Overview of the X Window System

Being able to log in to Unix and get help is a great start. You now know how to access a Unix system, but once you are in it, then what? Well, if you are sitting at a console or computer, you may just see a cursor waiting for you to type something. You may, however, be in a graphical user interface environment, also commonly known as a GUI. We touched on this in earlier lessons, but now we are going to get deeper into the concept and the X Window System.

What's Under the Hood? When considering what the X Window System is compared to the shell, consider this: The X Window System is actually run on top of the command-line interface you are starting to learn, and it helps you point and click your way around Unix instead of having to do everything at the shell prompt. Using the GUI actually limits you because of this. The GUI is not able to use all the power of Unix, because only at the shell prompt can you unleash all of Unix's internal power.