What is XQuartz?
Mac OS X uses what is called X11 to run software through the X Window System. It has been around since OS X Leopard. It has a long history of open source support and has been running under the project header, XQuartz. Apple pretty much based their X11 app on this project. When Mountain Lion (OS X 10.8) came along, Apple no longer shipped X11 along with it. They decided to direct everyone to the XQuartz project to install it. One reason is that the open source community updates the software much faster than Apple was doing. So, basically the XQuartz project handles development on the Mac side, and since it was updating faster than the versions Apple was shipping, Apple decided to just leave it the hands of the open source community. Which, I would like to mention, Apple does support the XQuartz project.
It can be installed on previous versions of OS X as well, even though they still have X11 by default. But, if you are running Mountain Lion and need this system, then you will need to download and install it.
Installing XQuartz
Start by going the XQuartz website to download the latest version.
Next, go to your Downloads folder and double-click on the .dmg file and when it’s mounted, click on the .pkg file.
Navigate your way through the installation process. It’s pretty straightforward.
Before the installer finishes, it will notify you that you will need to log out and log back in after installation.
Once you get the “Successful” screen, close it out and reboot your computer.
XQuartz Inroduction
XQuartz Read Me
XQuartz License Agreement
XQuartz Begin Install
XQuartz on Mountain Lion
That’s it! XQuartz is now installed. You will see it in the Applications folder. Most apps will call it automatically if needed. If you are using it in conjunction with your Wine install there are some options where you can use it as a manager so to speak. But basically you’re ready to rock!
OK, I got this far, but no further.
How do I start using XQuartz? I can’t find any tutorial or manual for that. xman lists tons of commands, but which one to choose, for example for starting up an application?
Concretely: I installed FontForge (before XQuartz, maybe that was wrong) but it doesn’t start up when I try to launch it, even if XQuartz is already running. Fontforge does index the installed fonts, shows the message “This setup will be run only once”, shows a bouncing icon in the Dock, then just quits without a trace or message.
Hi Ge,
I assume that you know what XQuartz is for. How to use it goes beyond the scope of this tutorial. I may write one in the future, but in the meantime, what are you trying to accomplish with it? Maybe I can point you in the right direction.
Thanks Jay,
In fact, all I want to do with XQuartz is run FontForge.
A friend suggested that the FontForge version I’m using is not working correctly (it’s 20140301) but I rather got the feeling, from its behaviour as described in my comment, that some part of the software is missing, and that that’s the reason it can’t start up completely. I think I’m going to post a question on the FontForge forum asking how to create a log of the starting up process to then see if there’s an error message in there pointing to a solution.
In the mean time, if you could give me the link to a sure-to-work XQuartz application download, I could install that and verify that XQuartz itself is running fine.
Best regards
Hey Ge,
Your comment piqued my curiosity. I looked into FontForge and wrote a tutorial on it after figuring out the install process. You can view it here. https://www.easypctutorials.com//install-fontforge-on-mac-os-x/
Let me know how your installation goes!
Thanks a bunch, Jay, for going all the way!
Your first method is what I did, albeit in reverse order (first Fontforge, then XQuartz). I’m not sure if that has caused my problem.
Anyway: your link for the download gives a 404, so I can’t even try it. Guess their links change often.
But I’ll report back after I find and installl XCode.
You’re filling in the gap that nobody on the FontForge forum so far has bridged for me!
Hey Ge,
Thanks for the heads up on the link. I went ahead and just posted the URL, so you can copy and paste into your browser. I was able to get the XCode method to work fairly easily (just took a little time for everything to compile). Let me know how it goes, and if you run into trouble, hit me back and I’ll help you troubleshoot.
One more thing, make sure you run XCode at least once after installing it. It runs through some updates and config stuff.
Thanks again. Now the link works, but this download doesn’t even do the font scan (during which a message is shown: “This message is shown only once”) so I guess my problem is somewhere else. We’ll see.
Hey Ge,
I just took a look at the update folder. It looks like they released an update yesterday. You might want to give that one a try as well. You can use the link in the tutorial, or copy and paste this URL into your browser.
http://fuuko.libferris.com/osx/packages/