synss
March 9th, 2007, 11:30 AM
Hello, for my first post, I will propose a somehow involved tip:
Replace xmessage by gxmessage the Debian way, which is obviously the only correct way but...
First things first, have a look at gxmessage (http://freshmeat.net/projects/gxmessage), a pretty GTK2-based xmessage clone, which I like better for obvious reasons: it is pretty and fast.
Like it? install it:
sudo apt-get install gxmessage
and try it
gxmessage -center -nofocus -timeout 5 -button yes,no,maybe -file /var/log/syslog
like it? OK but how to replace that good old xmessage, in a way that will really works?
sudo -s
dpkg-divert --divert /usr/bin/xmessage.X11 --rename /usr/bin/xmessage
update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/xmessage x-messaging-system /usr/bin/xmessage.X11 50
update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/xmessage x-messaging-system /usr/bin/gxmessage 55
exit
The first line starts a root shell because all commands need to be executed as root and I am a lazy typist. The second line move xmessage out of the way and so that /usr/bin/xmessage will be left untouched by an update of the xmessage package. Next two lines, we tell the Debian system that there exists two possibilities for running xmessage, one being the X11 version and one being the GTK2 version, since the second one has a higher priority, it will be prefered by default.
Use
sudo update-alternatives --display x-messaging-system
to see what the system knows
and
sudo update-alternatives --config x-messaging-system
for reverting to xmessage, while leaving you the possibility to change your mind once more.
Note the for echoing into (g)xmessage, you need to use -file hyphenecho "me me me" | xmessage -file -
Debian is a nice system.
This tip works for any replacement you would have in mind.
references:
man update-alternatives
http://www.debian.org/doc/FAQ/ch-customizing.en.html
Replace xmessage by gxmessage the Debian way, which is obviously the only correct way but...
First things first, have a look at gxmessage (http://freshmeat.net/projects/gxmessage), a pretty GTK2-based xmessage clone, which I like better for obvious reasons: it is pretty and fast.
Like it? install it:
sudo apt-get install gxmessage
and try it
gxmessage -center -nofocus -timeout 5 -button yes,no,maybe -file /var/log/syslog
like it? OK but how to replace that good old xmessage, in a way that will really works?
sudo -s
dpkg-divert --divert /usr/bin/xmessage.X11 --rename /usr/bin/xmessage
update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/xmessage x-messaging-system /usr/bin/xmessage.X11 50
update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/xmessage x-messaging-system /usr/bin/gxmessage 55
exit
The first line starts a root shell because all commands need to be executed as root and I am a lazy typist. The second line move xmessage out of the way and so that /usr/bin/xmessage will be left untouched by an update of the xmessage package. Next two lines, we tell the Debian system that there exists two possibilities for running xmessage, one being the X11 version and one being the GTK2 version, since the second one has a higher priority, it will be prefered by default.
Use
sudo update-alternatives --display x-messaging-system
to see what the system knows
and
sudo update-alternatives --config x-messaging-system
for reverting to xmessage, while leaving you the possibility to change your mind once more.
Note the for echoing into (g)xmessage, you need to use -file hyphenecho "me me me" | xmessage -file -
Debian is a nice system.
This tip works for any replacement you would have in mind.
references:
man update-alternatives
http://www.debian.org/doc/FAQ/ch-customizing.en.html