philf@xymox.metaphor.com (Phil Fernandez) (07/12/90)
I am getting ready to make a purchase decision for my engineering group here at Metaphor for a Sun/X-based technical publishing system. I am looking for advice to help me choose between Interleaf and Frame. Our primary application is the production of software engineering design specifications (text and graphics), as well as other ancillary technical material. The publishing system will be used on diskful, monochrome SparcStation1+ workstations with plenty of memory, running X11.4. There is one key external factor benefiting Frame, which is that our Technical Publications group uses Frame to produce our product documentation, and some of the other engineering groups at Metaphor also make small use of Frame. On the other hand, a key development partner of ours uses Interleaf, and it would be of great benefit to share machine readable publications with them. Can anyone share some advice on this decision? I'm interested in all perspectives, recommendations, and caveats. Does anyone have experience in a mixed FrameMaker/Interleaf environment? Is document exchange between the systems possible? Reasonable? Please send me e-mail directly; I'd be glad to post a summary to the net if there's interest. Also, is there by any chance a better newsgroup on which I should have posted this message? +---------------------------+------------------------------------------------+ | Phil Fernandez | philf@metaphor.com | | Director, System Software | ...!{apple|decwrl}!metaphor!philf | | Development | | | Metaphor Computer Systems | "Does the body rule the mind, or does the mind | | Mountain View, CA | rule the body? I dunno..." - Morrissey | +---------------------------+------------------------------------------------+
datri@uunet.uu.net (Anthony A. Datri) (07/17/90)
>material. The publishing system will be used on diskful, monochrome >SparcStation1+ workstations with plenty of memory, running X11.4. If Interleaf runs at all under X, it's news to me. Frame's 2.1X is due to be released RSN; betas are out. They'll give you a 1.3X for now if you push, although it's flaky. >make small use of Frame. On the other hand, a key development partner of >ours uses Interleaf, and it would be of great benefit to share machine >readable publications with them. Hah -- sounds like Stepstone. My predecessor there bought Interleaf, and I had no end of problems with it. Interleaf licensing (at least then) is by *hostid*, and expensive. I had lots of problems getting Interleaf to stay running. Interleaf creates a "desktop" directory under ~ for each user, and goes apeshit if this directory gets confused, which happens often. Frame puts your files wherever you want them, without obfuscation. Frame also has reasonable PostScript support -- Interleaf doesn't. Frame licensing is done via RPC -- you have a number of licenses, which anyone can use (you can also reserve some for specific users/machines if you ike). Interleaf printing is an unbelievable nightmare, as is the installation process. Printing with Frame is *easy* -- everything goings through an FMlpr script, which you can easily tailor to use lpr (or whatever) appropriately for each printer. >in a mixed FrameMaker/Interleaf environment? Is document exchange between >the systems possible? Reasonable? I think Frame gives you an Interleaf input filter, but I'm not sure. >Please send me e-mail directly; I'd be glad to post a summary to the net >if there's interest. Also, is there by any chance a better newsgroup on >which I should have posted this message? comp.text, which no-one reads:-)