Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!texsun!texbell!uhnix1!sugar!ficc!peter
From: peter@ficc.uu.net (Peter da Silva)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards
Subject: Re: What kinds of things would you want in the GNU OS?
Keywords: GNU OS features kernel fun!
Message-ID: <4463@ficc.uu.net>
Date: 8 Jun 89 18:04:43 GMT
References: <106326@sun.Eng.Sun.COM> <350@torch.UUCP>
Organization: Xenix Support
Lines: 34

In article <350@torch.UUCP>, richard@torch.UUCP (Richard Nuttall) writes:
> 1) The system will use a widely available UI, which will be bundled
> in with the system. This will consist of (e.g. X, with PEX), as a 
> portability layer, and a UI style on top (MOTIF? but this would 
> probably cost money :-) ).
>    Something like what the NeXT machine came with.

God, I'd hope they either roll their own, use something tight like MGR, or
reverse-engineer NeWS. X is the Fortran of windowing systems. No, it's
worse... it's the Assembly.

[ fast context switching, fast IPC ]

Sounds like a job for Mach.

> 3) The "average" user is not interested in the console, and wants
>    to have a powerfull interface immediately available on boot up
>    ("O.K., so configure the system" I hear you say). If you always
>    have this interface available, the OS can use it to communicate
>    with the user, i.e with popup menus, message boxes, dialog
>    boxes, and configuration panels.

For minimal security the machine should require a login sequence on the
console anyway, just put this stuff in .profile. There's no point having
a fancy windowing system if all you have in it is an xterm window displaying
/etc/issue.

And you can always provide a program to automatically put something fancier
in the :console: line in /etc/inittab.
-- 
Peter da Silva, Xenix Support, Ferranti International Controls Corporation.

Business: uunet.uu.net!ficc!peter, peter@ficc.uu.net, +1 713 274 5180.
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