Editing XFree86 (section)

{{short description|Implementation of the X Window System}}
{{Infobox software
| name                   = XFree86
| logo                   = Xfree86.logo.gif
| logo size              = 128px
| screenshot             = 
| caption                = 
| developer              = The XFree86 Project, Inc.
| released               = {{Start date and age|1991}} (as X386)
| discontinued           = yes
| latest release version = 4.8.0
| latest release date    = {{Start date and age|2008|12|15}}
| programming language   = [[C (programming language)|C]]
| operating system       = [[Cross-platform]]
| language               = Various
| genre                  = [[Display server]]
| license                = [[#2004: Licensing controversy|XFree86 License]] 1.1
| website                = {{URL|http://www.xfree86.org/}}
}}
'''XFree86''' is an implementation of the [[X Window System]]. It was originally written for [[Unix-like]] [[operating system]]s on [[IBM PC compatible]]s and was available for many other operating systems and platforms. It is [[free software|free]] and [[Open-source software|open source]] software under the XFree86 License version 1.1. It was developed by the XFree86 Project, Inc. The lead developer was [[David Dawes]]. The last released version was 4.8.0, released December 2008. The last XFree86 [[Concurrent Versions System|CVS]] commit was made on May 18, 2009;<ref>[http://www.mail-archive.com/cvs-commit@xfree86.org/maillist.html cvs-commit] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029191548/http://www.mail-archive.com/cvs-commit@xfree86.org/maillist.html |date=2013-10-29 }}. Mail-archive.com. Retrieved on 2013-09-07.</ref> the project was confirmed dormant in December 2011.<ref name="tsi"/>

For most of the 1990s and early 2000s, the project was the source of most innovation in X and was the ''de facto'' steward of X development. Until early 2004, it was almost universal on [[Linux]] and the [[Berkeley Software Distribution|BSD]]s.

In February 2004, with version 4.4.0, The XFree86 Project began distributing new code with a copyright license that the [[Free Software Foundation]] considered [[GNU General Public License|GPL]] [[License compatibility|incompatible]]. Most open source operating systems using XFree86 found this unacceptable and moved to a fork from before the license change.<ref name=wheeler/> The first fork was the abortive Xouvert, but [[X.Org Server]] soon became dominant. Most XFree86 developers also moved to X.Org.