1xpaname(n) SAORD Documentation xpaname(n)
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6 XPAName: What does XPA stand for?
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9 What does XPA stand for? Who knows anymore!
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12 What does XPA stand for? Dunno! The XPA messaging system originally was
13 built on top of the X Window System and XPA was the mnemonic for X
14 Public Access, to emphasize that we were providing public access to
15 previously private data and algorithms in Xt programs. Now that XPA no
16 longer is tied to X, it can be argued that we ought to change the name
17 (how about SPAM: simple public access mechanism ), but XPA is in wide-
18 spread use in the astronomical community of its birth, and the name has
19 taken on a life of its own. If anyone can think of what XPA now means,
20 please let us know.
21 If you think this is bad, consider the MMT Telescope on Mount Hopkins,
23 Arizona. When first installed twenty years ago, it featured an array of
24 six 72-inch diameter mirrors. from which came its name: the Multiple
25 Mirror Telescope. In spring of 1999, these mirrors were replaced by a
26 single 21 and 1/2 -foot diameter primary mirror, the largest single-
27 piece glass reflector on the North American continent. And now MMT
28 stands for ... MMT!
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31 See xpa(n) for a list of XPA help pages
32version 2.1.15 July 23, 2013 xpaname(n)