What Is X Server?

What Is X Server?
The X server manages the display hardware. The server captures input events from the user via keyboard or mouse (or other input device) and passes the information to a client application that has requested it. It also receives requests from the application to perform some graphical action.

For example, if you use your mouse to move a window on the screen, the X server passes the information to the window manager, which responds by telling the server where to reposition the window, and the X server performs the action. If the client is a calculator, such as xcalc, it might request that digits be displayed into the window as the user clicks on buttons to enter a number.

In any case, it is always the server that interacts with the hardware. Thus only the server software has to be hardware-specific. In fact, only the parts of the server that actually interact with the hardware need to be rewritten for X to be ported to new systems or to be usable with a new terminal or a new type of input device, for example. As long as the X clients are written to use the X Protocol, they can run on any system and communicate with the X server.
Read: X Client

Share

Tweet