From owner-freebsd-x11@FreeBSD.ORG Tue Nov 16 20:24:02 2010 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-x11@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id A172E106566C for ; Tue, 16 Nov 2010 20:24:02 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from jhs@berklix.com) Received: from tower.berklix.org (tower.berklix.org [83.236.223.114]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 102CC8FC18 for ; Tue, 16 Nov 2010 20:24:01 +0000 (UTC) Received: from park.js.berklix.net (p549A74D2.dip.t-dialin.net [84.154.116.210]) (authenticated bits=0) by tower.berklix.org (8.14.2/8.14.2) with ESMTP id oAGK1GaA073635; Tue, 16 Nov 2010 20:01:17 GMT (envelope-from jhs@berklix.com) Received: from fire.js.berklix.net (fire.js.berklix.net [192.168.91.41]) by park.js.berklix.net (8.13.8/8.13.8) with ESMTP id oAGK1Fm6051941; Tue, 16 Nov 2010 21:01:15 +0100 (CET) (envelope-from jhs@berklix.com) Received: from fire.js.berklix.net (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by fire.js.berklix.net (8.14.3/8.14.3) with ESMTP id oAGK14F7065027; Tue, 16 Nov 2010 21:01:09 +0100 (CET) (envelope-from jhs@fire.js.berklix.net) Message-Id: <201011162001.oAGK14F7065027@fire.js.berklix.net> To: freebsd-x11@freebsd.org, logan@xentac.com From: "Julian H. Stacey" Organization: http://www.berklix.com BSD Unix Linux Consultancy, Munich Germany User-agent: EXMH on FreeBSD http://www.berklix.com/free/ X-URL: http://www.berklix.com In-reply-to: Your message "Tue, 16 Nov 2010 19:29:47 +0100." <201011161829.oAGITlQd081437@lurza.secnetix.de> Date: Tue, 16 Nov 2010 21:01:04 +0100 Sender: jhs@berklix.com Cc: Subject: Re: Using XOrg on a FreeBSD Server X-BeenThere: freebsd-x11@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: X11 on FreeBSD -- maintaining and support List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 16 Nov 2010 20:24:02 -0000 > From: Oliver Fromme Oliver Fromme wrote: > Logan Moore wrote: > > I've set up FreeBSD on one of my servers, and I have a nice 24" 1920x1200 > > monitor plugged into it. It seems a shame to be wasting such a decent > > monitor on a simple black and white terminal, so I've been contemplating > > installing XOrg on the server to get a bit of extra functionality from the > > terminals. I'm not thinking KDE or Gnome... just a simple window manager > > like one of the *box's or even just straight up xdm running terminals and > > maybe some basic GUI tools like a text editor/file manager. > > I would connect the monitor to a machine where it is more > useful, i.e. a PC or workstation, and let the server run > headless. Yes. Same on remote servers & home gateways. No X. SUID 0 programs accumulate with X, & more libs indexed by ldconfig to trust. Some older servers have little memory. X servers hog memory: Some have memory leaks I've heard, mine just starts bloated, `top` shows SIZE=167 Meg, RES=73548K, but doesn`t leak worse after that. (1600x1200 & xdm & fvwm with 24 panels, eg 4 x FvwmPagerLabel each with DeskTopSize 3x2 # wide x high ) Even if some X will get swapped out if inactive, I suppose vibrating a mouse could swap out tons of processes & zap server response. I've had workstations where the graphics card locked the machine up, & needed a cold reboot to clear it (& or a replacement) The less to go wrong in a server the better, especially if there's no one there 24/7 to reset. ( eg best also have no SLIP, PLIP, USB to external devices, no CDROM drives that accelerate hard & pull power rails etc). + if you ever get frustrated (eg with some xauth, dns, ipfw, configs that don't play), & want to do a quick dirty debug with "xhost +" better not expose your display on a public server. Cheers, Julian -- Julian Stacey: BSD Unix Linux C Sys Eng Consultants Munich http://berklix.com Mail plain text; Not HTML, quoted-printable & base 64 spam formats. Avoid top posting, it cripples itemised cumulative responses.