W Window System
Encyclopedia
The W window system is a windowing system
and precursor in name and concept to the modern X
window system.
W was originally developed at Stanford University
by Paul Asente and Brian Reid for the V operating system
. In 1983, Paul Asente and Chris Kent ported the system to UNIX
on the VS100, giving a copy to those working at MIT's Laboratory for Computer Science.
In 1984, Bob Scheifler
of MIT replaced the synchronous
protocol of W with an asynchronous
alternative and named the result X.
Since this time the X window system has gone through many fundamental changes and no longer bears any significant resemblance to W.
for the libraries, and the GNU General Public License
for the rest. This work postdates both W and X by many years, and has no code in common with either. It was used in the Yopy
Linux PDA.
Windowing system
A windowing system is a component of a graphical user interface , and more specifically of a desktop environment, which supports the implementation of window managers, and provides basic support for graphics hardware, pointing devices such as mice, and keyboards...
and precursor in name and concept to the modern X
X Window System
The X window system is a computer software system and network protocol that provides a basis for graphical user interfaces and rich input device capability for networked computers...
window system.
W was originally developed at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
by Paul Asente and Brian Reid for the V operating system
V (operating system)
The V operating system is a microkernel operating system that was developed by faculty and students in the distributed systems group at Stanford University from 1981 to 1988, led by Professors David Cheriton and Keith A. Lantz...
. In 1983, Paul Asente and Chris Kent ported the system to UNIX
Unix
Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
on the VS100, giving a copy to those working at MIT's Laboratory for Computer Science.
In 1984, Bob Scheifler
Bob Scheifler
Robert William Scheifler is an American computer scientist. He is most notable for leading the development of the X Window System from the project's inception in 1984 until the closure of the MIT X Consortium in 1996...
of MIT replaced the synchronous
Synchronization (computer science)
In computer science, synchronization refers to one of two distinct but related concepts: synchronization of processes, and synchronization of data. Process synchronization refers to the idea that multiple processes are to join up or handshake at a certain point, so as to reach an agreement or...
protocol of W with an asynchronous
Asynchronous I/O
Asynchronous I/O, or non-blocking I/O, is a form of input/output processing that permits other processing to continue before the transmission has finished....
alternative and named the result X.
Since this time the X window system has gone through many fundamental changes and no longer bears any significant resemblance to W.
Other W window systems
There exists more than one window system named W. In 1995 Torsten Scherer released a suite dubbed W1R3; it has since been modified by Eero Tamminen and released as W1R4 under the GNU Lesser General Public LicenseGNU Lesser General Public License
The GNU Lesser General Public License or LGPL is a free software license published by the Free Software Foundation . It was designed as a compromise between the strong-copyleft GNU General Public License or GPL and permissive licenses such as the BSD licenses and the MIT License...
for the libraries, and the GNU General Public License
GNU General Public License
The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....
for the rest. This work postdates both W and X by many years, and has no code in common with either. It was used in the Yopy
Yopy
The Yopy was the name of a series of Personal Digital Assistants made by GMate Corporation, also used as a popular PDA Phone in Korea and based on the Linux operating system.- Overview :...
Linux PDA.
See also
- V (operating system)V (operating system)The V operating system is a microkernel operating system that was developed by faculty and students in the distributed systems group at Stanford University from 1981 to 1988, led by Professors David Cheriton and Keith A. Lantz...
- X Window SystemX Window SystemThe X window system is a computer software system and network protocol that provides a basis for graphical user interfaces and rich input device capability for networked computers...
- Y Window SystemY Window SystemThe Y Window System is a windowing system, consisting of a window server and a client library for writing applications. It was written by Mark Thomas as the subject of his Master's thesis at Imperial College, London. It is intended to be a successor to the X Window System, hence the name...
- History of free softwareHistory of free softwareThis is a timeline-style look at how free and open-source software has evolved and existed from its inception.The phrase "free software" refers to software that is liberally licensed, allowing the end user more freedoms than conventional-software licences. This is not to be confused with software...