KDM

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KDE Display Manager (KDM)

KDM shown themed with the Tux-mania styling.
Developer:	KDE Team
Latest release:	3.5.0 / 29 November 2005
OS:	Linux, Solaris, BSD, other Unix-like
Use:	X display manager
License:	GPL
Website:	http://www.kde.org

In computing, KDM (KDE Display Manager) is a graphical login interface for computers using Unix-like operating systems. It is the K Desktop Environment replacement for XDM, the default X display manager. KDM allows users to pick their session type on a per-login basis. Like KDE, it uses the Qt toolkit and can be configured from the KDE control center. It also allows theming and user photos. The most recent releases allows the user to install complete themes to play like the other login manager, GDM.

A simple KDM login dialog box has a list of users on the left, stating their username, their "real name" and optionally also containing a small picture that can be chosen by the user or the administrator. To the right from the list is a greeting and a picture. These items can be customised using the KDE Control Center. Users may also replace this picture with an analog clock. Under the picture/clock are the Username and Password text boxes. On some systems, users will find a session selector under the password field where you can select the kind of session type you want to start, e.g. KDE, GNOME or a simple terminal. At the bottom, there is a series of buttons which offers commands to shutdown and reboot the computer, restart the X server or start a tool to manage users.

KDM has an optional autologin feature; this is insecure, but users used to other operating systems request this sometimes.