startx(1)

NAME

       startx - initialize an X session

SYNOPSIS

       startx [ [ client ] options ... ] [ -- [ server ] options ... ]

DESCRIPTION

       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 often run with no arguments.

       Arguments  immediately following the startx command are used to start a
       client in the same manner as xinit(1).  The special argument '--' marks
       the  end  of  client arguments and the beginning of server options.  It
       may be convenient to specify server options with startx to change on  a
       per-session  basis  the default color depth, the server's notion of the
       number of dots-per-inch the display device presents, or take  advantage
       of  a  different  server layout, as permitted by the Xorg(1) server and
       specified in the xorg.conf(4) file.  Some examples of specifying server
       arguments  follow;  consult the manual page for your X server to deter-
       mine which arguments are legal.

              startx -- -depth 16

              startx -- -dpi 100

              startx -- -layout Multihead

       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 and revert to the
       xinit(1) 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
       and revert to the xinit(1) behavior.  Users rarely need  to  provide  a
       .xserverrc  file.  See the xinit(1) manual page for more details on the
       arguments.

       The  system-wide  xinitrc  and  xserverrc  files  are  found   in   the
       /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xinit directory.

       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.

       XAUTHORITY               This variable, if not  already  defined,  gets
                                set  to  $(HOME)/.Xauthority.  This is to pre-
                                vent the X server,  if  not  given  the  -auth
                                argument,  from automatically setting up inse-
                                cure host-based authentication for  the  local
                                host.   See  the  Xserver(1)  and Xsecurity(5)
                                manual  pages  for  more  information   on   X
                                client/server authentication.

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.

       /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xinit/xinitrc
                                Client to run if  the  user  has  no  .xinitrc
                                file.

       /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xinit/xserverrc
                                Server  to  run  if the user has no .xserverrc
                                file.

SEE ALSO

       xinit(1), Xserver(1), Xorg(1)

                                                                     STARTX(1)