Does startx need xterm installed

Question

Im linking to a remote linux machine. I want to be able to view the files/ directories on this machine using a GUI. I run xming and ssh and putty.I then stried to start the windows manager. THe output is below.

What is happening here, it seems xterm is not available. But I can run emacs so there must be some windows manager present. Can I use that instead?

Running startx --help

[root@foo ~]# startx --help
xauth:  creating new authority file /root/.serverauth.6094


X Window System Version 7.1.1
Release Date: 12 May 2006
X Protocol Version 11, Revision 0, Release 7.1.1
Build Operating System: Linux 2.6.18-194.11.1.el5 x86_64 Red Hat, Inc.
Current Operating System: Linux ten2 2.6.18-238.1.1.el5 #1 SMP Tue Jan 4 13:32:19 EST 2011 x86_64
Build Date: 01 September 2010
Build ID: xorg-x11-server 1.1.1-48.76.el5_5.2
        Before reporting problems, check http://wiki.x.org
        to make sure that you have the latest version.
Module Loader present
Markers: (--) probed, (**) from config file, (==) default setting,
        (++) from command line, (!!) notice, (II) informational,
        (WW) warning, (EE) error, (NI) not implemented, (??) unknown.
(==) Log file: "/var/log/Xorg.0.log", Time: Wed Apr 20 18:57:05 2011
(==) Using config file: "/etc/X11/xorg.conf"
The XKEYBOARD keymap compiler (xkbcomp) reports:
> Warning:          Multiple symbols for level 1/group 1 on key <I5F>
>                   Using XF86Sleep, ignoring XF86Standby
> Warning:          Symbol map for key <I5F> redefined
>                   Using last definition for conflicting fields
Errors from xkbcomp are not fatal to the X server
xinit:  No such file or directory (errno 2):  no program named "xterm" in PATH

Specify a program on the command line or make sure that /usr/bin
is in your path.


waiting for X server to shut down FreeFontPath: FPE "unix/:7100" refcount is 2, should be 1; fixing.

Running startx without the help flag results in a different error message. Why is this?

Running startx

[root@foo ~]# startx
xauth:  creating new authority file /root/.serverauth.5375


X Window System Version 7.1.1
Release Date: 12 May 2006
X Protocol Version 11, Revision 0, Release 7.1.1
Build Operating System: Linux 2.6.18-194.11.1.el5 x86_64 Red Hat, Inc.
Current Operating System: Linux foo 2.6.18-238.1.1.el5 #1 SMP Tue Jan 4 13:32:19 EST 2011 x86_64
Build Date: 01 September 2010
Build ID: xorg-x11-server 1.1.1-48.76.el5_5.2
        Before reporting problems, check http://wiki.x.org
        to make sure that you have the latest version.
Module Loader present
Markers: (--) probed, (**) from config file, (==) default setting,
        (++) from command line, (!!) notice, (II) informational,
        (WW) warning, (EE) error, (NI) not implemented, (??) unknown.
(==) Log file: "/var/log/Xorg.0.log", Time: Wed Apr 20 18:39:23 2011
(==) Using config file: "/etc/X11/xorg.conf"
The XKEYBOARD keymap compiler (xkbcomp) reports:
> Warning:          Multiple symbols for level 1/group 1 on key <I5F>
>                   Using XF86Sleep, ignoring XF86Standby
> Warning:          Symbol map for key <I5F> redefined
>                   Using last definition for conflicting fields
Errors from xkbcomp are not fatal to the X server
localuser:root being added to access control list
No profile for user 'root' found

waiting for X server to shut down FreeFontPath: FPE "unix/:7100" refcount is 2, should    be 1; fixing.

Answer 1

That's probably because of xterm command in .xinitrc - this file contains application which should be started with X server, typically there are commands there to start window manager or desktop environment like KDE or Gnome. But often it defaults to twm + xterm.