Manual for xterm
 

Hi
I would like no know more about WM xterm.

I know about xclock and xcalc, but that is pretty much it.

Is there more xterm applikations?
How good is xterm in compare with blackbox, flukbox etx?
Where can I find a manual/tutorial about WM xterm?

Br
//Mattias

:scratch: Maybe you are confusing,
xterm is a terminal emulator while blackbox, flukbox etx are window managers.
WM = WindowMaker ?

BSlack
You have right, I was confused (easy to be in the Linux world).
I dont't actully know what WM (Window Manager) I have (not KDE/Gnome).
When I write startx does xterm start (there is the confusion).
From the xtram window can i write xclock&, xcalc&, mozilla&.

But what can I do more from this xterm?

I know is not that fancy as KDE but can I do similar things?

How can I found out which x... app there is (such as xclock,xcalc)?
OS Redhat 9.0 by the way.

/Mattias

Amen. :)

I'm confused myself, as far as your question goes, though. When you type 'startx' you execute a front-end to xinit which executes ~/.xinitrc (or close to that, anyhow). That starts the X server which gets you a bare graphical display. ~/.xinitrc usually includes a command to start a window manager. That's what draws the title bar and border around your apps and gives you windowing controls (raise, lower, iconify, maximize, and so on) - and usually desktop controls and so on - and usually calls on a utility to draw your root window background. xterm is an application that runs in one of those windows, also often started automatically from ~/.xinitrc. It's a terminal emulator - emulates what you get when you boot into console mode without X. It gives you access to the command line within the windowing environment. So it's command central and you can do most anything with it. The command to find out about it is 'man xterm' but what it does is provide an interface to your true shell - kind of a shell of a shell - and for that you have 'man bash'.

Most of this (as far as initialization) changes if you use a graphical login manager but the principles of the components are at least somewhat like I've described. ;)

Does any of that help?

Ok. You are using X Window System applications. To learn more:
'man X' (uppercase x)
http://www.xfree86.org.
X have many applications you can find on other desktop environments like GNOME or KDE, but with poor graphics (is this a pro or a con?!!:D). There is a default window manager - twm, a terminal emulator - xterm, a login manager (or display manager) - xdm, and tons of other software from calculators to file managers....

There are 2 key concept behind X:
1) Client-server architecture
When the system boot in graphics mode it starts the X server. When you boot in command-line mode you can start the X server through startx command. The server manage all the graphics related requests from the client applications (for instance xterm or twm) on local or remote hosts.
2) Resources
You can configure the behavior and the look of the clients application through resources usually stored in configuration files and loaded in a global resources database at startup (or at every time through the resource database manager - xrdb). For instance, if you want xterm with a black background and a green foreground you can start it with the command xterm -fg green -bg black, but it's annoying to type all this stuff all the time. So you can edit the file .Xresources (the dot is part of the file name) in your home directory to make this look permanent adding the resources:
XTerm*foreground: green
XTerm*background: black
Then you can make this change immediate with xrdb -merge .Xresources or you will find it the next time the server start.

This is a quick view on the subject, as you know, for every Linux topic there is a universe outside there.

I found useful the book:
UNIX secrets (2nd Ed.) - James Armstrong
There is an section on X management (but the whole book is very good for beginners) though this is that kind of books that need to be continuously updated.

Hi BSlack & digiot,

since you two are obviously well versed in X, can you point me in a direction where to find out more about screens and displays in X?

What I try to solve is:

1. My XF86Config contains a lot of resolution definitions, but the <Ctrl><Num+/-> to change resolutions does not work. Why?

2. My Monitor works with a range of vsync between 60 - 120 hz. Where and how can I define a resolution plus vsync at e.g. 90 hz, without globally (artificially and unnecessarily) reducing the range form 120 to 90 hz for all resolutions?

3. When I include in Xinit a line like it has no effect, while from console (e.g.<F2>) it works perfectly well. Why?

I seem unable to come up with the right terms for a search on LQ.

Try Ctrl+Alt+Keypad-Plus/Minus.

I'm not sure to understand what you are trying to do. Do you mean .xinitrc file? If so, why include a call to startx? startx is a front end to Xinit that is to say another way to call Xinit. Moreover, remember that display numbers start from 0, so :2 point to the third display.

Thanks, will do it soonest.


Yes .xinitrc -- sorry.

Yes, well I usually work as user from console 0 or <F1> and with GUI at <F7>. I want a second instance for root from console 1 or <F2> with GUI at <F8> for root. That's sometimes very practical, and as I said, I can start it by hand but don't get it automated. The reason why it doesn't work I don't understand, that is why I asked for pointers, something to read, anything ... ;).

OK. I don't have my Linux box now cause I'm at work:p (with Solaris:() so I can't verify it by myself. But take a look at this HOWTO: The Linux keyboard and console HOWTO and particularly Chapter 7 on console switching.

Hope this can help

Thank you, I had a look at it but it covers what happens before the start of X. Ah, well ... thanks again.