X Window System
The X.Org project provides an open source implementation of the X Window System.
Vendor: X.Org Foundation
Developer: X.Org Foundation
License: MIT License
Web: http://www.x.org
About
The X Window System is a network transparent window system which runs on a wide range of computing and graphics machines. There are two open source implementations of X Window System:
- X.Org Foundation. More about them you can see on X.org wiki
- XFree86 Project
Currently X.org is the default X window system for openSUSE and forms the base for your favorite window manager
Features
- From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia, article X Window System, design.
X uses a client–server model: an X server communicates with various client programs. The server accepts requests for graphical output (windows) and sends back user input (from keyboard, mouse, or touchscreen). The server may function as:
- an application displaying to a window of another display system
- a system program controlling the video output of a PC
- a dedicated piece of hardware.
This client–server terminology — the user's terminal being the server and the applications being the clients — often confuses new X users, because the terms appear reversed. But X takes the perspective of the application, rather than that of the end-user: X provides display and I/O services to applications, so it is a server; applications use these services, thus they are clients.
The communication protocol between server and client operates network-transparently: the client and server may run on the same machine or on different ones, possibly with different architectures and operating systems. A client and server can even communicate securely over the Internet by tunneling the connection over an encrypted network session.
An X client itself may emulate an X server by providing display services to other clients. This is known as "X nesting". Open-source clients such as Xnest and Xephyr support such X nesting.
See also
External links
- Official website
- Wikipedia's article on X Window System
- The X Window System: A Brief Introduction