X Windows System Administrator's Guide, Vol 8 (Definitive Guides to the X Window System)

1

An Introduction to X Administration

This chapter provides an introduction to X and to X administration.

In This Chapter:

The Design of X11

Display Servers

Clients and Resources

Toolkits and GUIs

X Administration

Installing X

Supporting Users

Maintaining Software

Maintaining Multiple Machines

A “Philosophy” of X Administration

1

An Introduction to X Administration

Administrators make things work. On the surface, the X Window System is just one more software package that the administrator needs to install, maintain and support for users. X runs on any architecture, so there are fewer differences between systems than with most software. What makes X different from other packages, however, is that it provides a great deal of configurability. It's relatively easy to get X to run on your site with its default settings, but it requires a bit more homework to take advantage of its flexibility and create a secure, centrally-maintained environment for users. This book does the homework for you.

Administrators need to know how X works before they can figure out how to make it work for them. This chapter provides an introduction both to X and to X administration.

1.1 The Design of X11

The X Window System, called X or X11 for short, is a network-based graphics window system that was developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. X is based on the client/server model, in which the application program (the client) does not directly access the display, but communicates with an intermediary ...