Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!seismo!rutgers!clyde!cbosgd!ihnp4!inuxc!iuvax!bsu-cs!rb442!dhesi From: dhesi@rb442.UUCP (Rahul Dhesi) Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions Subject: Re: Multiscreen on Unix Message-ID: <103@rb442.UUCP> Date: Fri, 5-Jun-87 17:29:42 EDT Article-I.D.: rb442.103 Posted: Fri Jun 5 17:29:42 1987 Date-Received: Wed, 10-Jun-87 05:58:42 EDT References: <910@minnow.UUCP> <5942@brl-smoke.ARPA> Reply-To: dhesi@rb442.UUCP (Rahul Dhesi) Organization: CS Dept., Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana Lines: 40 Summary: *mild flame* against fancy windows with dumb borders Followup-To: lee@A60.UUCP (Gene Lee ) writes: > I would like to have multiple screens on Unix the way I do on ^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^ >SCO Xenix and Microport Unix. gwyn@brl.arpa (Doug Gwyn (VLD/VMB) ) replies: >The best ways I know of to acquire this facility are to either purchase >a UNIX system with windows integrated into it (such as a Sun workstation) ^^^^^^^ >or acquire an AT&T (nee Teletype) model 5620 (or follow-on whenever it is >finally announced; we've been expecting one for a while) Dot-Mapped Display >terminal and associated UNIX support software. There are also some public- >domain implementations of windowing systems for "dumb" CRTs, although ^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^ >they're not nearly as spiffy. I imagine others will tell you about those. Windows and multiple screens are not the same thing. My UNIX PC has windows. You can create them, then you can reshape them and move them. My Microport System V/AT has multiple screens. You can's reshape them amd move them. The difference is like night and day. On my UNIX PC, it's so much of a bother to use multiple windows that I got rid of them altogether. It's no fun pressing keys here and there, then finding the mouse, then location a corner here and here, and then finally (a few minutes later) getting a new window to work in. On my Microport system, I can hit a key and be working on a fresh new screen in about 50 milliseconds. I don't waste time finding keys and mice, and I don't waste screen space on fancy but useless borders. Now, I don't know how Sun implements its windows, and I'm sure they are implemented better than they are on the UNIX PC. But it's good to be precise in our terminlogy, and I just wanted to emphasize that: WINDOWS AND MULTIPLE SCREENS ARE NOT THE SAME THING.