# .Xresources OR .Xdefaults ?



## Erratus (Aug 21, 2010)

I need to set some defaults for xterm (yes, xterm and I do not want to change).

In man X(7) can be read

```
XTerm*cursorColor:  gold
           XTerm*multiScroll:  on
           XTerm*jumpScroll:  on
           XTerm*reverseWrap:  on
           XTerm*curses:  on
           XTerm*Font:  6x10
           XTerm*scrollBar: on
           XTerm*scrollbar*thickness: 5
           XTerm*multiClickTime: 500
           XTerm*charClass:  33:48,37:48,45-47:48,64:48
           XTerm*cutNewline: off
           XTerm*cutToBeginningOfLine: off
           XTerm*titeInhibit:  on
           XTerm*ttyModes:  intr ^c erase ^? kill ^u

       If  these  resources  were  stored in a file called .Xresources in your
       home directory, they could be added to any existing  resources  in  the
       server with the following command:

           % xrdb -merge $HOME/.Xresources
```
But man XRDB(1) refers to 


```
FILES
       Generalizes ~/.Xdefaults files.
```
I tried both in my home directory. Surprisingly neither worked. 

So please help me where to put xterm defaults as shown above and how to enable them.


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## graudeejs (Aug 21, 2010)

I use ~/.Xdefaults and it works
To apply changes to xterm simply open new terminal


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## vermaden (Aug 22, 2010)

+1 for ~/.Xdefaults


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## itcotbtoemik (Aug 23, 2010)

Actually, it seems to depend on the window manager (or "desktop environment").
On the (Debian) system that I'm logged into currently, "man X" talks only about
the variant ~/.Xdefaults-hostname

I usually avoid ~/.Xdefaults, using XAPPLRESDIR to add my own app-defaults directory.


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