looking for latest documentation of X Windows System and WMs

[rupeshforu3]

Hi I am Rupesh from India and I have brought a new Desktop PC with AMD Ryzen zen3 5500GT APU and Asus prime B450 MK2 motherboard. I installed Linux Operating System with X Windows System and popular desktop environments and it is working fine.

Everything is working fine but I love to explore how Linux Operating System works including all its components like shell, utilities, SystemD, X Windows System etc.,.

So I searched for documentation for the above and I found nice books which teaches shell, utilities, SystemD etc., but unfortunately I found books related to X Windows System which are too old I mean they are published before 1993.

I love UNIX and Linux Operating Systems, X Windows System Philosophies.

So I installed all the available window managers and desktop environments available. I want to learn and experiment X Windows System and window managers. But I can't find the documentation for it.

The following books are available from O'Reilly which are related to X Windows System. All these books are published before 1993 and stopped updating.

1) X Windows System User guide
2) X Windows System User guide Motif edition
3) X Windows System User guide Open Look edition
4) X Windows System Administrator guide
5) Xlib reference manual
6) Xlib programming manual
7) Xview programming manual
Xview reference manual
9) X toolkit Intrinsics programming manual
Etc.,

These books discuss X Windows System, Motif in depth but the technology improved a lot and new window managers and desktop environments came.

The tldp documentation website have some books related to X Windows System but unfortunately those books are too small less than 50 pages.

When I work with Linux I see some processes containing words like XDG, freedesktop and so I think freedesktop.org is currently maintaining X Windows System and its technology.

So I even searched documentation for XDG and free desktop but I can't find anything.

I want to learn basic things about how X Windows System works and how desktop environments like gnome, kde, xfce starts and how they work. I also want to know how window managers like awesome, openbox etc., work. I also want to know how to change the configuration files related twm etc.,.

Kindly try to suggest any pdf book or any printed book which discuss X Windows System including new technology like XDG.
_________________
Regards,
Rupesh.

[lars_the_bear]

Perhaps you need to decide whether you want to get to grips with X, or newer stuff like Wayland? They're totally different and, in my experience, little knowledge is transferable between them. There's a reason why there are so few books on X after the 90s -- the technology hasn't changed much since then; not in its fundamentals, anyway. Wayland tends to combine the display server and window manager roles into one application, which makes for a very different display architecture.

I'm an X die-hard and I know little about Wayland; but I suspect Wayland is the future.

BR, Lars.

[rupeshforu3]

I think that many new Windowing Systems may come in future and all are going to be based on X Window System. I mean use the similar technology.

In the past a lot of Windowing Systems developed against X but failed to exist.

X Window System will be used in Linux for another 100 years I think so.

Learning X Window System will be interesting and useful in future.

So try to suggest any pdf or any other book on X Window System.
_________________
Regards,
Rupesh.

[asturm]

[pingtoo]

rupeshforu3,

What is your current understanding of X? Can you tell in the X window system what is "server", and what is "client"?

X window system fundamentally have not change since X11 so what you mention those O'Reilly are good to know. (although I don't think you should pay for new copy. Try to read it from library)

I see you mention many thing like Desktop system or XDG or even DBUS, these are different topic to learn. And you should think about do you want to known them from programming point of view of from structure design point of view. They are some what different in term of computer science.