Xkill

Article summary

Xkill is a utility program distributed with the X Window System that instructs the X server to forcefully terminate its connection to a client, thus "killing" the client. When run with no command-line arguments, the program displays a special cursor (usually a crosshair or a skull and crossbones) and displays a message such as Select the window whose client you wish to kill with button 1 ... If a non-root window is then selected, the server will close its connection to the client that created that window, and the window will be destroyed. Xkill is not intended to be used as a routine way to terminate X client programs, but only as a last resort to abort malfunctioning or malicious clients. Unlike kill, xkill does not request that the client process, which may be running on a different machine, be terminated. In fact, the process can continue running without an X connection. Most clients, however, do abort when their X connections are unexpectedly closed. Xkill has been cited as an example of a program with a simple and appealing user interface. Its mode of operation has been summed up as "Just click the bad thing with the skull and it dies."

Key claims

No claims recorded.

Discussion questions

1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
2. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
3. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

No sources recorded.