O'Reilly Media | X User Tools

X User Tools

By Linda Mui, Valerie Quercia
First Edition
Pages: 856
ISBN 10: 1-56592-019-8 | ISBN 13: 9781565920194

This book is OUT OF PRINT.

Book description

X User Tools provides for X users what UNIX Power Tools provides for UNIX users: hundreds of tips, tricks, scripts, techniques, and programs -- plus a CD-ROM -- to make the X Window System more enjoyable, more powerful, and easier to use. This browser's book emphasizes useful programs culled from the network, offers tips for configuring individual and systemwide environments, and includes a CD-ROM of source files for all -- and binary files for some -- of the programs.
Full Description

X User Tools provides for X users what UNIX Power Tools provides for UNIX users: hundreds of tips, tricks, scripts, techniques, and programs that make the X Window System more enjoyable, more powerful, and easier to use. The emphasis in X User Tools is on useful programs, culled from the network and contributed by X programmers all over the world. The programs range from fun (games, screensavers, and a variety of online clocks) to business tools (calendar, memo, and mailer programs) to graphics (programs for drawing, displaying, and converting images). The book contains a number of tips and techniques for configuring individual and systemwide environments. This book employs the browser style of organization pioneered by UNIX Power Tools. Each article stands on its own and many contain cross-references to related articles. Readers can read the book straight through from cover to cover, but most readers will skip around in the book, reading only the articles that appeal to them. If they discover after reading an article that they want more information on a topic, they can follow the cross-references to other articles that cover particular subjects in more depth. The book contains a glossary of common X and UNIX terms. A CD-ROM containing source files for all and binary files for some of the programs (for a number of platforms, including Sun 4, Solaris, HP 700, Alpha/OSF, and RS6000/AIX) is included with the book. Note that the CD-ROM contains the software for both emacs and tcl/tk.

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"X is the platform-independent graphical interface. It may be slightly overstating the case to say that it is the UNIX interface of choice, but X is open, available, cheap (free?) and extensible. X programmers will be familiar with the O'Reilly X programming series. Now it is time for a source for the users. "[This] book gives some basic information about how to start, and use, X, but is primarily a collection of software -- utilities, resources, games, applications, and more. The CD-ROM included with the book contains source code plus compiled versions for Sun 3 and 4, Solaris (on Sparc), RS6000, HP/UX (700 series), OSF/1 (Alpha) and DEC stations. There are clocks, calendars, desk references, decorations, mailers, Internet clients, editors, games, xterm extensions, windows managers, graphics and colour utilities, and administration tools. "The book uses short sections to describe the various tools and tips. It also uses the 'hypertext in print' format to cross-reference items without having to repeat material. "You could, of course, get all of this 'free', off the net. It is, however, highly unlikely that your time is worth that little." --Copyright Rob Slade 1995, Author of Robert Slade's Guide to Computer Viruses

"I just got and read the new 'X User Tools' from O'Reilly & Associates. I am quite impressed. The book is 812 pages, and includes a CDROM with binaries and sources for many platforms of many useful free X software. "The book is organized in a type of printed hypertext format which is quite useful when using the book as a reference source. It is a collection of many mini articles and tutorials by several authors.

"The book targets new X users and those using X [who] want to customize it more. Many topics are covered, including all the included software, window managers, key bindings, customizing your environment, resources, desktop tools, fonts, etc.

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