Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!zephyr!tektronix!psueea!parsely!bucket!leonard
From: leonard@bucket.UUCP (Leonard Erickson)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re^2: Does ANYONE know of a network aware graphics package?
Message-ID: <1527@bucket.UUCP>
Date: 4 Jul 89 01:11:38 GMT
References: <1974@aucs.UUCP> <1335@irisa.irisa.fr> <12163@grebyn.com>
Organization: Rick's Home-Grown UNIX; Portland, OR.
Lines: 35

scotth@grebyn.com (Scott Hutchinson) writes:
>	There are packages and public domain (or shareware?) that will
>trick tha average program into thinking its running locally, while in
>fact it is on the network.  If anyone would like info, just drop me a
>line.

Our problems with non-network programs on networks is that they have
things like the directories or (worse yet!) the configuration filenames
hard coded.

Just *try* and run a package when the last user set it up for VGA and
the laserprinter, and you've got Hercules and an Epson. Blech!

And a few programs always use the same names for temporary files *and*
require that you be in "their" directory when you run them. This makes
simultaneous usage impossible.

One of the reasons we have a network is so that we would only have one
"copy" of a package to update/maintain. (we buy as many copies as are
needed, but we don't want to have to install a seperate copy for every
user).

I'm constantly amazed at how few programs will handle networking
problems. What's really bad is that you don't need a network to see
some of these problems. We had to re-install the old monitor on a
computer we'd upgraded so that we could re-set the configuration on one
program. It used graphics mode for display, *including the #%$%# setup
screen*!!


-- 
Leonard Erickson		...!tektronix!reed!percival!bucket!leonard
CIS: [70465,203]
"I'm all in favor of keeping dangerous weapons out of the hands of fools.
Let's start with typewriters." -- Solomon Short