So what's XFree86 , kde/gnome/black box and their relationship?

i've used linux for more than a year .. but still can't understand what they are talking about..
can anyone help?


this is from xfree86.org
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What is XFree86?

The XFree86 Project, Inc is the organisation which produces XFree86 , a freely redistributable open-source implementation of the X Window System which runs on UNIX(R) and UNIX-like operating systems such as Linux, all of the BSD variants, Sun Solaris x86, Mac OS X (via Darwin), as well as other platforms like OS/2 and Cygwin.

XFree86, the product, provides a client/server interface between display hardware (the mouse, keyboard, and video displays) and the desktop environment while also providing both the windowing infrastructure and a standardized application interface (API). XFree86 is platform-independent, network-transparent and extensible.

With XFree86 a user cannot only choose the desktop environment they prefer, but because we are an open-source project, users can also modify and update their systems as they see best. As XFree86 has always been an unabashed supporter of freedom of the user desktop, so we encourage users to customise and personalise their desktops with the application of their choice, whether it be KDE, GNOME, Enlightenment, Blackbox, AfterStep, fvwm or twm.

Our goal at XFree86 is to have X run on every platform available, including those we do not currently support, as the best windowing system available on that platform.

ah ok...

XFree86 is the server and client that do all of the hardware (well most of) management

The rest of the programs just sit on top of XFree86 and use XFree86 to handle the hardware, such as mouse, keyboard, video, network, etc..

You *can* just run XFree86 by itself, it isn't particularlly useful thou...which is by design, XFree86 isn't ment to be a user interface, they left that choice for you to make.

so a typical launch of your GUI looks like

XFree86 server loads
XFree86 cleint loads
your window manager loads (KDE, Sawfish, Enlightenment, Blackbox, Window Manager, Fluxbox, etc)

Gnome sits on top of Enlightenment or Sawfish (or any other gnome compliant window manager, of which it is a short list)

on a side note, I noticed you mentioned Black box, if you use it you really should scope out Fluxbox, I think you'll like it alot as it is a continuation of the blackbox project which is done..

let me make this clear

hardware <--> os <--> xfree86 server <--> xfree86 client <--> kde <--> gui application ?

erm, more or less. With DRM enabled with the Linux Kernel, XFree86 is playing with your hardware directly, but the general concept is the same...

it is a bit of a silly setup, until you want to run xprograms on system A from system B, but don't want to walk to the other side of the LAN / Internet to do so...


The hardware is your computer...

the OS handles interupts, memory allocation, and other hardware stuff.

XFree86 is basically incharge of displaying the data to your screen and giving the input to the programs that are running.

The window manager (KDE, Sawfish, Fluxbox) deals with the way things look and turning that data into something you'd like to see

GUI applications are what you run...

so from the top on down, to mock the OSI model...

Application
Window Manager
XFree86 Client
XFree86 Server
Kernel - The OS
Hardware