Date: Fri, 14 Jun 2002 21:28:44 -0400 From: Andrew J Caines <A.J.Caines@halplant.com> To: questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: questions about GUI Message-ID: <20020615012844.GB21547@hal9000.halplant.com> In-Reply-To: <006e01c2140c$b30afcc0$7b6c6bd1@ab.hsia.telus.net> References: <20020614222906.SVDD19182.mtiwmhc21.worldnet.att.net@there> <006e01c2140c$b30afcc0$7b6c6bd1@ab.hsia.telus.net>
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Grant, > XFree86 and KDE and Xgome are all graphical OS? I'm new but thought Xfree86 > was the server that ran KDE. Everytime I run XFree I get a black screen? The GUI which runs on an OS such as FreeBSD has several layers and each layer is handled by a different program (or collection of programs). Here is a brief, superficial and incomplete breakdown. Display Manager: The software which manages your display - enables windows to be created, renders fonts, transmits graphical information across the network, etc. is XFree86, a free implementation of the X11 Windowing system which you can find in almost every unix platform. See X(1) and XFree86(1). There are several ways use X. You can run it all the time and have it enable you to log in through a GUI (via xdm or similar) or you can log in to the console and start X with "startx" or "xinit". It "comes with" FreeBSD _and_ can be installed as a port or package. Up until now XFree86 version 3 has been the default, but this has now changed to version 4 as of FreeBSD 4.6. Programs which run in X are known as X clients. The program which manages your display is called the X server. You can run X clients on any system in addition to yours and have them display on your screen. Window Manager: The software which enables you to move windows around, change their size, turn them into icons and more. There are many WMs which run on FreeBSD. Take a look in the "x11-wm" category of the FreeBSD ports collection. Practically, you need a WM. Desktop Manager: The software which manages your other software on the metaphorical "desktop". It usually includes (or works closely with) a window manager, task bars, launchers, icon managers and processes to handle communication between different programs so you can do things like "drag 'n' drop". Popular examples are Gnome and KDE, however there are other choices available. These can be installed via the FreeBSD ports and packages. It is usual for a particular desktop to prefer or work better with certain applications, including the WM, however running a particular desktop does not require you to use these apps. Any X client will work in any desktop, although `special' desktop functions may not. You do not need to use a desktop manager to have a useful desktop. On systems with few resources the overhead can be considerable. You should now go and read chapter 5 of the FreeBSD Handbook, "The X Window System"[1]. If you are from a Windows or Macintosh background, you may be surprised at how complex this all seems and how many things you have to install and configure since on those platforms the GUI "just works". The difference is that now you have real choices of the components and configurations which make _your_ workstation do what _you_ want it to do. This is well worth the extra time spent trying different software and playing with configurations. You will also find that the software you use, despite being over a decade old, is still far more sophisticated. You can see some of my preferences on my web site[2] [1] http://www.freebsd.org/handbook/x11.html [2] http://halplant.com:88/systems.html#Software -Andrew- -- _______________________________________________________________________ | -Andrew J. Caines- Unix Systems Engineer A.J.Caines@halplant.com | | "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary | | safety deserve neither liberty nor safety" - Benjamin Franklin, 1759 | To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message
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