xpaname(7) SAORD Documentation xpaname(7)
NAME
XPAName - What does XPA stand for?
SYNOPSIS
What does XPA stand for? Who knows anymore!
DESCRIPTION
What does XPA stand for? Dunno! The XPA messaging system originally was built on top of the X Window System and XPA was the mnemonic for X
Public Access, to emphasize that we were providing public access to previously private data and algorithms in Xt programs. Now that XPA no
longer is tied to X, it can be argued that we ought to change the name (how about SPAM: simple public access mechanism ), but XPA is in
wide-spread use in the astronomical community of its birth, and the name has taken on a life of its own. If anyone can think of what XPA
now means, please let us know.
If you think this is bad, consider the MMT Telescope on Mount Hopkins, Arizona. When first installed twenty years ago, it featured an array
of six 72-inch diameter mirrors. from which came its name: the Multiple Mirror Telescope. In spring of 1999, these mirrors were replaced
by a single 21 and 1/2 -foot diameter primary mirror, the largest single-piece glass reflector on the North American continent. And now
MMT stands for ... MMT!
SEE ALSO
See xpa(7) for a list of XPA help pages
version 2.1.14 June 7, 2012 xpaname(7)
