1992?
[snip]
The project that has become XFree86 was initiated in April, 1992 by four developers
seeking to provide enhancements to Release 5 of Version 11 of The X Window System
(X11R5). At the time, the existing support for Intel-based Unix platforms was
unstable, and performed poorly on the current display technology. These four
individuals had been working on enhancements, independently, and at (sometimes)
cross-purposes. The decision of the four to unite their development efforts has led to
one of the most successful free software projects in history.
XFree86 grew rapidly, largely due to the concurrent development of freely available
operatings systems (Linux, 386BSD, and its follow-ons, FreeBSD and NetBSD). Each
project helped stimulate the growth of the other. The free operating systems provided
the massive user base for XFree86, while the availability of a quality,
high-performance windowing system helped make the operating systems accessible to the
users, and helped ensure their success. While there is no reliable way to judge how
many people use our software, due to the ad-hoc nature of its distribution, estimates
of 100-500,000 users of the free operating systems have been made, with an estimate
that 80% or more of these users are using XFree86.
Since the initiation of the project, there have been 7 major and several smaller
releases of XFree86. XFree86 provides workstation- class performance on a wide range
of hardware, while still providing quality support for the low-end systems in use by a
large number of free-software users (refer to the documentation located with the
software distribution (see below) for details on supported hardware and operating
systems).
XFree86 has maintained good working relationships with many companies and
organizations involved with the development of X products. Several of these
organizations have members involved in the development of XFree86, providing a
possibly unique symbiosis between a free software project and its commercial
"competitors".
[snip]
taken from:
http://www.xfree.org/corp_profile.html
Regards,
Nathan
----- Original Message -----
From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Monday, May 01, 2000 11:18 AM
Subject: [newbie] first graphical version
> Kind of a general question here...
>
> Does anybody know when Linux first went to a GUI and not entirely command line
>operated?
>
> Thanks,
> BG
>
>
