# Install xinit with Homebrew, apk, apt, MacPorts, Nix, zypper, dnf Start the X Window System server. Version 1.4.4 via Homebrew; verified 2026-07-13. Also installable with debian: sudo apt install xinit. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:xinit ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install xinit ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata - MacPorts (94%): ```sh sudo port install xinit ``` Evidence: MacPorts ports tree: x11/xinit/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ### Linux - apk (92%): ```sh sudo apk add xinit ``` Evidence: Alpine Linux edge package indexes: xinit from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz - Debian apt (92%): ```sh sudo apt install xinit ``` Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: xinit from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz - Nix (92%): ```sh nix profile install nixpkgs#xinit ``` Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/xi/xinit/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - zypper (92%): ```sh sudo zypper install xinit ``` Evidence: openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: xinit from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/50b07339cb64c8ed4091bdbabddadc1ff5737b090e478818a195b40d8a3292861a879139b4a3987c31109699fde9fbf4a716367ddf4eef77da75f96e3193d6ed-primary.xml.zst - dnf (92%): ```sh sudo dnf install xorg-x11-xinit ``` Evidence: Fedora Rawhide package metadata: xorg-x11-xinit from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/07190dc5ae9f35ae73866675fed6d95fe6e8d9fe22c9d7cdf85862cb2ed24a4c-primary.xml.zst ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:xinit - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Version:** 1.4.4 - **Source summary:** Start the X Window System server - **Homepage:** - **Last updated:** 2026-07-13T10:44:14Z - **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00 ## Executables - startx (alias) - xinit (alias) ## Install behavior - Bottle: not available ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-08-03 - Package-manager version: 1.4.4 ## Project history and usage xinit is the small X.Org session bootstrapper that starts an X server and an initial client program. Its companion script `startx` wraps xinit for the common case of manually starting a single X session from a text login instead of using a display manager. ### Project history xinit belongs to the old X client/server world where starting a graphical session meant launching the server and one controlling client. The X.Org manual defines it as the X Window System initializer for systems not using a display manager such as xdm, or for environments that use multiple window systems. When the first client exits, xinit kills the X server and terminates. The tool's behavior has remained intentionally simple: if no client is given it looks for `~/.xinitrc`, otherwise it falls back to a default xterm; if no server is given it looks for `~/.xserverrc`, otherwise it runs `X :0`. `startx` adds a friendlier shell-script layer, choosing `.xinitrc` and `.xserverrc` files and passing server options after `--`. ### Adoption history xinit was historically central for users who logged into a console and then started X manually. Display managers such as xdm, gdm, and kdm became the common desktop login path, but xinit/startx remained the minimal, packageable fallback for custom window-manager setups, recovery environments, lightweight desktops, and multi-server experiments. The Linux Documentation Project's X Window User HOWTO captures the traditional split: X sessions are usually started either by a display manager at graphical login or manually from a text console with startx, which is a wrapper around xinit. That is the adoption pattern that kept xinit packaged even after full desktop environments hid it from most users. ### How it is used Users normally run `startx`, customize `~/.xinitrc` to start clients and leave the final long-lived program, usually a window manager or session manager, in the foreground, and optionally customize `~/.xserverrc` for server startup. Direct `xinit` usage is for explicit client/server combinations, alternate displays, Xvnc-style servers, or low-level troubleshooting. The package is small but important because it owns the conventional files and shell behavior around manual X startup. Without it, a minimal X.Org install may have an X server and window manager but no standard way for a non-display-manager login to tie them together. ### Why package nerds care xinit is a perfect package-nerd system utility: tiny, old, boring, and still the glue for a whole class of X11 sessions. It encodes decades of Unix desktop convention in a couple of executable entry points and dotfiles. Its significance is also diagnostic. When an X session fails before the desktop stack is running, xinit/startx gives maintainers and users a narrow, inspectable path through server arguments, client startup, environment variables, and foreground process lifetime. ### Timeline - X11 era: xinit becomes the manual initializer pattern for starting an X server and first client outside a display manager. - X11R6/X11R7 documentation era: `startx` is documented as a front end to xinit for a single X Window System session. - 2018-07-29: the xorg/app/xinit project appears in freedesktop.org GitLab metadata, reflecting the modern X.Org hosting location. - 2026: freedesktop.org GitLab metadata still shows activity on the xinit project. ### Related projects - startx is the user-facing wrapper script shipped with xinit. - Xorg or another X server is the server process xinit starts. - xdm, gdm, and kdm are display-manager alternatives that start X sessions without the user manually invoking xinit. - twm, xterm, and lightweight window managers are classic clients used in `.xinitrc` examples and fallback sessions. ### Sources - - - - - ## Security Notes broad file, network, media, or database tool signal. formula declares a Homebrew service. - **Geiger risk:** orange / medium - broad file, network, media, or database tool signal - formula declares a Homebrew service ## Configuration and credential file locations These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval. ## Configuration files - Unix: $(HOME)/.xinitrc, $(HOME)/.xserverrc, /usr/lib/X11/xinit/xinitrc, /usr/lib/X11/xinit/xserverrc ## Other Package-Manager Records - Debian apt - xinit - 1.4.2-1: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: xinit from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | X server initialisation tool - Nix - xinit: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/xi/xinit/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - Ubuntu apt - xinit - 1.4.1-0ubuntu5: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: xinit from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/main/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | X server initialisation tool - apk - xinit - 1.4.4-r0: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: xinit from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | X.Org initialisation program | https://xorg.freedesktop.org/ - apk - xinit-doc - 1.4.4-r0: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: xinit-doc from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | X.Org initialisation program (documentation) | https://xorg.freedesktop.org/ - dnf - xorg-x11-xinit - 1.4.3-5.fc45: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: xorg-x11-xinit from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/07190dc5ae9f35ae73866675fed6d95fe6e8d9fe22c9d7cdf85862cb2ed24a4c-primary.xml.zst | X.Org X11 X Window System xinit startup scripts | https://www.x.org - zypper - xinit - 1.4.4-1.5: normalized package name match | openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: xinit from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/50b07339cb64c8ed4091bdbabddadc1ff5737b090e478818a195b40d8a3292861a879139b4a3987c31109699fde9fbf4a716367ddf4eef77da75f96e3193d6ed-primary.xml.zst | X Window System initializer | https://xorg.freedesktop.org/ - MacPorts - xinit: normalized package name match | MacPorts ports tree: x11/xinit/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/xinit.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/xinit.yml) ## Sources - pkg.so package database - Geiger risk classifier - curated configuration and credential file locations - curated package history - pkgdb category and tag curation - external package-manager database matches - cross-ecosystem install command graph