kdiff3, X11 "screen lock" on Mac
X11, or X, is a vendor-neutral, system-architecture neutral network-transparent window system and user interface standard. In other words, it's a Graphical User Interface for UNIX. Mac OS X is built from the robust foundation of FreeBSD, which is completely UNIX-compliant. (For legal reasons, FreeBSD cannot be called 'UNIX').
While Mac OS X has built its own GUI completely from scratch, a lot of useful, mission-critical open source software and tools such as kdiff3 (installed via "sudo port -v install kdiff3" using MacPorts) still depends on X11. kdiff3 is my default merge tool when using git. It handles code conflicts really well and, where needed, performing a merge operation is trivial. When kdiff3 is launched from my terminal after a git pull, it will also launch X11 in order to render its diff merging user interface.
For users unfamiliar with X11, this causes X11 to 'lock up' your standard Mac GUI and you are left with an ugly black-grey-white polka dot screen display after you are done with your merge.
The solution is a simple one - hit CMD+option+a and you will now be brought back to your Mac desktop.
You might also like to change your X11 preferences, from this point onwards, by disabling X11 full-screen mode. Future kdiff3/X11 screens will not leave you stranded in the black-grey-white never-never-land any more.
Category: OS X
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