website view en/doc/handbook/x-window.html @ rev 149
en: Add Xvesa Terminal to Hdbk
| author | Paul Issott <paul@slitaz.org> |
|---|---|
| date | Sat Aug 30 18:04:04 2008 +0000 (2008-08-30) |
| parents | a1fd009ac7b3 |
| children | 66984a972006 |
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24 <h1><font color="#3e1220">SliTaz Handbook (en)</font></h1>
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31 <h2><font color="#df8f06">X Window System</font></h2>
33 <ul>
34 <li><a href="#X11">X Window System.</a></li>
35 <li><a href="#slim">Slim</a> - Simple Login Manager.</li>
36 <li><a href="#xorg">Xorg</a> - X server.</li>
37 <li><a href="#jwm">JWM</a> - Window Manager.</li>
38 <li><a href="#enlightenment">Enlightenment (e17).</a> - Desktop
39 environment.</li>
40 <li><a href="#openbox">Openbox</a> - Window Manager.</li>
41 <li><a href="#terminalX">Use Xvesa as X terminal</a> - Launch a
42 graphical session from a remote machine.</li>
43 <li><a href="#fonts">Fonts</a> - System Fonts.</li>
44 </ul>
46 <a name="X11"></a>
47 <h3>X11 - X Window System</h3>
48 <p>
49 The X Window System or X11 provides a window manager running on
50 top of a X server. SliTaz by default uses the lightweight X server called
51 <code>Xvesa</code> from the Xorg project (<a href="http://www.x.org/">www.x.org</a>).
52 Xvesa can be started with the Slim login manager or directly from a Linux console
53 with the command <code>startx</code>, but for this you must first disable the
54 Login Manager. To reconfigure your X session you can use <code>tazx</code>
55 as root or as the current user if you start X from the command line.
56 </p>
58 <a name="slim"></a>
59 <h3>Slim - Simple Login Manager</h3>
60 <p>
61 Slim is a lightweight session manager that is very easy to configure and is
62 customizable using system themes. The configuration file is found in
63 <code>/etc/slim.conf</code>. It defines window managers available via the
64 <code>F1</code> key, the default user or theme, and the X window system parameters.
65 Slim offers special user commands like <code>console</code> to help manage
66 the session.
67 </p>
68 <p>
69 In LiveCD mode you can disable Slim with the boot option <code>screen=text</code>.
70 On an installed system you can remove the package or delete slim from the
71 <code>RUN_DAEMONS</code> variable in <code>/etc/rcS.conf</code>.
72 </p>
73 <p>
74 More details and themes can be found on the
75 <a href="http://slim.berlios.de/">website</a>
76 </p>
77 <h4>Default user</h4>
78 <p>
79 Slim offers a way to pre-load a user login name, by default hacker is configured
80 for convenience. You can change this by editing the Slim configuration file
81 <code>/etc/slim.conf</code> and modifying the line <code>default_user</code> or just
82 leave the line blank to avoid pre-loading a user name. Example:
83 </p>
84 <pre class="script">default_user hacker
85 </pre>
87 <a name="xorg"></a>
88 <h3>Xorg</h3>
89 <p>
90 By default, SliTaz provides the graphical mini-server Xvesa. Xorg server is available
91 in the packages on the mirror. Xorg is a very comprehensive server, but uses a lot more
92 resources than Xvesa. If your resolution is supported by the mini-server and you're happy
93 with the refresh rate, then there's no reason to use Xorg.
94 </p>
95 <p>
96 There is no GUI configuration which means having to use the command line in console mode. The installation
97 and configuration of the server is relatively simple and you can always go back and reuse Xvesa at any time.
98 Xorg is distributed in modular form, which means that you'll need to install the server, a few configuration
99 files and the right driver for your graphics card. However the <code>xorg-server</code> package has all
100 the correct dependancies to work directly with the <code>vesa</code> driver. Minimal install:
101 </p>
102 <pre> # tazpkg get-install xorg-server
103 </pre>
104 <p>
105 Once installed, you can go directly to the configuration or you can install the correct driver for your card
106 (if you know it). Example using the Nvidia driver and listing all available drivers:
107 </p>
108 <pre> # tazpkg get-install xorg-xf86-video-nv
109 List:
110 # tazpkg search xorg-xf86-video
111 </pre>
112 <h4>Automatic configuration of the server</h4>
114 <p>To configure the Xorg server you have two options: <code>Xorg -configure</code>
115 or the script <code>xorgconfig</code>. It is recommended that you start by using Xorg with
116 the <code>-configure</code> option. The automatic configuration of Xorg must be done in console
117 mode without an X-server running; this is achieved by closing all applications and windows and hitting
118 the <code>alt-ctrl-del</code> buttons. You should now be in console mode. Now you need to run Xorg with the
119 <code>-configure</code> option and copy the newly generated file to <code>/etc/X11</code>:
120 </p>
121 <pre> # Xorg -configure
122 # cp /root/xorg.conf.new /etc/X11/xorg.conf
123 </pre>
124 <p>
125 Finally you then change the configuration of Slim to use Xorg instead of Xvesa and restart the window manager.
126 </p>
127 <h4>Using Xorg with Slim</h4>
128 <p>
129 In the Slim configuration file (<code>/etc/slim.conf</code>), we need to comment out
130 (<code>#</code>) the lines pertaining to Xvesa and change Xorg to the <code>default_xserver</code>:
131 </p>
132 <pre class="script">default_xserver /usr/bin/Xorg
133 #default_xserver /usr/bin/Xvesa
134 #xserver_arguments -ac -shadow dpms +extension Composite -screen 1024x768x24
135 </pre>
136 <p>
137 Now we can start Slim to return us to an X server session.
138 Slim works likes a daemon, it can be stopped or started from the console:
139 </p>
140 <pre> # /etc/init.d/slim start
141 </pre>
142 <h4>xorg.conf - Configuration file</h4>
143 <p>
144 Xorg uses the configuration file <code>/etc/X11/xorg.conf</code>. This file can be
145 automatically generated and edited with your favorite text editor. It is divided into
146 several sections, including the specification of paths, modules to be loaded, default screen,
147 mouse, keyboard, etc. This document provides only a few examples, it is advisable to run
148 <code>xorgconfig</code> once to generate a complete file to use as an example.
150 </p>
151 <p>
152 Keyboard (en):
153 </p>
154 <pre class="script">Section "InputDevice"
155 Identifier "Keyboard0"
156 Driver "kbd"
157 Option "XkbRules" "xorg"
158 Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
159 Option "XkbLayout" "en"
160 Option "XkbVariant" "en"
161 EndSection
162 </pre>
163 <p>
164 Mice with auto detection protocol:
165 </p>
166 <pre class="script">Section "InputDevice"
167 Identifier "Mouse0"
168 Driver "mouse"
169 Option "Protocol" "auto"
170 Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
171 Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5 6 7"
172 EndSection
173 </pre>
174 <p>
175 Composite extensions:
176 </p>
177 <pre class="script">Section "Extensions"
178 Option "Composite" "1"
179 EndSection
180 </pre>
182 <a name="jwm"></a>
183 <h3>JWM - Window manager</h3>
184 <p>
185 JWM (Joe's Window Manger) is a lightweight Window Manager, easy to use, fast,
186 stable and insanely configurable. The menu and theme can all be changed from a
187 single configuration file found in your home directory: <code>~/.jwmrc</code>,
188 the file uses XML syntax and the code is nicely colored if you use Geany to
189 edit it. To add an entry in the menu you can use the following example:
190 </p>
191 <pre class="script"> <Program icon="kino.png" label="Kino (Video Editor)">kino</Program>
192 </pre>
193 <p>
194 The <a href="http://www.joewing.net/programs/jwm/config.shtml">JWM Web site</a>
195 has got more information on how to configure the application to your needs
196 and preferences.
197 </p>
199 <a name="enlightenment"></a>
200 <h3>Enlightenment (e17)</h3>
201 <p>
202 Enlightenment aka e17 is a lightweight and fast desktop environment that can be
203 configured graphically. To install e17:
204 </p>
205 <pre> # tazpkg get-install enlightenment
206 </pre>
207 <p>
208 Logout your current X session, type <code>F1</code> at Slim login and choose
209 <code>e17</code> to start Enlightenment.
210 </p>
211 <p>
212 Additional themes can be found on the <a href="http://www1.get-e.org/Themes/E17/">website</a>
213 </p>
215 <a name="openbox"></a>
216 <h3>Openbox</h3>
217 <p>
218 Openbox is a lightweight window manager that can be configured using the obconf
219 utility. To install openbox:
220 </p>
221 <pre> # tazpkg get-install openbox
222 # tazpkg get-install obconf
223 </pre>
224 <p>
225 Logout your current X session, type <code>F1</code> at Slim login and choose
226 <code>openbox</code> to start Openbox. To make Openbox your default Window
227 Manager just type: <code>tazx openbox</code>.
228 </p>
229 <p>
230 Note: you can also use the configuration file <code>menu.xml</code> found
231 in <code>/etc/xdg/openbox</code> to edit menu items. Here's an example using
232 Htop:
233 </p>
234 <pre class="script"><item label="Htop">
235 <action name="Execute"><command>xterm -e htop</command></action>
236 </item>
237 </pre>
238 <p>
239 More information can be found on the
240 <a href="http://icculus.org/openbox/index.php/Help:Menus">openbox</a> site.
241 </p>
243 <a name="terminalX"></a>
244 <h3>Use Xvesa as X terminal</h3>
245 <p>
246 You can use Xvesa as X terminal, if you have a machine on
247 the network that accepts Xdmcp connections. To enable this,
248 you can start the server with the option <code>-query</code> followed by
249 the machine name or IP address. Example of machine 192.168.0.2
250 on a local network:
251 </p>
252 <pre> $ Xvesa -ac -shadow -screen 1024x768x24 -query 192.168.0.2
253 </pre>
254 <p>
255 The use of a graphical remote server can be of great use, although
256 reponse times of applications depend greatly on Internet
257 speed and the remote machine's power. This technique works
258 very well within a local area network (LAN) and allows you
259 to control applications installed on the remote machine directly
260 from the screen of the local machine on which you work.
261 Note that the distant remote machine may have
262 multiple accounts in use simultaneously and/or direct access.
263 </p>
265 <a name="fonts"></a>
266 <h3>Fonts</h3>
267 <p>
268 The management of Fonts (<em>fonts</em>) is powered by the package Fontconfig.
269 This package provides tools to add, list and manipulate fonts. The <em>fonts</em>
270 can be installed in user space or at the system level, this means that each user can use his/her own
271 fonts or the adminstrator (<em>root</em>) can install fonts available to all users of the system.
272 If you use USB media associated with SliTaz <a href="http://www.slitaz.org/en/doc/handbook/livecd.html">LiveCD</a>,
273 you can easily install fonts and retain them the next time you use the cdrom.
274 </p>
275 <h4>Installing <em>fonts</em></h4>
276 <p>
277 At the system level fonts are installed in the directory:
278 <code>/usr/share/fonts</code>, core SliTaz provides TTF Vera fonts,
279 they take up little space and are rendered correctly. In user space, fonts are found in the hidden
280 directory: <code>.fonts</code>. This directory should be at the root of user space.
281 To create a home directory to accomodate new fonts, you can use the graphical window manager emelFM2,
282 Clex or use the command line:
283 </p>
284 <pre> $ mkdir ~/.fonts
285 </pre>
286 <p>
287 Once you have installed the fonts you need to run the <code>fc-cache</code> tool to generate
288 configuration files, this ensures that your <em>fonts</em> are available for use in applications:
289 </p>
290 <pre> $ fc-cache
291 </pre>
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