X.Org Foundation
Encyclopedia
The X.Org Foundation is the organization holding the stewardship for the development of the X Window System
. It was founded on 22 January 2004.
The modern X.Org Foundation came into being when the body that oversaw X standards and published the official reference implementation joined forces with former XFree86
developers. The creation of the Foundation marked a radical change in the governance of X (see the history of the X Window System). Whereas the stewards of X since 1988 (including the previous X.Org, part of The Open Group
) had been vendor organizations, the Foundation is led by software developers and using community development on the bazaar
model, which relies on outside involvement. Membership is also open to individuals, with corporate membership being in the form of sponsorship.
The Foundation is a Delaware LLC
, with non-profit status as a scientific charity. As of January 2008, the Board of Directors consists of Secretary Bart Massey (Portland State University
), Treasurer Keith Packard
(Intel Corporation
), Eric Anholt (Intel Corporation
), Egbert Eich (SUSE
/Novell
), Matthieu Herrb, Adam Jackson (Red Hat
), Daniel Stone (Collabora
), and Carl Worth (Intel Corporation
).
The X.Org Server
is the reference implementation
of X, and is commonly used on Linux and UNIX; it is the fundamental technology underlying both the modern GNOME
and KDE
desktops and older CDE
desktop environment; applications written for any of these environments can be run simultaneously.
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...
. It was founded on 22 January 2004.
The modern X.Org Foundation came into being when the body that oversaw X standards and published the official reference implementation joined forces with former XFree86
XFree86
XFree86 is an implementation of the X Window System. It was originally written for Unix-like operating systems on IBM PC compatibles and is now available for many other operating systems and platforms. It is free and open source software under the XFree86 License version 1.1. It is developed by the...
developers. The creation of the Foundation marked a radical change in the governance of X (see the history of the X Window System). Whereas the stewards of X since 1988 (including the previous X.Org, part of The Open Group
The Open Group
The Open Group is a vendor and technology-neutral industry consortium, currently with over three hundred member organizations. It was formed in 1996 when X/Open merged with the Open Software Foundation...
) had been vendor organizations, the Foundation is led by software developers and using community development on the bazaar
The Cathedral and the Bazaar
The Cathedral and the Bazaar is an essay by Eric S. Raymond on software engineering methods, based on his observations of the Linux kernel development process and his experiences managing an open source project, fetchmail. It examines the struggle between top-down and bottom-up design...
model, which relies on outside involvement. Membership is also open to individuals, with corporate membership being in the form of sponsorship.
The Foundation is a Delaware LLC
Delaware corporation
The Delaware General Corporation Law is the statute governing corporate law in the state of Delaware. Delaware is well known as a corporate haven. Over 50% of U.S...
, with non-profit status as a scientific charity. As of January 2008, the Board of Directors consists of Secretary Bart Massey (Portland State University
Portland State University
Portland State University is a public state urban university located in downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1946, it has the largest overall enrollment of any university in the state of Oregon, including undergraduate and graduate students. It is also the only public university in...
), Treasurer Keith Packard
Keith Packard
Keith Packard is a software developer, best known for his work on the X Window System.Packard is responsible for many X extensions and technical papers on X...
(Intel Corporation
Intel Corporation
Intel Corporation is an American multinational semiconductor chip maker corporation headquartered in Santa Clara, California, United States and the world's largest semiconductor chip maker, based on revenue. It is the inventor of the x86 series of microprocessors, the processors found in most...
), Eric Anholt (Intel Corporation
Intel Corporation
Intel Corporation is an American multinational semiconductor chip maker corporation headquartered in Santa Clara, California, United States and the world's largest semiconductor chip maker, based on revenue. It is the inventor of the x86 series of microprocessors, the processors found in most...
), Egbert Eich (SUSE
SUSE Linux distributions
SUSE Linux is a computer operating system. It is built on top of the open source Linux kernel and is distributed with system and application software from other open source projects. SUSE Linux is of German origin and mainly developed in Europe. The first version appeared in early 1994, making...
/Novell
Novell
Novell, Inc. is a multinational software and services company. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Attachmate Group. It specializes in network operating systems, such as Novell NetWare; systems management solutions, such as Novell ZENworks; and collaboration solutions, such as Novell Groupwise...
), Matthieu Herrb, Adam Jackson (Red Hat
Red Hat
Red Hat, Inc. is an S&P 500 company in the free and open source software sector, and a major Linux distribution vendor. Founded in 1993, Red Hat has its corporate headquarters in Raleigh, North Carolina with satellite offices worldwide....
), Daniel Stone (Collabora
Collabora
Collabora Ltd. is a private company founded by Robert McQueen, Robert Taylor and Philippe Kalaf based in Cambridge, United Kingdom, with offices in Cambridge, Montreal and Barcelona. Collabora's mission is to make Open Source the de-facto standard in the industry. It does this by providing...
), and Carl Worth (Intel Corporation
Intel Corporation
Intel Corporation is an American multinational semiconductor chip maker corporation headquartered in Santa Clara, California, United States and the world's largest semiconductor chip maker, based on revenue. It is the inventor of the x86 series of microprocessors, the processors found in most...
).
The X.Org Server
X.Org Server
X.Org Server refers to the X server release packages stewarded by the X.Org Foundation,which is hosted by freedesktop.org, and grants...
is the reference implementation
Reference implementation
In the software development process, a reference implementation is the standard from which all other implementations, with their attendant customizations, are measured, and to which all improvements are added...
of X, and is commonly used on Linux and UNIX; it is the fundamental technology underlying both the modern GNOME
GNOME
GNOME is a desktop environment and graphical user interface that runs on top of a computer operating system. It is composed entirely of free and open source software...
and KDE
KDE
KDE is an international free software community producing an integrated set of cross-platform applications designed to run on Linux, FreeBSD, Microsoft Windows, Solaris and Mac OS X systems...
desktops and older CDE
Common Desktop Environment
The Common Desktop Environment is a desktop environment for Unix and OpenVMS, based on the Motif widget toolkit.- Corporate history :...
desktop environment; applications written for any of these environments can be run simultaneously.