Chapter 5. Working with the X Window System
| IN THIS CHAPTER
In this chapter, you will look at the X Window System, also known as X11 or Xthe UNIX world's equivalent of the Windows operating environment. UNIX systems have traditionally been reluctant to adopt graphical user interfaces like the one in Windows or Mac OS X, owing to the usual niche of UNIX systems in server roles where a user-friendly application environment is seldom of any use. However, in recent years many people have sought to replace their Windows desktop systems with Linux or FreeBSD machines, and with that trend has come a plethora of software intended to make the venerable and downright arcane X11 windowing system more the seamless user experience that Windows offers. The X Window System comprises two partsthe X Server and the window manager. The X Server runs as a daemon on your system and provides a graphical framework for applications to use. The window manager determines how the X11 environment looks and feels. In this chapter, you learn about these parts of the system in more detail and how to work with and customize the KDE user environment, as well as to switch from one window manager to another if you don't like the one you've got. |
