Table of Contents
Advertisement
Chapter 7. The X Window System
Contains configuration files for X client and server applications. This includes configuration
files for the X server itself, the
components.
It is important to note that the configuration file for the newer Fontconfig-based font
architecture is
/etc/fonts/fonts.conf
For more on configuring and adding fonts, refer to
Because the X server performs advanced tasks on a wide array of hardware, it requires detailed
configuration. The installation program installs and configures X automatically, unless the
X11R6.8 release packages are not selected for installation. However, if the monitor or video
card changes, X must to be reconfigured. The best way to do this is to use the X Configuration
Tool (
system-config-display
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 X server may require manually editing its configuration file,
/etc/X11/xorg.conf
Server Configuration
Files".
2. Desktop Environments and Window Managers
Once an X 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 and interactive GNOME desktop environment that
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 X server: a desktop environment and a window manager.
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 communicate 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.
100
font server, the X display managers, and many other base
fs
).
. For information about the structure of this file, refer to
(which obsoletes the
/etc/X11/XftConfig
Section 4,
"Fonts".
file).
Section 3, "X
Advertisement
Table of Contents
