robertb@june.cs.washington.edu (Robert Bedichek) (06/13/90)
Last week I asked: "From uw-june!june.cs.washington.edu!robertb Thu Jun 7 00:18:32 PDT 1990 " "A recent posting by Joe Galea summarized X servers for PCs. As "far as I know all of these expected ethernet cards to connect "the PC to the X clients. " "Does anyone know of an X server that uses SLIP (Serial Line Interface "Protocol). With this, I could make my PC into an X terminal that "talks to X clients at a remote site (i.e., over telephone lines). " "A wee better than emacs + Procomm :-). But perhaps it doesn't exist "yet :-(. " " Rob Bedichek It does exist: HCL-exceed X-windows runs on pc-nfs, which will run over a serial line. This is from Hummingbird Communications (416-470-1203). The real-mode version is $495, the version that can use 1.6 to 16 MB is $545. These can driver EGA/VGA/SVGA. The 8514 version, which can handle 1024x768 (x256 colors) is $595. All of this does not include SLIP, which you must buy from FTP Software Inc. (617-246-0900) and it costs somewhere between $150 and $400. The response to "can I use a PD SLIP?" was "no, we don't make our stuff work with that stuff because the PD version(s) of SLIP are buggy." and GSS sells PC-Xview for $395, plus PC SLIP for $300, plus $50 for the remote (client side) SLIP. Their number is 503-641-2200. Here is additional information on PC-XView that I received: "My recollection is that PC-XView 1.11 that I have costs about $200, but "I believe that was a University price. PC/TCP SLIP 2.04 costs $400 list. "I have not had occasion to deal with GSS, but have heard nothing nega- "tive from our Unix system administrator, who has contacted them. One caveat "is that you need some extended or expanded memory to use PC-XView with "with several open windows. Both manuals are OK, although PC-Xview's is "rather slim. I think it could help you a little more a setting up the "client side. ---------------- These prices are too high for me. PD versions of SLIP exist and X comes from MIT's Athena project, and I think the license doesn't cost anything. So is someone already making a FreeSoft version, a PD version, or a shareware version for the PC? I looked at something that looks like a PD or FreeSoft SLIP that I got from: grape.ecs.clarkson.edu:/e/tcpip/drivers.arc via anonymous ftp. I'm not yet sure what to make of it. So maybe the SLIP part is done. How about the X server part? Rob Bedichek