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

2

The X User Environment

Administrators need to configure X environments for their users. This chapter describes the issues involved in making an X environment work properly.

In This Chapter:

The Configured X Session

The Twilight Zone

Components of the X Environment

Window Managers

Customizing Clients

The -fn Command-line Option

The -geometry Command-line Option

Specifying Colors

Using Resources

The Startup Script

The Foreground Process

The Shell Environment

Setting the DISPLAY Variable

Complications with Display Names

Redefining the Search Path

Setting the Search Path for OpenWindows Support

Setting the Search Path for Mixed Environments

xterm Issues

xterm and Terminal Emulation

The resize Client

xterm and the Login Shell (C Shell)

Starting Remote Clients

Starting a Remote Client with rsh

Startup Methods

xinit and startx

Differences Between .xinitrc and .xsession

Related Documentation

2

The X User Environment

2.1 The Configured X Session

We set up an X environment for a new employee, Joan, whose job involves internal project management. Joan is new to both UNIX and X. We've set up her environment so that when she logs in via the X Display Manager, xdm, she gets an environment resembling that in Figure 2-1.^*

Figure 2-1. A configured X session

• Joan gets two terminal emulator windows. The top one is labeled “Top” and the bottom one is labeled “Bottom.”
• Joan has a clock in the ...