taylor@limbo.Intuitive.Com (Dave Taylor) (02/06/90)
Al Gosselin describes HP's Instant Ignition option with: > There is no "charge" for the instant ignition option(s)... The computer > comes up running xlogin and goes into preset Xsession logins. One of my > customers bought it and had his system "running" in less than 1/2 hour, > from sealed boxes to logged in. I offer a similar perspective, from my review in "HP Design & Automation" magazine, October, 1989: HP DESKTOP - A Graphical Environment for HP-UX (C) Copyright 1989 HP Design & Automation (C) Copyright 1989 Dave Taylor What if ... when you bought your new HP Unix machine you didn't have to hassle with the challenges and problems of installing the operating system and X Window System environment? When you did install the X Window System you didn't have to spend days trying to configure it to have reasonable performance and a useful set of utilities? With a nod to the personal computer world, HP recently introduced not only options that allow you to purchase HP-UX workstations with the operating system pre-installed (see sidebar) but with a powerful and slick new graphical user environment built on top of X Windows that allows you to instantly become productive in the X environment. By now, I'm sure most of you are familiar with the common applications that are part of the X Window system, including "xterm", a Digital VT100 terminal emulator window, "hpterm" an HP 2392 terminal emulator window, "xclock" a graphical clock, and "xload", a primitive graphical load monitor window. While these are sufficient for rough user environments, X seems to have a lot of hidden startup cost associated with using it, especially when it comes to actually creating and disseminating useful configurations. Hewlett-Packard, without any fanfare, has gone a long way towards solving this problem with their new pre-configured X environment. Code named the "Desktop" it adds much needed functionality to the environment, as well as offering a consistent, friendly, and intuitive interface within the design and behaviour constraints of the new Motif Graphical User Interface (or GUI) endorsed by HP and other members of the Open Software Foundation. WHAT IT IS We didn't have a new machine to try the pre-installed configuration here at the HP Design & Automation test laboratories, but we do have an HP 9000 series 340 HP-UX workstation with the X Window System installed. We opted, therefore, to install the Desktop package on top of the stable configuration that we'd already attained. Because of this decision, we were unfortunately stuck having to use the terrible HP "update" program to install the package. After much fussing about with mounting and unmounting disks, the package finally installed correct and automatically caused the machine to reboot. (speaking of "update", though, it is rumoured that the version shipping with the upcoming HP-UX 7.0 release will be dramatically new and improved. Thank goodness!) As you can see from illustration one, logging in to a 300 series machine is a whole new universe of use friendliness for the user. Notice the four buttons in the middle, labelled "ok", "clear", "no windows" and "help". Imagine -- a 'help' button when you're logging in! Quite unlike Unix! This well-thought-out interface continues when the system is started up, with the default window configuration being shown in illustration two. Notice the addition of the useful "xcal" calendar (with facilities to move backwards and forwards month by month) and "xcalc" calculator. Further, notice that some of the applications actually show up as icons in the lower left corner of the screen, rather than as active windows. This points to what is perhaps one of the most exciting new features of the Desktop environment; through the use of a controlling program called "XIcon", applications can now have icons present [ital] without actually running [end ital]. This is a dramatic change and means that if you're running on a machine without significant memory you can have essentially 'empty shells' sitting and waiting your request -- for example, if you wanted to have a calculator available, but didn't want the program to actual take up any resources unless you were actively using it, it's a simple matter to have the icon show up and the program defer startup until manually choosen. Surely the most dramatic addition to the screen, however, is the new HP control panel on the top right. Sporting three buttons labelled "Control", "Help..." and "Man Pages" it is really the key to the value added of the Desktop environment. To understand why, let's go ahead and choose the different buttons and see what the results are... Choosing "Control" brings up a menu that lists three possible actions: "New Window" to create a new window, "lock screen" to run the X Window System equivalent of the 'lock' program while you're at meetings/lunch or generally away from your computer for a while, and "logout". Using this third option to log out of the Desktop environment results in the windowing system going back to the initial "login" state as shown in illustration one. Yet, even this transition isn't direct -- choosing "logout" actually results in a so-called dialog box being displayed that informs the user "Note: this will end your windows session. Any running applications will be killed. Do you really want to log out?" with the two possible buttons being "Yes, log out" and "no, cancel". Furthermore, the dialog box itself is 'well behaved' and allows you to move into other windows to ensure things are all shut off before actually logging out. The "Help" option is another dramatic and exciting addition to the usually unfriendly Unix environment, and allows users to easily figure out how to accomplish tasks like changing the default configuration of the Desktop user environment, modify the color scheme, choose smaller fonts for the windows (which we at HPD&A did immediately) and related. There is a lot of information reachable through the sophisticated browser (as shown in illustration three) -- a quick count returned over 5000 lines of text, or, if we assume 40 lines/page, 125 pages of information! That's enough for a small book, all easily browsable on-line. The information therein is also sufficiently well orgnanized that when we decided to add a new pair of icons to our Desktop environment we quickly learned that the modifications had to be in the file ".Xdefaults" in our home directory. The modifications to add an icon or "button" for the Elm Mail System, and another for a mail watching program called "wnewmail" (both of which are scheduled to be included with HP-UX 7.0) proved to be quite straightforward, as seen in listing one: ========================================================================== # An example of adding a new icon to your windows session with xicon. # The example below creates an inactive icon labeled `Mail' when you # log in, which starts an `hpterm' window titled `Mail' which # has elm running in it. XIcon*addPrograms: mailprog mailwatch XIcon*mailprog.commandLine: hpterm -T "Mail" -e elm XIcon*mailprog.iconBitmap: /usr/lib/X11/bitmaps/stamp XIcon*mailprog.iconName: elm # We could also cause this program to start up as an active window instead # of an inactive icon by setting `Go' to true. To cause the elm program # to go ahead and start when you login: # XIcon*mailprog.go: True # The second program we've added :- this one is wnewmail and we'll set it # up to be running automatically... XIcon*mailwatch.commandLine: hpterm -T "Incoming Mail" -e wnewmail XIcon*mailwatch.iconBitmap: /usr/lib/X11/bitmaps/stamp XIcon*mailwatch.iconName: inbox XIcon*mailwatch.go: True Listing One: Modifications Required for New Icons ============================================================================ Those people that extensively interact with the on-line Unix manuals, or "man pages", as they're called, will greatly appreciate the new man page browser also included as part of the control panel. Selecting "Man Pages" from the control panel results in the display of each of the possible man page sections, from section 1 (user commands) through section 7 (special device files). Selection of any of these sections results in a man page index browser being started up which lets you easily search by pattern or command name for the specific entry you desire, which you can then pop up by simply chosing the "ok" button on the index browser. Of all the features that are included with Desktop, the man page browser is the one that it would be difficult to leave; after having spent years pulling the documentation off the shelf or using the ugly Unix man command to try to locate the information you desire, this is truly a dramatic step in the right direction! Generally, the Desktop interface is very well thought out and tailored, even to the point of the system displaying what version of X11 is running if the HP logo button is choosen from the control panel. After working with 'raw' X Windows, it's a pleasure to have an environment that offers the power and capabilities users will desire, within a friendly and easy to learn and use contextual environment. WHAT IT ISN'T There are definitely some edges on Desktop, however, including the glaring omission of a file browser to help navigate easily and quickly through the complex and ungainly Unix file system. More subtle are some of the quirks of the installation process; installing Desktop replaces a number of system files including "/etc/inittab", "/etc/profile" and "/etc/csh.login" as well as requiring that users replace their personal versions of the X related files ".Xdefaults" and ".hpwmrc". Problem is, the installer must then by hand merge the old modifications into the new system. One rather insidious problem that took a while to solve was that the machine suddenly was in Mountain Standard Time rather than the Pacific Standard Time that it should have been in. It turned out that since the Desktop login window is a function of a new program called "xlogin", it doesn't actually go through the login script for the global environment; so the terminal windows, which [ital] did [end ital] go through the individual users ".login" file was in the right time zone, but the "xclock" was an hour off. Tricky problem, and the solution turned out to be going into the users ".Xdefaults" file and updating the line: XSession*TimeZone: PST8PDT to have the right value. Yet that wasn't enough either, because people not using the X environment that connected to the HPD&A test computer (via RS 232 terminal lines) found themselves stuck in Mountain Time! That was, again, a result of the installation replacing the system "/etc/profile" and "/etc/csh.login" files with new ones -- versions that didn't retain the local installation modification to specify the correct time zone. Subtle, but annoying. One surmises that many of these quirks would be eliminated with the pre-configured Desktop environment as shipped by Hewlett-Packard, though it is likely that timezones are one of the local configuration requirements upon receiving and unpacking the containers. Finally, Desktop does not make HP-UX as easy to use as the Macintosh is. That may seem rather silly, but it's important to note that the Desktop package does [ital] not [end ital] hide Unix from the user, which means that if you're comfortable in that environment you'll do fine, but if you're unable to navigate productively through the Unix environment, you still have a problem, albeit a much lesser one. One nice thing in this regard is that local customization a la the addition of the Elm Mail System icon/button could be easily distributed to an installation, allowing users to start up in a specific set of application programs, and possibly never actually muck with Unix at all! IN SUMMARY The release of the HP Desktop graphical environment on top of the X Window System Motif environment is a terrific step for Hewlett-Packard, and, more importantly, for current and future HP customers. It is well positioned to help usher in a more friendly and easier to use environment for end user productivity and application connectivity with Unix as the underlying technology, rather than the user interface. Further, when HP releases the rumoured implementation of their object oriented NewWave technology on top of X/Motif, HP customers might find themselves years ahead in interface sophistication and technology. -- Dave Taylor -- PCI Staff ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- SIDEBAR: DESKTOP/DSL -- PreInstalled Unix on a Disk Although we're reviewing HP Desktop as a separate product here, it is really part and parcel of the new HP "Disk Software Load" option which can now be ordered with select 300 series disks. The idea of pre-installed software isn't anything new, of course, but within the Unix community it's something that can save quite a bit of time; HP estimates that it takes an average of 200 hours to properly install and configure a machine fresh out of the box with HP-UX and the X Window environment. Instead, now, you can, for about $500 extra, purchase your systems from Hewlett-Packard with everything pre-installed and configured for your work environment, including the Desktop graphical user environment, the X Window System, and HP-UX underneath it all. Available on just the SCSI bus disks currently, HP is investigating the option of also offering this service for HP-IB disks too. In a related introduction, a couple of the series 800 HP-UX computers from HP are also available with pre-installed operating systems, notably the 815 and 809 low-end Precision Architecture computers. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
jack@csccat.UUCP (Jack Hudler) (02/06/90)
In article <379@limbo.Intuitive.Com> taylor@limbo.Intuitive.Com (Dave Taylor) writes: >Al Gosselin describes HP's Instant Ignition option with: > >I offer a similar perspective, from my review in "HP Design & Automation" >magazine, October, 1989: > HP DESKTOP - A Graphical Environment for HP-UX > (C) Copyright 1989 HP Design & Automation > (C) Copyright 1989 Dave Taylor > >Because of this decision, we were unfortunately stuck having to use the >terrible HP "update" program to install the package. After much fussing >about with mounting and unmounting disks, the package finally installed >correct and automatically caused the machine to reboot. (speaking of "update", >though, it is rumoured that the version shipping with the upcoming HP-UX 7.0 >release will be dramatically new and improved. Thank goodness!) > Really?! I just spent the better part of 3 hours backing up and preparing to update 6.5 to 7.0.. I read all the documentation that has been piece mealed out to me, I read the READ ME FIRST... Only to get to the last page and find no information on how to do an UPDATE. I tried all the old stuff, getting GETTOOLS with lifcp.. but that didn't work.. I look somemore at the documentation... still nothing.. if you what to install, then it's no problem or so it appears. I will be calling my Rep in the morning, but jeez am I the only one having any problems with a simple update? -- Jack Computer Support Corportion Dallas,Texas Hudler UUCP: {texsun,texbell,attctc}!csccat!jack
burzio@mmlai.UUCP (Tony Burzio) (02/07/90)
In article <379@limbo.Intuitive.Com>, taylor@limbo.Intuitive.Com (Dave Taylor) writes: > Al Gosselin describes HP's Instant Ignition option with: > > comes up running xlogin and goes into preset Xsession logins. One of my > > customers bought it and had his system "running" in less than 1/2 hour, > > from sealed boxes to logged in. > > What if ... when you bought your new HP Unix machine you didn't have > to hassle with the challenges and problems of installing the operating What if... you need to get access to a different Xndisplay file? This is my situation: We have a 370 with a TurboSRX top. When running normal X programs, we use the 24 planes of the TurboSRX as screen zero (:0.0) and the overlay planes (:0.1) as another. This would be the normal operation. The discription of this arrangement is in X0display so x11start chooses this file at startup. From time to time, however, we run SDRC IDEAS programs in the X environment (works great!), which requires that the overlay planes be screen zero (:0.0), with the TurboSRX left for local dynamic manipulation. To get to this different screen setup, I fire up X with x11start -- :1 to get this second screen discription stored in X1display. How can I perform this kind of gymnastics with the new HP login control? ********************************************************************* Tony Burzio * Lions and tigers and bears, OH MY! Martin Marietta Labs * mmlai!burzio@uunet.uu.net * *********************************************************************
sprague@hpfcda.HP.COM (Fred Sprague) (02/09/90)
> What if... you need to get access to a different Xndisplay file? > To get to this different screen setup, I fire up X with x11start -- :1 > to get this second screen discription stored in X1display. > How can I perform this kind of gymnastics with the new HP login control? **** Undocumented features, OR how to read between the lines. ***** There IS an easy way (albeit GROSS) to bring up the xlogin program on a different display. Use the feature that: if the login being used has something that is not recognizable by xlogin as a normal shell (ie sh/ksh/csh...) it will drop the Xwindowing system and generate a normal login executing whatever is specified in the /etc/passwd file. (Try it with the "date" login) If the /etc/passwd entry is a shell script (don't forget the "#!/bin/sh" at the begining) it will be executed. It can in turn do the necessary .profile type stuff and then execute (or exec) x11start for the appropriate display. Logout will bring back up the normal login display. WARNING: don't use this special login from a normal terminal, or from a network connection, you'll get massive confusion. :-) This would mean that you need a different login for different displays, but allows using the xlogin program to be used to start something completely different such as a pure Starbase or Windex programs, or even the normal "$ on a blank screen" login. HOWEVER: you will not be running the fancy "XENVIRONMENT" suff on the display but instead a normal x11start windowing session. UGG! :-) But then this feature was intended for running non-Xwindows sessions. :-) DISCLAIMER: This feature is not guaranteed to still work in future releases. (But it does in at least the HP-UX 7.0 version) Fred Sprague Hewlett-Packard 3404 E. Harmony Rd. Fort Collins, Co 80525 (303) 229-3940 sprague@hpfcda.HP.COM
irf@kuling.UUCP (Bo Thide') (02/10/90)
In article <3529@csccat.UUCP> jack@csccat.UUCP (Jack Hudler) writes: >Really?! I just spent the better part of 3 hours backing up and preparing to >update 6.5 to 7.0.. I read all the documentation that has been piece mealed >out to me, I read the READ ME FIRST... Only to get to the last page and >find no information on how to do an UPDATE. I tried all the old stuff, >getting GETTOOLS with lifcp.. but that didn't work.. I look somemore at >the documentation... still nothing.. if you what to install, then it's >no problem or so it appears. I will be calling my Rep in the morning, >but jeez am I the only one having any problems with a simple update? The update process is very clearly described in the new "System Administrator Tasks" manual. An easy to follow step by step description tells you how to get the TOOLS off the update tape (which is now in 'tar' format -- not in 'lif' anymore!) and how to proceed from there. I found the new update tools to be *much* better than the old ones (which, at least for 6.5, weren't totally useless). In case you still need to install/update from pre 7.0 tapes, the TOOLS package contains an 'update.6.5' that you can use. I have done so updating Starbase Display Lists and didn't have any problems at all with that (either). Hope this helps. Bo ^ Bo Thide'-------------------------------------------------------------- | | Swedish Institute of Space Physics, S-755 91 Uppsala, Sweden |I| [In Swedish: Institutet f|r RymdFysik, Uppsalaavdelningen (IRFU)] |R| Phone: (+46) 18-403000. Telex: 76036 (IRFUPP S). Fax: (+46) 18-403100 /|F|\ INTERNET: bt@irfu.se UUCP: ...!uunet!sunic!irfu!bt ~~U~~ -----------------------------------------------------------------sm5dfw
eric@hpfcda.HP.COM (Eric Flink) (02/16/90)
Hewlett Packard's Instant Ignition program provides HP-UX pre-loaded and
pre-configured on the disk with a set of tools, the X Windows environment,
that make the workstation very easy to use. Instant Ignition revision 1.5
which runs on HP-UX 7.0 includes some new features which were not available
in the version reviewed by Dave Taylor:
* datebook, a personal scheduler/reminder tool
* xline, the system resource utilization display
* a hardware configuration scanner
* an HP calculator emulator (HP 11C and 16C HP functions)
* an easy to use application organizer/launcher
* games and demos
Some other standard HP-UX tools such as the elm mailer and the sam system
administration manager are preconfigured for easy access.
For new customers we recommend ordering the Instant Ignition options and
saving the time and money of installation and configuration. For the HP
installed base the pre-configured X Windows environment can be obtained
by ordering the following product part numbers:
98887-10035 for the Series 300
98887-10036 for the Series 800
Regards,
Eric Flink
Hewlett-Packard
3404 E. Harmony Road, Ft. Collins, Colorado 80525
eric@hpfcda.hp.com
#include <disclaimer.h>