A service that provides font accesses to the X server.
XFS
X Font Server.
Xft
An extension introduced in XFree86 for managing glyph images of vector fonts at client side. This allows X applications to add special effects to the glyphs, such as anti-aliasing.
XFree86
A free X Window implementation for PC, although Mac is also supported. It is developed on top of the free source code from the X consortium (X.org), along with hardware drivers and some extensions. It used to be the only X Window implementation for FOSS on PC, until recent forks1 by efforts such as Xouvert, freedesktop.org X server, Keith Packard’s kdrive, and X11R6.7, the latest one which is endorsed by X.org itself. (See also: X.org.)
XIM
X Input Method framework, introduced in X11R6 as part of its I18N. It makes complicated text input processes, such as those for CJK, possible.
XKB
X Keyboard extension, introduced in X11R6 as part of its I18N. It provides a method to describe keyboard layouts, to combine multiple layouts, and to switch between them.
XOM
X Output Method framework, introduced in X11R6 but fully implemented in X11R6.5.1 to provide complex text rendering. But its late arrival, when rendering engines like Pango have already matured, makes its usefulness questionable.
X.org
The X consortium that maintains the X Window system. Normally, it maintains the X specification and provides the framework implementation source code in free license. In early 2004, triggered by license change in XFree86, a group of developers forked XFree86 source and made it X11R6.7 release in the name of X.org.
X Server
The service that provides interface to graphical hardware and input devices in the X Window system. Its clients are called X Clients. (See also: X Client.)
X Window
A graphical environment initially developed by the Athena project at MIT with support from some vendors, and later maintained by the X consortium. X Window is the major graphical environment for most Unix variants nowadays.
1In software, a project fork or branch happens when a developer (or a group of them) takes code from a project and starts to develop independently of the rest. This schism can be caused because of different goals or personality clashes. Definition available at www.wordiq.com/definition/Fork_(software)
Anousak Souphavanh is a computer scientist, an ICT consultant and a GNU/Linux enthusiast. He ob-tained his B.S. in Computer Science from Binghamton University’s Watson School of Engineering and Ap-plied Science, The State University of New York and his Masters in Computer Science from the Rochester Institute of Technology, New York. He was a senior systems administrator, technical lead person and net-work specialist for IBM in Rochester from 1995 to 2003. In 2003, he was an IT project manager for Jhai Foundation, managing a rural area IT project in Lao PDR. He is currently an IT consultant. He is an author of Laonux (Laonux.muanglao.com), the Lao version of GNU/Linux (KDE). He is also working on several other projects for Lao language: OpenOffice.org, PHPNuke, and Mozilla. He is an active member of the Lao Open Source community. His interest in GNU/Linux led him to initiate the Lao Linux User Group in Vientiane, Laos in 2003. He developed the Lao locale definition for GNU C library. He is also a leading voice on Lao support in GNU/Linux desktops with several working groups.
Theppitak Karoonboonyanan is a member of the Thai Linux Working Group (TLWG). He obtained his B.Eng. (Honors) in Computer Engineering from Chulalongkorn University, Thailand, in 1993.
He has contributed significantly to Thai GNU/Linux localization. His first contribution was an enhanced version of Thai string collation rules based on the Royal Institute’s model. He then developed the Thai locale definition for GNU C library based on it. He has contributed to many FOSS projects to establish Thai support infrastructure for GNU/Linux desktop, including XFree86, Pango, GLib, and GTK+.
As a TLWG member, he helped the LibThai project to collect and develop routines for basic Thai Language processing, and currently maintains the Thai LaTeX project and contributes to thaifonts-scalable, a Thai font development project. Also, he tracks the overall status of Thai support in GNU/Linux desktops and occasionally updates the group to keep up the momentum of development.
He was a member of Linux TLE and was among the founding members of GNU/Linux localization project at the National Electronics and Computer Technology Center (NECTEC). Currently, he freelances and has contributed advice and experience to the development of Laonux, a Lao KDE-based GNU/Linux desktop, and developed solutions for other clients.
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The Asia-Pacific Development Information Programme (APDIP) is an initiative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) that aims to promote the development and application of new Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for poverty alleviation and sustainable human development in the Asia-Pacific region. It does so through three core programme areas, namely, Policy Development and Dialogue;
Access; and Content Development and Knowledge Management.
In collaboration with national governments, APDIP seeks to assist national and regional institutions in the Asia-Pacific through activities that involve awareness-raising and advocacy, building capacities,promoting ICT policies and dialogue, promoting equitable access to tools and technologies, knowledge sharing, and networking.
Strategic public-private sector partnerships and opportunities for technical cooperation among developing countries ( TCDC) are APDIP’s key building blocks in implementing each programme activity.
www.apdip.net
The International Open Source Network (IOSN) is an initiative of UNDP’s Asia-Pacific Development Information Programme (APDIP). Its overall objective is to serve as a Center of Excellence and a Clearinghouse for Information on Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) in the Asia-Pacific region.
In order to accelerate the world-wide adoption of FOSS, IOSN seeks to raise awareness, facilitate networking of people, strengthen capacities, and conduct R&D.
The beneficiaries of IOSN are governments, IT professionals, software developers, the FOSS R&D community, academics and the NGO community.
IOSN serves as a resource center to help policymakers and decision-makers in the public sector, educational institutions, businesses and others develop policies and plans for the use of FOSS in their respective organizations. Much of IOSN’s activities are undertaken online and the IOSN portal has been developed for this purpose and serves as a comprehensive online resource center on FOSS. The IOSN portal also provides a means for the FOSS community in the region to contribute to its efforts and to interact with each other.
www.iosn.net