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startx(1)


NAME

   startx - initialize an X session

SYNOPSIS

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

DESCRIPTION

   The startx script is a front end to xinit(1) that provides  a  somewhat
   nicer  user  interface  for  running  a  single session of the X Window
   System.  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(5)  configuration.   Some  examples  of
   specifying server arguments follow; consult the manual page for your  X
   server to determine which arguments are legal.

          startx -- -depth 16

          startx -- -dpi 100

          startx -- -layout Multihead

   Note  that  in the Debian system, what many people traditionally put in
   the .xinitrc file should go in .xsession instead; this permits the same
   X  environment to be presented whether startx, xdm, or xinit is used to
   start the X session.  All  discussion  of  the  .xinitrc  file  in  the
   xinit(1)  manual  page applies equally well to .xsession.  Keep in mind
   that .xinitrc is used  only  by  xinit(1)  and  completely  ignored  by
   xdm(1).

   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
   /etc/X11/xinit directory.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

   DISPLAY                  This variable gets set  to  the  name  of  the
                            display 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
                            prevent the X server, if not given  the  -auth
                            argument,   from   automatically   setting  up
                            insecure  host-based  authentication  for  the
                            local    host.    See   the   Xserver(1)   and
                            Xsecurity(7) 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.

   /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc   Client to run if  the  user  has  no  .xinitrc
                            file.

   /etc/X11/xinit/xserverrc Server  to  run  if the user has no .xserverrc
                            file.

SEE ALSO

   xinit(1), X(7), Xserver(1), Xorg(1), xorg.conf(5)



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