Feature request: kdm.conf requires a "text" flag

[mstfa cmly]

This mainly affects users who wish to use the "text" GRUB flag on bootup for KDE users. I have found that opting to boot using the "text" option simply fails to stop KDM from starting.

Users on the forums have suggested the use of a manual override in /etc/init/kdm.override, but this would also affect a regular boot.

Adding the following lines to the "script" portion of the kdm.conf file would fix this without affecting regular users:

    if [ -n "$UPSTART_EVENTS" ]
    then
        # Check kernel command-line for inhibitors, unless we are being called
        # manually
        for ARG in $(cat /proc/cmdline); do
            if [ "$ARG" = "text" ]; then
                plymouth quit || :
                stop
                exit 0
            fi
        done

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Harald Sitter (apachelogger)]

hardly seems appropriate to do this on a per-dm basis, something at upstart level would be better.

[Steve Langasek (vorlon)]

> hardly seems appropriate to do this on a per-dm basis, something at upstart level would be better.

There are currently no plans to implement such policy in the upstart package. I think you should reconsider addressing this in kde-workspace.

[Mike Bianchi (mbianchi-foveal)]

> There are currently no plans to implement such policy in the upstart package.

Is that an answer?

How is booting to "text" mode any different from booting to Unity, KDE, Gnome, or any of a dozen other possible modes? Demanding that each of those implement the "text" mode sounds wrong to me.

Deciding whether or not to boot into X, text, single-user or some other mode strikes me as _exactly_ what upstart should implement. So a bug like this should turn into a PLAN to modify Upstart to implement such a POLICY.

[Steve Langasek (vorlon)]

On Sun, Nov 04, 2012 at 07:30:36PM -0000, Mike Bianchi wrote:
> > There are currently no plans to implement such policy in the upstart
> > package.

> Is that an answer?

Yes, it is. This CANNOT be implemented without changes to the kdm job; the
only thing that upstart can do is provide an abstraction that simplifies the
logic expressed within the kdm job. Such refactoring might be nice, but
lightdm and gdm already have support for this without such refactoring, and
this bug report is a request that kdm implement the same logic as those
other display managers - logic that can easily be implemented by cut and
paste.

If the Kubuntu developers think this is an important feature to provide to
their users, they should implement it - not block on a new abstraction being
implemented first in upstart.