with lxdm in Lubuntu

[nocturtle]

Hi,

I am a recent Lubuntu convert and really like it. A couple of issues that I believe are lxdm related I wanted to point out that don't appear to be working as designed:

Using xscreensaver to lock the screen works, but when you hit the 'new login' button on the xscreensaver prompt it complains about missing gdmflexiserver and re-locks. Based on a package search this is a component of gdm. You can only log into the same session, so another person can't login to their own session using that button as it implies.

Also, the shutdown launcher doesn't have a "switch user" button unlike the stock lxde does. I looked in /etc/lxdm at all the config files and there doesn't seem to be a way to enable this. My main computer is logged into repeatedly by 3 different people all day, so it would be nice to be able to save my session without all my running applications getting dumped.

All this being said I love lxde and lubuntu. It's nice to have a fast functional desktop that does what it's supposed to and doesn't get in the way.

[amjjawad]

Hello and Welcome to LXDE Forum

I am a recent Lubuntu convert and really like it.

Thank you for choosing and using Lubuntu. It's one of my favorite Systems and it's really great. Glad you like it.

If I'm not mistaken, I've seen the same Qs on Ubuntu Forum? maybe my Lubuntu One Stop Thread? can't really remember.

I have read your post, all of it. This will NOT be a direct solution because I'm not an expert or advanced user but my answer is no more than a personal opinion that you may agree with or disagree which I respect and understand in both cases

Using xscreensaver to lock the screen works, but when you hit the 'new login' button on the xscreensaver prompt it complains about missing gdmflexiserver and re-locks. Based on a package search this is a component of gdm. You can only log into the same session, so another person can't login to their own session using that button as it implies.

Also, the shutdown launcher doesn't have a "switch user" button unlike the stock lxde does. I looked in /etc/lxdm at all the config files and there doesn't seem to be a way to enable this. My main computer is logged into repeatedly by 3 different people all day, so it would be nice to be able to save my session without all my running applications getting dumped.

Recently, I've been working on testing many systems (Ubuntu 10.04, Xubuntu 11.04, Lubuntu 11.04, Lubuntu 11.10, Linux Mint 11, Peppermint 2 and CrunchBang) on P4 machine with less than 256MB RAM. Some results and notes were very interesting and sometimes surprising, at least for me. I'm planning to post that on my Blog but didn't get enough time for that.
I have noticed 3 different cases:

1- Frozen PC: when SWAP was OFF and the RAM was fully used. I have noticed that some applications either crash or closed automatically.

2- Very Slow PC: When the RAM was fully used and SWAP was ON.

3- Slow PC: When the RAM is NOT fully used.

Having that said, with 3 users are using the same machine, assuming there is enough RAM and/or SWAP, it's hard to ensure that there will be no misuse OR failure that will lead to completely frozen machine and eventually a reboot. That's the worst case scenario. Another scenario is: if someone did an upgrade which require a reboot and he/she did reboot the machine, everything will be lost for the other two users. I'm sure there are more cases

Point is: The BEST way is to SAVE your current work, log out and let the other to use the same machine. However, I do agree that "Switch User" is a very nice feature to have but I'm not sure how to enable it or use it?!

All this being said I love lxde and lubuntu. It's nice to have a fast functional desktop that does what it's supposed to and doesn't get in the way.

I love both LXDE and Lubuntu, hence I'm here
Nothing is prefect. Having that said and keeping in mind that Lubuntu is designed first of all to be lightweight and work on old machines, one can't expect EVERYTHING to be prefect. Above all, some functions/features are Users' Personal Opinion and Preferences. It's very hard to satisfy everyone. However, it's GREAT to do that

Sorry for the long post, I'd love to share my opinion with everyone and sometimes I overdo it

Have you done some searches here or on Google?

In case I'll find something, I'll post here

[amjjawad]

I'll send this topic/thread to Lubuntu Member via Mailing List so let's hope there will be a real solution or a fix to this

[nocturtle]

Thanks!!!

The switch user button is present and works as designed on the stock Lxde using Debian 6.0.3 that I tested out before installing Lubuntu, so I think this is a problem with the Lubuntu version of lxdm. Another interesting thing is that if I start a virtual machine (using Virtualbox), if I leave it running and another person walks and logs me out, when they log in it's running on their desktop. Obviously a security risk, though that may be application-specific. I didn't test that out on the stock Lxde.

When I was using stock Ubuntu there was a show-stopper bug in gdm that resulted in system instability if you had a lot of applications running and someone tried to log you out after a few hours, and that bug persisted over several upgrades (including Oneiric). Compared to that this is minor.

hs

[nocturtle]

I should note that this is a machine with 1 GB of swap and 2 GB of RAM, so I don't think it's an issue of lack of resources.

hs

[amjjawad]

As promised, this is a reply from the developers:

Julien Lavergne:
"It's because lxdm doesn't support those features. But it should be fixed in 12.04 shortly, using lightdm."