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diff --git a/xpa/doc/name.html b/xpa/doc/name.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5269378 --- /dev/null +++ b/xpa/doc/name.html @@ -0,0 +1,48 @@ +<!-- =defdoc xpaname xpaname n --> +<HTML> +<HEAD> +<TITLE>What does XPA stand for?</TITLE> +</HEAD> +<BODY> + +<!-- =section xpaname NAME --> +<H2><A NAME="xpaname">XPAName: What does XPA stand for?</A></H2> + +<!-- =section xpaname SYNOPSIS --> +<H2>Summary</H2> +<P> +What does XPA stand for? Who knows anymore! + +<!-- =section xpaname DESCRIPTION --> +<H2>Description</H2> +<P> +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 +<EM>X Public Access</EM>, 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 <EM>SPAM: simple public access mechanism +</EM>), 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. + +<P> +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 +<EM>Multiple Mirror Telescope</EM>. 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! + +<!-- =section xpaname SEE ALSO --> +<!-- =text See xpa(n) for a list of XPA help pages --> +<!-- =stop --> + +<P> +<A HREF="./help.html">Go to XPA Help Index</A> + +<H5>Last updated: September 10, 2003</H5> +</BODY> +</HTML> + |