Re: problems installing xquartz
Re: problems installing xquartz
- Subject: Re: problems installing xquartz
- From: Lars-Johan Liman <email@hidden>
- Date: Fri, 14 Dec 2012 10:19:13 +0100
email@hidden:
> My point is that, as user interfaces go, X11 is pretty sucky. (There are
> very good reasons why there's a big push for Wayland.) Especially on OS X,
> I'm usually much happier using the native GUI; and on Linux the GUI
> experience just feels cobbled together --- which it is, because X11
> is.
I would argue that X11 is not a user interface - it's a network
transparent framwork for displaying graphics on screens which may not be
directly connected to the piece of equipment you're sitting at.
On top of that framework, a number of user interfaces have been built
over the years - some more successful than others. The list is long:
Motif, DECWindows, Openlook, CDE, KDE, Gnome{1,2,3}, Xquartz, ...
There are some advantages with X11 that I like and have not seen
elsewhere:
1) It's network transparent. This is really the beauty of it all. You
can execute your app on one host, and display the results on a
different one, and the system is designed from scratch to handle
exactly that. The app doesn't even know about it.
2) You can build your own UI. If you're unhappy with the one you use,
get a different one. If you don't like Gnome, use KDE. If you don't
like KDE, get something else.
3) Configuration flexibility. I can assign any key to do anything I
like in just about any application. I can control how the windows
behave. *)
4) It's open source. That means a lot to me.
I see two major drawbacks, which you may ascribe higher importance than
I do:
1) Performance. There is no way X11 can compete with a graphics system
that talks directly to your turbo-mega-super graphics board. If
you're doing video/games/computation visualization/CAD/... then X11
is not your solution.
2) User interface consistency. There is no _one_ entity that sits down
and plans for a consistent user interface between differenct
applications - like Aqua or MS Windows works. Personally I sacrifice
that in preference to the flexibility.
But this is an exchange of opinions, so, as always and with respect,
YMMV.
Cheers,
/Liman
*) My favourite example: Try to make any other window system behave so
that you have a terminal windown halfway _under_ another window which
displays something you're looking at while you type commands into that
half-hidden terminal window. :-)
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