View Source: GraphicalUserInterface - Waikato Linux Users Group

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A GraphicalUserInterface, commonly abbreviated as [GUI], provides a graphical way of looking at data and normally involves the [WIMP] paradigm.

In MicrosoftWindows the [GUI], with all of its layers, is built right into the OperatingSystem.  (For better or for worse!)  Conversely, the [Linux] kernel has no provisions for [GUI]s of its own accord - it is provided by ordinary applications, commonly the [XFree86] implementation of the [X11] standard. This in turn is only a bare skelleton for [GUI]s, which a large variety of [DesktopEnvironment]s are built on top of. The most common ones are [GNOME] or [KDE] but there are more, such as [XFce]. Purists[1] use [X11] only to run multiple copies of xterm(1).

Note that a [GUI] does not necessary entail leaving "text mode"; you can write console [GUI] applications using [Curses].

Contrast CommandLine.

See GuiVersusCli for a discussion of UserInterface aspects.

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[1] cf. "Masochists"

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Last edited on Tuesday, December 16, 2003 9:45:22 pm by AristotlePagaltzis

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