I'm running Slackware GNU/Linux 14.2, which doesn't start an X server by default. On a whim, I tried running startx
inside a screen
session and got the warning
/usr/libexec/Xorg.wrap: Only console users are allowed to run the X server
xinit: giving up
xinit: unable to connect to X server: Connection refused
xinit: server error
Couldn't get a file descriptor referring to the console
Why can't I run startx
from inside a screen session? What resource can you access on a "raw" console that you can't on a shell running under screen?
Best Answer
Running
startx
only makes sense if you are in front of the computer. Testing for console ownership is one way to determine this. As you have found out, it can be fooled by operating in ascreen
session. In that case, no X for you.