slim(1)

📦 version 2.7.1, in fedora 43, fedora 44

✨ slim — the manual page, but make it cute ✨

okay bestie, welcome to slim(1) 💖 this is the manual page for slim, aka the Simple LogIn Manager, and yes the capitalization is giving "I named myself in 2005 and I stand by it" and honestly? iconic. let's get into it 🎀

🌸 NAME 🌸

slim — Simple LogIn Manager 🫶

🌈 SYNOPSIS 🌈

slim [options] [<arguments>]

💅 DESCRIPTION 💅

so. SLiM is a lightweight login manager for X11, and what that means is it lets you kick off a graphical session by just typing your username and password into a login screen. that's it, that's the whole job, and it does it beautifully ✨

it's desktop-agnostic, which is the fancy way of saying it does not care what desktop environment you're running. with the right config, it should work with any session style. lowkey a people pleaser. we love that for it 💜

🎀 OPTIONS 🎀

  • -c /path/to/config — pick a non-standard config file instead of the default /etc/slim.conf. living your own truth, respect.
  • -d — run as a daemon 👑
  • -n — do NOT run as a daemon. the anti--d. the hater era.
  • -s — be systemd compatible by disabling consolekit support. heads up though: this option does nothing if consolekit support has not been built in. it's giving "shows up to a party that isn't happening" 😭
  • -p /path/to/theme — display a preview of the theme. important note bestie: an already running X11 session is required for theme preview. you cannot preview a theme in the void.
  • -w <www>x<hhh> — set the size of the window used for theme preview. ⚠️ this option is only valid after a -p option — it needs -p to go first, no skipping the line.
  • -h — display a brief help message 🫶
  • -v — display version information ⭐

🦋 EXAMPLES 🦋

run slim in daemon mode:

slim -d

preview of the default theme at low resolution:

slim -p /usr/share/slim/themes/default -w 800x600

🌟 STARTING SLIM AT BOOT 🌟

ngl this part is on you and your OS. please refer to the documentation of your Operating System to make slim automatically start up after the system boots 📖

and specifically: the method is very different between SysV, OpenRC, runit and systemd init processes. four completely different vibes, four completely different instructions. no cap.

💖 CONFIGURATION 💖

global configuration lives in the /etc/slim.conf file 🗂️

see the comments inside the file for a detailed explanation of the options — yes, the file explains itself. self-aware king.

👑 USAGE AND SPECIAL USERNAMES 👑

when started, slim will show a login panel. enter the username and password of the user you want to login as. that's the whole ritual 💫

Special usernames — these are the cheat codes, the secret menu, the iykyk:

  • console — open an xterm login console. No password needed 🙈
  • exit — quit slim. No password needed. see the note in BUGS 👀
  • halt — shutdown the machine
  • reboot — reboot the machine
  • suspend — power-suspend the machine

see the configuration file for customizing the above commands 🛠️

⚠️ real talk: the 'halt' and 'reboot' commands need the root password, and hence may not work on systems where root login is disabled. plan accordingly bestie.

Shortcuts ⌨️:

  • F11 — executes a custom command (by default takes a screenshot) 📸
  • F1 — choose session type from session list.

💀 BUGS 💀

okay so here's the drama. when run as a daemon from OpenRC (and possibly other init systems), causing SLiM to quit can sometimes result in a blank screen and unresponsive computer 😭 this includes when using the "exit" special username. so like, be aware. it's giving cursed.

probably still a few more but I'm working on them. the author said that, not me, and honestly? we stan the honesty 🫶

🌸 AUTHORS 🌸

  • Simone Rota <sip@varlock.com>
  • Johannes Winkelmann <jw@tks6.net>
  • Nobuhiro Iwamatsu <iwamatsu@nigauri.org>
  • Rob Pearce <slim@flitspace.org.uk>

⭐ SEE ALSO ⭐

  • slimlock(1)
  • See the online documentation at the SLiM web site for further information on themes, FAQs, etc. 🌐

and that's the whole page, bestie!! 🎀 this one's from January 14, 2023, it's the slim(1) manual page, and you read the entire thing which means you are officially a main character 💅✨ slay, go log in somewhere. 💖

📦 where this page comes from