Section 16.6. Running X

16.6. Running X

With your xorg.conf file configured, you're ready to fire up the X server and give it a spin. First, be sure that /usr/X11R6/bin is on your path.

The command to start up X is:

 startx

This is a frontend to xinit (in case you're used to using xinit on other Unix systems). You can still use xinit, which gives you precise control about what exactly is started but requires you to start all necessary programs manually.

This command starts the X server and runs the commands found in the file .xinitrc in your home directory. .xinitrc is just a shell script containing X clients to run. If this file does not exist, the system default /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xinit/xinitrc will be used. You can change the initial display when starting up the X Window System by providing a different .xinitrc in your home directory.