On a machine running several X servers, how do programs identify the different instances of the X11 server?
On a machine running several X servers, how do programs identify the different instances of the X11 server?
Programs identify different instances of the X11 server by a display name. Each running instance of an X server is given a display name in the form of hostname:displaynumber.screennumber. The display number uniquely differentiates each X server instance running on the same machine. This method ensures that each server instance can be individually addressed and managed.
The X server runs as the given display number, which by default is 0. If multiple X servers are to run simultaneously on a host, each must have a unique display number. From the user’s perspective, every X server has a display name of the form: hostname:displaynumber.screennumber