Summary

In this chapter, you learned the basics of configuring the X Window. While many Linux experts have no desire or need for the graphical user interface, it is an important tool for many power users. It holds appeal for users who are converting from more graphical systems, such as Microsoft Windows.

You may have already configured the X Window during the Linux installation process. If you haven t or need to change your settings, two major tools can help: xf86config and redhat-config-xfree86 . Red Hat uses redhat-config-xfree86; the alternative xf86config is available on other distributions or if you download new XFree86 servers from www.xfree86.org .

Several key configuration files are associated with the X Window, called through the startx script. You can create individual settings in your home directory, or allow startx to use generic settings in the /etc/X11 directory.

Perhaps the key configuration file is /etc/X11/XF86Config . It s helpful to know the basics of this file, so you can customize it as well as troubleshoot some of the problems you may encounter. While the X Window requires a working font server, xfs , you ll find most problems in the main X Window log file, /var/log/XFree86.0.log .

In the next chapter , we ll take a detailed look at the default desktop for Red Hat Linux, GNOME. It is a fully featured GUI, with virtually all of the features available on Microsoft Windows. Even if you don t use a GUI, you should know the benefits of GNOME in order to help your users.