X11

[Ryan Schmidt]

On Apr 18, 2007, at 11:52, David Liontooth wrote:

> Ryan Schmidt wrote:
>
>> On Apr 18, 2007, at 00:38, David Liontooth wrote:
>>
>>> There are several versions of X11 for OSX -- the one Apple  
>>> distributes,
>>> and in macports, xfree86 and xorg, both in several variants. Could
>>> someone give us a summary of the state of X11 on OSX? What should be
>>> used when? Where are we headed?
>>
>> I believe we are at xorg is broken, xfree86 was recently updated to
>> version 4.6 so at least someone must believe it works, and I myself
>> have always used Apple's X11 and never had any reason to try anything
>> else. Simply make sure you have both X11User.pkg (from Mac OS X
>> installation media) and X11SDK.pkg (from Xcode disk image) installed.
>> (Check /Library/Receipts to see if you're missing either of those.)
>
> Thanks, Ryan -- so the only reason to install MacPorts' XFree86 is to
> satisfy requirements -- it won't actually be used?

You do not need to install the XFree86 port. MacPorts will not  
attempt to install XFree86 as a dependency if it detects that you  
have both X11User.pkg and X11SDK.pkg installed.

> I generally connect to the XServe through ssh (though I also have VNC
> access).
>
>   * How do I check for installed *pkg files via the command line?

Look in the directory /Library/Receipts and see if those filenames  
are present.

>   * Can I start Apple's X11 remotely?

It is not necessary to start Apple's X11 (or any X11) to install the  
ports that depend on X11. Merely having the X11 files on the hard  
disk is enough.

If you do want to start Apple's X11, you can use "open /Applications/ 
Utilities/X11.app". You can do this via ssh, but a graphical user  
would need to be logged in to the server. (It would not work for the  
server to just be at the login screen, for example.)

>   * Will the ports that require XFree86 work with Apple's X11?

I'm not aware of any ports that require XFree86. As far as I know,  
all ports that use features of X declare their dependencies in this way:

depends_lib	lib:libX11.6:XFree86

That means: the library libX11.6 is required, and if it is not found,  
install the XFree86 port. And Apple's X11 provides the libX11.6  
library, in /usr/X11R6/lib.