XServer &XTerm

[R_E]

So I installed Xterm and xserver from the internals testing feed, but i'm not 100% sure how to use these. Does this mean we can somehow install and run graphic linux programs like firefox or emacs? And if so, how? There is very little info on webosinternals.org.

[BoraWare]

I'm not familier with xterm and xserver from the internals feed myself. I have however setup a debian chroot, installed a vnc server and hooked to it with sdlvnc and ran x apps that way. You can read more on how to do that at this thread: http://forums.precentral.net/web-os-...nc-client.html

- Phil -

[chadking]

I use xterm when rooting my pre I put on and take off the 800mhz patch this way it's a hell of alot eaiser

[dtzWill]

Originally Posted by R_E

So I installed Xterm and xserver from the internals testing feed, but i'm not 100% sure how to use these. Does this mean we can somehow install and run graphic linux programs like firefox or emacs? And if so, how? There is very little info on webosinternals.org.

Hi,

You absolutely can run graphical linux programs! Right now only xterm was packaged (both as a proof of concept and because it's useful), but we have some more coming and on the way Some keybinding information is available here

The x-server is a functional X server (if you want to ssh x-forward apps you can). Things like 3D games aren't possible because we don't support GLX etc, but most apps should work great . Things like firefox, pidgin, etc, are all possible (and work already but we have to finish packaging them).

We have big plans for getting apps out to you all, but for now the best and easiest way to run X apps is through a debian chroot. Similar to the sdlvnc setup, you can find the debian chroot instructions on the wiki.

Unlike "normal", your DISPLAY environment variable will have to be DISPLAY=localhost:0.0 (as opposed to DISPLAY=:0.0 per 'normal')

Anyway you can see examples of using the chroot here:




etc.

This is using icewm and various applications.

In the not-too-distance future we do hope to bring you lots of goodies so stay tuned.

I apologize that for now I don't have time to put together a tutorial--I'll try to help as I can if people have questions.

Be aware that this is on the testing feed for a reason, which is why things like public announcement/documentation isn't in place yet. And because it's not done yet .

Let me know if you have any issues or questions and I'll answer them as I can.

[R_E]

Thanks for your reply dtzWill. My knowledge of all this is very basic. If I have a computer running ubuntu, can i somehow run programs on it on my pre with this?

If you could post a tutorial whenever you get a chance, that would be great. thanks.

[mamouton]

forgive me if this is a stupid question but are the above screen shots from a Pre?

[zonyl]

Very cool indeed! Thanks!

[Prenosicator]

Originally Posted by mamouton

forgive me if this is a stupid question but are the above screen shots from a Pre?

Yes, those are running on his Pre.

For anyone who wonders what we do all day in Webos Internals (besides drink beer), it pretty much is something like "do as many crazy things as you can with your Pre".

Unfortunately, every once and awhile, something _useful_ or at least generally interesting pops up and we have to actually package it for general consumption. Believe it or not, this is the boring and time consuming part for most of us. Well, except rwhitby, he /loves/ packaging things.

In this particular case, tho, it helps that dtzWill is pretty much awesome.

[mamouton]

WOW!!! I am now subscribing to this thread interested in the progress. I look forward to this on the Pre!!

@Prenosicator thanks for Precorder I was an early donater.

[Klownicle]

w...t...h..?

Seriously thats on the pre?!? Is there like touchscreen and keyboard support? That... would.. be... unreal. All in a card tooo? I must be dreamin.

[mrloserpunk]

Subscribed.... But I'm guessing a Windows compatible version is still light years away eh?

edit, doing some research here, isnt VNC good on windows already?

[Klownicle]

Originally Posted by mrloserpunk

Subscribed.... But I'm guessing a Windows compatible version is still light years away eh?

edit, doing some research here, isnt VNC good on windows already?

By that if you mean VNC Server and a VNC Client... yes there are multiple tasty varities available, TightVNC, RealVNC, UltraVNC, etc.

[mrloserpunk]

Originally Posted by Klownicle

By that if you mean VNC Server and a VNC Client... yes there are multiple tasty varities available, TightVNC, RealVNC, UltraVNC, etc.

so i can use x-server to connect to any of those clients for windows, thus giving me the ability to run some apps???? I must be reading this wrong....

[Klownicle]

Originally Posted by mrloserpunk

so i can use x-server to connect to any of those clients for windows, thus giving me the ability to run some apps???? I must be reading this wrong....

Depending on what your talking about;

You could run a vnc server on xserver and connect to it from your windows pc and control the xserver from your pc.

Or...

You could run a vnc server on your windows pc and be on your xserver and run a vnc client to control your windows pc from your phone.

You could be confused what xserver is, xserver is the gui enviroment of a linux root if im not mistaken. Basically what somthing like this would allow is running linux gui applications on the palm pre, I think described as a OS inside a card view? Least thats what im dreamin off.

Don't shoot the messenger.

[phwelo]

wow i can't wait to see some of these apps packaged and released to the public. hopefully a tutorial on how to do it yourself will be provided too. since this runs in a card it could open up possibilities like crazy. can't wait to get icewm running on my pre

[meandmypre]

I'm very impressed that there is an X server running on the Pre.

Given the questions in this thread, I thought it would be useful to provide a brief overview of X windows. X is a client/server based graphical system. Unlike most graphics interfaces such as GDI for Windows, an X client (application) and the X server (where the graphics are displayed) do not have to reside on the same machine.

The X server is where all the graphics rendering and displaying is done. In other words, when the X server receives a request from a client to perform a graphic operation like to draw a line, it will process that request and invoke the display driver code (the software that interacts with the display hardware) to render the line on the screen. A VNC server on Linux is a special X server that instead of rendering graphics on a real display device, it renders to a virtual screen that can be viewed from anywhere using a VNC client.

The software that requests the X server to draw a line is called a client. Applications such as xterm or even Firefox on Linux are considered clients. As I mentioned, the client does not have to run on the same machine as the server. This allows one to run an application like xterm on your Pre and have it connect to an X server running on your desktop Linux box to get a nice Pre terminal window displayed on your desktop's monitor.

The screen shots in an earlier post seem to be demonstrating an X server running locally on the Pre with the X client applications also running on the Pre (very cool). If you wanted, you could even run an application on your Linux desktop and have it displayed on the Pre by connecting to the Pre's X server.

[dtzWill]

I've started a new thread, with a video (thanks phil_bw!), where I'll be posting future updates.

Linky

[BoraWare]

Was it really only 5 days ago that I didn't even know an SDL X server even existed. 5 days later I post a video of me running openoffice in that very server. One more reason I love the Pre, WebOS, and everyone "working on it".

- phil_bw -

[fiftyclick]

that is looking amazing!! I am going to install it from the testing feed now. how is the performance though?

[vuxy]

how windows, can be install xterm and ... in Pre via windows ?