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> "the big mistakes from Unix, besides the X Window System"

The entire X11 system was "a mistake". Got it, we should have stuck to 7-bit text on a VT-100 because that was utter perfection.

With that compelling intro I lost any interest in any other arguments the author presented.

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The author seems to be an Amiga fan. I suspect it's not the idea of a graphical UI he's complaining about. Just the specific implementation.

Probably worth noting that his criticism comes from someone that builds systems and yours as a user.

System programming isn't a dark art, it's just programming with programmers as an audience. Application programming focuses on end-users who may not be programmers. I've done both.

I've used and developed on X11 since 1990. I'm well aware of its numerous limitations and I'm glad new technology such as Wayland is being developed to replace it. But it wasn't "a mistake".

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