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                 Anthony's X Icon Library (version 1.5)
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                            Historical Notes
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  Looking on the internet for icons is not easy. A number of libraries for
bitmap/picture libraries exist but few are devoted to the X application
builder and general X usage.

  This is not to say thay don't exist, the "Poskanzer Bitmap Collection"
being a good example. Athough these contains some bitmaps that are
suitable for icons and X programming, these bitmaps are small in number,
are of mixed sizes, and many are not very nice looking. Aside from this,
the Poskanzer's Collection contains a tremendous collection of large
background pictures.  It also looks as if this collection is not being
coordinated anymore as seems to have had no new entries over the last few
years.

  Originally I restricted myself to bitmaps that can be used as program
icons in every day usage. The goal was to create a collection of bitmaps
of a ``standard'' size that can be used for icons on the screen. It
removes the `hodge podge' of different icon sizes that I see people use,
and window managers have to contend with. Using a `standard' size results
in a nicer looking display of the icons in the ``icon regions'' of the
screen.

  With this goal in mind, a ``standard'' size of 64x54 was agreed on by
the system programmers here are Griffth University, Division of Science
and Technology at that time. This size was chosen as it is close to a
``golden rectangle'' (IE it is pleasing to the eye) and when a icon name
is attached by the window manager it generally become another ``golden
rectangle''.  It was also close to the 64x64 size which was in common use
when sunview windows were prevalent (and not that long ago either).  To
complete this goal, I usally try to convert icons to this `standard size'
and am slowly succeeding in this respect.

  These ``standard'' sized icons can be found in the `std' sub-directory
and consist of descriptive icons to refer to specific applications or
machines we have in our local nertwork (IE: kurango (aboriginal for sun),
gucis, sphinx, opera...). These machine icons chould be renamed to a more
descriptive name for the icon (IE: "kurango.xbm" to "ayres_rock.xbm") but
the users here would now probably kill me if I made this change.

  As time went on however this collection soon expanded to include:
buttons for the TWM window manager (for in title bars), in the `twm'
section; background patterns (small ones not root-maps), `bground'; and
general use buttons or cursors, `buttons' and `masks'. One directory
`misc' is a collection of odd sized icons which have either defied sorting
to the various areas or are just waiting to be resized to the `standard'
size. Color icons have also since been added to the collection.

ASIDE: since the above paragraph was written the directories may have been
renamed. See the general description near the top of this file.

  The subdirectories `std' and `twm' are an intergral part of the X window
setup here at the Griffith University, Science and Technology Division.
And is used to provide a usable default X window setup for naive staff and
students.

  Anthony Thyssen - (SysProg @ Griffith University)     anthony@cit.gu.edu.au
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    Light thinks it travels faster than anything, but it is wrong.
  No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness always got
  there first, and it is waiting for it.  -- Terry Pratchett - ``Reaper''
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