A ClientServer Model

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A Client/Server Model

X uses a client/server model. The actual windowing system acts as the server, and the graphical programs act as the clients. When you’re on a box running an X server and are starting graphical apps such as xterm or xemacs on that same box, the client/server interaction is rather transparent. It appears to work just as it would if it were a Microsoft Windows box.

But what if you’re running an X server on HOST1, you’re in a telnet session from HOST1 to HOST2, and you want to run xemacs on HOST2 from that telnet session? You need a way to tell the xemacs client on HOST2 to use the X server on HOST1 to display itself. If you think about it, this is backward from most client/server thinking. Usually, if you are on a system and need access to a remote resource, you use a local client application to connect to a remote server that provides the resource. With X, however, you have to run the server on your local system and then have the remote resource (the client) connect to you.

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