X Window System

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Revision as of 23:13, 20 September 2008 by Skierpage (talk | contribs) (add something about Running X)
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X, or the X Window System, is the software that enables the XO's Sugar graphical user interface — windows, icons, and menus that you interact with using a pointer.

It is standard open source software provided with nearly all Linux distributions.

Restarting X

You can press Ctrl+Alt+Erase to restart the X server and Sugar UI without rebooting your XO.

Determining X version

In the Terminal Activity, type xdpyinfo and press Enter to display lots of information about the X Window System server on your laptop. Enter 

 xdpyinfo | grep version

just to see the version.

Running X applications

You can install and run some graphic Linux software that displays using X. You can start these X applications from Terminal Activity (note they do not work from the console as they need at least DISPLAY and XAUTHORITY environment variables).

Unlike Sugar Activities

  • X programs appear as a gray circle icon in The Frame.
  • Sharing and collaboration don't work
  • Your work doesn't appear in the Journal, you have to explicitly navigate the file system to save and open files.

See also

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