Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!know!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!mips!public!pke
From: pke@public.BTR.COM (Peter Espen  pke@btr.com)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.aux
Subject: Re: XWindows ??
Summary: If you can afford it.....
Message-ID: <917@public.BTR.COM>
Date: 8 Nov 90 17:15:36 GMT
References: <7506@cica.cica.indiana.edu> <911@public.BTR.COM> <1990Nov7.131404@springer.Apple.COM>
Organization: BTR Public Access UNIX, MtnView CA, Contact: cs@btr.com 415-966-1429
Lines: 48

In article <1990Nov7.131404@springer.Apple.COM>, peters@Apple.COM writes:
> In article <911@public.BTR.COM>, pke@public.BTR.COM (Peter Espen 
> pke@btr.com) writes:
> |> 	So, just my opinion, of course, but why would anyone want to
> |> buy an outdated and crippled X-Windows system from Apple, when you
> can 
> |> get the most up-to-date X-Windows system FREE from
> wuarchive.wustl.edu??
> |> Don't make the same mistake that I did.
> |> 
> 
> One of the reasons Apple *contributes* the macII ddx layer to the X
> Consortium is so that "leading-edge" A/UX customers can have immediate
> access to the latest bits. 
> 
> ............ Its worth noting too that since the January 1990 MIT
> release, about 400 "blessed" X11R4 bug fixes have been distributed
> within the X Consortium. These have been incoporated into Apple's next X
> release. That's one reason many customers may choose to buy Apple's X
> Window System product; three others are QA, the books, and the support
> team.
> 
	It is a good thing that Apple contributes the macII ddx layer to
the X Consortium. If, however, a "leading-edge" A/UX customer wants to 
have "immediate access to the latest bits" it is necessary to get the
latest source code and compile it. This is not possible if you only have
the libraries and include files that come with Apple's X-Windows. You 
can't build the latest server release if you only have the older release
3 libraries and include files that are part of the Apple X-Windows
distribution.
	The material that is covered in the books that comes with Apple's
X-Windows is covered in greater and more up-to-date detail in the O'Reilly
series. If you buy three of the O'Reilly books (at $35 each, retail), you
essentially have everything that's covered in Apple's X-Windows documentation.
	You only get Apple's support for 30 days. After that, it will cost
you $1000. The support you get if you already have access to USENET news 
is alot cheaper.  Why aren't there any updates or patches on 
aux.support.apple.com? No one at Apple will even say when a update release
of Apple's X-Windows will be available and at what cost. If patches and
updates aren't made available by Apple on something like aux.support.apple.com,
then the only alternative is to wait until some unknown future date for
an update to a product that is already out-dated when you buy it for $350.
Another alternative for someone on a limited budget, is to not buy Apple's
X-WIndows release and to get it from other sources for free.

	Peter Espen
	pke@btr.com
	peter@sophia.com