X Power Tools

Preface

This is a book about the X Window System, a technology that continues to amaze observers in many ways. It was released as open source software before that term was formally defined, it’s more than 20 years old but has an installed base that is growing daily, and it maintains compatibility with decades-old software while still taking full advantage of the very latest hardware.

This software is so versatile and can be used in so many different ways that it’s not easy to cover it in a traditional book format—so this book is written in the Power Tools format, as a collection of short, independent articles that are extensively cross-referenced.

This book is written for experienced computer users who need to manage, configure, and support the X Window System, whether on a single laptop, a network of hundreds of remote displays, or a public-access kiosk.

How This Book Is Organized

Each article in this book is numbered by its chapter number and section number—so 3.2 is the second article in Chapter 3. There are 15 chapters.

Part I: The X Server

Chapter 1, Introduction to the X Window System

Covers the origin, history, and structure of the X Window System.

Chapter 2, Starting a Local X Server

Outlines how the X server can be executed in different ways to meet a wide variety of needs.

Chapter 3, Basic X.org Configuration

Deals with the server configuration file for the most widely deployed X Server.

Chapter 4, Advanced X.org Configuration

Covers multiple-device configuration: multiple screens, multiple mice, or multiple keyboards.

Chapter 5, Using the X Server

Describes keyboard sequences and mouse actions that directly affect the X Server.

Part II: X Clients

Chapter 6, X Utility Programs

Discusses the often ignored but very useful utility programs that are distributed with the X Window System.

Chapter 7, Running X Clients

Deals with starting X clients—programs that draw on the display.

Chapter 8, Session Managers, Desktop Environments, and Window Managers

Covers software that works with the X Window System to provide a full-fledged graphical user interface and desktop environment.

Part III: Colors, Fonts, and Keyboards

Chapter 9, Color

Describes how color is represented and managed within X.

Chapter 10, Core Fonts: Fonts the Old Way

Explains the traditional font system available in all versions of the X Window System.

Chapter 11, Pango, Xft, Fontconfig, and Render: Fonts the New Way

Gives the detail of the new client-side font rendering used in almost all new X-based applications.

Chapter 12, Keyboard Configuration

Deals with the configuration of keyboards for the global environment, where the user may use several different languages with different character sets.

Part IV: Using X Remotely

Chapter 13, Remote Access

Covers the safe and effective use of X’s powerful remote-display capabilities.

Chapter 14, Using VNC

Explores the incredibly flexible Virtual Network Computer cross-platform display technology, which can be used with X in many powerful ways.

Part V: Special Configurations

Chapter 15, Building a Kiosk

Discusses how public-access GUI systems can be built using X Window technology.

Conventions Used in This Book

The following typographical conventions are used in this book:

Plain text

Indicates menu titles, menu options, menu buttons, and keyboard modifiers (such as Alt and Ctrl)

Italic

Indicates new terms, URLs, email addresses, filenames, file extensions, path-names, directories, commands, and Unix utilities

Constant width

Indicates options, variables, values, the contents of files, and the output from commands

Constant width bold

Shows commands or other text that should be typed literally by the user, as well as important lines of code.

Constant width italic

Shows text that may be replaced with user-supplied values to adapt a command to a particular circumstance

Tip

This icon signifies a tip, suggestion, or general note.

Warning

This icon indicates a warning or caution.

Using Code Examples

This book is here to help you get your job done. In general, you may use the code in this book in your programs and documentation. You do not need to contact us for permission unless you’re reproducing a significant portion of the code. For example, writing a program that uses several chunks of code from this book does not require permission. Selling or distributing a CD-ROM of examples from O’Reilly books does require permission. Answering a question by citing this book and quoting example code does not require permission. Incorporating a significant amount of example code from this book into your product’s documentation does require permission.

We appreciate, but do not require, attribution. An attribution usually includes the title, author, publisher, and ISBN. For example: "X Power Tools, by Chris Tyler. Copyright 2008 O’Reilly Media Inc., 978-0-596-10195-4.”

If you feel your use of code examples falls outside fair use or the permission given above, feel free to contact us at [e-mail].

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Acknowledgments

Thank you to the X developers for creating such a powerful and enduring technology, engineered from the beginning with sufficient flexibility to withstand changes that could not be forseen.

I’d like to thank Andy Oram, David Brickner, and Isabel Kunkle from O’Reilly for working with me on this book. I’d also like to thank Matt Frye, Jim McQuillan, and Josh More for their detailed technical review; and my colleague John Selmys at Seneca College for his review and feedback on the early chapters.

My deep gratitude to my loving wife Diane and my girls Saralyn and Laura for their patience and understanding as I started this book, interrupted it to write another, and then resumed work on this volume. It’s been a long haul, and I couldn’t have done it without their love and support.

And most importantly, I give my humble thanks to God for His love—may any skill or understanding that He has given me be used to His glory.