Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!yale!bunker!wtm
From: alistair@minster.york.ac.uk (Alistair Edwards)
Newsgroups: misc.handicap
Subject: Re: Graphical user interfacing
Keywords: GUI XWINDOWS Macintosh
Message-ID: <14917@bunker.UUCP>
Date: 11 Oct 90 16:57:27 GMT
References: <14538@bunker.UUCP>
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Reply-To: alistair@minster.york.ac.uk (Alistair Edwards)
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Organization: Department of Computer Science, University of York, England
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Fidonet: Blink Talk Conference

Index Number: 11061

In article <14538@bunker.UUCP> Glen.Nielson@f778.n115.z1.fidonet.org writes:
>Index Number: 10707
>Anyway, it does seem to me that there are several reasons for optimism
>on this subject.  
>				  I for one think it's a sad commentary
>on things that noone has developed an accessible version of XWINDOWS--
>a public-domain system that is widely used to provide a window environment
>for UNIX.  It seems to me that such a development could be achieved for
>less than $50,000.

I am sorry to perhaps be depressing, but I am not so optimistic - and I 
think I am in a good position to know; this has been the main topic of 
my research for the past five years. The reason that 'an accessible 
version of XWINDOWS' - or any (most) other graphical user interfaces 
(GUIs) has not been developed is that it is a VERY hard problem. Many 
people are aware of it, few people have any idea how to solve it and even 
fewer are working on it. Berkeley Systems Inc have made a valiant try to 
adapt the Macintosh and IBM are working along very similar lines at the 
moment - oh, yes and I and some colleagues are addressing it too, but we 
are all a long way from a practical solution - and it will take MUCH more 
than $50,000. I already have a research grant of around $100,000 and my 
work will only scratch the surface.

------------------------------------------------------------------
Alistair Edwards
University of York, York, England YO1 5DD

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