Gtk-WARNING: cannot open display

["David A. Jenkins" <david@riverbed.ca>]

bah! k... so I've just installed a Debian 3 system on my OldWorld PPC box. no
problems so far, until i wanted to install an X window system. i installed
xserver-xfree86, xfonts-base, xfce, xserver-common, and a couple other font
related packages. if i type "X" at the command prompt i get a checker screen
with an X cursor. i don't seem to be able to do anything, though. when I type
"xfce" at the command promt I get "Gtk-WARNING ***: cannot open display"

little help?

btw, i am using root, not a normal user account. i prefer not to have normal
user accounts (as I am the only user).

thanks.

-David