Purpose
Traditionally, the X Window System has lagged behind other windowing systems in adding purely eye candy or aesthetic features, such as window translucency. This has encouraged client developers to develop hacks (cunning workarounds) to overcome this limitation.
This pseudo-transparency, so called as the background pixmap of the root window is visible (analogous to desktop wallpaper) rather than any obscured windows, allows users to make windows look less imposing (such as Terminal emulators, which usually comprise large chunks of text), and to integrate the appearance of windows with their desktop themes.
Read more about this topic: Pseudo-transparency
Famous quotes containing the word purpose:
“Happiness serves hardly any other purpose than to make unhappiness possible.”
—Marcel Proust (1871–1922)
“Most Americans are born drunk, and really require a little wine or beer to sober them. They have a sort of permanent intoxication from within, a sort of invisible champagne.... Americans do not need to drink to inspire them to do anything, though they do sometimes, I think, need a little for the deeper and more delicate purpose of teaching them how to do nothing.”
—Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874–1936)
“The moment a mere numerical superiority by either states or voters in this country proceeds to ignore the needs and desires of the minority, and for their own selfish purpose or advancement, hamper or oppress that minority, or debar them in any way from equal privileges and equal rights—that moment will mark the failure of our constitutional system.”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)