Red Hat LINUX 7.2 - OFFICIAL LINUX CUSTOMIZATION GUIDE Guide d'installation télécharger pdf (Page 99)

Chapter 7.

X Servers and Clients

While the heart of Red Hat Linux is the kernel, for workstation users, the X environment is the face of

the operating system. The kernel provides the engine for everything that happens, managing processes

and resources virtually unseen. However, the day-to-day Linux users spend the majority of their time

in a graphical desktop environment, opening applications, resizing windows, and scrolling through

text.

This chapter is designed to serve as an introduction to the behind-the-scenes world of XFree86 and

how the X Window System — also called X — operates on your machine to provide advanced desktop

functionality.

7.1. The Power of X

Linux began as a powerful, server-based operating system, excelling at efﬁciently processing com-

plicated programs requiring high CPU utilization and handling requests from hundreds or thousands

of clients through network connections. However, because of its open nature and stability, Linux has

quickly developed into a popular GUI-based operating system for workstations, both in the home or

in the workplace.

In the UNIX world, windowing environments have existed for decades, predating many of the current

mainstream operating systems. UNIX machines utilize the X Window System, which uses a client-

server relationship for creating a graphical user interface (GUI) for the user. An X server process is

started that X client processes can connect to via a network or local connection. The server process

handles the communication with the hardware, such as the video card, monitor, keyboard, and mouse.

The X client exists in the userspace, issuing requests to the X server for tasks to be performed using

the hardware it controls.

On Red Hat Linux systems, the XFree86 server ﬁlls the role of the X server. As an open source

software project operating on a grand scope with hundreds of developers around the world, XFree86

features rapid development, a wide degree of support for various hardware devices and architectures,

and the ability to run on different operating systems and platforms.

Most Red Hat Linux desktop users are unaware of the XFree86 server running on their system. They

are much more concerned with the particular desktop environment in which they spend most of their

time. The Red Hat Linux installation program does an excellent job of conﬁguring your XFree86

server during the installation process, ensuring that X performs optimally when ﬁrst started.

The X server performs many difﬁcult tasks using a wide array of hardware, requiring a very detailed

conﬁguration of certain ﬁles. If some aspect of your system changes, such as the monitor or video

card, XFree86 will need to be reconﬁgured. In addition, if you are troubleshooting a problem with

XFree86 that cannot be solved using a conﬁguration utility, such as Xconfigurator, you may need

to access these conﬁguration ﬁles.

Caution

Xconfigurator should not be used to conﬁgure XFree86 while the X server is active. If your system

defaults to starting up directly into X or runlevel 5, you should switch to runlevel 3 prior to running

Xconfigurator. If your system defaults to starting up in text mode, or runlevels 1 through 4, you

should make sure that the X server is not running while conﬁguring X via Xconfigurator. Failure

to stop the X server before running Xconfigurator can cause hardware lockups and possibly data

corruption.

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