[TriLUG] running X at the server console

[Christian J Hedemark]

> > I don't know what's causing your crashes, but it's generally
> > considered a
> > BAD IDEA (tm) to run X on the console of a network server.

Oops I had better get on the phone with Sun and tell them to stop doing
that.  ;-)

> Thanks.  I'd begun to reach a similar conclusion myself.  Is there a
> specific reason *why* this is bad or is X just too flaky to run on a
> high-availability server?

X consumes resources.  Not a lot but noticeable.  On a perfectly idle server
you may see X windows as one of the highest consumers.

X can also be flaky.  I think this was more true in the past than it is now.
Some of the complex desktop environments can cause a hard machine lock.  I
saw KDE on Red Hat 7.1 do this on several different configurations at BOPS.
I didn't think it would be possible for a userland app to do that but it was
a major thorn in my side.

I think the best thing to do, and I say this more from a performance
standpoint, is don't run X server on the server box at all.  But DO run xdm
and allow direct queries.  I keep my Sun box hidden down in the basement and
don't really see it unless I go down there for something else.  But anytime
I want the full desktop I can start X with a "-query sunfish" and bang I get
the full Solaris desktop.  Solaris comes out of the box configured to allow
xdm remote queries but you have to tweak Linux to allow this.