jg@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Jim Gettys) (08/25/86)
[This document is >180kbytes. If you really want a copy and cannot
ftp it from Mit, send mail to works-request@red.rutgers.edu and I'll
send out a copy (probably in several parts). Please only request it
if you are really going to comment on it. It's too large to be
mailed around otherwise. -ds]
The X Window System developed at MIT has become quite popular,
particularly within the Unix community. Existing C applications have
been ported to at least eight machine architectures of more than
thirteen manufacturers, and the C server to at least six machine
architectures and more than sixteen display architectures. Such
popularity has had its disadvantages. The current version of X is
functionally limited in several respects, and various people building
complex systems and environments on top of X have found these
limitations to be a problem.
Over the past six months, a small group of people have put together a
design for the next version of the X protocol. We have attempted to
add the facilities necessary to support a significantly wider range
of user interface and graphics technology, but hopefully avoiding the
"kitchen sink syndrome". A draft of the design was favorably
reviewed by people from several universities and commerical firms.
At this point we are putting the design out as a public "request for
comments". Note that this a network protocol design; the document
does not present a specific programming language interface, or
toolkits, or application-level interfaces. People unfamiliar with
the current X protocol, or with network-transparent window systems in
general, will find the document rather opaque. A companion
commentary may be somewhat more helpful.
It is our expectation that a public domain implementation written in
C for Berkeley Unix will go into beta test around March 1, 1987. The
system will include a server (complete with code for a 1-bit deep
"memory" frame buffer), client interface library, hopefully a
well-rounded toolkit, and various applications. It is our
expectation that much of the implementation will be done by Digital
Equipment Corporation. We also hope to provide a public domain
implementation written in Lisp (with Flavors) at about the same time.
It is our expectation that the Lisp implementation will be done at
MIT.
[...]
The protocol document and companion commentary also are available via
anonymous ftp on zap.mit.edu [18.72.0.126] as pub/x11.spec and
pub/x11.comm.
Comments, questions, and discussion should be directed to the mailing
list:
xpert@athena.mit.edu
To the extent possible, someone will attempt to answer reasonable
questions. Suggestions containing precise proposals for changes are
more likely to be listened to than comments of the form "I don't like
this". Comments received after September 15 are unlikely to be
considered.
Bob Scheifler rws@zermatt.lcs.mit.edu
Jim Gettys jg@athena.mit.edu