Comments on: An X for every application

By: Stevko

Stevko — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 17:52:55 +0000

Look at file Xwrapper.config. You find allowed_users=console there. It means only users from console can run new X. You can chenge it to allow anyone to start X. I do not know if it is good or bad idea.

By: Isengrin

Isengrin — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 02:42:54 +0000

This is great for me since Awesome just can’t handle java apps (they look as an empty grey window).
So, when I need one of them I call it this way. Thanks.

By: Jakob

Jakob — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 03:24:58 +0000

Really nice idea! Works fine. I use it to launch mplayer (playback in framebuffer doesn’t work with my setup).

By: Jose Catre-Vandis

Jose Catre-Vandis — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 21:41:32 +0000

Oh, and I am trying to run the commands in xfce4-terminal. KMandla’s original command created an new instance of X using sudo.

By: Jose Catre-Vandis

Jose Catre-Vandis — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 21:40:27 +0000

xinit — :1 also requires sudo.

X: user not authorized to run the X server, aborting.
xinit:  Server error.

When run as sudo, it fails

Fatal server error:
Server is already active for display 0
	If this server is no longer running, remove /tmp/.X0-lock
	and start again.


Please consult the The X.Org Foundation support 
	 at http://wiki.x.org
 for help. 

 ddxSigGiveUp: Closing log
xinit:  Server error.

This is on Xubuntu 9.04 – no funny business on the install

By: Naib

Naib — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 21:49:12 +0000

newx() { DISPLAY=:1.0; xinit $* — :1; };
in your .bashrc

then just: newx foo

alot simpler

By: vespas

vespas — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 12:29:42 +0000

this should be ok memory-wise since most of the memory should be in shared libs, so already loaded with the first instance of X. have a look at top’s SHR field.

By: K.Mandla

K.Mandla — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 23:22:00 +0000

Thanks, got it.

Yes, I suppose its going to be practical or impractical, depending on the person. For me, it’s not something I would probably use often, regardless of the hardware.

By: LeoSolaris

LeoSolaris — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 22:53:35 +0000

I’ve never had to be sudo to use it… but then again, I do not open a new X with the same user either. I have a few different users, and occasionally use this sort of thing to switch to them.

Since startx doesn’t work for a second user, you could just use the command: xinit — :X

(X= number of running X’s plus one. So xinit — :1 would be a second display, xinit — :2 would be the third and so on.)

In theory you can make as many as you like, but switching between them with the Ctrl+Alt+Fn keys is limited. If you have F1-F6 as consoles, then you have F7-F12 left as easy switches. There is probably a way around this, but I don’t know it right off.

By: Jose Catre-Vandis

Jose Catre-Vandis — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 22:30:57 +0000

Do you have to be root (or sudo) to do this? I tried it out from a terminal whilst in Xubuntu 9.04 and needed to sudo the command to get the new display. Cute trick though