STARTX(1)
NAME
startx - initialize an X session
SYNOPSIS
startx [ [ client ] options ... ] [ -- [ server ] options
... ]
DESCRIPTION
NOTE: The startx script supplied with the X11 distribution
is a sample designed more as a base for customization than
as a finished product. Site administrators are urged to
customize it for their site. And to update this manual
page when they do!
The startx script is a front end to xinit that provides a
somewhat nicer user interface for running a single session
of the X Window System. It is typically run with no argu-
ments.
To determine the client to run, startx first looks for a
file called .xinitrc in the user's home directory. If
that is not found, it uses the file xinitrc in the xinit
library directory. If command line client options are
given, they override this behavior. To determine the
server to run, startx first looks for a file called
.xserverrc in the user's home directory. If that is not
found, it uses the file xserverrc in the xinit library
directory. If command line server options are given, they
override this behavior. Users rarely need to provide a
.xserverrc file. See the xinit(1) manual page for more
details on the arguments.
The .xinitrc is typically a shell script which starts many
clients according to the user's preference. When this
shell script exits, startx kills the server and performs
any other session shutdown needed. Most of the clients
started by .xinitrc should be run in the background. The
last client should run in the foreground; when it exits,
the session will exit. People often choose a session man-
ager, window manager, or xterm as the ``magic'' client.
EXAMPLE
Below is a sample .xinitrc that starts several applica-
tions and leaves the window manager running as the
``last'' application. Assuming that the window manager
has been configured properly, the user then chooses the
``Exit'' menu item to shut down X.
xrdb -load $HOME/.Xresources
xsetroot -solid gray &
xbiff -geometry -430+5 &
oclock -geometry 75x75-0-0 &
xload -geometry -80-0 &
xterm -geometry +0+60 -ls &
xterm -geometry +0-100 &
xconsole -geometry -0+0 -fn 5x7 &
exec twm
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
DISPLAY This variable gets set to the
name of the display to which
clients should connect. Note
that this gets set, not read.
FILES
$(HOME)/.xinitrc Client to run. Typically a shell
script which runs many programs
in the background.
$(HOME)/.xserverrc Server to run. The default is X.
<XRoot>/lib/X11/xinit/xinitrc
Client to run if the user has no
.xinitrc file. <XRoot> refers to
the root of the X11 install tree.
<XRoot>/lib/X11/xinit/xserverrc
Client to run if the user has no
.xserverrc file. This is only
needed if the server needs spe-
cial arguments or is not named.
<XRoot> refers to the root of the
X11 install tree.
SEE ALSO
xinit(1)