Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!think.com!mintaka!bloom-beacon!LARRY.MCRCIM.MCGILL.EDU!mouse
From: mouse@LARRY.MCRCIM.MCGILL.EDU
Newsgroups: comp.windows.x
Subject: Re:  Wanted:  X-Server Source for Tektroniks emulation mode
Message-ID: <9011160716.AA29244@Larry.McRCIM.McGill.EDU>
Date: 16 Nov 90 07:16:49 GMT
Sender: daemon@athena.mit.edu (Mr Background)
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 39

> I am looking for x-server source code that will emulate a tektronics
> terminal.  (This request doesn't sound exactly right, but is what my
> boss told me, who doesn't have access to the net).

Your boss is somewhat confused about just what an X server is.

> We have a LAN running on a 386 box.  we have the source for X, but he
> doesn't think that the server will support tektronics emulation,
> which our network does..

It seems unlikely that your network, per se, has anything to do with
Tektronix terminal emulation; much more likely is that some user
interface program that comes with your network package supports such an
emulation.  (Precision is all. :-)

In the X world, the server is not responsible for emulating, or not
emulating, any given type of terminal.  The server just provides a way
for *other* programs (called clients, not surprisingly) to display
things.  A client can, if it feels so inclined, provide some sort of
terminal emulation.  All the server cares about is what the client
tells it to draw on the screen; it doesn't know and doesn't care why
the client wants to draw what it does - whether it's emulating a
terminal of some sort, making the commands up on its own, or what....

The MIT X distribution includes a client called xterm which, I
understand, is capable of emulating some sort of Tektronix terminal.  I
don't normally use xterm, so I can't say what sort of Tektronix or how
good the emulation is.  (xterm is so standard that any vendor
distribution of X that doesn't supply it, or something very much like
it, can reasonably be considered seriously deficient....)

I hope this helps dispel a little of the haze surrounding X for you
(and your boss).  If haze still remains, feel free to drop me a line
directly and I'll have another stab at clearing it away.

					der Mouse

			old: mcgill-vision!mouse
			new: mouse@larry.mcrcim.mcgill.edu