Desktop Environments And Window Managers - Red Hat ENTERPRISE LINUX 3 Reference Manual

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changes, XFree86 must to be reconfigured. The best way to do this is to use the X Configuration
Tool (
redhat-config-xfree86
To start the X Configuration Tool while in an active X session, go to the Main Menu Button (on the
Panel) => System Settings => Display. After using the X Configuration Tool during an X session,
changes takes effect after logging out and logging back in. For more about using the X Configuration
Tool, refer to the chapter titled X Window System Configuration in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux
System Administration Guide.
In some situations, reconfiguring the XFree86 server may require manually editing its configuration
file,
/etc/X11/XF86Config
XFree86 Server Configuration Files.

7.2. Desktop Environments and Window Managers

Once an XFree86 server is running, X client applications can connect to it and create a GUI for the
user. A range of GUIs are possible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux, from the rudimentary Tab Window
Manager to the highly developed, interactive GNOME desktop environment most Red Hat Enterprise
Linux users are familiar with.
To create the latter, more advanced GUI, two main classes of X client applications must connect to
the XFree86 server: a desktop environment and a window manager.
7.2.1. Desktop Environments
A desktop environment brings together assorted X clients which, when used together, create a common
graphical user environment and development platform.
Desktop environments have advanced features allowing X clients and other running processes to com-
municate with one another, while also allowing all applications written to work in that environment to
perform advanced tasks, such as drag and drop operations.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux provides two desktop environments:
GNOME — The default desktop environment for Red Hat Enterprise Linux based on the GTK+ 2
•
graphical toolkit.
KDE — An alternative desktop environment based on the Qt 3 graphical toolkit.
•
Both GNOME and KDE have advanced productivity applications, such as word processors, spread-
sheets, and Web browsers, and provide tools to customize the look and feel of the GUI. Additionally,
if both the GTK+ 2 and the Qt libraries are present, KDE applications can run in GNOME and visa
versa.
7.2.2. Window Managers
Window managers are X client programs which are either part of a desktop environment or, in some
cases, standalone. Their primary purpose is to control the way graphical windows are positioned, re-
sized, or moved. Window managers also control title bars, window focus behavior, and user-specified
key and mouse button bindings.
Five window managers are included with Red Hat Enterprise Linux:
— The KWin window manager is the default window manager for KDE. It is an efficient
• kwin
window manager which supports custom themes.
— The Metacity window manager is the default window manager for GNOME. It is a
• metacity
simple and efficient window manager which supports custom themes.
).
. For information about the structure of this file, refer to Section 7.3
Chapter 7. The X Window System