Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sdd.hp.com!news.cs.indiana.edu!msi.umn.edu!noc.MR.NET!gacvx2.gac.edu!gacvx2.gac.edu!scott Newsgroups: comp.sys.next Subject: Re: NeXTSTEP Licensing? Message-ID: From: scott@erick.gac.edu (Scott Hess) Date: 6 May 91 13:45:40 References: <1991May5.175753.1467@news.cs.indiana.edu> Organization: Gustavus Adolphus College Nntp-Posting-Host: erick.gac.edu In-reply-to: Michael Vogt's message of Sun, 5 May 91 14:07:42 -0500Lines: 49 First off: I've never really heard anything all that official on this stuff. Well, a little, but I'm sure NeXT will deny anything I say (should it be repeated to them). In article <1991May5.175753.1467@news.cs.indiana.edu> Michael Vogt writes: To be able to run NextStep what does one need. Is it as simple as Display Postscript and Mach? Sort of. You'll certainly need to tailor the sources to whatever setup you have, but having Mach as a base would help alot. You'll also need Objective-C (this will eventually be availiable from GNU on top of g++). How is the IBM RS6000 doing it? They licensed DPS from Adobe, Objective-C from StepStone, and NextStep from NeXT. The obvious missing link is Mach - they simulate Mach threads and the like via AIX stuff, which is one of the big complaints people have (I guess that slows it down a bit, esp. for NextStep2.0). What happens to toolkits for sound, etc. on the RS6000. Nothing. Quite literally - the SoundKit, MusicKit, and DSP stuff in general are apparently not part of NextStep, and thus IBM doesn't get them. Not that it'd do them a whole lot of good - I'm sure a fairly decent part of the code will depend on what DSP is is used, and how you get to it from your Unix. Also missing are many of the utilities we've all grown to know and love. InterfaceBuilder, Terminal, and Edit are there, though. Is code portable between the RS6000 and the NeXT boxes? Supposedly, it's pretty good. What vendors have licensed NeXTSTEP? IBM's the only one, I believe. I've heard rumors that others are thinking about it, but nothing substantial. I've been told by some people at NeXT that they'd like people to port it, and would be willing to work with them, but I doubt it'd be cheap. DPS would be a big stumbling block (license fees to Adobe for every sale . . .). Later, -- scott hess scott@gac.edu Independent NeXT Developer GAC Undergrad