Keith Packard
Encyclopedia
Keith Packard is a software developer
, best known for his work on the X Window System
.
Packard is responsible for many X extensions and technical papers on X. He has been heavily involved in the development of X since the late 1980s as a member of the MIT X Consortium, XFree86
and the X.Org Foundation
.
from Reed College
, Oregon
in 1986. He worked at Tektronix, Inc. in Wilsonville, Oregon
designing X terminal
s and Unix
workstations from 1983 until 1988.
He then moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts
to work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
X Consortium from 1988 to 1992, developing the X Window System reference implementation and standard
s as the senior member of a small team. He was responsible for X releases at this time.
In 1992 he moved to Portland, Oregon
to work for Network Computing Devices
on X terminals and computer graphics.
From 1999 he worked for SuSE from his home in Portland, Oregon
on the XFree86
implementation of X.
He worked at the Cambridge Research Labs of Compaq
(and then Hewlett-Packard
) from 2001 until 2005 when the lab closed down.
In 2003 he was ejected from XFree86
. This led to the formation of the successful X.Org Server
fork. He is now project lead on the X.org
project, the official reference implementation of the X Window System.
Packard became a Debian
Developer in 2004, maintaining fontconfig
(as well as being the upstream maintainer) and other packages.
Packard began working for Intel in August 2006.
Software developer
A software developer is a person concerned with facets of the software development process. Their work includes researching, designing, developing, and testing software. A software developer may take part in design, computer programming, or software project management...
, best known for his work on the X Window System
X Window System
The X window system is a computer software system and network protocol that provides a basis for graphical user interfaces and rich input device capability for networked computers...
.
Packard is responsible for many X extensions and technical papers on X. He has been heavily involved in the development of X since the late 1980s as a member of the MIT X Consortium, XFree86
XFree86
XFree86 is an implementation of the X Window System. It was originally written for Unix-like operating systems on IBM PC compatibles and is now available for many other operating systems and platforms. It is free and open source software under the XFree86 License version 1.1. It is developed by the...
and the X.Org Foundation
X.Org Foundation
The X.Org Foundation is the organization holding the stewardship for the development of the X Window System. It was founded on 22 January 2004....
.
Career
Packard gained a BA in mathematicsMathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
from Reed College
Reed College
Reed College is a private, independent, liberal arts college located in southeast Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1908, Reed is a residential college with a campus located in Portland's Eastmoreland neighborhood, featuring architecture based on the Tudor-Gothic style, and a forested canyon wilderness...
, Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
in 1986. He worked at Tektronix, Inc. in Wilsonville, Oregon
Wilsonville, Oregon
Wilsonville is a city primarily in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States. A portion of the northern section of the city is in Washington County. Originally founded as Boones Landing due to the Boones Ferry which crossed the Willamette River at the location, the community became Wilsonville in...
designing X terminal
X terminal
In computing, an X terminal is a display/input terminal for X Window System client applications. X terminals enjoyed a period of popularity in the early 1990s when they offered a lower total cost of ownership alternative to a full Unix workstation....
s and Unix
Unix
Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
workstations from 1983 until 1988.
He then moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
to work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
X Consortium from 1988 to 1992, developing the X Window System reference implementation and standard
Standardization
Standardization is the process of developing and implementing technical standards.The goals of standardization can be to help with independence of single suppliers , compatibility, interoperability, safety, repeatability, or quality....
s as the senior member of a small team. He was responsible for X releases at this time.
In 1992 he moved to Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
to work for Network Computing Devices
Network Computing Devices
Network Computing Devices was a company founded in 1987 to produce a new class of products now known as a "thin client". It was founded in Mountain View, CA, and when it closed it was headquartered in Portland, Oregon....
on X terminals and computer graphics.
From 1999 he worked for SuSE from his home in Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
on the XFree86
XFree86
XFree86 is an implementation of the X Window System. It was originally written for Unix-like operating systems on IBM PC compatibles and is now available for many other operating systems and platforms. It is free and open source software under the XFree86 License version 1.1. It is developed by the...
implementation of X.
He worked at the Cambridge Research Labs of Compaq
Compaq
Compaq Computer Corporation is a personal computer company founded in 1982. Once the largest supplier of personal computing systems in the world, Compaq existed as an independent corporation until 2002, when it was acquired for US$25 billion by Hewlett-Packard....
(and then Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard Company or HP is an American multinational information technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, USA that provides products, technologies, softwares, solutions and services to consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses and large enterprises, including...
) from 2001 until 2005 when the lab closed down.
In 2003 he was ejected from XFree86
XFree86
XFree86 is an implementation of the X Window System. It was originally written for Unix-like operating systems on IBM PC compatibles and is now available for many other operating systems and platforms. It is free and open source software under the XFree86 License version 1.1. It is developed by the...
. This led to the formation of the successful X.Org Server
X.Org Server
X.Org Server refers to the X server release packages stewarded by the X.Org Foundation,which is hosted by freedesktop.org, and grants...
fork. He is now project lead on the X.org
X.Org Server
X.Org Server refers to the X server release packages stewarded by the X.Org Foundation,which is hosted by freedesktop.org, and grants...
project, the official reference implementation of the X Window System.
Packard became a Debian
Debian
Debian is a computer operating system composed of software packages released as free and open source software primarily under the GNU General Public License along with other free software licenses. Debian GNU/Linux, which includes the GNU OS tools and Linux kernel, is a popular and influential...
Developer in 2004, maintaining fontconfig
Fontconfig
Fontconfig is a computer program library designed to provide system-wide font configuration, customization, and application access. Fontconfig is written and was originally maintained by Keith Packard...
(as well as being the upstream maintainer) and other packages.
Packard began working for Intel in August 2006.
Software Packard has worked on
- cairoCairo (graphics)cairo is a software library used to provide a vector graphics-based, device-independent API for software developers. It is designed to provide primitives for 2-dimensional drawing across a number of different backends...
- X Window SystemX Window SystemThe X window system is a computer software system and network protocol that provides a basis for graphical user interfaces and rich input device capability for networked computers...
extensions: XRenderXRenderThe X Rendering Extension is an X Window System extension to implement Porter-Duff image compositing in the X server, to allow efficient display of transparent images.- History :...
, XFixesXFixesIn computing, XFixes is an X Window System extension which makes useful additions to the X11 protocol. It was started in 2003 by Keith Packard. It first appeared in the KDrive X server and later in X.Org Server version 6.8.0....
, XDamage, XComposite, XRandR - KDriveKDriveKDrive is a small X Window System server implementation created by Keith Packard. Unlike the X.Org Server, KDrive was not based on XFree86 code...
- fontconfigFontconfigFontconfig is a computer program library designed to provide system-wide font configuration, customization, and application access. Fontconfig is written and was originally maintained by Keith Packard...
, XftXftXft, the X FreeType interface library, is a free computer program library written by Keith Packard. As of version 2.1, it is licensed under a quasi-BSD license.... - Nickle
- XDM