Setting up a second monitor

[Jean Hollis Weber]

Antony Gelberg wrote:
> Jean Hollis Weber wrote:
>> ... the vast majority of new 
>> users do not want to "understand" a config file or anything else; they 
>> just want to know what to do to get the job done. 
> 
> These users might want to ponder that there may well be a relationship 
> between understanding and getting the job done.  Of course there is a 
> balance to be drawn, but one has to understand something about anything 
> to make use of it.

Certainly there are times when one cannot make use of something 
(or not very good use) without understanding a bit more than 
simply what to do. However, that very often does not apply.

My favourite example is the microwave oven. I don't need to know 
anything whatsoever about how it works to make use of it. All I 
need to know is which buttons to push, in which sequence. So in 
that sense I need to know "something", but what I need to know 
has nothing to do with what makes it work. Same for my mobile 
(cell) phone, and every other household appliance I have. Heck, 
even my automobile is in that category. I need to know how to 
drive, but I don't need to know how an internal combustion engine 
works.

> There is a caveat.  I have mentioned it elsewhere but will do so again. 
> As you'll see from the above link and the Xinerama HOWTO, you need at 
> least two Screen stanzas in xorg.conf, each of which includes a unique 
> Device and Monitor pair.
> 
> Put another way, Device + Monitor = Screen.  man xorg.conf says:
> "Each Screen section binds together a graphics board and a monitor.  The 
> graphics boards are described in the Device sections, and the monitors 
> are described in the Monitor sections."
> 
> In the event that your hardware only shows one BusID....
> you need to differentiate between the two 
> Devices with the Screen parameter, /not/ the BusID.

This is good info and I could understand it; thank you. The next 
man page excerpt you included (that I snipped here) made little 
sense to me, but the examples help... especially the first one, 
which is probably the one that is relevant to my situation.

When I have time (tomorrow, I hope), I will re-read what everyone 
has told me and give it a try.

--Jean