Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!snorkelwacker!bloom-beacon!visual.UUCP!jbk
From: jbk@visual.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.windows.x
Subject: (none)
Message-ID: <9004091608.AA03995@bird.visual.uu.net>
Date: 9 Apr 90 16:08:03 GMT
Sender: daemon@athena.mit.edu (Mr Background)
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 60

David A. Yost writes:

> Check out this ad:
> 
>    The new BrandX X terminal is designed so anyone can
>    use it easily.  After it has been set up by a system
>    administrator (which can be done remotely via the
>    ethernet), you can walk up to the terminal, turn it
>    on, type your password, and start working.
> 
>    And, you needn't ever see a baffling techie setup
>    screen with buttons like "telnet" and "tftp".  If
>    you press the setup key, you are presented with
>    easy to figure out buttons and sliders that let
>    you customize some things about how the terminal
>    works, like screen brightness, keyboard repeat rate,
>    etc.  However, complicated system administration
>    options are hidden beneath another layer, and the
>    system administrator can set the terminal to require
>    a password to access that layer.
> 
>    These new ease of use features make the BrandX even
>    easier to use and administer than ASCII dumb terminals.
> 
> Does a product like this exist?
> 
> I know this kind of thinking is radical and antithetical
> to UNIX culture, but maybe some day it will sink in.

X terminals from Visual Technology support the features you've requested.
The terminals can be easily configured to present a login window on a 
host machine upon powerup.  The user gives a login name and password,
and (its magic!), is logged into a machine.  A ".xsession" file in the
user's home directory on the host machine specifies preferences for
application windows to be automatically set up upon such a login.  I personally
like several terminal sessions, a clock, a window manager, and a mailbox program
to be started for me.

System administrators and "techies" won't find it hard to bring these
terminals onto the network.  The terminals support the RARP and BOOTP
protocols, by which their network address is determined by tables stored
on host machines.  For those preferring to do things by hand, telnet windows
are still available.

The terminal is customizable via a Setup Menu, available at the press of a
key (e.g. Sys Req on PC keyboards), providing options for everything from
screen blanking and keyclick, to fonts and networked font access mechanisms.
All attributes are permanently stored in the terminal, and an optional
password can be used to protect the attributes.  Also useful is remote
download capabilities, which allow terminal settings to be stored in files on
host machines and downloaded upon terminal reset, so that several users can
share the terminal, each downloading their own preferred settings.

I find X terminals extremely useful, much, much better than ascii terminals,
and not even too "radical"...

Jeff Krampf
Visual Technology
jbk@visual.uu.net
508-836-4400