Sometimes the Ubuntu 10.04 the gui will freeze and the only thing I can do is move the mouse. I can't interact with programs and I can't change to a different virtual desktop. All I can do is press Ctrl-Alt-Fn and go to the terminal screen. From there I delete the lock file and then do "sudo restart gdm" and I can log back in.
What happens to all the programs that were open in the gui after restarting the gdm? Does VMWare Server get affected in any way?
The openend programs are killed because they lose their connection to the X-Server.
For console programs started in xterm / gterm / gnome-terminal / konsole, etc., you may consider using screen so the program itself is not stopped.
"daemon" processes started by the init-script or running in "background" after they were started from command line, are also not affected - and so VMWare server isn't. However, graphical admin tools are closed.
All programms running in subshells of the xserver get terminated. Daemons are therefor not affected. VMWare server runs as daemon and will still be running when restarting gdm. You have to start the gui interface again though.
