On Sat, 04 Oct 2014 18:27:24 -0500 Jay Leafey wrote:
Well, I haven't tried it, but I believe the available session types are stored in desktop files in /usr/share/xsessions. You could move the ones you don't want to a different location and see how the picker in GDM behaves... a bit like swatting a fly with a hammer, but as long as you can move them back it should be OK. I found mention of this in an Ubuntu-oriented forum somewhere, don't recall where.
Here's what that directory on my C7 box, with MATE installed, looks like:
[root@megamind gdm]# ls /usr/share/xsessions gnome-classic.desktop gnome.desktop gnome-custom-session.desktop mate.desktop [root@megamind gdm]#
I would try moving all of the .desktop files elsewhere temporarily and see if that changes the available desktop list.
That works perfectly. I moved all of the gnome* files out of that directory and restarted gdm. The gear icon that appeared beside the sign in button is now gone completely, I guess because there is only one choice available now. And when I log in it takes me straight to Mate, even when I log in as a brand new user that hasn't ever logged in before.
So, problem solved. That's the solution.