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Most popular apps that require X11

O

ozaz

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Feb 27, 2011
1,626
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Following the removal of the X11 application from OS X in the developer preview of Mountain Lion (see link below), I got curious. What are the best / most useful apps that currently require X11?

The only ones I ever remember using are Inkscape and GIMP.

https://www.macrumors.com/2012/02/1...n-lion-shifts-support-to-open-source-xquartz/

UPDATE: 22 Feb 2012. Changed title to "Most popular apps that require x11". Its probably a better question than asking what the "best" apps are
 
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Most of my use of X11 is for running linux applications remotely. I am a linux developer, but use a mac because it interacts well with linux (using terminal and X11) and also has the ability to run the MS office stuff so I can interact with all the folks here running windoze.
 
as with all things, there is no "best" or "most useful". All that really matters are the applications that you need to do the work that you perform.

For me, that is Wireshark and Adobe FrameMaker. FrameMaker is actually running on a Solaris system then the display is exported to my Mac.

Others have reported the GIMP.

The fact that you have posted this question suggest that X11 based apps are not a big part of your critical applications. It is possible that they could at some point in the future.

It would be awesome if Aqua had some way to export applications like X11, and you didn't have to do an entire desktop (aka VNC or similar utilities).
 
Gimp and Inkscape. Photo editor, vector graphic design.

Personally I use Inkscape a lot, for making logos and icons. (I'm a web developer and Mac programmer.)

----------

Also you will still be able to run X11 apps, you just have to install XQuartz first...
 
ratsg said:
as with all things, there is no "best" or "most useful". All that really matters are the applications that you need to do the work that you perform.
Click to expand...

Of course. But I think it would be generally agreed that GIMP and Inkscape are the best free or open-source raster and vector graphics editors available for Mac. Yet both are X11 based. I was wondering if there are some other X11-based apps that are as highly regarded relative to the native apps in their app categories. Its just curiosity prompted by today's news.
 
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memmaker650 said:
Matlab, but i think the enterprise behind Matlab will solve this error in next versions.
Click to expand...

I didn't know Matlab requires X11. Is this even for the more recent versions?
I have 2011b and when I use it, X11 doesn't launch or show up in activity monitor.
 
R Commander

R Commander (Rcmdr), a graphical user interface to R (the open source statistical environment, www.r-project.org). R Commander is essential for the undergraduate students in my introductory statistics course.
 
I use Gimp a little . . . When I upgrade to ML I suppose I'll have to find something else . . . May have to spring for Pixelmator
 
waynep said:
I use Gimp a little . . . When I upgrade to ML I suppose I'll have to find something else . . . May have to spring for Pixelmator
Click to expand...

You'll still be able to use GIMP. As was mentioned earlier, you'll just have to download something from the xquartz project rather than having the x11 installer built into the OS.
 
ozaz said:
I didn't know Matlab requires X11. Is this even for the more recent versions?
I have 2011b and when I use it, X11 doesn't launch or show up in activity monitor.
Click to expand...

I was thinking about this when I saw the thread title.

IIRC 2009 versions definitely used X11, but 2011b does not. Even with many figures open it doesn't open X11 anymore.

B
 
All remote Linux/Unix GUI Applications...

Whenever I'm not using my Mac directly, I'm accessing a remote Linux desktop or Linux/Unix supercomputer. With X11, I can run GUi apps from those remote machines directly from my desktop.

The simplest example would be wanting to print a pdf from a remote Linux desktop to a network printer - I just launch Adobe Reader remotely from the Linux desktop over an X Terminal.

Also, I'm not positive, but I believe the most popular VNC viewers for Linux utilize X11, and I do need to VNC to non-Macs at times.

I just thought of something a little spooky! X went through a lot of revisions, but they never made it past major revision 11. What if Mac OS-X never makes it past major revision 10? The similarities are uncanny. ;)
 
These are some of the packages I had installed on Tiger (A-D)...

Abiword
abs
afni
antiword
arts
axyftp
basiliskii
bidwatcher
bluefish
bundle-gnome
cabextract
bundle-kde-ssl
bundle-tetex
calcoo
cdrecord
cctools-extra
cernlib-geant321
clisp
cssed
curl-ssl
denemo
di
 
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