Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.
Dismiss

X Window System protocol, version 10?

14 views
Skip to first unread message

Po Lu

unread,
Nov 13, 2022, 5:50:29 AM11/13/22
to
Out of curiosity, how do I get a copy of the X Version 10 protocol
specification?

I've heard of such a document existing over the past 30 or so years, and
have always been mildly curious, but have never found it.

TIA.

Lew Pitcher

unread,
Nov 13, 2022, 10:42:10 AM11/13/22
to
On Sun, 13 Nov 2022 18:50:26 +0800, Po Lu wrote:

> Out of curiosity, how do I get a copy of the X Version 10 protocol
> specification?

You could download one of the X version 10 sources from https://www.x.org/releases/
and expand the documentation within.

> I've heard of such a document existing over the past 30 or so years, and
> have always been mildly curious, but have never found it.

Sorry, but I can't find anything more "documentative" than the last available
source code releases.

HTH
--
Lew Pitcher
"In Skills, We Trust"

Computer Nerd Kev

unread,
Nov 13, 2022, 4:55:49 PM11/13/22
to
Po Lu <luan...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Out of curiosity, how do I get a copy of the X Version 10 protocol
> specification?

I suspect that buying a used copy off a second-hand book seller
might be the only option. However filtering out later editions
covering version 11 will surely be difficult.

> I've heard of such a document existing over the past 30 or so years, and
> have always been mildly curious, but have never found it.

On page 7 of the following document, Volume 0 of O'Reilly
Definitive Guides to the X Window System is described as "X
Protocol Reference Manual"
http://archive.org/download/x.org/2014.06.x.org.tar/x.org%2Fcontrib%2Fdocs%2FXbibliography.ps

(there's also this later version of that doc which I haven't looked
through:
http://archive.org/download/x.org/2014.06.x.org.tar/x.org%2Fcontrib%2Fdocs%2FXbibliography.PS
)

In Volume 1 "Xlib Programming Manual" of the latest edition (for
X11), the author wrote:

"I would like to thank the people who helped this book come into
being. It was Tim O'Reilly who originally sent me out on a
contract to write a manual for X Version 10 for a workstation
manufacturer"

So it sounds like a similar O'Reilly publication exsited for X10,
and presumably its Volume 0 was the X Version 10 Protocol reference
that you've heard of.

The bibliography document also notes above that entry "The X Window
System Protocol", published in UNIX World. However it's described
as just a short version of the introduction to the Volume 0
document, and published in 1989 so obviously covering X11. But
maybe earlier editions of UNIX World would be another place to
look?

--
__ __
#_ < |\| |< _#

Lew Pitcher

unread,
Nov 13, 2022, 6:56:21 PM11/13/22
to
On Sun, 13 Nov 2022 15:42:09 +0000, Lew Pitcher wrote:

> On Sun, 13 Nov 2022 18:50:26 +0800, Po Lu wrote:
>
>> Out of curiosity, how do I get a copy of the X Version 10 protocol
>> specification?
>
> You could download one of the X version 10 sources from https://www.x.org/releases/
> and expand the documentation within.

FWIW, the /doc/Xlib directory contains the troff files necessary to build the
Xlib manual for X version 10.

Here's the head of the 1st page:

Xlib - C Language X Interface
Protocol Version 10


Jim Gettys
Digital Equipment Corporation
MIT Project Athena

Ron Newman
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MIT Project Athena

Tony Della Fera
Digital Equipment Corporation
MIT Project Athena

Eli the Bearded

unread,
Nov 13, 2022, 6:59:52 PM11/13/22
to
In comp.windows.x, Computer Nerd Kev <n...@telling.you.invalid> wrote:
> Po Lu <luan...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>> Out of curiosity, how do I get a copy of the X Version 10 protocol
>> specification?

I'd look for old documentation captured on CD-ROMs now uploaded to
archive.org.

> I suspect that buying a used copy off a second-hand book seller
> might be the only option. However filtering out later editions
> covering version 11 will surely be difficult.

The better second hand sellers will list copyright dates.

> In Volume 1 "Xlib Programming Manual" of the latest edition (for
> X11), the author wrote:
>
> "I would like to thank the people who helped this book come into
> being. It was Tim O'Reilly who originally sent me out on a
> contract to write a manual for X Version 10 for a workstation
> manufacturer"
>
> So it sounds like a similar O'Reilly publication exsited for X10,
> and presumably its Volume 0 was the X Version 10 Protocol reference
> that you've heard of.

The volumes in that series are for subject. My January 1995 edition of
_Volume 5: X Toolkit Intrinsics_ (updated for X11/R5) describes the
_Volume 0_ book as being updated for X11/R6. There's a 1990 edition of
_X Window System user's guide_ at archive.org, which describes itself as
for updated for R4. On the copyright page the 1989 edition is for R3.

https://archive.org/details/xwindowsystem03quermiss/page/n5/mode/2up

> The bibliography document also notes above that entry "The X Window
> System Protocol", published in UNIX World. However it's described
> as just a short version of the introduction to the Volume 0
> document, and published in 1989 so obviously covering X11. But
> maybe earlier editions of UNIX World would be another place to
> look?

I only see 1984/85 in the archive.org collection of Unix World
unfortunately:

https://archive.org/search.php?query=Unix+World&sin=&&and[]=mediatype%3A%22texts%22&and[]=collection%3A%22magazine_rack%22

Elijah
------
finding a library with it could be hard

Po Lu

unread,
Nov 13, 2022, 8:55:15 PM11/13/22
to
Lew Pitcher <lew.p...@digitalfreehold.ca> writes:

> FWIW, the /doc/Xlib directory contains the troff files necessary to build the
> Xlib manual for X version 10.
>
> Here's the head of the 1st page:
>
> Xlib - C Language X Interface
> Protocol Version 10
>
>
> Jim Gettys
> Digital Equipment Corporation
> MIT Project Athena
>
> Ron Newman
> Massachusetts Institute of Technology
> MIT Project Athena
>
> Tony Della Fera
> Digital Equipment Corporation
> MIT Project Athena
>

Thanks. Unfortunately, that's the Xlib specification, and not the
protocol one.

Po Lu

unread,
Nov 14, 2022, 2:28:50 AM11/14/22
to
I think I found what I wanted. It's just X.doc under X/.
0 new messages