X Window System Turns 38 Years Old

This weekend marked 38 years since the inaugural release of the X Window System at MIT.

It was on 19 June 1984 that Bob Scheifler announced the initial X window system release "X1" at MIT. It wasn't until 1987 though that X11 was drafted as marking the protocol's current version albeit evolved a lot since the 80's.

When X was introduced, its performance was "about twice that of W", the prior window system out of Stanford. X also marked the first window system that was vendor and hardware independent.

Those wishing to reminisce over the X window system can see a copy of the original X announcement. Those wishing to relive the X history can also visit Wikipedia if looking for some fun Monday reading.

How long do you suspect until the Linux desktop is effectively Wayland-only, with X11 cruft largely a legacy remnant?

— Phoronix (@phoronix) June 20, 2022