Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!uunet!wuarchive!emory!kim From: kim@mathcs.emory.edu (Kim Wallen {Psy}) Newsgroups: comp.sys.next Subject: Re: The Three Religions of NeXT X Message-ID: <6774@emory.mathcs.emory.edu> Date: 15 Jan 91 16:23:24 GMT References: <1991Jan15.135156.5950@uncecs.edu> Organization: Emory University, Dept of Math and CS Lines: 78 In article <1991Jan15.135156.5950@uncecs.edu> jfreem@uncecs.edu (Joe Freeman) writes: > >I think if you look at the question and the answer given then you will note >that the bulk of the software listed was engineering software. There were >a couple of stat programs (mostly SPSS) and some file management tools also. >The reply is an example of software that is not for "the rest of us". I don't >think that I would run much of that software "at home" and I am an EE. I >agree there is quite a bit of software for X but most of is specialized in >rather arcane areas. From the Sun Catalyst CD-ROM catalogue: Here are the arcane applications running under X/NeWS now shipping WingZ WordPerfect 5.0 SAS (statistics and presentation graphics, a social sciences standard) Island Graphics: Write, Draw, & Paint DUX Quintet: Write, spreadsheet, personal database, graph, communicate AutoGraph presentation graphics Framemaker 2.1 (DP) Interleaf TPS 4.0 (DP) DBASE IV (allright this one might be RSN) The case of the cautious condor (CD-ROM game) Relative software availability is a non-issue. If NeXT succeeds in convincing folks to port to NextStep there will be as many packages available for NeXT as for X systems. For other vendors who have integrated their system with X a developer can port to X and cover several vendor's machines as well. A point is being missed in all of this discussion. For rabid X-haters this probably is a religious issue, but for others there is an important issue. Compare Sun's response to NeXT's. Sun developed NeWS which offers clear performance advantages over X for distributed windowing. The market opted for X. Sun merged X and NeWS. Thus a developer can develop for X and have it run under NeWS or a developer can develop for NeWS. Sun is not forcing the market to use their approach or not develop for Sun machines at all. I suspect this approach, besides being against current NeXT orthodoxy, is also beyond their technical resources. >The fact that Next doesn't run X native is really >a non issue for most folks. The people that need X need it to run their >applications and I think that needs to be addressed. The mac (yes I know >about the larger installed base, but bear with me) has X but I don't see >many people saying that it should drop QuickDraw for X. > Here is a practical example of how having X makes a difference in sales in an academic environment. We are installing a 20 station laboratory for statistics and research methodology. WE want each station served off a central machine and want decent graphics and good software. Some of the software is just becoming available under X (SAS, SPSS), but all is available now for Macs. Our problem, the MAC model of distributed computing is expensive and slow. Preferred solution, diskless X machines, or even X-terminals. This solution not yet viable in production environment because X apps are just becoming available. Compromise, Macs with ethernet and MAC-X which will allow us to migrate away from Macs as the X apps become available. NeXT was considered for this lab, but could only offer a NeXT-only solution. Given the heterogeneous academic environment we live in that would be like going back to IBM (something we have almost extricated ourselves from). Completely proprietary solutions are just not viable in most academic environments. Those who have been saying that X is a checklist item are on target. We may never end up using X on our macs or we may extend their useful life several years in an X environment, at least we have the option. NeXT gave us no choice, but to drop them from consideration. Kim Wallen Psychology Department Emory University Atlanta, GA 30322 (404) 727-4125 INTERNET: kim@unix.cc.emory.edu UUCP: {gatech decvax}!emory!kim BITNET: kim@emoryu1