XDM is used to boot an X.org based desktop environment.1 It can control a display directly or indirectly in order to start an X session and supports remote login.2 XDM is initialized on system startup.3
It can be edited through the use of a configuration file, modules, or scripts.45 The configuration file is usually found in /usr/lib/X11/xdm/xdm-config.6
XDM is one of the earliest display managers for Linux.7 It was developed by Keith Packard after he joined the X Consortium due to his frustration using a text-based environment to try and configure X.8
XDM is available but unused on most systems because of its rudimentary nature.9 Desktop environments released afterwards tended to include their own display manager, such as dtlogin on CDE.10
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Gerganov, Hiks (2024-03-18). "Linux Display Managers (LightDM, SLiM, XDM, GDM, SDDM, KDM, Ly): Install and Uninstall Guide". Baeldung. Retrieved 2024-05-13. https://www.baeldung.com/linux/display-managers-install-uninstall ↩