Bash parameter substitution in xinitrc

Question

I am trying to edit my .xinitrc file so that startx can run with a parameter telling it which window manager/desktop to use, but fall back to a default one if none are provided. .xinitrc is a shell script.

What I have used is this code:

desktop=${desktop:-startkde}
exec $desktop

The idea is that running startx desktop=fluxbox will launch a different desktop then the default provided, however this does not work. Can anyone see what I am doing wrong here?

Answer 1

Try:

desktop=fluxbox startx

Environment variables are set by putting them before the command name; everything after the command name is just arguments to the command.