XV/GIMP/etc: Can't open display

[Bill Cole]

On 2022-01-28 at 16:34:29 UTC-0500 (Sat, 29 Jan 2022 08:34:29 +1100 
(EST))
Dave Horsfall <dave at horsfall.org>
is rumored to have said:

> MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2010), saddled with High Sierra 10.13.6 (as 
> far
> as it will go).
>
> Back when I was running Sierra these tools worked just fine; after
> upgrading to HS (and rebuilding MacPorts that took almost a day) 
> things
> went pear-shaped:
>
>     mackie:~ dave$ xv
>     xv: Can't open display
>     mackie:~ dave$ gimp
>     Cannot open display:
>     mackie:~ dave$ echo $DISPLAY
>
>     mackie:~ dave$
>
> Is this something I forgot to do during the upgrade?

Did you reinstall the X server? I believe that you need to. Specifically 
the xorg-server and xinit ports.

> I set $DISPLAY to
> ":0" (an old Unix trick) to no effect, so I guess it's using a named 
> pipe
> instead but I cannot find it; poking around doesn't seem to uncover
> anything applicable to this, and I certainly won't trust any "advice" 
> on
> StackOverflow.

Properly installed, it Just Works. At least after a logout/login cycle.

If it is correct, you will have a DISPLAY of the form:

/private/tmp/com.apple.launchd.<RANDOMCHARS>/org.macports:0

To get that, you need the xinit port.

-- 
Bill Cole
bill at scconsult.com or billcole at apache.org
(AKA @grumpybozo and many *@billmail.scconsult.com addresses)
Not Currently Available For Hire