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Keith Packard
open-in-new
<p>Keith Packard (born April 16, 1963) is a <a href="/facts/Software_developer/WGTS1Jv9">software developer</a>, best known for his work on the <a href="/facts/X_Window_System/ac2vRIQL">X Window System</a>. </p><p>Packard is responsible for many X extensions and technical papers on X. He has been heavily involved in the development of X since the late 1980s as a member of the <a href="/facts/MIT_X_Consortium/ac2vRIQL">MIT X Consortium</a>, <a href="/facts/XFree86/Lq8SYGCF">XFree86</a> and the <a href="/facts/X.Org_Foundation/YGJCfVRM">X.Org Foundation</a>. </p><p>In 2011, <a href="/facts/O%2527Reilly_Media/Fr3Kv7sm">O'Reilly</a> awarded an <a href="/facts/O%2527Reilly_Open_Source_Award/XSIHjdXf">open source award</a> to Packard, as "the person behind most of the improvements made on the open source desktop in the last ten years at least." He is portrayed as one of the <i>Faces of Open Source</i>. </p>