make xorg-server a dependency of x11 ports?

[Ryan Schmidt]

On May 20, 2020, at 08:30, Ken Cunningham wrote:

> Should xorg-server should be made a dependency of some key x11 component, so that when people install an x11 application, xorg-server installs and it actually works for them “out-of-the-box”.
> 
> For example, CherryTree is apparently a very popular gtk application, and there was some pressure for the past few years for a Mac version. I just stumbled across it recently — took about 15 minutes to write the Portfile (and a couple of minor edits after to get it completely right :>).
> 
> But when people try "sudo port -v install cherrytree” it delivers a broken installation due to no xorg-server (see below).
> 
> It’s one more step to go back and explain how to install the server, but really, as XQuartz.app is really out of date now, and MacOS no longer comes with any X11 window server, I think we could just make our xorg-server a dependency of some key part and have it installed automatically.
> 
> Otherwise, it seems like just one more needless headache for people that they should not have to worry about, and we’re all about making this work “out of the box” for people, right? — or we should be, if we want to recruit keep users.
> 
> Ken
> 
> — example of cryptic error without xorg-server installed, gives people no clue what is wrong.
> 
> 
> =========
> So I've tried to run this using port myself and get the following error:
> 
> phillips321 at Mac13:~$ cherrytree
> /opt/local/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/site-packages/gtk-2.0/gtk/__init__.py:57: GtkWarning: could not open display


"could not open display" is a pretty normal error for an X11 app to give when it can't find the X11 server. I don't see an entry in our FAQ wiki page for this error. We could add one that tells the user how to install and set up the xorg-server port.