Chapter 6. Launching Your Desktop | SUSE Linux 10.0 Unleashed

IN THIS CHAPTER

Understanding the X Window System
Choosing a Desktop Environment: KDE and GNOME
Managing Files from Your Desktop
Configuring Your Desktop Environment
What Is a Window Manager and Why Would I Want to Use It?

When you normally log in to SUSE Linux, you use a graphical login screen. That screen, a display manager, is your first taste of the X Window System, more often called X11R6, X11, or just plain X. X has a much longer history than Microsoft Windows, but it is similar in many ways. It has also gone through more than a few changes along the way. The most recent change is a revival of development from the X.org Foundation, the official owners of X. Earlier versions of SUSE Linux included an open-source version of X for the Intel platform called XFree86; SUSE Linux 9.3 uses X.org version X11R6.8.2.

X uses a client/server model in its architecture, but it's a little different from what you may think. Normally, you are working with a client on your PC that makes requests on your server, which is remote. With X, the server is installed on your machine. It accepts requests from any number of clients, which can also be on your machine, or connected from a remote location (like a Telnet session). X Servers supply the graphics drawing protocols and much of the network communication to support clients' libraries.

Most SUSE Linux users boot to an X-based graphical desktop environment. By default, that has always been the K Desktop Environment (KDE). SUSE developers have long worked on KDE, and continue to do so. But in recent years, many users have gravitated toward the GNU Network Object Model Environment (GNOME, pronounced with a hard G sound). Among those were Miguel De Icaza, Nat Friedman, and their Ximian development team. Novell purchased Ximian shortly before acquiring SuSE, Inc., and has been working to promote compatibility between the two desktops and their applications. The Novell Linux Desktop (NLD) seeks the best of both worlds, and SUSE Linux offers you the choice to install either or both desktop environments.

This chapter covers the basics of the X Window System and how it works in SUSE Linux. You'll learn about the primary desktop environments KDE and GNOME and get a brief introduction to some other X Window managers, if you don't need all that overhead.