Does linux support a replacement of its username/password collection UI in x-windows. To specify, I have a windows authentication method that uses gina/credential providers to display an alternative to the usual username and password. I wish to port this to linux.
I realise that text-mode runlevels will not support this, and only x-windows would.
Does linux support a replacement of its username/password collection UI in x-windows.
Yes. All the components are open source, and if you're lucky don't need much modification. PAM = Pluggable Authentication Modules, and then you need a GUI like GDM/KDM/XDM to collect whatever you need to pass to pam for authentication.
This is basically what everyone has already told you in comments...