[hyc_symas]

The X Window System architecture solves a specific problem - allowing clients to use graphical applications no matter where the app actually runs. This was important in the 1980s and is still worthwhile today - no matter how much compute power you can stash under your desk or wear on your wrist, you can cram orders of magnitudes more into a data center. Having a uniform interface that's independent of where the heavy lifting actually happens is a crucial accomplishment for X, and throwing that away with the focus on Direct X is ultimately a mistake.

[hbogert]

Now, only if X actually worked when you want it to run in a data center and see it on your laptop. X is horrible when the latency goes above 5ms.

[hyc_symas]

Not saying X is anywhere near perfect. But losing network transparency is a mistake.

Personally I always preferred MGR. I suppose that evolved into Plan 9's window system, but I've never tried the latter. My attempt to bring MGR into the modern age is clunky at best. https://github.com/hyc/mgr But there's a lot to be said for a lightweight network-transparent protocol with a braindead-simple runtime.

[jjoonathan]

> losing network transparency is a mistake.

Why? X11 competes with VNC to provide remote interaction. VNC wins, and not by a small factor, on the apps I use day-to-day.