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From: chuck@trantor.harris-atd.com (Chuck Musciano)
Newsgroups: comp.windows.x
Subject: Re: Motif/Openlook, is there a trend?
Message-ID: <5314@trantor.harris-atd.com>
Date: 21 Jan 91 21:14:44 GMT
References: <426@yonder.UUCP> <12868@life.ai.mit.edu> <DWF.91Jan20173950@nohope.acl.lanl.gov>
Sender: news@trantor.harris-atd.com
Reply-To: chuck@trantor.harris-atd.com (Chuck Musciano)
Organization: Advanced Technology Dept, Harris Corp, Melbourne, FL
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In article <DWF.91Jan20173950@nohope.acl.lanl.gov>, dwf@acl.lanl.gov (Dave Forslund) writes:
> In article <12868@life.ai.mit.edu> sundar@ai.mit.edu (Sundar Narasimhan) writes:
>    SunExpert's January issue claims Workstation GUI breakup to be Motif 62.2%,
>    OpenWindows 29.7%, DECWindows 2.7%, PM 2.7% and SunView 2.7%. 
>    In Desktop GUI the breakup is given as Windows 52.9%, Motif 26.5%, PM 14.7%,
>    OpenWindows 5.9%. 
> 
>    They site International Data Corp as the source for these numbers, and
>    the article claims that polls indicate that Motif will be the long term
>    winner. 

     I would question these numbers, if only because the SunView number is so
low.  There must be thousands of SunView sites still operating, given the
lethargy of the average site in upgrading to new software.  While the SunView
count is declining, I find it almost impossible to believe that it has dwindled
to 2.7% so quickly.  What are these numbers, anyway?  Site in use?  Dollar
volume of shipped product?

> I can't vouch for or against these numbers, but this article in the
> January issue of SunExpert shows a poor understanding of the
> difference between OpenWindows and Motif.  This comparison is sort of
> apples and oranges.  The correct comparison should be between OpenLook
> and Motif.  The article claims the Motif is more "open" than
> OpenWindows because it is cheaper.  But OpenWindows is a complete
> implementation of X11 and News, while Motif is just a GUI.  OpenLook
> is available for free via ftp from MIT in the XView toolkit, while
> Motif must be purchased and a license for each CPU must be paid.
> OpenLook is also available from AT&T. I would like to see an unbiased
> report of a proper comparison of OpenLook and Motif.

     It has been my experience while dealing with SunExpert that they have 
a significant Motif bias (I have no idea why) and a poor understanding of
many Sun issues, including compiler unbundling and window systems in
general.  I would take anything they say with a grain of salt.

     The only numbers I trust are Personal Workstation's applications count,
which gives OPEN LOOK the lead, 65 apps to 28 (I think).

     The bottom line is that neither interface is going away anytime soon.
Your best bet is to learn both.

-- 

Chuck Musciano				ARPA  : chuck@trantor.harris-atd.com
Harris Corporation 			Usenet: ...!uunet!x102a!trantor!chuck
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A good newspaper is never good enough,
	but a lousy newspaper is a joy forever.		-- Garrison Keillor