On Mon, 26 Jan 1998, Cebouk wrote:
> My name is Chuck. I was using fvwm95 on my pc. I got it with Linux 2.0
> (SLAKWARE) and XFree86. I installed a new video card (Millenium II) to
> support a large screen monitor I got. I purchased AcceleratedX from
> Xigraphics to get support for my video card.
>
> I now realize I don't understand fvwm. Does fvwm run on top of an Xserver
> like AcceleratedX or in place of it? If it runs on top what would I have to
> do to make it run (when i type in fvwm95-2 at the command line I get a can't
> find screen message)?
fvwm runs on top of AcceleratedX. Basically, this is how things work...
You turn on your computer and it boots Linux at some point. I'm not sure
if you have your system setup to start the X windowing system on boot, or
if you start it from a console, so I'll explain both.
If your system boots into X11 automatically, what happens is that the
computer boots, does everything that is necessary, and eventually runs
xdm on your computer so that it corresponds to screen :0 (the first
screen). Xdm stands for the X Display Manager. It starts an Xserver
session and listens for all kinds of requests (most too complicated for me
to go into). It also pops up a login screen for users to log in. When a
user logs in, the owner of the screen is changed to the user which just
logged in, and the user is given control over what happens to the display.
Xdm runs a script called /etc/X11/xdm/Xsession which handles most of
that crap. The Xsession file simply does some housekeeping for the user
which cleans up any mess which is left behind. After all of that, Xsession
calls an executable in the users home directory called .xsession (usually
a script). This file has the job of actually running all of the stuff that
the user sees.
The .xsession file basically sets up any aditional environments (like a
PATH which includes personal X11 binaries, etc), maybe runs an xterm,
starts some backround processes that the user only wants to run when he
starts X, and the runs the window manager.
That's what fvwm is: a window manager. It manages windows. It talks to the
Xserver and tells it how to move the windows around, draw borders around
the windows, minimize, etc. Otherwise, you'd have to use several hellified
commands to find out a window's XID and move it around with pixel
coordinates.
When the .xsession is run, the $DISPLAY environment is already set, so
fvwm knows which display to use.
Now... if start X11 from the console by running "startx" at the prompt,
the the same thing basically happens except that the filenames are Xinitrc
and .xinitrc respectively. Otherwise, the same basic ideas takes place
(except that the Xserver is run directly without worrying about the xdm).
Xdm isn't needed because you already own the process and you are already
logged in.
So to answer your question, fvwm is simply a program which manages the way
your windows are handled. The Xserver actually handles the hardware and
allows for programs (like fvwm) to map things to the display. Therefore,
fvwm DOES sit on top of the Xserver... it has to :)
-peace
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Received on Mon Jan 26 1998 - 12:04:16 GMT