Overview of the X Consortium The X Consortium is a leader in developing standards and technology for Open Systems computing. As the authors of the X Window System, we are committed to fostering the development and continued evolution of that standard. The Consortium is a highly participative body representing computer hardware manufacturers, software companies and end users. All members are encouraged to actively participate in the development of new standards - and the design, coding and testing of sample implementations of those standards. The X Consortium is self supporting through membership fees from over sixty member organizations. There are no license fees associated with the use of X Window System standards, or code developed by the X Consortium. Members guide our strategic direction and priorities. They can take the initiative in proposing new standards or extensions to existing standards. They directly influence the evolution of standards by participating in working groups. Members also receive exclusive early access to new standards and to sample implementations allowing advanced development and testing of system and application software incorporating new features, ultimately resulting in shorter time to market. The Benefits of X Consortium Membership Some key benefits of membership in the X Consortium are: Influencing the strategic direction of X. The priorities of the X Consortium are strongly influenced by the members. The early years of X were primarily devoted to the development of infrastructure that cut across all vertical markets. As the technology matures and the market base broadens, the question of where to best focus our resources has many plausible answers. Members are in the best position to provide direct input to that decision making process. Influencing standards and features. Members can take the initiative in proposing additions to existing standards or entirely new standards that will meet their needs in the market. Members can directly influence the evolution of standards by participating in the working groups that design those standards. Early access to new specifications. Information about new features and coming standards can be crucial to effective planning. Members have immediate access to draft documents throughout the design process and can readily track the progress and evolution of standards. Equally important, Members have access to all of the discussions (including complete electronic mail archives) that provide the rationale and the insights necessary to make effective and timely use of those standards. Early access to new implementations. Members have access to sample implementations long before non-members, allowing advanced research, development and testing of system and application software utilizing new features and standards, resulting in shorter time to market. Early access to bug fixes. Members have access to a steady stream of bug fixes and enhancements as they are generated by the staff. Members can request a complete snapshot of the patched system at any time. Only a subset of these patches are distributed to the public between releases. Access to the X Interoperability Center. Members have access to the X Interoperability Center located at the X Consortium headquarters. The purpose of the X Interoperability Center is to facilitate interoperability testing of X-based applications Membership The X Consortium is an independent, not for profit membership corporation formed in 1993 as successor to the MIT X Consortium. Membership in the X Consortium is open to any organization willing to execute a membership agreement. There are four categories of membership, Full, Associate, End User and Affiliate Members. The membership category into which an organization joins is determined as follows. Organizations whose controlling corporation's revenues for the previous fiscal year are over $150 million join as a Full Members, those with revenues over $25 million join as Associate Members and those with revenues less than $25 million and other organizations such as educational institutions, government agencies and non-profits join as Affiliate Members. Finally, organizations whose parent company and all subsidiaries derive no revenue from Information Technology product or services sales may join as End User Members. New members may join at the beginning of any quarter, with membership extending for one year from the beginning of that quarter. Membership fees are $50,000 for Full Members, $15,000 for Associate Members, $10,000 for End User Members and $5,000 for Affiliate Members. The total fee is due and payable at the time an organization joins or renews its membership. Administration The X Consortium's activities are managed under the direction and oversight of a Board of Directors elected annually by the Members. It is responsible for reviewing the achievements of the Consortium, approving planned work, appointing a President and other officers of the Consortium, and setting membership dues. The current Directors are: Robert W. Scheifler President and Founder, X Consortium Ray Anderson Senior VP, SCO, Inc. Dr. Forest Baskett Senior VP of R&D, Silicon Graphics Computer Systems Harold D. Blair Partner, Partnerwerks Roger S. Gourd Gourd & Associates Dr. Robin Hillyard Vice Chairman and CTO, Novasoft Systems Don McGovern VP, UNIX Systems Group, Novell Therese E. Myers CEO, Bouquet Multimedia Peter J. Shaw President and CEO, AGE Logic, Inc. Michael Tobias President, Tech-Source The President is responsible for day-to-day administration and operation of the X Consortium and focuses on strategic, business, and administrative issues. The X Consortium technical staff works with Members in the development of specifications and implementations, acting as architects, advisors and project leaders as appropriate. Maintenance of existing implementations is primarily handled by the X Consortium technical staff. Each Member of the X Consortium appoints representative the Advisory Board. Advisory Board members are the official representatives of Members to the X Consortium. They participate in the annual meeting of the corporation, elect the Board of Directors, and vote on other official and technical matters. The Advisory Board also reviews the plans and progress of the X Consortium on behalf of the membership and provides advice and suggestions to the Consortium staff. Standards Review Process The X Consortium has a flexible process for producing new standards. Proposals for new standards can originate from the Members and the X Consortium staff. Each standard has an Architect, in most cases appointed by the sponsoring Member. A working group is formed to handle technical review and evolution of the proposal. Members can have any number of representatives in each working group. For complex standards, meetings are often held at the beginning, middle and end of a review although most work is carried out via electronic mail. After a working group has voted to accept a draft specification, the Advisory Board is polled for ratification. The draft is then distributed externally for public review. In parallel with the review process, a sample implementation of the standard is usually created. The minimum goal of a sample implementation is to serve as "proof of concept", to uncover any subtle difficulties in the design of the standard and to provide feedback on the correctness of decisions made in writing the standard with respect to functionality, performance, and completeness. In practice, the implementation also serves as a foundation for commercial product versions of the standard, with a goal that most of the implementation can be used as is by vendors. Software Distribution The X Consortium maintains and distributes the X Window System and related software and documentation in coordinated releases. A release consists of two distinct parts: 1) Specifications and Sample implementations of X Consortium standards, and 2) software and documentation contributed by the general X Consortium community. The timing and contents of a release are determined by the Consortium staff based on the needs and desires of the Members and the advice of the Advisory Board, tempered by the resource constraints of the Consortium. Members have access to all X Consortium produced software and documentation prior to release to the public. Each Member can receive pre-releases and public releases at no charge. In addition, Members have access to software and documentation while it is under development, and can periodically request snapshots of the development system at no charge. The X Consortium also maintains an electronic mail system for reporting problems with X Consortium produced software and documentation. Members have access to all bug reports, as well as all software patches as they are incrementally developed by the Consortium staff between releases. In general, all materials included in X Consortium releases are copyrighted and contain permission notices granting unrestricted use, sales and redistribution rights provided that the copyrights and the permission notices are left intact. All materials are provided "as is," without express or implied warranty. X Utilization and Redistribution Few restrictions are placed on commercial exploitation of X Window System specifications and sample implementations produced by the X Consortium. Members may enhance or reimplement the system and freely resell or bundle it with other products they provide. Members can make draft specifications available to key customers under a non-disclosure agreement, to ensure the standard will meet customer needs. Hardware Platforms The X Consortium attempts to have a representative selection of hardware and software systems on which to develop and test sample implementations, but cannot promise to acquire and maintain every platform required by every Member. The Consortium attempts to create sample implementations that are portable to a variety of systems, but cannot be responsible for ensuring that software operates correctly on any particular hardware platform or system configuration. Any member is welcome to discuss with the President making hardware or software systems available to the X Consortium staff. X Interoperability Center The X Consortium has created an X Interoperability Center (XIC) at its headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Use of the XIC is free to any member who executes a participation agreement. X Technical Conference The X Consortium sponsors an annual conference, open to the public, to promote the exchange of information about the X Window System. The conference lasts three days, with one day devoted to tutorials and two days devoted to talks and presentations. X Consortium, Inc. One Memorial Drive Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142-1301 Telephone: 617-374-1000 Fax: 617-374-1025 Internet: membership@x.org Worldwide Web: http://www.x.org Disclaimer This description is intended as a brief outline of the purpose and operation of the X Consortium. The operations of the Consortium are governed by formal Bylaws and operating rules; in event of conflict or disagreement between them and this description, the Bylaw or operating rule shall prevail. This description shall not be interpreted as establishing any contractual commitment by the X Consortium. Rev 3.1 4/17/95