GUI

1
GUI UNIX

• GUI or CLI?
• XWindow
• Window Manger
• Desktop Manger
• Workspace Manager
• K Desktop Environment

2
GUI or CLI

• Why GUI?
• Commands names are difficult to learn
• Why CLI?
• A purely GUI is tedious. E.g. to remove the
  following files file1 file2 file3 file4 file5
  file6 file9 rm file?

3
X Window System history

• Created in 1984 at MIT
• Not the first windowing software to run on UNIX,
  but the first to become widely availale
• 1985 MIT released the X version 9 to public
• In 1996 version 11, release 6.1 known as X11R6.1
  with enhancement was released.

4
X Window System philosophy

• To be portable and flexible
• To run on a workstation
• Was designed with network in mind ( when you
  start an X session, you are setting up a
  client-server environment)
• X server is responsible for displaying info.
• So clients request to display an image or open a
  window

5
Components of GUI

• Windows e.g. xterm(terminal emulator,
  ghostview(text viewer), xfig(drawing program),
  tkman(graphical man)
• Root Window ( the background area)
• Title Bars
• Buttons
• Sliders
• Scroll Bars
• Icons
• Menus
• Dialog Boxes

6
Window Manager

• A program that controls the look and feel of the
  basic graphical user interface e.g.
  opening, closing, moving, resizing, etc.

7
Types of Window Mangers

• twm (Tab Window Manager)
• vtwm (Virtual Tab Window Manger)
• fvwm (Fabulous Virtual Window Manger)
• mwm (Motif Window Mangaer) was desighned to be
  similar to the leading windowing packages for PC)

8
Desktop Manager

• A picture-oriented interface to some common
  commands such as
• copy, move, and delete files by manipulating
  icons

9
Workspace Manager

• It allows you to work with a single desktop as if
  fit were many.
• Using many windows to run a variety of programs
  simultaneously

10
KDE

• What is it?
• K Desktop Environment
• What does it do?
• It connects the power of UNIX with the comfort of
  modern user interface

11
KDE

• Which platform does it work?
• Linux
• Solaris
• FreeBSD
• HP-UX

12
KDE

• Is KDE a window manager?
• No,
• It is more than a window manager.
• In fact, window manager is only one part of it.

13
KDE

• KDE provides a complete desktop environment
  including
• Window manager(kwin)
• File manager
• Web browser
• Help system
• Configuration system, and other tools and
  application such as mail, news, drawing programs,
  

14
Competitors of KDE

• CDE (IBM)
• GNOME (GNU)
• FVWM

15
Questions

• What is XWindow?
• When did it start?
• Is there a variation of X window?
• What are the two major ones?
• What keeps all these different variants to be
  still called X?
• What is Window Manager?
• What are the most common window managers?

16
Answers

• What is XWindow?
• The X Window System is a graphical user interface
  (GUI). X is a windowing system, not a complete
  operating system. X mediates the communication
  between individuals and a computer network. X
  creates windows that represent applications, but
  does not execute the applications itself.
• When did it start?
• Developed at the Massachusetts Institute of
  Technology in 1984, X provides a graphics- window
  system for computer networks (MIT's X11, which is
  the original X).
• Is there a variation of X window?
• Yes, Just as there are different "flavors" of
  Unix there are different X-like systems. These
  are vendor specific window systems that are based
  on MIT's X11, which is the original X.

17
Answers

• What are the two major ones?
• The two major X variants are Motif and
  OpenWindows. OpenWindows is a part of Sun's
  Solaris system.
• What keeps all these different variants to be
  still called X?
• X protocol. They all follow the same protocol. X
  protocol is what sets the standard for X. This
  protocol pertains to the way the client and the
  server communicate with each other. It has no
  effect on the way X will look on a terminal
  screen. 

18
Answers

• What is Window Manager?
• Every X system uses a window manager. The window
  manager gives each window a title bar, border and
  makes it possible to resize, move and iconify
  windows. A window manager is an application
  program and not part of the window system.
  Generally a window manager is initiated as part
  of a user's startup script as is the X system. 
• What are the most common window managers? 
• Tab Window Manager (twm) from MIT
•   Motif Window Manager (mwm) from the Open
  Software Foundation