STARTX(1)STARTX(1)NAMEstartx - initialize an X session
SYNOPSISstartx [ [ 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 Sys‐
tem. It is typically run with no arguments.
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 back‐
ground. The last client should run in the foreground; when it exits,
the session will exit. People often choose a session manager, window
manager, or xterm as the ``magic'' client.
EXAMPLE
Below is a sample .xinitrc that starts several applications 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 dis‐
play 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
special arguments or is not named. <XRoot>
refers to the root of the X11 install tree.
SEE ALSOxinit(1)X Version 11 Release 6.1 UNSUPPORTED STARTX(1)
