
Ask HN: What's that quote about X window system? - acron0
I recall reading a hyperbolic, cautionary quote quite some time ago that expressed something along the lines of &quot;all complex software products are destined to eventually become reimplementations of the X window system&quot;.<p>Does anyone else have any recollection of this, or even better, know where it comes from?
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lutusp
> I recall reading a parabolic quote ...

ITYM a _hyperbolic_ quote. A parabolic quote would describe an arc like a
thrown ball, which eventually falls back to earth. A hyperbolic quote would
escape toward infinity, which is the intended sense of the expression derived
from the shapes of conic sections.

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acron0
Hmm, Wordnik[1] tells me 'parabolic' also means 'Of or similar to a parable'.

[1] |
[https://www.wordnik.com/words/parabolic](https://www.wordnik.com/words/parabolic)

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lutusp
Yes, okay, but the original quote isn't a parable in the classic sense -- no
moral or spiritual guidance present. That led me to consider the
mathematical/geometric meaning. Saying that all software projects end up being
reimplementations of X windows is certainly hyperbolic.

And, sorry to say, I couldn't locate the original quote either.

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acron0
You're correct. Perhaps "having the properties of a parable" was an inference
too far. I've amended the original post.

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DanBC
I can find a lot about Zawinski's law, or Greenspun's tenth law.

Letts' Law: All programs evolve until they can send email.

Zawinski's Law: Every program attempts to expand until it can read mail. Those
programs which cannot so expand are replaced by ones which can.

Greenspun's tenth law: Any sufficiently complicated C or Fortran program
contains an ad hoc, informally-specified, bug-ridden, slow implementation of
half of Common Lisp.

RTM provided a "corollary which clarifies the set of "sufficiently
complicated" programs to which the rule applies: …including Common Lisp."
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenspun%27s_tenth_rule](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenspun%27s_tenth_rule)

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ksherlock
The X server has to be the biggest program I've ever seen that doesn't do
anything for you. -K Thompson (plan9 fortune file)

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DanBC
"If the designers of X Windows built cars, there would be no fewer than five
steering wheels hidden about the cockpit, none of which followed the same
principles . . . but you'd be able to shift gears with your stereo.

Useful feature, that." \-- Marcus J. Ranum, Digital Equipment Corp.

