Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexas.edu!natinst!dell!raid.dell.com!james
From: james@raid.dell.com (James Van Artsdalen)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: Dell UNIX System w/Motif (was Re: ENIX V.3.2 info)
Message-ID: <2873@dell.dell.com>
Date: 21 Aug 89 01:21:01 GMT
References: <1539@crdgw1.crd.ge.com> <6972@megatest.UUCP> <2624@dell.dell.com> <133@fiver.UUCP>
Sender: news@dell.dell.com
Reply-To: james@raid.dell.com (James Van Artsdalen)
Organization: Dell Computer Co
Lines: 43

In <133@fiver.UUCP>, palowoda@fiver.UUCP (Bob Palowoda) wrote:

| [...] VGA is supported better with hardware screen scrolling [...]

> This is interesting, how is this done? It's not locked to any
> particular hardware card is it?

No, it's not specific to any particular card.  It just uses the
hardware scrolling feature.  I can't recall offhand if the EGA has
this or not, but certainly any VGA will.  The screen driver works fine
if the hardware scrolling isn't present: it just reverts to the slow
scroll (like DOS uses).

| Dell's UNIX System is based on Interactives 2.0 product. It's
| been customized for Dell hardware. ie. all our machines have [...]

| Basically, hardware we sell, we tried to put support in our UNIX 
| System for it.

> This is ok, just as long as you don't lock the software to any
> of the hardware you sell. Bell Tech. did that with one of
> there tape drive interfaces and it really piss**  off alot
> of there customers. 

Keep in mind that Dell is primarily a hardware vendor, and that the
unix offering is a vehicle for selling more Dell hardware.  The intent
is not to support every known variant on a keyboard/mouse/CRT, but to
have a unix that supports the hardware that we sell very well.

There will always be software vendors who sell generic unix that
supports the least common demoninator among PCs.  By aiming at a
narrower range of hardware (ie, what we sell), we can achieve a higher
level of optimization than if we were to make the product all things
with all hardware.

> Will a DOS session that is started with VPIX run inside one
> of the Xwindows, wiether it be TWM (Toms Window Manager) or
> the Motiff Window Manger?

VP/ix runs just fine under with Motif and TWM (I just tested it).
-- 
James R. Van Artsdalen          james@raid.dell.com       "Live Free or Die"
DCC Corporation       9505 Arboretum Blvd Austin TX 78759       512-338-8789