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

Keith Packard
lca2020.linux.org.au/schedule...
Stretching back over 35 years, the X Window System is one of the
oldest surviving free software projects. Having its origins before the
invention of the GPL, the history of X offers a slice through the
whole lifetime of the software freedom movement. Using X as a lens, we
can study the causes and effects of licensing, community and
corporations in the world of free software.
This presentation will describe the origins of X, a discussion about
the influences and interactions with the major Unix workstation
vendors and early interactions with the Free Software Foundation. Also
included will be a description of how internet performance bottlenecks
in the mid 80s drove structural and governance changes in X that haunt
the larger software ecosystem to the current day. Finally, a
discussion on how software licensing choices drive community structure
and affect corporate engagement will be included.
linux.conf.au is a conference about the Linux operating system, and all aspects of the thriving ecosystem of Free and Open Source Software that has grown up around it. Run since 1999, in a different Australian or New Zealand city each year, by a team of local volunteers, LCA invites more than 500 people to learn from the people who shape the future of Open Source. For more information on the conference see linux.conf.au/
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Thu Jan 16 13:30:00 2020 at Room 8