scottw@ico.isc.com (Scott Wiesner) (03/30/91)
For a long time, everyone seemed to refer to X as X Windows. There were lots of comments explaining it's not called X Windows, it's a window system called X. In the last year or so, I've seen many references in magazines to "X Window". Clearly such references are describing the "X Window System". Did "X Window" become an official name while I wasn't looking? Somehow, statements such as "One of the key advantages of X Window is that..." don't look, sound, or feel right to me. Scott
jef@well.sf.ca.us (Jef Poskanzer) (03/30/91)
In the referenced message, scottw@ico.isc.com (Scott Wiesner) wrote: }For a long time, everyone seemed to refer to X as X Windows. There }were lots of comments explaining it's not called X Windows, it's a }window system called X. In the last year or so, I've seen many references }in magazines to "X Window". Clearly such references are describing }the "X Window System". Did "X Window" become an official name while }I wasn't looking? Somehow, statements such as "One of the key advantages }of X Window is that..." don't look, sound, or feel right to me. The way this originally came about was, people would start to say "X Windows", then partway through they would remember that they're not supposed to do that, so they would sort of trail off into a small embarassed pause. Sort of, "X Windoweh..." Really quite lame. But more recently, other people who listened to such verbalized bogosities but didn't hear or more likely didn't understand the pause, have started using it in writing. All of this is very much in keeping with the X people's *policy* of giving you as much rope as you need... --- Jef Jef Poskanzer jef@well.sf.ca.us {apple, ucbvax, hplabs}!well!jef "Never get angry. Never make a threat. Reason with people." -- Don Corleone
jim@ncd.COM (Jim Fulton) (03/30/91)
For a long time, everyone seemed to refer to X as X Windows. There
were lots of comments explaining it's not called X Windows, it's a
window system called X. In the last year or so, I've seen many references
in magazines to "X Window". Clearly such references are describing
the "X Window System". Did "X Window" become an official name while
I wasn't looking?
Nope. But, most people have given up, although it's still nice to use the
proper name since X Window System is a trademark.
Somehow, statements such as "One of the key advantages
of X Window is that..." don't look, sound, or feel right to me.
Yup, it's rather clumsy. One of the arguments all along has been that "X
Window" (or X-Windows or whatever) sounds cheap and more like a bastardization
than the full name. If MIT were a three-letter company instead of a
university (some might argue the distinction :-), its lawyers would probably be
more interested in protecting the proper use of the trademark.
More to the point, in the grand scheme of things there are more important
battles to be fought.dce@smsc.sony.com (David Elliott) (03/31/91)
In article <1991Mar29.231159.24791@ico.isc.com> scottw@ico.isc.com (Scott Wiesner) writes: >For a long time, everyone seemed to refer to X as X Windows. There >were lots of comments explaining it's not called X Windows, it's a >window system called X. In the last year or so, I've seen many references >in magazines to "X Window". I noticed it too. In fact, I sent a letter to MacWeek magazine responding to a pretty mean-spirited article on "X Window". In my letter, I noted that this wasn't considered to be proper (noting that "X" and "The X Windowing System" are preferred, with "X Windows" in somewhat common usage). My letter was edited to remove this part, and all references to X were changed to "X Window". I figured it wasn't worth fighting over.
jg@crl.dec.com (Jim Gettys) (03/31/91)
In article <1991Mar30.162932.20298@smsc.sony.com>, dce@smsc.sony.com (David Elliott) writes: > In article <1991Mar29.231159.24791@ico.isc.com> scottw@ico.isc.com (Scott Wiesner) writes: > >For a long time, everyone seemed to refer to X as X Windows. There > >were lots of comments explaining it's not called X Windows, it's a > >window system called X. In the last year or so, I've seen many references > >in magazines to "X Window". > > I noticed it too. In fact, I sent a letter to MacWeek magazine > responding to a pretty mean-spirited article on "X Window". In my > letter, I noted that this wasn't considered to be proper (noting that > "X" and "The X Windowing System" are preferred, with "X Windows" in > somewhat common usage). > > My letter was edited to remove this part, and all references to X were > changed to "X Window". > > I figured it wasn't worth fighting over. I never heard of an "X Windowing System" or "X Windows".... How about "X Window System"? Look at it this way; the companies/magazines/people who get it wrong makes it easy to identify those who don't know anything about X or X11... Therefore easy to ignore... If they didn't get it wrong, it would be much harder to identify the amateurs... - Jim Gettys
dce@smsc.sony.com (David Elliott) (03/31/91)
In article <1991Mar30.183140.28445@crl.dec.com> jg@crl.dec.com (Jim Gettys) writes: >I never heard of an "X Windowing System" or "X Windows".... You got me on the first one (I always just say "X"), though I know I researched the official name when I sent the letter to MacWeek, so I must have said "X Window System" in my letter (though, again, I can't prove that since they edited it to say "X Window"). As for "X Windows", I didn't say it was correct, I said it was common. I hear people say "X Windows" quite often, and I see them use the term in writing news articles. A quick check shows 15 out of the last 400 articles (not including this discussion) in this group use the term.
daniel@island.COM (Daniel Smith) (04/03/91)
In <1991Mar31.005950.21888@smsc.sony.com> dce@smsc.sony.com (David Elliott) writes: > As for "X Windows", I didn't say it was correct, I said it was common. > I hear people say "X Windows" quite often, and I see them use the term > in writing news articles. A quick check shows 15 out of the last 400 > articles (not including this discussion) in this group use the term. One thing I stumble across is in conversation with someone who may not be familiar with X, but who is a programmer (my wife). I'll say "it's done this way in X", or "in X Windows you'd do...". I don't want to say "in the X Windowing System" or "the X Window System" because it's too lengthy (and "X" alone sometimes gets to be too terse). Saying "in X window" sounds odd. "X Windows" just rolls off the tongue easily :-) It seems like it will always be the slang term for it. When I talk to a fellow X programmer though, I tend to use the "X Window" term. It's interesting that this doesn't seem to come up when talking about MS Windows (I've never heard "oh, that's an MS Window program"), GEM, Mac, or any other windowing system I know of. Daniel -- daniel@island.com Daniel Smith, Island Graphics, (415) 491 0765 x 250(w) daniel@world.std.com 4000 CivicCenterDrive SanRafael MarinCounty CA 94903 dansmith@well.sf.ca.us Fax: 491 0402 Disclaimer: Hey, I wrote it, not IG! The US: 5% of the population, but 66% of the world's lawyers...
ballou@databs.enet.dec.com (04/03/91)
In article <1991Mar30.183140.28445@crl.dec.com>, jg@crl.dec.com (Jim Gettys) writes: |> > [...] |> > My letter was edited to remove this part, and all references to X were |> > changed to "X Window". |> > |> > I figured it wasn't worth fighting over. |> |> I never heard of an "X Windowing System" or "X Windows".... |> |> How about "X Window System"? |> And here I am, wondering how anyone in their right mind could define such a nonsensical window system interface! Geeshhhh. Nat