*BSD News Article 70218


Return to BSD News archive

Path: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au!newshost.anu.edu.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!news.rmit.EDU.AU!news.unimelb.EDU.AU!munnari.OZ.AU!spool.mu.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!newsfeed.internetmci.com!news2.cais.net!news.cais.net!nntp.primenet.com!news1.best.com!nntp1.best.com!hokianga.live.com!user
From: finlayson@live.com (Ross Finlayson)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc
Subject: Re: The invention of the pointing device
Date: Wed, 05 Jun 1996 02:42:35 -0700
Organization: Live Networks, Inc.
Lines: 13
Message-ID: <finlayson-0506960242350001@hokianga.live.com>
References: <4ovrb0$o3@anorak.coverform.lan> <oqivd7jc1x.fsf@gallifrey.microunity.com>
NNTP-Posting-Host: hokianga.live.com

>I took a survey of Window Systems course once where
> it was said that X was invented at Stanford to run on
> an operating system called W, but I don't have any details
> or dates.

That's close, but not quite right.  The original "X" window system design
at MIT was based upon a GUI toolkit called "W" that was developed by Paul
Asente at Stanford.  Paul chose the name "W" because he considered it an
improvement upon the window system used by "V" - an experimental
distributed operating system being developed by another group at Stanford
at that time.  Thus: V->W->X

   Ross.