案例库 · 软件与 IT · 技术决策 · 1984–1987
这条还没译成中文，下面是英文原文。
MIT gave X away and it became the standard way to draw on Unix
MIT's X Window System was network-transparent and open, so it became the standard display protocol on every Unix workstation.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology · X.Org Foundation
那一手
Each workstation maker had its own closed graphics system, so a Unix program could not display on another vendor's machine.
At MIT's Project Athena, Bob Scheifler and Jim Gettys built a window system that separated the client application from the display across the network.
MIT released it under a permissive license and settled on the X11 protocol, so vendors and academic projects alike could use it freely.
为什么管用
- Network transparency let a program on one machine display on another.
- The permissive MIT license meant vendors and developers could adopt it freely.
- A defined X11 version gave every vendor one concrete target to implement.
- Backing it with a neutral X Consortium kept it out of any single company's control.
可以搬走什么
A protocol that is open and treats the display as a network resource becomes the common layer for every environment.
后来呢
X11 became the standard graphical layer for Unix and Linux for decades and the MIT/X11 license spread widely; the X.Org Foundation still maintains the reference implementation.
资料来源
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