Chapter 12. XFree86

Table of Contents
12.1. X Configuration
12.2. Window manager

12.1. X Configuration

The XFree86 configuration is stored in /etc/X11/XF86Config. Many distributions provide special configuration tools for X, but Slackware Linux only provide the standard XFree86 tools (which are actually quite easy to use). In most cases X can be configured automatically, but sometimes it is necessary to edit /etc/X11/XF86Config manually.

Automatical configuration

The XFree86 server provides an option to automatically generate a configuration file. XFree86 will load all available driver modules, and will try to detect the hardware, and generate a configuration file. Execute the following command to generate a XFree86 configuration file:


$ XFree86 -configure

If X does not output any errors, the generated configuration can be copied to the /etc/X11 directory. And X can be started to test the configuration:


$ cp /root/XF86Config /etc/X11/
$ startx

Interactive configuration

XFree86 provides two tools for configuring X interactively, xf86config and xf86config. xf86cfg tries to detect the video card automatically, and starts an tool which can be used to tune the configuration. Sometimes xf86cfg switches to a video mode which is not supported by the monitor. In that case xf86cfg can also be used in text-mode, by starting it with xf86cfg -textmode.

xf86config differs from the tools described above, it does not detect hardware and will ask detailed questions about your hardware. If you only have little experience configuring XFree86 it is a good idea to avoid xf86config.

12.2. Window manager

The "look and feel" of XFree86 is managed by a so-called window manager. Slackware Linux provides the following widely user window managers:

If you are used to a desktop environment, using KDE or GNOME is a logical choice. But it is a good idea to try some of the lighter window managers. They are faster, and consumer less memory, besides that most KDE and GNOME applications are perfectly usable under other window managers.

On Slackware Linux the following command can be used to select a window manager:


$ xwmconfig

This configuration program shows the installed window managers, from which you can choose one. You can set the window manager globally by executing xwmconfig as root.