x11 help

Running Graphical Linux X11 Applications in CoCalc

See this blog post for some screenshots.

Getting started

In your project, create an X11 Desktop file – with the ending *.x11 – or use the corresponding button in + New. You should see a split frame editor with a terminal on one side, and tabs for X11 windows on the other side.

Support

• Desktop (works well):
  • Chrome version 66+ is fully supported
  • Copy does not work on Firefox or Safari
• Mobile (does NOT work):
  • Viewing the desktop should mostly work
  • Touch events barely work at all.
  • Even an external keyboard will NOT work on an iPad (keys will be stuck, etc.).

Keyboard Layout

CoCalc will try (badly) to guess your keyboard layout based on your browser's default language settings. This does NOT work well. Instead, you should explicitly select your keyboard layout in Account preferences:

Account --> Preferences --> Account Settings --> Editor Settings --> Keyboard layout (for X11 Desktop).

Installed Applications

Name	Description	Category	Status
auctex		latex	?
avogadro	Advanced molecule editor and visualizer	chem	OK
blender	3D graphics (to visualize wireframes)	graphics	OK
code	Visual Studio code	code	OK
darktable	photography workflow application and raw developer	paint	OK
google-chrome	Chrome Web-browser	web	Crashes due to Docker security requirements
dia	Drawing graphics	graphics	?
emacs	Text editor, IDE, everything	edit	OK
OpenModelica	Modeling and simulation environment. Command: OMEdit & co.	physics	OK
gvim	Graphical version of the famous VIM editor	edit	OK
firefox	Web-browser	web	Crashes
gchempaint	Draw chemical formulas (no single-window mode, though)	chem	?
gitk	Explore Git repository (in current directory)	git	OK
gitg		git	?
gimp	Draw and edit images. Select single window mode:	paint	OK
	Main window → open "Window" menu → enable single-window
gnome-calculator	Classical calculator	math	OK
gnumeric	Spreadsheet calculations and statistics	stats	OK
gschem	schematic capture program/tool part of gEDA	physics	OK
gvim	Graphical version of the famous VIM editor	edit	OK
idle	Minimalistic Python IDE	code	?
inkscape		graphics	OK
jedit		edit	?
kexi-3.1	"Microsoft Access for Linux"	db	OK
kile	LaTeX editor, but maybe try texmaker instead ...	latex	?
krita	Painting tool designed for concept artists	paint	OK
latexdraw	Draw PSTricks, etc.	latex	flickers
libreoffice	Office suite consisting of	office	OK
	localc, lowriter, loimpress, lobase, ...
lyx	LaTeX editor	latex	OK
meld	Visual "diff" of text files	code	OK
nteract	Jupyter Notebook compatible UI	calc	OK
okular	PDF reader and annotator (Tools → Review)	pdf	OK
pcb-gtk	printed circuit board editor	physics	OK
pinta	simple paint app for images	paint	OK
psppire	PSPP is an open-source version of SPSS	stats	?
RCommander	in R: require(Rcmdr)	stats	OK
rstudio	Open source R IDE	stats	OK
	It helps to set Tools -> Global Options -> Appearance --> Zoom --> 200% on Retina
scribus		office	?
Snappy in Sage	sage -python -m snappy.app	math	Arrow keys
spyder3		math	FAIL
texmacs		LaTeX editor	OK
texmaker	"Powerful, easy to use and elegant" LaTeX editor	latex	OK
texstudio	"Make writing LaTeX as easy and comfortable as possible"	latex	OK
thunderbird	Email client	office	OK
tikzit		graphics	?
tuxpaint	Children's paint program	paint	OK
wxmaxima	Computer algebra system Maxima	math	OK
xedit	Old graphical text editor in X	edit	OK
xournal	draw notes or annotate a PDF	pdf	OK
xpaint	Old paint program	paint	OK

Categories

Category	Description
math	mathematics
chem	chemistry applications
statis	statistics, data analysis, ...
physics	tools for physics, engineering, modeling, etc.
office	productivity tools for authoring text, presentations, spreadsheets, etc. (doc, docx, odt, ppt, xml, xmlx, ods, ...)
latex	editor for working with LaTeX documents
edit	general purpose text editors
code	graphical interfaces for programming (IDE)
git	working with Git
db	graphical database interfaces
paint	raster graphics editor
graphics	vector grpahics editor
pdf	for reading and maybe also annotating PDFs