Running X in runlevel 3

[Chris Jones]

> Is there any particular benefit to starting X by saying "init 5" rather
> than "startx" from runlevel 3?  (Although, I can only do that as the
> superuser...)

I'm not sure quite what you are asking, but do you know you can switch between 
init levels by typing (as root)

 > telinit X

where X is the level you want to switch to. Useful for instance if you want to 
drop down from 5 to 3 to upgrade X, gnome or KDE, or if you booted into init 
3 and want to subsequently switch to 5

Not sure if this answers your question....

Chris