Arch Linux

girzel

Member

Registered: 2010-06-27

Posts: 74

Systemd as a replacement for desktop environment

For a long time I was running the Stumpwm window manager under XFCE4, because there was so much of the system (power management, automounting, etc) that was only practical with a proper DE.

Now I've moved to Systemd, and want to try running Stumpwm directly in .xinitrc, with no DE. My understanding is that Systemd replaced ConsoleKit? Or is it that Systemd now handles starting ConsoleKit? I am not starting ConsoleKit anywhere, though I see that console-kit-daemon is still a running process. Specifically:

1. Automounting USB drives. Currently doesn't work. I have udisks and udisks2 installed, but they're not doing their thing. Is there a way to make them function automatically under Systemd, or do I need to write udev rules?

2. Power management. Without XFCE4's power management control panel, what are my options for setting things like what happens on laptop lid closure, and how long before the screen goes blank? My user is a member of the "power" group. I'm able to reboot and poweroff without a sudo password, but both pm-hibernate and pm-suspend require a password.

3. I've had pretty good luck making NetworkManager and ibus work. The only exception being that starting an OpenVPN connection using nmcli gives me the error: "Method "Get" with signature "ss" on interface "org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties" doesn't exist" I've seen this error elsewhere on the web -- it might be an actual bug, rather than a misconfiguration.

Beyond these specific questions, I'd love it if someone could briefly outline how  things are supposed to work under this sort of setup. Where should I be configuring the things that used to be handled by ConsoleKit? All the org.freedesktop stuff -- is that "owned" by dbus, or Systemd, or ConsoleKit, or what? Is that where I should be putting rules and settings?

Clearly I have some misconceptions or at least confusions about how all these packages work together, and what they're responsible for -- any light anyone can shed would be much appreciated.

Eric

ngoonee

Forum Fellow

From: Between Thailand and Singapore

Registered: 2009-03-17

Posts: 7,355

Re: Systemd as a replacement for desktop environment

Did you bother searching? At least 1 and 2 are totally redundant questions solvable by a simple search.

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girzel

Member

Registered: 2010-06-27

Posts: 74

Re: Systemd as a replacement for desktop environment

Apologies! I screwed the post up somewhat. What I was looking for was not so much solutions to my specific problems (which are definitely FAQS, sorry), but an explanation of how Systemd and ConsoleKit and the other bits and piece interact. In particular:

Should I still have ConsoleKit running on my system at all? The wiki indicates its been supplanted entirely, but it's still running on my system. And,

What's the difference between Systemd's service and config files (under /usr/lib/systemd) and the "org.freedesktop" policy files -- are they complementary, completely orthogonal, or has one superseded the other?

I'd be happy with two sentences of explanation. Or Google search terms. Or crickets and silence.

Thanks,
Eric

jasonwryan

Anarchist

From: .nz

Registered: 2009-05-09

Posts: 30,424

Website

Re: Systemd as a replacement for desktop environment

If you are running systemd, you should remove consolekit: systemd handles that functionality now. Similarly with .pkl files, they are only likely to impede the operation of systemd managing your session.

The easiest thing to do is strip everything out, and only add pieces back in as you need them; I get by with just udiskie to automount, everything else is now handled by my systemd session. I have no idea about NM though, I just  use wicd.

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ngoonee

Forum Fellow

From: Between Thailand and Singapore

Registered: 2009-03-17

Posts: 7,355

Re: Systemd as a replacement for desktop environment

I have no idea about NM though, I just  use wicd.

Heretic! netcfg is the only true way =p

And yes, udiskie is very simple, no real need for much more than that.

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Allan-Volunteer on the (topic being discussed) mailn lists. You never get the people who matters attention on the forums.
jasonwryan-Installing Arch is a measure of your literacy. Maintaining Arch is a measure of your diligence. Contributing to Arch is a measure of your competence.
Griemak-Bleeding edge, not bleeding flat. Edge denotes falls will occur from time to time. Bring your own parachute.

girzel

Member

Registered: 2010-06-27

Posts: 74

Re: Systemd as a replacement for desktop environment

The easiest thing to do is strip everything out, and only add pieces back in as you need them

Yes! That was my impetus for this whole push, until I realized I didn't really know what was unnecessary and what was still integral to the system. I've gotten rid of consolekit, and (what I hope was) a bunch of other cruft. I've still got a little gconf/polkit tangle left on the system, as both ibus and networkmanager require them and I'm not ready to give those up yet. Otherwise, hopefully I'm much closer to a system as the Arch gods intended it. Now to reboot and (probably) break.

Thanks!
E