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From: korp@atlantis.ees.anl.gov (Peter Korp)
Newsgroups: comp.windows.x
Subject: Re: The final chapter?: A tirade about inefficient software & systems
Message-ID: <1990Nov27.170031.23812@mcs.anl.gov>
Date: 27 Nov 90 17:00:31 GMT
References: <9011232028.AA24515@islanders.> <1990Nov27.012631.15725@odin.corp.sgi.com>
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In article <1990Nov27.012631.15725@odin.corp.sgi.com> erik@westworld.esd.sgi.com (Erik Fortune) writes:

[lots of X - NeWS history deleted]

>X had been through 9 releases (one number was reserved but never used) and
>the X community had learned a lot from those first 10 releases.   Lots of
>the lessons learned from those early releases of X were applied to X11.
>That experience also pointed to some likely problems with the design of NeWS.
>Bob wrote a paper describing some of his concerns about NeWS in late 1986.
>I'll see if I can dig up a copy...
>

I'd be interested in having a copy of that. What I find absolutly amazing
is how every new release of X looks more and more like NeWS. Shared memory
extensions, circular windows, PostScript imaging, synthentic input extensions,
and I don't know what else. Don't you think one of the reasons Sun was able
to implement the X11/NeWS server as cleanly as they did was because of the
great similarity of X11 and NeWS?

In computer terms 1986 is a *long* time ago. I think it speaks well of Goslings
"research effort" that his design has remained relatively unchanged since
then.

>In 1986 it was widely believed that what UNIX really, really needed yesterday
>was standard graphics.    The only things that were not proprietary and were 
>remotely close to being understood well enough to be standardized were X10 and wm, 
>neither of which was acceptable.   Hence X11.
>

You spoke of X11 *having* to be developed quickly due to X10s acceptance in
the UNIX world, I think the battle scars of this rapid development still show.

>
>-- Erik

Peter