FreeBSD6 Unleashed

Chapter 5. Working with the X Window System

IN THIS CHAPTER

• Introduction to X11

• The X Server

• Window Managers

• KDE and GNOME

• Working with Window Managers

• The Window Maker Window Manager

In this chapter, you will look at the X Window System, also known as X11 or X—the UNIX world’s equivalent of the Windows operating environment. UNIX systems have traditionally been reluctant to adopt graphical user interfaces like the one in Windows or Mac OS X, owing to the usual niche of UNIX systems in server roles where a user-friendly application environment is seldom of any use. However, in recent years many people have sought to replace their Windows desktop systems with Linux or FreeBSD machines, and with that trend has come a plethora of software intended to ...