Chapter 6 X Windows System and Window Managers

1LinuxOperatingSystemXWindowsSystemandWindowManagersChengfuSun2LinuxOperatingSystemContentsWhatisXWindow?SettingupyourXFree86SystemUsingtheXDesktopManagerTheGNOMEDesktopEnvironmentTheKDEDesktopEnvironment3LinuxOperatingSystemWhatisXWindow?IntroductionTheXWindowsystemisanetworkingwindowingsystem.ThepropertermsofXWindowsystem’sreferenceareX,X11,XVersion11,ortheXWindowsystem,version11.XwasfirstdevelopedattheMassachusettsInstituteofTechnologyintheearly1980s.TheXWindowsystemusedwithmostLinuxdistributions4LinuxOperatingSystemSettingupyourXFree86SystemInstallXFree86IfyouinstalledandconfiguredX11whenyoufirstinstalledRedHatLinux,you'llfindthatmostoftheXWindowsystemresidesunderthe/usr/X11R6directory.UpgradeX.InsertyourRedHatCD-ROMmount/mnt/cdrom#su-c“rpm-i/mnt/cdrom/RedHat/RPMS/XFree86*rpm5LinuxOperatingSystemThecontentsofthedirectoriesunderthe/usr/X11R6:/usr/X11R6/binWheremost(butnotall)X11clientsarestored/usr/X11R6/includeProgrammingheaderfilesanddirectoriesofbitmapsandpixmaps/usr/X11R6/libX11softwarelibrariesneededbyXclientsandprogrammers/usr/X11R6/manXmanualpages6LinuxOperatingSystemThemajorcomponentsofXFree86.XserversConfigurationsfilesClientsProgrammingheaderfilesLibrariesFontsResourcefilesManualpages7LinuxOperatingSystemConfigureXFree86usingXconfiguratorThefunctionsofXconfiguratordetectyourhardwareInstalltheapplicableXsoftwarewiththeappropriateconfigurationsettings.IfyouarestillunsuccessfulaftertryingoutvarioussettingswithXconfigurator,youmayHavebetterluckwiththexf86configEditthe/etc/X11/XF86Configfilebyhand.8LinuxOperatingSystemExample:HowtochangecolordepthEditthe/etc/X11/XF86ConfigaboutthecolordepthSubsection“DisplayDepth24Modes“800x600”“1024x768ViewPort00Virtual1024768EndSubsection9LinuxOperatingSystemTesteachcolordepthmanuallybyStartx---bpp24(forthe24-bitdepth)makesureXisworkingproperlyforthecolordepthyouwishtouse.Makethecolordepthasthedefaulstbymodifythe/etc/X11/xinit/xserverrcasfollows:•execX:0-bpp24AssumingyouhaveconfiguredXproperly,startingitisasimplematteroftyping•startx10LinuxOperatingSystemUsingtheXDesktopManagerStartuptheXwindowSystemautomaticallyatsystemboottimeEditthe/etc/initabfileandchangeid:3:initdefaulttoid:5:initdefault11LinuxOperatingSystemQuestions:HowtoswitchfromtheGUItotheregularconsoles?HowtoswitchbackagaintotheGUI?12LinuxOperatingSystemChoosingaWindowManagerforXThewindowmanagerisresponsibleforhowXlooksandhowitinteractswithyouandyourapplications.ThecommonwindowmanagersforLinux:FvwmOlvmTwm…..13LinuxOperatingSystemTheGNOMEDesktopEnvironmentIntroductionGNOMEisanacronymfortheGNUNetworkObjectModelEnvironment.Itisauser-friendlydesktopenvironmentthatenablesuserstoeasilyuseandconfiguretheircomputers.GNOMEisdefaultdesktopenvironmentinmostofLinuxdistributions.14LinuxOperatingSystemTheDesktop15LinuxOperatingSystemThedesktopisthemainworkspaceofyourenvironmentwhichincorporateseverything.WindowsareplacedontheDesktopLauchersarealsofoundforapplication,documetsortherdata.Double-clickingwillopenafolderorstartanapplication.Thedesktopistheareaonwhichyourunyourapplicationsandperformallyourwork.16LinuxOperatingSystemOnyourdesktoparelaunchersandfolders:Launchers•Iconswhichappearonthedesktop.•Clickontheicontostarttheapplicationit'sassociatedwith.•Forexample,clickingonaNetscapeNavigatoriconwilllaunchthebrowser.17LinuxOperatingSystemFolders•Containingcontentsofdirectories•Foldersonthedesktopcanstoreapplications,datasuchastextfilesorspreadsheets,andotheritems.•Double-clickingonafolderwillopenitanddisplayitscontents18LinuxOperatingSystemContentsofanOpenFolder19LinuxOperatingSystemThePanelThePanelattheBottomoftheDesktopFromthePanel,youcanlaunch•applicationsandapplets•smallapplicationsandutilitieswhicharemeanttobedockedintothepanel.20LinuxOperatingSystemHidingthePanel•Toenabletheauto-hidefeature,right-clickonthePanel,selectpanel,properties,hidingpolicyandchooseautohide21LinuxOperatingSystemAddinganapplet•Right-clickonthePanel;selectApplets22LinuxOperatingSystem•Right-clickonthePanel;selectPanel=Addtopanel23LinuxOperatingSystemFindingHelp24LinuxOperatingSystemTheGNOMEHelpBrowserincludes:GNOME-relatedhelpinfopagesmanpages25LinuxOperatingSystemTheKDEDesktopEnvironmentWhatisKDE?KDEisapowerfulOpenSourcegraphicaldesktopenvironmentforUnixworkstationsKDEisanInternetprojectthatistrulyopenineverysense.KDEisamaturedesktopsuiteprovidingasolidbasistoanevergrowingnumberofapplicationsforUnixworkstations.26LinuxOperatingSystemTheDesktopDesktopIconsTrashcanControlpanelYoucanaccessanyoneofthesedevicesbyleft-clickingonceontheapplicableicon.27LinuxOperatingSystem28LinuxOperatingSystemThePanelThepanelstretchesacrossthebottomofthedesktopThepanelisveryconfigurable29LinuxOperatingSystemMultipleDesktopsBydefault,KDEprovidesfourdesktopsonwhichyoucanspreadyourwork.Eachdesktopcanholdicons,openapplications,andhaveindividuallycustomizedbackgrounds.Forexample,whileyouarewritingemailonthefirstdesktop,youcanhaveNetscapeNavigatorrunningondesktoptwo,aw