Ext2: Networking: The X Window System

Thanks to Rob Kennedy for
this link.

New feature article series by Chris Tyler.

“Before we get into some interesting ways of extending the
availability of the Linux GUI, let’s review the network foundation
of the X Window System.”

“There are two basic software blocks in X: the display server,
and one or more client programs. The server runs on the computer
with the monitor and keyboard, and the clients can run on that
computer or on any other computer on the network (such as the
machine in the closet down the hall). This may appear backward to
file server terminology, where the machine on the user’s desk runs
the client and the machine in the closet is the server; but in both
cases, the server is located with the resource to which it is
providing access. Thus the file server is located with the file
storage, and a X Window server is located with the display
(keyboard, screen, and mouse).”

“The separation of the server from the client is a unique
quality of the X Window System and has many advantages.”

Complete
story.