• Open Menu Close Menu
  • Apple
  • Shopping Bag
  • Apple
  • Mac
  • iPad
  • iPhone
  • Watch
  • TV
  • Music
  • Support
  • Search apple.com
  • Shopping Bag

Lists

Open Menu Close Menu
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Lists hosted on this site
  • Email the Postmaster
  • Tips for posting to public mailing lists
Re: Continuing saga of missing X-window
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: Continuing saga of missing X-window

  • Subject: Re: Continuing saga of missing X-window
  • From: "Kevin Keeney" <email@hidden>
  • Date: Sat, 13 Sep 2003 15:32:59 -0500
I'm wondering...are you expecting Quartz-WM to create a window on your
> screen inside of which individual X applications will appear (basically, a
> Multiple-Document Interface)?

you are correct. All the info I have from reading, says I should have a GUI window.

Okay, I think this is the crux of the problem. All that X11.app does is start up the X server. The X server is what X-based programs use to display their windows; it is not a GUI by itself. X11.app puts an icon on your Dock and lets the X server take over.

The X server runs the script /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc. This script tells the server several things, but the last two items are the ones we're concerned with. The last line runs Quartz-WM. The second-to-last item runs Xterm.

Quartz-WM is called a "rootless" window manager because it does not change your desktop wallpaper and it does not give you any menus when you click on an empty portion of the desktop. This is different from most Unix window managers.

Quartz-WM also does not create any windows. It just gives the windows for applications that you open the same "decorations" as Aqua windows: the three button at the upper left, the Aqua colors, and stuff like that. All of your Unix apps will sit directly on your desktop along with any native Mac windows. It's basically just like using Mac Classic apps, except that Unix apps with Quartz-WM look more like MacOSX apps than Classic apps do.

So, to sum up. We have launched X11.app. X11.app has started the X server. The X server, in turn, has started Quartz-WM. So far, no windows have been created.

This is where the second-to-last line in /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc comes in. It runs Xterm. That is why Xterm appears on your screen when you launch X11.app. We finally have a window! Not a GUI window, granted, but it's a start.

If my xterm
can be used as such, I am lost. If I need to load a windowmanager then I can do so, How can I use
GIMP on X11 with only a command line terminal? Even if just to test I loaded it correctly into X11.

Xterm is not a GUI, but you can use it to launch other apps. Do you have rclock installed? (If not, try installing it with Fink; rclock is small.) Type "/sw/bin/rclock" in the xterm window. A little graphical clock should appear, in its own window.

You should be able to run other (useful) apps like GIMP, Knode, or whatever the exact same way. (Once you've installed them, of course!)

(You'll probably want to add your apps to the Applications menu, rather than using Xterm. I believe that others have told you how to customize that menu. Once you've got a nice setup, you might want to remove the Xterm line from xinitrc so that you don't keep getting an Xterm window that you never use whenever you launch X11.app. Just a thought.)

I have it loaded on Jaquar, GIMP and all my other graphics, but want to learn to use all the Open
source programs and learn to build and install them myself instead of using Fink. I would rather
mess up X11 than Jaquar! I'm starting X11 on it's own partition. If (when) I screw up, I only screw
X11.

I'm afraid I can't help you with compiling software yourself under MacOSX, except to tell you that the need Apple's Developer Kit to even get started. I'm sure that other lists can help you out.

Unix seems to be the floor or foundation of it all. So I need to learn all I can and go up from here.
Learn to build and install source and binarys and then learn to compile on project builder and code
warrior.

Up in the rockies here, I only have my books and the net to learn from. So thanks for all the info
and advice.

Is this correct, I reply to your address, instead of the forums?

I don't know what the protocol is for this group. I think you're supposed to post to the group, and maybe copy the mail to the person's address. I am going to send this to the group as well as to you in case less long-winded people than me can point out developer resources for you or correct any mistakes I made. 8-)

_________________________________________________________________
Send and receive larger attachments with Hotmail Extra Storage. http://join.msn.com/?PAGE=features/es
_______________________________________________
x11-users mailing list | email@hidden
Help/Unsubscribe/Archives: http://www.lists.apple.com/mailman/listinfo/x11-users
X11 for Mac OS X FAQ: http://developer.apple.com/qa/qa2001/qa1232.html
Report issues, request features, feedback: http://developer.apple.com/bugreporter
Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored.
  • Prev by Date: Re: Fonts and open office
  • Next by Date: Missing window found!
  • Previous by thread: Re: Continuing saga of missing X-window
  • Next by thread: special german keywords
  • Index(es):
    • Date
    • Thread