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Subject: Re: "root" vs "su -" Reprise
From: Steve Borho <sborho@ststech.com>
Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1999 09:56:34 -0500

When you run the 'startx' script, it sets up an environment variable called
DISPLAY which has a value which points to your local X server.  Every X client
program (xterm, netscape, etc) looks at this variable to determine which X
server to connect to when they start (ie, this one here on this machine, or
the X server running in Japan on my friends SPARC).  Since this environment
variable is set in the shell which runs 'startx', the variable is
automatically present in every program you launch from X.

When you do an 'su -', the DISPLAY environment variable is erased by the su
program.  You need to put it back if you want any X apps launched from that
root shell to connect to your X server.

export DISPLAY=:0.0


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