Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!thunder.mcrcim.mcgill.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!usc!samsung!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!cica!travis!greg From: greg@travis.cica.indiana.edu (Gregory TRAVIS) Newsgroups: comp.sys.next Subject: Re: The Three Religions of NeXT X Message-ID: Date: 14 Jan 91 21:19:07 GMT References: <14378@milton.u.washington.edu> Sender: news@cica.cica.indiana.edu Lines: 63 mrc@Tomobiki-Cho.CAC.Washington.EDU (Mark Crispin) writes: >There seem to be three religions on the subject of X on the NeXT >expressed on this newsgroup. > ... A bunch of pontification that doesn't really say anything... >In this case, I'm in the #1 camp. Frankly, I don't think that >NextStep is all that great. Yes, internally it is much prettier than >X. But there are only a fraction of the number of applications for >NextStep that there are for X, and NextStep is only readily available >on a single platform. Please name a few X applications, at least 5, that the average gal with a NeXT on her desk will want to buy and use. Or just name some X applications for starters. >The real killer, though, is that NextStep is proprietary. If NextStep >was a quantum leap above X it may have survived this, but it isn't. >I've done enough programming in NextStep to conclude that this emperor >has no clothes. There are some gross kludges in NextStep. So? It's still a HELL of a lot easier to program and that's the bottom line for me, as a programmer. As a user, it's a vastly simpler interface. That's the bottom line for the faculty around here. I would never think of setting someone loose with an X display on a Sun, whereas with a Mac or NeXT it's pretty darn intuitive for them. And NeXTStep doesn't cost me 100+MB on my disk. Admit it, you just don't like it 'cause you can't get the source. >NextStep is neat, but I don't think it's going to take over the world. >It's like the Amigoids who constantly bash the Mac; the Mac is a >Fischer-Price toy and consequently is easy to bash. But, of the boxes Yes, I remember when you informed Steve Jobs that it was a "Fischer-Price" (sic) toy at NeXT camp. The statement didn't mean anything then and it still doesn't. >What is a NeXT? It's either an incompatible, expensive PC (all the >problems of the Mac without the advantage of a big customer base) or >it's a cheap workstation with compatibility problems. I would not >want to be in that market position right now. Really? They're going gangbusters here at IU. >Spouting our religions and flames is fun, but let's take a step back >and try to ask ourselves -- who we are, what we are, what is our >machine, what do we want of it. To the #2 and #3 camps, which is more >important, keeping X off the NeXT or NeXT being around two years from >now? I've got a NeXT in my office (on which I am typing this article) and a Sun. I use the Sun ONLY when I absolutely MUST have an X display, which is about once every couple of months. We've got SPARCstations galore around here and I'm not tempted even ONE BIT to grab one of my own. > _____ | ____ ___|___ /__ Mark ("Gaijin") Crispin "Gaijin! Gaijin!" > ... several megabytes of .sig deleted ... -- Gregory R. Travis Indiana University, Bloomington IN 47405 greg@cica.cica.indiana.edu Center for Innovative Computer Applications Disclaimer: Everything I say is true and I never lie.