Newbie Mac tip: While Mac OS X 10.3 (Panther) includes the X11 X server package with nifty Mac OS X integration, it is not installed by default on a new Mac or with an "easy" install of the operating system. To install X11 from your System Restore disc without reinstalling the operating system, insert the System Restore disc, then open a Terminal window and type, all on one line:
/Applications/Utilities/Installer.app/Contents/MacOS/Installer "/Volumes/PowerBook G4 Software/System/Installation/Packages/X11User.pkg"
After installation, X11 will be in /Applications/Utilities.
The Mac geniuses in the audience can probably describe an easier way, but I'd like to point out that Mac Help (as available on Apple's Support site) only says:
You can install X11 for Mac OS X when you install Mac OS X. If you did not install X11 when you installed Mac OS X, insert the Install Mac OS X Disc 2 CD and locate the Install X11 package and double-click it.
...which is not helpful, because a) there is no "Disc 2 CD" that comes with a DVD-drive-endowed Mac (just a single DVD-ROM with everything on it), and b) everything on the System Restore DVD-ROM is invisible in the Finder, except a couple of documents and shortcuts to a full OS X re-install and another installer for "Applications & Classic Support"— the latter of which does not include X11. Being an OS X newbie, I couldn't figure out how to un-hide the contents of the DVD in the Finder, so I dropped to a shell and went exploring.
I can hardly stay mad, however, as the exploration was painless (volumes are mounted in the /Volumes directory!), and the above command-line was my first guess and worked as expected. It was a crash course in Mac OS X application packaging: cf. /Applications/Utilities/Installer in the Finder vs. Installer.app in the shell, and note that it and X11User.pkg are both directories. Apple's X11 FAQ also provided the extra hint that I was looking for something called "X11User.pkg," though it didn't say much else.
Follow-up tip: To enable viewing of hidden and system files in the Finder, you can use one of a dozen applications, including TinkerTool (freeware). This can also be accomplished with a little AppleScript, or a multi-step process that involves the Developer Tools' Property List Editor (kinda like a Windows RegEdit hack).
Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!
I cannot thank you enough for this information as I have spent and ENTIRE DAY compiling my favorite Gtk editor only to find I couldn't run it because X11 was not installed. This, inspite of the fact that for all the searching I did (excluding this rewarding nugget) only indicated I had to install the X11SDK (aka MacOS SDK) which DOES NOT install the DevSDK, which is required to compile anything using c headers.
I have to say my first Mac experience in years has been slightly disappointing in light of the fact that Apple has left the much touted Unix backend severly lacking in documentation.
Thanks again!