X Window System User's Guide, Vol 3 (The Definitive Guides to the X Window System)

2

Getting Started

This chapter helps you start the X server, the first xterm (terminal emulator) window, and the mwm window manager. These processes may be started automatically when you log in, or you may have to start them manually.

In This Chapter:

Starting X

Logging On in the Special xdm Window

Logging In at a Full Screen Prompt

Starting X Manually

Starting the mwm Window Manager

Typing in a Window Once mwm is Running

2

Getting Started

Before you can begin using the X Window System, you must do three things:

• Start the X server.
• Start at least one xterm terminal emulator.
• Start a window manager. (Although you can run X without a widow manager, this is fairly limiting.)

Depending on how X is configured on your system, some or all of these steps may be performed for you automatically. This chapter explains how you can tell if the X server, an xterm window, and the mwm window manager are being started automatically. This chapter also describes how to start these processes manually.

After you've started these preliminary processes, skip to the section “Typing in a Window Once mwm is Running,” later in this chapter.

Starting X

Depending on how X is being run on your system, the initial screens you see and the way you log in will be slightly different.

On some systems the display manager, xdm, starts X and keeps it running. If your system is set up to use xdm, you log on in a special window provided for that purpose. If xdm is running, you should never have to start X manually. ...