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From: minich@d.cs.okstate.edu (Robert Minich)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next
Subject: Re: X11 for the NeXTstation
Message-ID: <1991Jan8.082717.12705@d.cs.okstate.edu>
Date: 8 Jan 91 08:27:17 GMT
References: <1875@autodesk.COM>
Organization: Oklahoma State University
Lines: 47

by glang@Autodesk.COM (Gary Lang):
|> [NeXT should have X...]
|
| But NeXT is not a workstation manufacturer. One look at NeXTStep will tell
| you that. No, NeXT is a personal computer manufacturer. This means that
| standards like XWindows from the worlstation [sic] world are as
| inapplicable as standards for mainframe data access are.
 
...or UNIX, TCP/IP, SMTP, NFS, etc. Yep, who needs standards?

| ... But there's little or no reason to force NeXT to run XWindows as
| a native window manager. In fact, there's a million reasons not to.

I agree that X isn't the greatest thing to use for the primary windowing
software but it is incredibly useful to be able to access all the
machines on a network regardless of the vendors. By ignoring X, NeXT can
proudly ignore an important aspect of Interpersonal Comupting.

| Isn't somebody out there productizing XWindow servers for NeXTStep? now
| there's a product worth buying if you have Sun machines and applications
| that use this technology, but really how large is this market?

Or, looking back BEFORE a purchase decision, a NeXT that comes with X is
a product worth buying if you've got Sun machines, Decstations, and a
ton of others. The only thing really relevant about market size in this
issue is that it's growing very nicely. Like it or not, a NeXT _is_ a
workstation class machine, although that does not necessarily imply
user-hostile tendencies. :-)
 
| Hmm, maybe there's some money to be made here...

An understatement if ever I've heard one. The money could go to NeXT
(especially in the long run) if they do a decent X implementation that
is a standard part, if optional, of the system facilities. Leaving such
a product to third parties is not a good idea, IMHO. Too often,
companies looking to buy personal computers have a checklist that
includes such goodies as X and having to go out to the third parties
can be sore point, especially when the third party isn't selling the
product yet. :-)

Please don't mistake this as a flame. I just hate to see NeXT make an
ugly booboo when so much quality is already included in their offerings.
-- 
|_    /| | Robert Minich            |
|\'o.O'  | Oklahoma State University| "I'm a newcomer here, but does the
|=(___)= | minich@d.cs.okstate.edu  |  net ever lay any argument to rest?"
|   U    | - Ackphtth               |                    -- dan herrick