The X window system

by Gisle Hannemyr

[TBA]

Table of contents

Introduction

The X Window System (often referred to as X11) is both a windowing system for bitmap displays for Unix and Gnu Linux operating systems, and a protocol for communicating low level graphics primitives between a client and a server. It provides the basic framework for a GUI environment, i.e. moving windows on the display device, interacting with a mouse and keyboard, and drawing shapes on a bitmap canvas.

Its main aplication today is xterm – a terminal emulator that makes use of X11.

The vendor home page is https://www.x.org/wiki/.

Configuration

The file that defines the settings for X11 should be kept in a file name .Xresources. For example, to have black letters on a light green background in xterm, use the following values:

xterm*background: honeydew
xterm*foreground: black

The colours are defined in /etc/X11/rgb.txt and Wikipedia: X11 color names.

To place these values in the X11 server resource database utility, run the command:

$ xrdb -merge .Xresources

Any subsequent terminal emulator started will have these values set. This has affect across hosts.

https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/x-window-system/9780937175149/Chapter09.html
https://makandracards.com/makandra/8057-xterm-have-a-black-background-by-default
https://www.computerhope.com/unix/uxrdb.htm

Final word

[TBA]

Last update: 2020-02-28 [gh].