The X window system

ABSTRACT

An overview of the X Window System is presented, focusing on the system substrate and the low-level facilities provided to build applications and to manage the desktop. The system provides high-performance, high-level, device-independent graphics. A hierarchy of resizable, overlapping windows allows a wide variety of application and user interfaces to be built easily. Network-transparent access to the display provides an important degree of functional separation, without significantly affecting performance, which is crucial to building applications for a distributed environment. To a reasonable extent, desktop management can be custom-tailored to individual environments, without modifying the base system and typically without affecting applications.

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INDEX TERMS

Classification:
  D. Software
  D.4 OPERATING SYSTEMS
      D.4.4 Communications Management
          Subjects: Terminal management**

  H. Information Systems
  H.1 MODELS AND PRINCIPLES
      H.1.2 User/Machine Systems
          Subjects: Human factors

  I. Computing Methodologies
  I.3 COMPUTER GRAPHICS
      I.3.2 Graphics Systems
          Subjects: Distributed/network graphics
      I.3.4 Graphics Utilities
          Subjects: Graphics packages; Software support
      I.3.6 Methodology and Techniques
          Subjects: Device independence**; Interaction techniques

General Terms:
Design, Experimentation, Human Factors, Standardization