There are two ways to start X. The first is to start X manually when
you feel like using it. To do so, log in to one of the text consoles
and type startx. This will start X and switch you to its virtual
console.
The second (and recommended) way to use X is with xdm or X Display
Manager. Basically, xdm gives you a nice graphical login prompt on
the X virtual console (probably VC 7), and you log in there.
By default, either method will also start an xterm, which is a small
window containing a shell prompt. At the shell prompt, you can type
any commands just as you would on a text VC. So you can follow all
the examples in this book using xterm; the only difference between
an xterm and the text console is that you don’t have to log on to
the xterm because you already logged on to X.
There are also a lot of things you can do only in X, which are
covered in this chapter.
One note: The default xterm window has a smallish font. If you have
a small monitor or very high resolution or bad eyesight, you may
want to fix this. Follow these steps:
1. Move the mouse pointer into the center of the xterm window.
2. Hold down the Control key and the _right_ mouse button
simultaneously. This will give you a font menu.
3. Point to the font you want and release the mouse button.