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From: root@sbcs.UUCP (Root)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics
Subject: Re: Using MIT X window-system
Message-ID: <273@sbcs.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 22-Jan-87 10:15:45 EST
Article-I.D.: sbcs.273
Posted: Thu Jan 22 10:15:45 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 24-Jan-87 00:02:55 EST
References: <502@daimi.UUCP> <102300001@datacube>
Organization: Computer Science Dept, SUNY@Stony Brook
Lines: 30

> 
> How hard is it to port X to non-unix environments?
> 
> 				Bob Berger 
> 
> Datacube Inc. Systems / Software Group	4 Dearborn Rd. Peabody, Ma 01960

I'm busy porting X to the Commodore Amiga, and generally finding it
not too difficult.  The server part of the implementation tries,
by design, to make minimal use of Unix system calls.  All one generally
has to do to retarget the environment is deal with Unix'ish calls
such as socket(), fstat(), fopen(), etc, which are most probably
similar in principle to the OS calls available in the target environment.
As for the graphics interface portion of the server, porting is generally
facilitated if the target machine has some concept of graphics primitives, 
e.g. ability to draw a (textured) line, block copy one rectangular area to 
another on the screen would be just fine.

If you also want to port the client part of X, namely the ultilities such
as xterm, xperfmon, xlock, xdemo, etc, GOOD LUCK!  They can be very
Unix specific (e.g. xperfmon needs to trot around in /dev/kmem).  My
application requires only the server part of X on the Amiga, so I will
not port most of the client code..  BTW, my final resolution on porting
X onto the Amiga was to try to produce as Unix like environment as
possible, since it eases the conversion problems, and makes it easier
to upgrade things to V11 in March.

					Hope some of this helps,

					Rick Spanbauer