Editing X terminal (section)

{{Short description|Computing device}}
{{Distinguish|Terminal emulator|Xterm}}
[[Image:Network Computing Devices NCD-88k X terminal.jpg|thumb|A [[Network Computing Devices]] NCD-88k X terminal]]
[[Image:Xserver and display manager.svg|thumb|An X server runs on the X terminal, connecting to a central computer running an X display manager. In this example, client programs ({{mono|[[xterm]]}} and {{mono|xedit}}) are running on the same computer.]]
In computing, an '''X terminal''' is a display/input [[Computer terminal|terminal]] for [[X Window System]] client applications. X terminals enjoyed a period of popularity in the early 1990s when they offered a lower [[total cost of ownership]] alternative to a full [[Unix]] [[workstation]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}}

An X terminal runs an 'X server'. In X, the usage of "client" and "server" is from the viewpoint of the programs: the X server supplies a screen, keyboard, mouse and touchscreen to client applications. This connects to an [[X display manager]] (introduced in X11R3) running on a central machine, using [[XDMCP]] (X Display Manager Control Protocol, introduced in X11R4).<ref>{{Citation | first1 = Linda | last1 = Mui | first2 = Eric | last2 = Pearce | title = X Window System | volume = 8: X Window System Administrator's Guide for X11 Release 4 and Release 5 | edition = 3rd | publisher = O'Reilly & Associates | date = July 1993 | type = softcover | isbn = 0-937175-83-8}}.</ref>{{Page needed |date=October 2015}}

[[Thin client]]s have somewhat supplanted X terminals in that they are equipped with added [[flash memory]] and software for communication with [[remote desktop software|remote desktop]] protocols.