What does \s-1xpa\s0 stand for?
What does \s-1XPA\s0 stand for? Who knows anymore!
What does \s-1XPA\s0 stand for? Dunno! The \s-1XPA\s0 messaging system originally was built on top of the X Window System and \s-1XPA\s0 was the mnemonic for X Public Access, to emphasize that we were providing public access to previously private data and algorithms in Xt programs. Now that \s-1XPA\s0 no longer is tied to X, it can be argued that we ought to change the name (how about \s-1SPAM:\s0 simple public access mechanism ), but \s-1XPA\s0 is in wide-spread use in the astronomical community of its birth, and the name has taken on a life of its own. If anyone can think of what \s-1XPA\s0 now means, please let us know.
If you think this is bad, consider the \s-1MMT\s0 Telescope on Mount Hopkins, Arizona. When first installed twenty years ago, it featured an array of six 72\-inch diameter mirrors. from which came its name: the Multiple Mirror Telescope. In spring of 1999, these mirrors were replaced by a single 21 and 1/2 \-foot diameter primary mirror, the largest single-piece glass reflector on the North American continent. And now \s-1MMT\s0 stands for ... \s-1MMT\s0!
See xpa(7) for a list of \s-1XPA\s0 help pages