Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!bloom-beacon!bu-cs!polygen!peter
From: peter@polygen.uucp (Peter Ent)
Newsgroups: comp.windows.x
Subject: Re: XView source availability
Message-ID: <520@redford.UUCP>
Date: 4 Aug 89 13:43:12 GMT
References: <8908032301.AA17427@paba.sun.com>
Reply-To: peter@redford.UUCP (Peter Ent)
Organization: Polygen Corporation, Waltham, MA
Lines: 33

I work for a small company caught in the middle of the user interface
wars. It is war as far as we are concerned: Motif vs XView.

We presently have done everything directly on top of Xlib, being
dissatisfied with the current set of Xtoolkits and having been
working long and hard on the code before X11 appeared.

On the next go 'round we will use a toolkit. The question is,
"Which one?"  The answer I'm afraid is "Both" because we have
customers who have VAX, IBM, Sun, and HP workstations.

Motif offers some knowns: a user interface language, 
a style guide, etc. 

XView offers unknowns. Specifically, does it come with
an application independent user interface language like
Motif? If it does not, is it the intention to write
programs with hard-coded strings, values, and layout? Or
are applications supposed to invent their own external
representation?

If XView does come with a user interface language, PLEASE
tell the world about it, else XView may be ignored. Our
market also stretches across the seas and customers there
like things in their own language, something Motif supports
(at least DEC's UIL supports it) easily.

If XView doesn't have the same features, someone might
just take Motif and change its look and feel to that
of OPEN LOOK and solve our problems that way.

Peter Ent
Polygen Corp.