54 ms·

Some not so obscure ones too. Seems like a general app listing of the X11 days. Who doesn't remember XEyes, XBiff, XClock, XEdit, Xev, XKill (!), Xv (!!), XMos

Some not so obscure ones too. Seems like a general app listing of the X11 days. Who doesn't remember XEyes, XBiff, XClock, XEdit, Xev, XKill (!), Xv (!!), XMosaic (!!!) ... many others on there. Granted I did not know FSV2 and some others. Nice collection, glad to not have to run any of them. Not saying they weren't useful for their time!

pkulak 3y ago
I use XEyes all the time to find out if an app is running in Wayland or XWayland.
- em-bee 3y ago
  how does xeyes help with that? does it fail to track the mouse on wayland apps? i can see that would be useful. i actually have problems with XWayland, it frequently (every few days), goes to a 100% CPU and locks up the screen. then i have to remote login and kill it, at which point i see which apps die, so i know what is using XWayland from that. :-)
  - bcrescimanno 3y ago
    > does it fail to track the mouse on wayland apps? Exactly. It will work properly if the app is using XWayland and fail for native Wayland.
- hollerith 3y ago
  Another way to do it is the xlsclients command. Also, I can reliably tell based on the fact that the contents of the XWayland windows are fuzzier. I can do that because I have had lots of practice discerning fuzziness, because I am using a old monitor (as opposed to a HiDPI display) and because I have a fractional (non-integral) scaling factor declared in my monitors.xml file--when the scaling factor is set to 1.0 there is no difference in fuzziness as far as I can tell.
jcelerier 3y ago
I still use xev regularly and xkill pretty much everyday? Along with xclip (everyday too), xdotool (for automation workflows)... glxgears very often too to check if for some reason the GPU driver bailed out
- bzzzt 3y ago
  It's 2023 and there are stable graphical operating systems that don't make you check 'if the GPU driver bailed out' every 15 minutes...
  - Krssst 3y ago
    Do they also not include telemetry or forcefully installed software you never asked for but cannot remove anyway and will remind you of their existence ar every opportunity?
    - dgfitz 3y ago
      Yes.
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
  - failuser 3y ago
    It’s more of the driver’s fault, right? BTE, Windows has a Ctrl+Shift+Win+B shortcut to restart the graphics driver if it bails out.
    - reaperducer 3y ago
      Windows has a Ctrl+Shift+Win+B shortcut to restart the graphics driver if it bails out. The fact that Windows has a built-in shortcut to restart the graphics driver illustrates that graphics drivers are not as faultless as the parent poster believes.
    - jcelerier 3y ago
      ohhhh I didn't know this one (as I have of course the same problem on windows regularly on that machine but then I just reboot)
drewg123 3y ago
I still use xv to look at images, GLXGears to debug GL issues, and xev to debug any weird keymapping issues, and xterm as a visually different terminal for things like monitoring console output.
- kristopolous 3y ago
  The xv guy might still be accepting payment. I wonder how much he gets these days http://www.trilon.com/xv/ http://www.trilon.com/xv/
- ttctciyf 3y ago
  It's such a quick and handy tool that I became habituated to xv over a decade of use. Some years ago though, I found it was no longer available to install after an upgrade. I was eventually able to fudge a working version from old code and patches and taking hints (iirc) from some patches for MacOS, but now that has suffered bitrot. So I'm curious what OS you're running and where your xv is from? Still miss it!
  - hulitu 3y ago
    xv runs perfectly on linux (Slackware 64)
    - ttctciyf 3y ago
      Thanks!
foobarbecue 3y ago
xkill is frequently useful at my work, unfortunately
em-bee 3y ago
right, xterm is obscure? but xmosaic should count of obscure today because now it only works on old and obscure websites ;-)
- II2II 3y ago
  For those who are relatively new to X, it is likely very obscure. People seem to be using desktop environments these days, and desktop environments come with their own terminal application. Those seeking out replacement terminals would probably stumble across xterm, but how many would actually try it? It's feature list isn't exactly designed for those with modern sensibilities. (I was using xterm until very recently, mostly because it used sharp rasterized display fonts. Now that I have a reasonably high DPI display, it is easier to use nearly anything else.)
  - em-bee 3y ago
    with that argument every X11 app that isn't gnome/gtk or kde/qt is obscure. but then that is pretty much what the list shows, so maybe that's the authors definition as well.
  - lelanthran 3y ago
    > For those who are relatively new to X, it is likely very obscure. People seem to be using desktop environments these days, and desktop environments come with their own terminal application. Those seeking out replacement terminals would probably stumble across xterm, but how many would actually try it? It's really very configurable. My problem with mate-terminal and similar is that they don't often let me set a cursor color independent of the foreground color. I like to code C projects in a single vim session running in a terminal; by having a bright green fast-blinking block cursor I can visually locate where my cursor is after reading code in a different split. So, yeah, I use xterm (or uxterm) because of this single feature that I value of any other feature it might be missing.
- fuzztester 3y ago
  I used to use xterm -fn 24 & on HP-UX workstations and servers. Even on Linux maybe, earlier.
bitwize 3y ago
Most Linux users these days run GNOME or KDE and have never heard of these janky little apps linked directly against xlib.
- Brian_K_White 3y ago
  I wanted to test something on a "normal" system so I started a new Fedora 38 vm. gnome 44.2. What an incredibly obtuse, unhelpful, un-useful interface. I don't know about kde but definitely gnome does not get to charge anyone else with any words like janky.
morsch 3y ago
Is there an xkill equivalent for Wayland yet?
wkat4242 3y ago
I always thought xbiff was named after the back to the future character. Turns out it was named after one of the campus dogs instead :)
- mcguire 3y ago
  Heidi Stettner's dog, at the Berkeley CSRG. (Ok, I had to look up her last name. I'm getting old.)
evilotto 3y ago
It's a UNIX system! I know this!
stOneskull 3y ago
it's a bit of fun running them in wsl

pkulak 3y ago

I use XEyes all the time to find out if an app is running in Wayland or XWayland.

em-bee 3y ago
how does xeyes help with that? does it fail to track the mouse on wayland apps? i can see that would be useful. i actually have problems with XWayland, it frequently (every few days), goes to a 100% CPU and locks up the screen. then i have to remote login and kill it, at which point i see which apps die, so i know what is using XWayland from that. :-)
- bcrescimanno 3y ago
  > does it fail to track the mouse on wayland apps? Exactly. It will work properly if the app is using XWayland and fail for native Wayland.
hollerith 3y ago
Another way to do it is the xlsclients command. Also, I can reliably tell based on the fact that the contents of the XWayland windows are fuzzier. I can do that because I have had lots of practice discerning fuzziness, because I am using a old monitor (as opposed to a HiDPI display) and because I have a fractional (non-integral) scaling factor declared in my monitors.xml file--when the scaling factor is set to 1.0 there is no difference in fuzziness as far as I can tell.

jcelerier 3y ago

I still use xev regularly and xkill pretty much everyday? Along with xclip (everyday too), xdotool (for automation workflows)... glxgears very often too to check if for some reason the GPU driver bailed out

bzzzt 3y ago
It's 2023 and there are stable graphical operating systems that don't make you check 'if the GPU driver bailed out' every 15 minutes...
- Krssst 3y ago
  Do they also not include telemetry or forcefully installed software you never asked for but cannot remove anyway and will remind you of their existence ar every opportunity?
  - dgfitz 3y ago
    Yes.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
- failuser 3y ago
  It’s more of the driver’s fault, right? BTE, Windows has a Ctrl+Shift+Win+B shortcut to restart the graphics driver if it bails out.
  - reaperducer 3y ago
    Windows has a Ctrl+Shift+Win+B shortcut to restart the graphics driver if it bails out. The fact that Windows has a built-in shortcut to restart the graphics driver illustrates that graphics drivers are not as faultless as the parent poster believes.
  - jcelerier 3y ago
    ohhhh I didn't know this one (as I have of course the same problem on windows regularly on that machine but then I just reboot)

drewg123 3y ago

I still use xv to look at images, GLXGears to debug GL issues, and xev to debug any weird keymapping issues, and xterm as a visually different terminal for things like monitoring console output.

kristopolous 3y ago
The xv guy might still be accepting payment. I wonder how much he gets these days http://www.trilon.com/xv/ http://www.trilon.com/xv/
ttctciyf 3y ago
It's such a quick and handy tool that I became habituated to xv over a decade of use. Some years ago though, I found it was no longer available to install after an upgrade. I was eventually able to fudge a working version from old code and patches and taking hints (iirc) from some patches for MacOS, but now that has suffered bitrot. So I'm curious what OS you're running and where your xv is from? Still miss it!
- hulitu 3y ago
  xv runs perfectly on linux (Slackware 64)
  - ttctciyf 3y ago
    Thanks!

foobarbecue 3y ago

xkill is frequently useful at my work, unfortunately

em-bee 3y ago

right, xterm is obscure? but xmosaic should count of obscure today because now it only works on old and obscure websites ;-)

II2II 3y ago
For those who are relatively new to X, it is likely very obscure. People seem to be using desktop environments these days, and desktop environments come with their own terminal application. Those seeking out replacement terminals would probably stumble across xterm, but how many would actually try it? It's feature list isn't exactly designed for those with modern sensibilities. (I was using xterm until very recently, mostly because it used sharp rasterized display fonts. Now that I have a reasonably high DPI display, it is easier to use nearly anything else.)
- em-bee 3y ago
  with that argument every X11 app that isn't gnome/gtk or kde/qt is obscure. but then that is pretty much what the list shows, so maybe that's the authors definition as well.
- lelanthran 3y ago
  > For those who are relatively new to X, it is likely very obscure. People seem to be using desktop environments these days, and desktop environments come with their own terminal application. Those seeking out replacement terminals would probably stumble across xterm, but how many would actually try it? It's really very configurable. My problem with mate-terminal and similar is that they don't often let me set a cursor color independent of the foreground color. I like to code C projects in a single vim session running in a terminal; by having a bright green fast-blinking block cursor I can visually locate where my cursor is after reading code in a different split. So, yeah, I use xterm (or uxterm) because of this single feature that I value of any other feature it might be missing.
fuzztester 3y ago
I used to use xterm -fn 24 & on HP-UX workstations and servers. Even on Linux maybe, earlier.

bitwize 3y ago

Most Linux users these days run GNOME or KDE and have never heard of these janky little apps linked directly against xlib.

Brian_K_White 3y ago
I wanted to test something on a "normal" system so I started a new Fedora 38 vm. gnome 44.2. What an incredibly obtuse, unhelpful, un-useful interface. I don't know about kde but definitely gnome does not get to charge anyone else with any words like janky.

morsch 3y ago

Is there an xkill equivalent for Wayland yet?

wkat4242 3y ago

I always thought xbiff was named after the back to the future character. Turns out it was named after one of the campus dogs instead :)

mcguire 3y ago
Heidi Stettner's dog, at the Berkeley CSRG. (Ok, I had to look up her last name. I'm getting old.)

evilotto 3y ago

It's a UNIX system! I know this!

stOneskull 3y ago

it's a bit of fun running them in wsl