hackertube.io

"A Political History of X" - Keith Packard (LCA 2020)

linux.conf.au · talk · Watch on YouTube

Linux & open-source ecosystemsHacker culture & free softwareHistory of computing

What it is

Keith Packard traces the 35-year history of the X Window System at linux.conf.au 2020. He uses X to examine licensing, corporate interests and community dynamics in free software, including Unix workstation vendors and Stallman's influence.

Why Hacker News recommends it

HN commenters recommend it as the authoritative, firsthand account of how X came to be and why it isn't GPL.

  • 4 people recommended it
  • 4 different months
  • 1 strong recommendations
  • first 2020, last 2025

What HN commenters said

  1. “I invite anyone interested by the subject to watch Keith Packard's amazing presentation on this at LCA 2020”

    Amazing presentation on the history of X

    jraph, 2022-01 · Strong recommendation · in “Window System X (1984)”

  2. “An overview of how this came to be: "A Political History of X" - Keith Packard (LCA 2020)”

    Overview of how X came to be

    pjmlp, 2020-03 · Recommendation · in “The X-Windows Disaster (1994)”

  3. “Perhaps of some interest is "A Political History of X" by Keith Packard from the 2020 Linux Conference Australia (LCA)”

    History of X from the early 1980s

    throw0101c, 2023-11 · Recommendation · in “Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 Plans for Wayland and Xorg Server”

  4. “There's a fantastic talk at LCA a few years ago from Keith Packard about X's history”

    Fantastic talk on X's history

    indrora, 2024-08 · Recommendation · in “Window Maker: X11 window manager with the look and feel of the NeXTSTEP UI”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: x11, free software, licensing, unix history, keith packard

Also recommended by the same people