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X Window System protocols and architecture
In computing, the X Window System (commonly: X11, or X) is a network-transparent windowing system for bitmap displays. This article details the protocols and technical structure of X11.
X uses a client–server model. An X server program runs on a computer with a graphical display and communicates with various client programs. The X server acts as a go-between for the user and the client programs, accepting requests on TCP port 6000 plus the display number for graphical output (windows) from the client programs and displaying them to the user (display), and receiving user input (keyboard, mouse) and transmitting it to the client programs.
In X, the server runs on the user's computer, while the clients may run on remote machines. This terminology reverses the common notion of client–server systems, where the client normally runs on the user's local computer and the server runs on the remote computer. The X Window terminology takes the perspective that the X Window program is at the centre of all activity, i.e. the X Window program accepts and responds to requests from applications, and from the user's mouse and keyboard input. Therefore, applications (on remote computers) are viewed as clients of the X Window server program.
The communication protocol between server and client runs network-transparently: the client and server may run on the same machine or on different ones, possibly with different architectures and operating systems. A client and server can communicate securely over the Internet by tunneling the connection over an encrypted connection.
Bob Scheifler and Jim Gettys set out the early principles of X as follows (as listed in Scheifler/Gettys 1996):
The first principle was modified during the design of X11 to: Do not add new functionality unless you know of some real application that will require it.
X has largely kept to these principles since. The X.Org Foundation develops the reference implementation with a view to extension and improvement of the implementation, whilst keeping it almost entirely compatible with the original 1987 protocol.
Communication between server and clients is done by exchanging packets over a network channel. The client establishes the connection, sending the first packet. The server answers by sending back a packet stating the acceptance or refusal of the connection, or with a request for a further authentication. If the connection is accepted, the acceptance packet contains data for the client to use in the subsequent interaction with the server.
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X Window System protocols and architecture
In computing, the X Window System (commonly: X11, or X) is a network-transparent windowing system for bitmap displays. This article details the protocols and technical structure of X11.
X uses a client–server model. An X server program runs on a computer with a graphical display and communicates with various client programs. The X server acts as a go-between for the user and the client programs, accepting requests on TCP port 6000 plus the display number for graphical output (windows) from the client programs and displaying them to the user (display), and receiving user input (keyboard, mouse) and transmitting it to the client programs.
In X, the server runs on the user's computer, while the clients may run on remote machines. This terminology reverses the common notion of client–server systems, where the client normally runs on the user's local computer and the server runs on the remote computer. The X Window terminology takes the perspective that the X Window program is at the centre of all activity, i.e. the X Window program accepts and responds to requests from applications, and from the user's mouse and keyboard input. Therefore, applications (on remote computers) are viewed as clients of the X Window server program.
The communication protocol between server and client runs network-transparently: the client and server may run on the same machine or on different ones, possibly with different architectures and operating systems. A client and server can communicate securely over the Internet by tunneling the connection over an encrypted connection.
Bob Scheifler and Jim Gettys set out the early principles of X as follows (as listed in Scheifler/Gettys 1996):
The first principle was modified during the design of X11 to: Do not add new functionality unless you know of some real application that will require it.
X has largely kept to these principles since. The X.Org Foundation develops the reference implementation with a view to extension and improvement of the implementation, whilst keeping it almost entirely compatible with the original 1987 protocol.
Communication between server and clients is done by exchanging packets over a network channel. The client establishes the connection, sending the first packet. The server answers by sending back a packet stating the acceptance or refusal of the connection, or with a request for a further authentication. If the connection is accepted, the acceptance packet contains data for the client to use in the subsequent interaction with the server.