[sbjordal]

I suppose Topic says it all. I downloaded and installed X11, but can't seem to do anything usefull with it...Where are the cool programs etc? Do I have to dl and compile them myself??

-confused....

[Dr_Doom]

I guess telling you how I use X11 may help.

There are many X11 apps that I need to run from Linux servers. i.e. Apps that may be tied to the IP address of the Linux box itself. What I do is after I launch X11, in the xterm, I do a 'ssh -X username@host' and log into the Linux box, at that point I just issue 'mozilla &' and Voila! there's my web interface to apps running off the server.

Other options may be getting an app like The Gimp to compare to Photoshop or xchat for IRC.

Hope this helps or is at least informative.

Cheers,

Dr_Doom

[Axel]

get fink from versiontracker to easily install tons of unix apps running on X11.
And do a search on the forums : there are plenty of threads discussing the coolest X apps out there...

[AKcrab]

Originally posted by Axel:
get fink from versiontracker to easily install tons of unix apps running on X11.

And while you're at it, get Fink Commander.

[Earth Mk. II]

Well, if you didn't know - x11 is an open windowing system for apps. If you've used GNU/Linux, then you've probably used x11, as that's what it uses for a GUI.

I beleive MATLAB for OS X requires an X server.

You can easily get some open source apps that use X11 thrugh fink as well. However, there are usually better Aqua alternatives available - except for a few notable exceptions and some scientific/mathmatical apps.

So, play with it if you want, but you probably won't find it very productive.

[MrBS]

Try out ethereal if you have a few computers on your network.

WARNING: You'll never want to use iChat again.

~BS

[stew]

I don't want to sound ignorant but - if you don't know what it's for, maybe it isn't for you. If you've been happy before X11, you can live without it and you won't miss anything.
It's for Unix nerds that desperately want some applications they are used to from other Unix boxen.

[SirCastor]

I think that Apple is inadvertantly responsible for bringing the world of Geek to those who have it not. Think how many people suddenly became at least familiar with a command line with the introduction of OS X. Think of how many people are now working in unix. I just dipped my foot into X11 stuff, and I'm excited. GIMP is sweet, and I'm blown away (happily) that it's free.

So Apple's X11 is a great introduction for those who are curious, because it doesn't involve too much to get it installed or to use it.
For instance, I had X11 and GIMP installed in under 30 minutes.


Go here for some apps ready for X11, there are a little snippets available on how to use them: http://www.opendarwin.org/projects/d...rts/en/x11.php

[Earth Mk. II]

Well, I'm all for giving a chance for curious people to play, experiment and educate themselves about their inner geek.

And installing a package form apple is a farily safe and easy way to go. However, I would suggest some experience with the CLI and *nix in general over blindly jumping into the beast that is XFree86 (which is what X11 really is).

The main advantage of Apple's X11 for me is the ability to 'ssh -X' into a box with an x server on it and run X apps remotely. Aqua is already a much better UI and desktop system then either Gnome or KDE, so installing them locally isn't very practical -- though still fun and educational. There are more than a few good uses for X11 (MATLAB, other GPL'd science apps), but for the avaeage user there's not much you can use it for.

BUT, if you want to play with some apps you can use:

• Gimp - powerful image editor. nowhere near photoshop, but free.
• gAIM - open source AIM client (supports other protocols too)
• xmms - MP3 and other audio format player.
• gVIM - the graphical version of Vi IMproved
• OpenOffice - office suite that still requires X11 at this point.

I'm sure there's more stuff you might find cool - but I think most of it will be redundant and overly complex compaired to any apps you have access to with just Aqua.

[Terri]

Gimp is pretty kewl

The few others that I manage to actually get to do something have been kind of crappy, but I do like playing with Gimp.

Mostly I've manage to just fill up a lot of drive space, lol.

[JB72]

Film Gimp?

[stew]

Originally posted by Terri:
Mostly I've manage to just fill up a lot of drive space, lol.

It's quite annoying that you can't deinstall things proprely - I have two instances of the gimp on my HD right now, one from opendarwin.org and one from fink. I'd love to get rid of the opendarwin version...

[Axel]

Originally posted by MrBS:
Try out ethereal if you have a few computers on your network.

WARNING: You'll never want to use iChat again.

~BS

Ethereal is really awesome indeed. And it's and great tool to learn about networking : how DNS queries work, RendezVous, etc.

Why the warning about iChat ?