Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!newton From: newton@cs.utexas.edu (Peter Newton) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.comm Subject: Review of MacX 1.1, X terminal software (long) Message-ID: <320@burr.cs.utexas.edu> Date: 26 Apr 91 00:15:15 GMT Organization: U. Texas CS Dept., Austin, Texas Lines: 201 Review of Mac X 1.1 Peter Newton (newton@cs.utexas.edu) The opinions expressed herein are my own. I do not represent the University of Texas. From time to time, questions appear on the net relating to X-terminal software for the Mac. Having just installed such software, I am in a position to answer some of the more basic questions. This article discusses what Mac X is, roughly how it works, and how well it works. Actually, I know of two X-terminal programs for the Mac, eXodus, and Mac X. The former is by White Pines Software (I think). I know nothing more about it. Mac X is an Apple product. Notes for Those Who Don't Know about X: X-windows is an industry-standard graphical window package and more that runs on a large number of machines, mostly UNIX workstations. Things like Motif and OpenWindows are user interfaces that run on top of X. Among other things, X permits you to run a program on a remote computer connected to yours via a network. In this case, your computer is responsible only for performing the graphical operations needed to support the user interface. That is the idea behind X-terminal software like Mac X. You run your program on a remote machine, probably a UNIX workstation, but the graphical display appears on your Mac. It's a great way to have only a Mac on your desk but still be able to do X/UNIX things using a remote machine on your network. One should note that Mac X does not, by itself, turn you Mac into a complete X windows workstation. It does not allow you to compile and run X applications directly on your Mac. I know of no way to do that short of buying Apple's UNIX (A/UX). This mostly from an Apple sales brochure... System Requirements: - Any Mac with at least 2 MB RAM. - Two floppy drives (hard disk HIGHLY recommended). - Mac OS 6.0.4 or later. - A network connection to a remote machine that runs X. - localtalk or - ethertalk or - straight ethernet. Features: - X 11.4 compliant. - Works under multifinder (can run NCSA Telnet at the same time). - Built-in window manager (it's nice, Mac-like). - Both monochrome and color support. - Copy/paste between X and Mac applications. Mac X comes with the Mac X application, the communications toolbox, MacTCP, Mac X font library software, complete documentation. Misc. Facts: - I know of no way to run it over SLIP. If there were a way, I would worry very much about performance. - Software installation is much more complex than usual for Mac programs. If you do not know a little about networks and X-windows, you could have a bad time. Are terms like IP address, domain, subnet mask, xterm, client, and server meaningful to you? If not, you may need to seek help. The installation documentation is reasonably good. It leads you through the process in a step by step manner and tells you what information you will need. And now, my experiences with Mac X... 1. Getting Information about Mac X. This is very difficult, which is why I wrote this. Most Apple dealers I have spoken with have never heard of Mac X and do not have the background needed to discuss it intelligently. I suggest calling Apple's Customer Assistance Center at 1-800-776-2333 and asking for the names of SEVERAL Mac X dealers in your area. You can also talk Apple into sending you a brochure. You may have to ask for an A/UX (Mac Unix) dealer. For some reason, Apple considers Mac X to be an A/UX-related product. This is nonsense. You do not need A/UX to run Mac X. 2. Our Configuration. I put Mac X 1.1 onto a Mac IIx with 8 MB RAM, a big hard disk, Apple's standard 8 bit color display, and Mac OS 6.0.5. The network connection is via an ethertalk NB card using straight ethernet (none of this ethertalk protocol business). We have hundreds of machines on our network, including Sun, HP, and IBM UNIX workstations and various minis like Sequents and VAXen. I tested Mac X running programs remotely on Sun 3s and Sun 4s (SunOS 4.0.3), HP's, and an IBM RS/6000. All worked. 3. Installation. As I have said, installation is somewhat complex. I had no trouble, however, following the instructions. If you have trouble getting it working, it might be a good idea to install the Mac TCP version of NCSA Telnet. That program is simpler, and you can use it to test your network connections. For example, it responds to pings. You can also run it at the same time as Mac X. You can use telnet to start X applications that will be displayed under Mac X. (You know, setenv DISPLAY hostname:0) This can be a way to work out problems with remote commands. NCSA Telnet is free and is available via anonymous ftp from zaphod.ncsa.uiuc.edu. My installation process involved installing the ethertalk NB card driver followed by the communications toolbox and Mac TCP. At this point, set up IP addresses and such for Mac TCP and NCSA telnet should run. Lastly, install Mac X and its fonts and define your remote commands. 4. User's View of Mac X. Mac X provides its own window manager. You will not be running something like twm. The Mac X window manager is nice. It's Mac-like and works well in the Mac environment. Most X things assume a 2 or 3 button mouse. Mac X circumvents this problem by defining arrow keys to work as the second and third buttons. Users start X applications (like xterms) using Mac X's remote command facility. The idea is that the Mac user defines a set of remote commands. They then appear in a menu. You define remote commands by means of a dialog. You will need the name of the remote application (in fact its complete path name), the name of the remote machine to execute it on, and a username and password for the remote machine. I am told that remote commands are implemented by means of rexec, if that means anything to you. If you define an xterm as a remote command, then executing it will open a terminal window on the remote machine. From that window, you can start another X application in the usual X way-- by entering its name at the shell prompt. I had a little trouble getting xterms to work on Suns due to Sun's dynamically linked libraries. I had to add setenv LD_LIBRARY_PATH /lusr/lib/X11 to my UNIX .cshrc to tell the Sun where to find its stuff. 5. Performance. X graphics speed in our setup is adequate. The system responds to mouse clicks quickly and screen updates are OK but not spectacular. Performance is similar to that of using X on some of our slower UNIX workstations directly. I have no experience, but I would worry about using Mac X over localtalk or on a 68000 based Mac. It might be too slow. If you want to do this, try to get a positive testimonial from someone who does this before you buy. Also, in my experience, X applications expect large screens. Most workstations have 17 inch monitors. Using Mac X on a machine with a 9 inch screen may be inconvenient. It would be all right if you only intend to run xterms, but you can get terminal windows with NCSA Telnet (or MacLayers or uw over serial lines) for free. MacLayers is available via anonymous ftp to rascal.ics.utexas.edu. It works only with BSD UNIX hosts. 6. Where to Buy. Like I said, call the Apple Customer Assistance Center to find a dealer. We bought from MicroSolutions 10670 North Central, Suite 110 Dallas, TX 75231 (I don't have a phone number) but I have nothing to say either good or bad about them. We asked for and received no technical support. They did have some problem dealing with Texas state purchasing procedures. Perhaps that's to their credit... 7. Conclusion. To the extent to which I have tested it, it looks like Mac X will work nicely for us-- on a high end Mac with an ethernet connection. Given that it is a complex program that must operate in a complex environment, it is easy to install and use. But beware if you are a networking/X neophyte. Actually, I have not tested it as completely as I'd like. I can't because it's on someone else's machine. However, I had no trouble running a number of monochrome X applications. Everything worked smoothly. I did have some trouble with a color app, but I did not have a chance (or a reason) to investigate it. I have no reason to assume there is a show-stopper problem. By the way, I cannot offer more help with Mac X. Like I said, I put it onto someone else's machine so I cannot easily check things out.