Apple's hidden X11 installer

Posted on Tue 02 March 2004
I wanted to intall OpenOffice on my PowerBook, and it requires X11. No problem, I thought, as Apple ships X11 with Panther. It's not part of the default system install, so let's get it from the DVD. However, I only got a system restore DVD which is different from an install DVD. The only way to get X11 installed with it is by reinstalling the whole system! Weird...

Should I download X11 from the Apple web site, or install XFree? Nah, there must be another way...

Exploring the hidden files of the system DVD with the terminal, I found all individual packages in System/Installation/Packages. Copy the X11User.pkg directory on my HD, double-click, et voilĂ .



PowerBook hardware impressions

Mounting zip archives?