Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uflorida!novavax!weiner
From: weiner@novavax.UUCP (Bob Weiner)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apollo
Subject: Re: Motif on an Apollo
Message-ID: <1235@novavax.UUCP>
Date: 28 Apr 89 02:25:02 GMT
References: <8904241457.AA00540@lnic1.hprc.uh.edu>
Organization: Nova University, Fort Lauderdale, FL
Lines: 55
In-reply-to: wescott@LNIC1.HPRC.UH.EDU's message of 24 Apr 89 14:57:57 GMT

In article <8904241457.AA00540@lnic1.hprc.uh.edu> wescott@LNIC1.HPRC.UH.EDU (Andrew M. Wescott) writes:

>   Hey does anyone wonder what OSF/Motif coupled with the
>   DM would look like?  Well take a look at pages 230-231
>   of the May 1989 BYTE MAGAZINE.
>
>   I'm ready!

I have to put a couple cents in here.  I have not seen Byte but I have
heard Motif 'looks' really nice.  Fine, pretty 3-D windows and buttons.
What we need is not only easy to use programs but powerful ones.

Examples:

One of the easiest ways for a program to make your keyboard (remember,
the thing that you can interface with on every computer and terminal)
very useful is to support key SEQUENCES that can be bound to arbitrary
functions just as most Emacs versions do.  Menus and mice movements are
just too cumbersome in many respects and no one yet has a good model for
building up powerful abstractions with ONLY a mouse based graphical
interface.  Who wants to bet Motif's style guide does not suggest a
powerful keyboard model?  Just look at all the silly macro makers on
Macintoshes and you'll understand how widely ignored an issue this is.

What about the complexity of writing applications for Motif?  X Windows
already extremely complicates the development process (though it does
aid portability).  Unless the OSF is ready to release a complete
object-oriented development environment that supports Motif application
development, this represents a major developer headache.  That
translates directly into more expensive software.  (The price you pay
for technology tradeoffs that make a complete interface environment
portable between PC-type and UNIX machines.)

How come no one is talking about the hypertextual capabilities of HP's
New Wave which is part of Motif.  There some real progress could be
made.  Is it because few people understand this technology?

I recently attended a presentation by some significant OSF
representatives.  The development guy knew what he was talking about but
acknowledged that there were many BASIC problems with their ideas that
they had not figured out yet.  The spokesman and the federal systems
representative were very close to Zippy the Pinhead, in bloodlines at
least.

I want the OSF to succeed but lets not act like lemmings and follow them
to the death simply because of their well known backers.

SUN reps claim that IBM (the guys OSF paid about $80 million for AIX)
has publicly stated that they do not need to develop OSF-compatible
environments since they already have AIX and can develop it themselves!


-- 
Bob Weiner, Motorola, Inc.,   USENET:  ...!gatech!uflorida!novavax!weiner
(407) 738-2087