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From: jg@jumbo.dec.com (Jim Gettys)
Newsgroups: comp.arch,comp.unix.wizards,comp.os.misc
Subject: Re: Big Programs Hurt Performance
Message-ID: <948@jumbo.dec.com>
Date: Fri, 25-Sep-87 16:27:40 EDT
Article-I.D.: jumbo.948
Posted: Fri Sep 25 16:27:40 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 27-Sep-87 03:01:07 EDT
References: <1665@ncr-sd.SanDiego.NCR.COM) <8579@utzoo.UUCP) <6886@eddie.MIT.EDU) <2498@xanth.UUCP> <818@sugar.UUCP>
Reply-To: jg@jumbo.UUCP (Jim Gettys)
Organization: DEC Systems Research Center, Palo Alto
Lines: 25
Keywords: cost of bloated programs
Xref: mnetor comp.arch:2358 comp.unix.wizards:4494 comp.os.misc:240

In article <818@sugar.UUCP> peter@sugar.UUCP (Peter da Silva) writes:
>Shared libraries don't have to be in ROM. On the Amiga they do rather well
>being loaded when needed and flushed when memory gets low. The semantics
>of shared libraries under UNIX are difficult to see. Does anyone have any
>ideas about hwo you can share stuff like that? Making windows first class
>virtual devices and sending them escape sequences sounds like a win. I know
>X-windows does that, but it's huge. Extended ANSI codes or maybe even
>tektronics graphics codes would probably cut it. Amiga Intuition provides
>such an interface for text applications.

The X window system does NOT make a window a virtual device, or use
escape sequences for communications.

X is a network server process, and clients (applications) open a single
connection (essentially any stream protocol will do) to the X server.  
Over that connection, the X protocol is spoken, which is a binary
special purpose protocol, and not a escape sequence.  Over a single
connection, you can manipulate as many windows as you want.

X applications are quite small, since all of the basic windowing and
display code is encapsulated in the server.  Applications range
from 45k to 210k (full mail user interface).  The V10 server has
been ported to everything from an IBM PC/AT, on up...  These sizes
are much smaller than many other window systems.
				Jim Gettys