[Discuss] In praise of X11 (Was Why use Linux)

[richard.pieri at gmail.com (Richard Pieri)]

markw at mohawksoft.com wrote:
> have is atrocious. This makes it difficult to use Macs remotely. Apple
> abandoned the UNIX X11 layer for their applications.

Ah, I see where you're going. I still maintain that Apple never 
abandoned X11. To the contrary, Apple never embraced it. Originally, 
Apple used NeXT's Display PostScript system but they switched to Display 
PDF early on. DPDF is faster and more secure, it's better at being 
device independent, and Apple doesn't have to pay Adobe for PostScript 
licenses.

The inclusion of an X server, originally XFree86, later X.Org, was for 
UNIX geeks like me who wanted the best of both worlds.

Apple's VNC-based remote desktop system? It's close to bog-standard VNC. 
If that's atrocious then I guess VNC itself is atrocious. That said, 
I've never had any problems with it. Apple's VNC server isn't as fast as 
Tiger but it is solid and it works reliably over SSH tunnels with every 
VNC client I've used against it.

-- 
Rich P.