rblanders@watmath.waterloo.edu (Robyn Landers) (09/27/89)
Prompted by Ian!'s sobering comments on the nature of the window system called X, I offer these further comments which I received from the S mailing list. Apologies if you've seen them somewhere else already. From rab@research.att.com Mon Aug 14 10:13:05 1989 To: S-news@stat.wisc.edu Subject: Quote without comment Summary of an official notice distributed at SIGGRAPH '89. Each line begins with "X windows: ". A mistake carried out to perfection. Dissatisfaction guaranteed. Don't get frustrated without it. Even your dog won't like it. Flakey and built to stay that way. Complex nonsolutions to simple nonproblems. Flawed beyond belief. Form follows malfunction. Garbage at your fingertips. Ignorance is our most important resource. It could be worse, but it'll take time. It could happen to you. Japan's secret weapon. Let it get in YOUR way. Live the nightmare. More than enough rope. Never had it. Never will. No hardware is safe. Power tools for power fools. Power tools for power losers. Putting new limits on productivity. Simplicity made complex. The cutting edge of obsolescence. The art of incompetence. The de facto substandard. The first fully modular software disaster. The joke that kills. The problem for your problem. There's got to be a better way. Warn your friends about it. You'd better sit down. You'll envy the dead.