Date: Wed, 26 Jan 1994 09:00:15 MDT From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "X Window System" by Scheifler/Gettys BKXWNDWS.RVW 931203 Digital Press PO Box 3027 One Burlington Woods Drive Burlington, MA 01803-9593 800-DIGITAL (800-344-4825) "X Window System", Scheifler/Gettys, 1992, EY-J802E-DP-CRE rws@x.org rws@expo.lcs.mit.edu jg@crl.dec.com I am glad there is X. I use it every time I have to explain "client-server" or "distributed processing" to anyone. Because X works backwards. Most people, no matter how carefully you explain the client-server concept, get hung up on the notion that the "server' is always "the big box," "their box," or "the far away box," with the "client" being "the small box," "my box," or "the close box." This is because most examples have to do with services that involve "their" file server, a "big" compute server, or a "far away" data base server. It is extremely useful to be able to describe the user interface as a service which other computers use as clients. Here, then, is the definitive guide to programming with X, or, more formally, the "X Window System", or, more commonly but less properly, X-Windows. (I had originally assumed that this latter reference was possibly due to some confusion with the Digital specific implementation and extension, DECWindows. Digital equipment and personnel have played a large part in the birth and development of X. However, Robert Scheifler saw references to X-Windows before the DECWindows product existed, and thinks it must be due to an assumption that the naming followed the "Microsoft Windows" form.) Part of the popularity of X is the fact that there is a considerable library of routines ready made for implementing X systems. Part one of the book, therefore, starts with sixteen chapters detailing the available libraries by function. Part two then defines the formal X Window System protocol. Part three deals with inter-client communications conventions, while part four discusses fonts. There are nine appendices and a glossary. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1993 BKXWNDWS.RVW 931203 Permission granted to distribute with unedited copies of the TELECOM Digest and associated newsgroups/mailing lists. DECUS Canada Communications, Desktop, Education and Security group newsletters Editor and/or reviewer ROBERTS@decus.ca, RSlade@sfu.ca, Rob Slade at 1:153/733 DECUS Symposium '94, Vancouver, BC, Mar 1-3, 1994, contact: rulag@decus.ca