[PLUG] Re: [PLUG-ANNOUNCE] ANNOUNCEMENT: May PLUG Meeting

[Longman, Bill]

> > I keep seeing all over people complaining about the use of 
> this term,
> > however, it's use continues to increase.  I think it's a 
> "new school/old
> > school" thing.  I guess I'm new school and don't understand 
> why people get
> > upset about this term.  X Window System is too many 
> syllables and X is too
> > vague.  What is the objection to "X Windows"?
> 
>   There is defined usage and common usage. The increased use 
> of the latter
> frequently leads to communications breakdowns. An analogy to 
> the 'X Windows'
> vs. 'X Window System' (singular) is 'linux' and 'GNU/linux'. 
> In both cases
> the copyrighted, official name is the longer one. In 
> colloquial use it may
> not matter, but there is a difference in more formal settings.

A line from the front lines: in 10 years, I've heard it referred to as
almost exclusively, pun intended, as "X". From a Data General workstation
guy, a NMR spectroscopist on a Sun, to developers on Linux and Suns. Some
might use "X Windows" when talking to lay people but the vast majority just
say "X".

--
WEL