There is no longer any need to ever launch X11 yourself. The system
is set up through launchd configuration such that whenever any
application tries to use X11 resources, the server is started if it
is not already running. If it is already running, the new
application is simply connected to that existing server.
There is one fundamental problem with this approach. And that is
that depending on your application, and how much of a power user you
are, you may not even be able to find the X application.
This is for applications like gimp, openoffice, etc that want to
bundle their application. If yours is hidden, then you can run it
from Terminal.app or open X11.app like always before.
In my case it is hidden in a directory that Apple in it's wisdom has
deemed as needing to be hidden. As with standard Unix operating
procedure, my application is neatly snuggled in /usr/local and so I
can't get to it without an act of congress (or at least a terminal
window, alias, or some other trickery). I am a power user, so I can
get there if I want/need, but I'm speaking from the perspective of a
non-power user, an audience we are supposed to be targeting. So
although this new regime is a great idea which I embrace, it is not
without it's problems.
Since when do non power users directly deal with running applications
out of /usr/local? If anything, they'll launch a terminal and execute
the command at the command prompt (as before) or just double click
a .app (as before)
As a convenience for people who used to launch X11 manually to get
an XTerm, there is a visible application which performs that action
by default when launched. So if you do happen to start X by opening
the application, an XTerm is opened. That behavior can be changed
if you want to, through the mechanisms Jeremy described. But the
easiest thing is to simply stop launching X11 manually, and just
use your X applications directly.
Wish I could. Or rather I was there was as easy of a simple
straightforward option. Guess I'm saying I want to eat my cake and
have it to.
Touche. With the limits described above. When you can find it, you
will almost certainly find it to be some ugly black box with green
lettering saying 'exec'. And every one of your X apps will look like
that unless you tediously update them with a custom icon on your
own. So great idea, but it's tremendously un-Mac-like and not what
your typical users is going to think of doing.
Well, then throw that unfriendly executable into a .app bundle if
you're a dev, or get the developer to package it that way for you.
The typical user will probably continue to do things the way they have
been (executing from the terminal) until they are packaged as .apps.
Look at gimp and openoffice as examples.
There are hugely strong reasons for it, but not from the
programmer's point of view nearly so much as from the Mac X11
users' point of view, especially new users coming to the platform.
This I can't buy for the reasons given above. If you'd also added a
system somehow to add icons and make things accessible then there is
a good chance.
There is a system for it. Bundles.
It makes vastly many things just work which previously required
user intervention and special cases.
Hmmm. Seems more difficult and special to me now than it did in the
past, but then there are lots of X apps I didn't use in the past. So
guess I need more education.
It also makes things start up properly from Terminal.app as DISPLAY is
set in the master environment, not just in X.app's forked processes.
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