Landmark version X11R7.0 released today with X11R6.9 by the X.Org Foundation

[Leon Shiman]

Landmark version X11R7.0 released today with X11R6.9 by the X.Org Foundation

Brookline, Massachusetts, December 21 2005. The first major version release 
of the X Window System in more than a decade, X11R7.0 is the first release 
of the complete modularized and autotooled source code base for the X Window 
System. X11R6.9, its companion release, contains identical features, and 
uses the exact same source code as X11R7.0, but with the traditional imake 
build system.

These changes in source code management, giving openness and transparency to 
the source code base and employing current technology, invite a new 
generation of developers to contribute, building on the long tradition of 
the X Window System. The new modular format offers focused development, and 
rapid and independent updates and distribution of tested modular components 
as they are ready, freed from the biennial maintenance release timetable. 

X11R6.9 is comprised of many distinct components bonded in a single tree, 
based on imake. X11R7.0 splits that set of components into logically 
distinct modules, separately developed, built, and maintained by the 
community of X.Org developers. This simulaneous release gives a transition 
point for developers, builders, and vendors to adapt their practices to the 
new X.Org modular process. X11R7.0 supports Linux and Solaris at this time, 
with other support pending. X11R7.1, the first modular roll-up release, is 
scheduled mid-2006. While the monolithic tree will continue to be fully 
supported and released, new feature development is expected to be 
concentrated in the modular code base.

The X11R7.0 and X11R6.9 releases are the work of more than fifty volunteer 
contributors worldwide, working under the release management team of Kevin 
Martin (Head), Alan Coopersmith, and Adam Jackson, with the support of Red 
Hat, Sun Microsystems, and the unsupported generous contribution of effort 
by Adam Jackson.* 

All X Window System Releases are available from ftp.X.Org and mirror sites 
worldwide (see http://wiki.x.org/Mirrors). They are distributed under the 
MIT ("X") License by the X.Org Foundation LLC.  Information concerning 
organization, activities, and mailing lists can be found at 
http://www.X.Org. Membership is free and open to contributors. Sponsorship 
is encouraged to support the global activities of the X.Org Foundation. 
Current X.Org Sponsors include Sun Microsystems, HP, IBM, StarNet 
Communications, AttachmateWRQ, Hummingbird, and Integrated Computer 
Solutions Incorporated [ICS].* 

In continuous use for over 20 years, the X Window System provides the only 
standard platform-independent networked graphical window system bridging the 
heterogeneous platforms in today's enterprise: from network servers to 
desktops, thin clients, laptops, and hand-helds, independent of operating 
system and hardware.  


Submitted by Leon Shiman (secretary at X.Org).

* LINUX is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. "Solaris" is a tradmark 
of Sun Microsystems. Company names are trademarks of their registered 
owners.