X Window Programming from Scratch

Chapter 4. Windowing Concepts

In this chapter

• Origin of the X Window System

• The Pieces of X

• Next Steps

Origins of the X Window System

Students involved in an effort known as Project Athena began the X Window System at MIT in the mid 1980s. Since the initial release for commercial use, the X Window System has seen many changes.

Note

The X Window System is called X for short.

Despite the similarity in names between X Window and Microsoft Windows, there is little consistency. The most notable difference is the separation that X maintains between the windowing environment and the operating system. Microsoft Windows, on the other hand, is a proprietary environment closely tied to the DOS operating system.

Many proponents of the Linux community want to adopt ...