Chapter 6: X Window System

X Window System is the foundation of the Linux graphical user interface (GUI). While the GUI plays an integral part of other operating systems such as Microsoft Windows, the X Window System on Linux is essentially just another application.

Many administrators don't even bother with the GUI; the command line interface is enough for most administrative purposes. However, regular users on a Linux workstation are more productive with the GUI and the multitude of X Window- based applications. If you are helping users migrate from Microsoft Windows to Linux, the X Window System allows you to provide a less intimidating environment.

Not all Linux computers require the X Window. For example, computers that are used as dedicated DHCP, DNS, or NFS servers generally don't serve as workstations for anyone and therefore don't need any sort of GUI. Many Linux gurus have a negative bias toward the GUI. While Red Hat and others have developed some helpful GUI tools, they are almost always 'front ends,' or programs that customize one or more commands at the command line interface.

But if you're administering a network of Linux computers for regular users, you'll need to know how to administer the X Window System, a skill that requires a basic understanding of the available desktops and graphical applications.

This chapter starts with the X Server, as configured on the local computer. It continues with X Clients, as generic applications that you can run from the local or a remote network computer. Once everything is configured, you're ready to take a step back to the start process for the X Window. It moves on to the two major Linux graphical desktops, and finally goes into an overview of a very few of the available graphical applications.