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X11

The long-established system for displaying application windows on Unix and Linux.

X11 (the X Window System) is the traditional Unix display server protocol, letting programs draw windows, receive input, and even do so over a network. It's powerful but old and complex, which motivated newer alternatives like Wayland. Here it's mentioned as a windowing backend the stack deliberately doesn't require.

See also

  • WaylandThe modern protocol Linux uses to let applications put windows on screen.
  • Win32The classic set of functions Windows programs call to do everything from open windows to read files.
  • WSIThe part of Vulkan that connects GPU rendering to an actual on-screen window.

Referenced by

Wayland · Win32