A
common shell script on
boxen with
X servers that calls
xinit, thus
starting the
X Window System. This is probably the most
common way of
starting an
X session, the other
major option being a
display manager, and sometimes people (or at least I know I do sometimes) will call
xinit or their
X server by
hand.
My script also configures xauth. But a lot of startx scripts don't. Mine didn't before I added that.
xdm/gdm/kdm-using
weenies and
idiots alike really love to
whine that it is
insecure. They are
paranoid freaks and typically
incapable of
comprehending a "
startx & logout".