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From: mayer@hplabsz.HPL.HP.COM (Niels Mayer)
Newsgroups: comp.emacs
Subject: Re: key bindings for Micro-EMACS [Comment on wind/graphics intrfc]
Message-ID: <728@hplabsz.HPL.HP.COM>
Date: Wed, 26-Aug-87 15:54:36 EDT
Article-I.D.: hplabsz.728
Posted: Wed Aug 26 15:54:36 1987
Date-Received: Fri, 28-Aug-87 07:27:11 EDT
References: <449@cimcor.UUCP> <295@mundoe.mu.oz> <450@cimcor.UUCP>
Reply-To: mayer@hplabsz.UUCP (Niels Mayer)
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Laboratories
Lines: 20

In article <450@cimcor.UUCP> mike@cimcor.UUCP (Michael Grenier) writes:
>How about a public domain implementation of curses on top of termcap
>so one wouldn't always have to write to the lowest common denominator. 
>Steve Jobs is probably right in saying that some common windowing and graphics
>interface is desperately needed for UNIX if it is going to maintain itself 
>against the OS/2s and Macs in this world ( at least in that range of hardware).
>Curses isn't that answer, of course.

I think Steve Jobs meant that we should stop worrying about supporting
archaic modes of interaction (the terminal) and get on to supporting modern
bitmapped displays and the graphical/iconic modes of interaction that such
hardware can support. X windows seems to be the current unix-trend in this
direction, and may prove to be the low-level portion of a "common windowing and
graphics interface" that will make UNIX "maintain itself against the OS//2s
and Macs in this world". The MacApp toolkit of the X windows world has
unfortunately not yet been built, although the Xray (HP), Xtools (DEC), and
sX (UC Berkeley) toolkits are certainly a step in that direction. 

-- Niels Mayer.
   HP Labs.