The Xfce configuration guide contains the following: #Code Listing 3.1: Setting Xfce as the default desktop environment $ echo "exec startxfce4" > ~/.xinitrc The code listing should instead be: #Code Listing 3.1: Setting Xfce as the default desktop environment $ echo "exec ck-launch-session startxfce4" > ~/.xinitrc There should also be preceding instructions to install console kit, and have the consolekit use flag set. Reproducible: Always Steps to Reproduce: 1. Visit http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/xfce-config.xml 2. Set up Xfce as per the guide 3. Click the log-out button on the task bar. Actual Results: The Shut Down and Restart buttons are greyed out. Expected Results: Allowed you to click shut down or restart in order to shut down or restart the computer. Justification: I followed the existing documentation in the guide. after starting xfce, and clicking the logout button, a screen popped up and contained a second logout button, but also contained options to shut down and restart the computer. Except for the log out buttons, these were greyed out. Searching for a solution, I was linked to http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-858965-highlight-.html for a solution by the #xfce group on freenode.org. After implementing the change of "exec startxfce4" to "exec ck-launch-session startxfce4" in my ~/.xinitrc file, the problem was solved. Further, at http://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/consolekit/2010-March/000080.html The following excerpt can be found: As you point out, however, apps lacking PAM integration such as "xinit" or "startx" need to manually start a ConsoleKit session. In this respect "ck-launch-session" is definitely required and certainly not deprecated. While this may seem like a minor problem, and not required for basic functionality, the use of SLiM is encouraged in the guide. SLiM contains no native method for shutting down the computer. As such, being able to shut down the computer from inside xfce is critical for basic desktop functionality. Even if SLiM is not installed, one must run the shutdown or reboot command as root, or institute a more complex solution to allow one to shut down with a command line command. Otherwise, in order to power down the computer, basic users haven no option but a hard power cycle. While on most boxes this is an easy work around, this can lead to hardware damage, so it is definitely far from an ideal solution. Current Versions: xfce-base/xfce4-meta-4.8 x11-base/xorg-server-1.9.2
http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/xfce-config.xml says: -- cut -- Note: If you have ConsoleKit installed, your ~/.xinitrc should instead contain exec ck-launch-session startxfce4. Otherwise, some of your applications may stop working. You'll also need to add consolekit to the default runlevel by running the following command as root: rc-update add consolekit default. -- cut -- The information is there already.
Apparently I am half-blind. My apologies.